第82章

We placed no restrictions upon him, and supplied all his wants, giving him Bruno as a guide and protector.I must say that Yamba did not like the stranger, but for my sake she was wonderfully patient with him.

It was whilst living on the shores of this lagoon that I received a very extraordinary commission from a neighbouring tribe.Not long after my arrival I heard a curious legend, to the effect that away on the other side of the lagoon there was an "evil spirit"infesting the waters, which terrified the women when they went down to fill their skins.Well, naturally enough, the fame of the white man and his doings soon got abroad in that country, and I was one day invited by the tribe in question to go and rid them of the evil spirit.Accordingly, accompanied by Yamba, and leaving Bruno to look after our helpless companion, we set off in response to the invitation, and in a few days reached the camp of the blacks who had sent for me.The lagoon was here surrounded by a finely-wooded country, slightly mountainous.Perhaps I ought to have stated that I had already gleaned from the mail-men, or runners, who had been sent with the message, that the waters of the lagoon in the vicinity of the camp had long been disturbed by some huge fish or monster, whose vagaries were a constant source of terror.The dreaded creature would come quite close inshore, and then endeavour to "spear" the women with what was described as a long weapon carried in its mouth.This, then, was the evil spirit of the lagoon, and I confess it puzzled me greatly.I thought it probable that it was merely a large fish which had descended in a rain-cloud among countless millions of others of smaller species.I looked upon the commission, however, as a good opportunity for displaying my powers and impressing the natives in that country--I always had the utmost confidence in myself.Before setting out I had spent some little time in completing my preparations for the capture of the strange monster.

The very afternoon I arrived I went down to the shores of the lagoon with all the natives, and had not long to wait before Ibeheld what was apparently a huge fish careering wildly and erratically hither and thither in the water.On seeing it the natives appeared tremendously excited, and they danced and yelled, hoping thereby to drive the creature away.My first move was in the nature of an experiment--merely with the object of getting a better view of the monster.I endeavoured to angle for it with a hook made out of a large piece of sharpened bone.I then produced large nets made out of strips of green hide and stringy-bark rope.

Placing these on the shores of the lagoon, I directed Yamba to build a little bark canoe just big enough to hold her and me.

At length we embarked and paddled out a few hundred yards, when we threw the net overboard.It had previously been weighted, and now floated so that it promptly expanded to its utmost capacity.No sooner had we done this than the invisible monster charged down upon us, making a tremendous commotion in the water.Neither Yamba nor I waited for the coming impact, but threw ourselves overboard just as the creature's white sawlike weapon showed itself close to the surface only a few yards away.We heard a crash, and then, looking backward as we swam, saw that the long snout of the fish had actually pierced both sides of the canoe, whilst his body was evidently entangled in the meshes of the net.So desperate had been the charge that our little craft was now actually a serious encumbrance to the monster.It struggled madly to free itself, leaping almost clear of the water and lashing the placid lagoon into a perfect maelstrom.

Several times the canoe was lifted high out of the water; and then the fish would try to drag it underneath, but was prevented by its great buoyancy.In the meantime Yamba and I swam safely ashore, and watched the struggles of the "evil spirit" from the shore, among a crowd of frantic natives.

We waited until the efforts of the fish grew feebler, and then put off in another bark canoe (the celerity with which Yamba made one was something amazing), when I easily despatched the now weakened creature with my tomahawk.I might here mention that this was actually the first time that these inland savages had seen a canoe or boat of any description, so that naturally the two I launched occasioned endless amazement.

Afterwards, by the way, I tried to describe to them what the sea was like, but had to give it up, because it only confused them, and was quite beyond their comprehension.When we dragged the monster ashore, with its elongated snout still embedded in the little canoe, I saw at a glance that the long-dreaded evil spirit of the lagoon was a huge sawfish, fully fourteen feet long, its formidable saw alone measuring nearly five feet.This interesting weapon Iclaimed as a trophy, and when I got back to where Bruno and his human charge were, I exhibited it to crowds of admiring blacks, who had long heard of the evil spirit.The great fish itself was cooked and eaten at one of the biggest corroborees I had ever seen.

The blacks had no theory of their own (save the superstitious one), as to how it got into the lagoon; and the only supposition I can offer is, that it must have been brought thither, when very small and young, either by a rain-cloud or at some unusually big flood time.

So delighted were the blacks at the service I had done them, that they paid me the greatest compliment in their power by offering me a chieftainship, and inviting me to stay with them for ever.Irefused the flattering offer, however, as I was quite bent on getting back to Cambridge Gulf.