other, and spanned the entire distance in sharp relief against the blue. My thoughts travelled along that airy thoroughfare to my father's home. The tide crawled nearer and nearer. I resolved to let the water have its will of me, and to be swept away without a struggle. What a fine death, to be drawn into the meshes of planetary force, to be made one with the tides and the currents of Nature! There are imaginative compensations for being murdered by the moon. I do not know how far my fancies would have led me; for my dreams were broken suddenly. high, well-proportioned, lithe, and muscular, sole-leather color; with curly hair that hung to his shoulders, sparkling black eyes, and the true look of the cannibal in his tattooed face. He wore a bone amulet and a few shark's teeth around his neck; and his chest and abdomen were decorated with battlepieces by the first artists of Fiji, done in a dark-blue pigment. The landscape-art of the same national school was illustrated upon his back, which bore a large cocoanut-tree executed after the methods of the Fijian realists. The trunk of the tree occupied the site of his spinal column, the articulations of which accent A hoarse, deep voice called out from ed, in the most admirable manner, the the waters. "E te Rii!" it said. "O Prince! arise and receive homage!" reed-like joints in the stem of the pictured tree; while its foliage branched out luxuriantly over the scapular region I jumped to my feet more quickly of the savage, and its long leaves exthan I had ever done before. A brawny savage, breasting the ripples, came in with the frothing tides. A surge of foam marked his path as he swam; and he shook his long dark locks and flung from them a thousand briny diamonds. Almost as I bounded from the sand he came within his depth, and walked shoreward, his huge and unclad bulk looming momently from the water. He was a host in himself; but he made a gesture of obeisance as he came. I named him Orion at the first glance, for I had read Lempriere's Dictionary in my father's library; and here was the demigod himself appearing, but slightly transformed as my vassal. I had not the slightest idea who this savage might be, or where he came from; but I took a cue from Greek and from Fijian superstition, and, assuming the tone of that superiority which I saw him ready to award me, I cried out : panded upon his shoulders. A rear view of Orion was a view of a man as trees walking; and this view I had when the savage, drawing himself up to his full height in the edge of the surf, turned himself rapidly around three times before advancing to shake my hand. This he did to avert any baleful possibility that might attend the use of the new name by which I had addressed him. I did not wish to inquire for the credentials of this strange envoy. I simply demanded "Who are you?" "I am the herald of Prince Kanuha," replied he. "And what brings you to this tabooed island?" "I am a stranger in thèse waters. But I was commanded to remain by the Queen.” I heard this answer with conflicting fear and joy. He must know of Waimata's whereabouts; but was she not more likely to be his captive than his superior? We confronted each other alone upon the beach. It was essential that I should keep up the fiction that I was a highchief; for he could make himself master if he chose: he had the physical, I the moral superiority. How to preserve the balance of power? It was necessary to adopt the tone of command at once. "If you are Prince Kanuha's herald," said I, "make the Prince's obeisance." He threw himself flat upon the ground, and I placed my foot upon the trunk of the tattooed palm-tree. By this act he became my vassal; and his respect for me was not diminished by his perceiving, through the deep bronzing that the climate had given to my originally tawny complexion, that I was a foreigner and a white man. In a neighboring group of islands, an American skipper, the captain of a Nantucket whaler, had lately actually made himself the master of the people. He had commenced his conquests by trading, giving the natives bits of old iron in exchange for cocoanut-oil and tortoise-shell; and he ended by buying out their kingdom, and installing himself as absolute prince over a population of several thousand savages. He was a man of tact and ability; he called the ablest natives into his councils, and retained their support by crafty management and judicious gifts; he had his grass palace, his heathen temple, and his harem; he made war and conquests in neighboring islands; and at the time of my escape from Lakemba the history of this sailor bold was well known throughout southern Polynesia. Orion supposed that I had taken possession of the Island of the Gods for the purpose of erecting a private monarchy. "I name you Orion," said I. "You shall be Minister of War and of the Navy upon this island.” “Oliona, Oliona,” repeated he, imitating the sound of the word as closely as the limited resoures of his dialect would admit (for his language, though it closely resembled the Lakemban idiom, was deficient in consonant-sounds, and required each syllable to close with a Vowel); "that is a convenient name." military emergency. The enemy would effect a landing before I could issue him an order. I said that we would reserve that name for use at leisure. It would do better in peace-times, I thought; or it might serve for an old-fashioned Secretary of the Navy. I was full of impatience to learn what had become of Waimata. But he said nothing more of "the Queen" whom he had met; and I thought it best not to betray any anxiety by questioning him. I would first feel of my authority a little. "How came you to my island?” I continued. "I was sent to announce the return of Prince Kanuha, from Mbau to Lakemba." Kanuha was the hideous savage to whom Waimata had been promised by her father. Would Orion, in case he should recognize Waimata, remain faithful to my secret? or would he escape from me and betray us to the Lakembans? "Where is your canoe?" I asked. "Behind yonder hillock." "It shall be the flag-ship of my navy," I remarked. "We will inspect it at once. But where did you come from when you swam ashore just now?" "From the Sea-Cave," returned Orion. What the Sea-Cave could be I had not the remotest idea; but it would never do to seem ignorant of my own possessions. "We will go to the Sea-Cave," said I. And we walked toward the beach in the direction of the sandy hummock I have mentioned. Orion led the way. His footsteps were identical with those I had just been following! I remembered hearing old natives tell of caves in the coral-island, the entrances of which were submarine, and that were kept a secret to all but a few explorers, who used them as places of refuge and concealment. But I had regarded them as possible only in a mythical geology. The coral insect builds “Ku-ku-hi-pa-kai-i-ke-ho-ku-lan-gi," solidly, and leaves no caverns in the "What is your name at home?" demanded I. fluently responded my Minister of War. I informed him that his name would be too long to use in case of any sudden foundations of his work. Professor Dana, the accomplished geologist of the United States Exploring Expedition, which visited these islands after my departure from them, has elaborately described their formation. Wondering, therefore, what secret of my dominions I was to learn, I followed Orion to his canoe, my newly-acquired navy. It was a handsome craft, some forty feet in length, with carved outrigger, sail-pieces lashed with fine cinet, and full equipage of paddles, cordage, and sails; while a large assortment of gods was stowed in the forepoint. Our protection was assured. Whatever wind might blow, we should be able to invoke the correct deity for any possible point of the compass. The nautical and the spiritual apparatus of the craft were equally complete. My eye took in these details at a glance. We should be able to command the seas in our vicinity just as long as my Secretary of the Navy remained faithful to my fortunes. How to retain this savage upon the island, how to conciliate him, or how to dispose of him in case of necessity, were questions already turning themselves over in my mind and weaving a tangled web of thought around the central query, Where was Waimata? My eyes fell upon the sand as I approached the cave. Directly before me lay the footprints of Waimata, the same traces which I had often followed in the sands of Lakemba. I uttered an involuntary shout of surprise. Orion looked at me sharply. "They are the footsteps of the Queen," said he. The situation was tantalizing in the extreme. The strange savage knew more, just now, than I did concerning Waimata; yet I did not venture to question him. I looked seaward. A light breath of the trade-wind now fanned our faces; but the surface of the water slept almost unruffled, an unbroken sheet that merged into the bright horizon of the east. Suddenly, as a loon rises from the depths of a lake, a strange apparition became evident upon that smooth expanse-an apparition so incredible that I could hardly believe the testimony of my eyes. She must have been in the Sea-Cave, thought I; where else? for close to the seaward edge of the little hillock by which we stood Waimata rose to the surface of the water. She shook the brine from her locks; she smiled, seeing us, and struck out for the shore. In a moment she had reached the land, and stood again by me, as one risen from the grave. She was clad in a short tunic; a string of rosy sea-shells encircled her neck. I had never seen her looking more beautiful. We clung to each other for a moment, speechless. She perceived my agitation at her reappearance, and divined that I was ignorant of the way in which her absence had occurred. Together, we strolled aside, commanding Orion to await our return. "Where have you been since I bade you good-night?" at last inquired I, when we were beyond hearing-distance of our vassal. "In the Sea-Cave," returned Waimata. "I have been preparing it for you." แ "But why did you leave me without letting me know? and how did you manage to get away without awakening me, or leaving any trace behind ? " "I saw the canoe of Kanuha's messenger by the first morning light. I knew that he belonged to a tribe that did not respect the sacred island; and when he turned his course this way I thought that I would remain concealed until he left." "How did you know his canoe?" "By the shape of the sail. It is only Kanuha's craft that have a sail like that." And she indicated to me the peculiar triangular outline of the sail, a figure that I had already noticed, without knowing that any peculiar significance attached to it. Waimata was an expert in all the nautical heraldry of the islands. "But why did you come down from the palm-tree?" "I am telling you. The messenger landed by starlight, and saw this tree from the beach; for its knotted plumes attracted his notice, and he knew that there was an inhabitant upon the island. So he came straight toward us. I watch ed for him from the top of the tree; for I could parley with him safely there if there should be danger; and if he were obedient, I intended to prepare a surprise for you." "So you surprised me by deserting me!" "I thought I should return before you woke. When the messenger approached, Ku-ku-hi-" "I have named him Orion," said I. "When Orion approached I stood up in the palm-tree and commanded him to come silently to the foot of the tree. He obeyed; and I knew that he was disposed to be friendly. Then I motioned to him not to disturb you, but to lean against the trunk of the tree and receive me upon his shoulders as I descended. So I mounted upon his back and he carried me away." In all the South Pacific islands there are no beasts of burden; larger quadrupeds, indeed, than the pig are unknown; and the chiefs, lacking horses, ride upon the shoulders of their vassals, who are trained to perform the duties of roadsters and pack-horses in a very satisfactory manner. There is a regal signal of command, used when the chieftain desires to mount; and this signal Waimata had employed. mata and I returned along the beach to bring our own canoe to the Sea-Cave's mouth. It was an errand of not more than half an hour. We came flying back before the now freshly-blowing trade-wind, and beaching our canoe, awaited Orion's return. Staggering under a load of fruit, that eminent personage soon appeared among the colonnades of cocoanut-stems. "And now," said I, "let us go together to the Sea-Cave." Bidding Orion to follow us, we plunged into the water and came, with a few strokes, to the face of the steep declivity that formed the seaward wall of the mound. I was not then sufficiently acquainted with science to perceive the geological solecism of which Nature had been guilty in raising this hummock upon the shores of a coral island. But, now that I endeavor to write an intelligent account of my adventures, I can explain what may seem incredible to any but an experienced geologist—the formation of a cave in a coral reef. Waimata and I paused before the coral cliff, sustaining ourselves by that turtlelike movement of the hands which swimmers use when "treading water." Orion "And where did you go?" demand- followed us at two fathoms' distance, and ed I. floated before him a bunch of cocoanuts. "Take a puhi maitai" (a good long breath), said she, "and dive after me." And as the loon dives, so Waimata disappeared. A ruffling of the water, a few shining coils of ripple thrown to the surface, and she was gone. Orion watched me; and I feared that he suspected my ignorance of the island. Unequal as was our strength' on land, it would be mere madness to give him any opportunity for a breach of the peace in the water. Waimata did not reappear. I passed the order to Orion, "Follow me!" and taking a full inspiration, dived toward the rock as Waimata had done. Keeping my eyes wide open, and push ing vigorously forward at a depth of not more than five or six feet from the surface, I found that the face of the rock opened before me, and offered a portal of entrance. A broad cleft in the very foundation of the island yawned gloomily; and the tide was sucked into this dark chasm. I felt of the roof and sides of the subterranean channel. They were not coral, but lava; sharp and jagged in some places, in others worn smooth by the action of centuries of the tides, and fes tooned with trailing mosses. The current drew me onward into the depth; and a chill seemed to strike through the water as I advanced. I struck out vigorously, for it was impossible to retreat against the tide. My breath was already beginning to fail. Should I be trapped in some of these subterranean crevices, and stunned or drowned? I was shooting forward at a fearful velocity, for the channel contracted as I advanced, and I was going I knew not whither, hurled forward into the very subterranean abyss of nether darkness. The water was now absolutely black around me. I bruised my knee sharply, but did not feel the pain. My breath was nearly gone; I had but half a minute longer before insensibility would supervene. Waimata betrayed me? The thought was one that I could not accept; yet it gave me a desperate strength. I swam as I had never swam before. Hardly three strokes more, and I saw a faint, suffused, and yellowish light gleaming in the water above and before me. How few civilized people know how sunlight looks when seen from under water, or torchlight? Were this record meant for the public, I should not detain the reader here to describe my own private experiences of Nature as viewed from under water. But often have I lain upon my back, eyes open, at the bottom of a shallow stream, and studied the cloud-colors through the medium of two elements! How well I know the weird aspect that field and forest put on when seen with their tints diffracted and fused in the flowing water, and their perspec tive inverted from the subaqueous point of view! How strange and sudden the transmission of sound beneath the water, how intense and metallic its character! What a novel sensation the ear receives when it listens, far below the surface, to voices that come down to it from the upper air! I would like to write a story for an audience of divers. They alone could understand the impressions of the five new senses that the diver enjoys; for each sense has a novel extension and scope when employed in an unfamiliar medium. The poets have attained reputation for familiarity with nature; but theirs is only a half-accomplishment; they have known the nature of the air, not the nature of the water. I knew both; and seeing the diffused yellow gleam of the light ahead, I knew that it was the light of a torch in a dark place, that it was burning in pure air, and that it was not more than ten yards distant from me. So, plucking up courage, I shot myself along with powerful strokes. I heard the metallic clicking of stones struck together under water, apparently to direct my course, and knew the signal to be intended for me. The channel widened, the water was now full of yellow light. In a moment I rose panting to the surface. I gazed around. I was in an immense submarine cave. Waimata stood upon the sandy beach which lined its ocean-floor, and a gigantic torch of tutui nuts cast a flaring illumination upon stalactites of lava, and the ribs of a groined lava-vault that hung overhead. It was a vast and secret grotto, hidden away in the very heart of sea and earth. Waimata welcomed me with a warm embrace. "Here," said she, we can live happily, if Ku-ku-hi-pa-kai-i-ke-hoku-lan-gi does not betray us.” "Any man might become a traitor under such a name as that," returned I. "Call him Orion, and see if he will not behave well under a foreign baptism." Waimata laughed and said, “We shall have to drown him if he does not." Was she then quite a savage at heart? Had she more of the tiger-cat in her |
