The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1900-05-26
CHAPTER XVIII.

boy maze a lazy man, Just as a crook
ed sapling makes a crooked tree"
1t was fortunate for me, however,
while on the island OF Alphonso, that
habits were those Of activity, and
that / was never Emphatic by nature.
After dawn next morning we set
about the erection of a hut, though
we had no other tools than a small
Ratchet and our claspknives. With
these we cut or tore down a great num-
Der Of large branches, and stuck them
In the earth, selecting a place where
two angles of impending rock conven-
iently enough formed two solid walls
for our edifice, leaving US but two
others to erect.
AS Tom Lambourne said, "the fellow
who cannot use a hammer or ak is only
half a man." so we ali worked hard
with such implements as we had, until
u hut was complete.
We left an entrance next the rocks
by which to creep in and out, and
then matched or built over the inter-
twisted branches with turf, torn I'D by
u hands, and with broad plantain
leaves, creepers and all kinds of ten
drills that had toughness and consist
ency woven to form a roof.
At the erection of this most primi-
tive wigwam we toiled the whole day.,
save during the scorching interval at
noon, and ere nightfall it was complete,
with piles Of dried leaves and seagrass
for couches and bedroom furniture.
Therein we placed all our provisions
the three bags Of bread, two kegs
of rum (Which, by unanimous consent.
were placed under the sole supervision
Of Hislop); our four casks of water
were also brought ashore, though there
was no lack Of pure springs on the
island.
In this wtgWam were also placed our
blankets, the sails and tackle of the
longboat, and then the succeeding DAYS
were spent in accommodating provisions
Gas we looked forward with dread to
our last biscuit, and a signal-post was
erected on the mountain.
With Probart, the carpenter, and
Henry Warren 1.-TWO of our stoutest
hands,, Tom Lambourne and I vent
upon this duty.
Alternately carrying upon our shout
ders or dragging in our handa the
studding-sail boom, we toiled *hrougb
wild and untrodden wastes tolsard the
summit of the great and yet nameIess
conical mountain that rears It's lonely
scalp to the height of five Thousand
feet above the waves of the Southern
SEA.
Iha Aope that on reaching It's suYa-
mNs we might descry a sail was an Ad-
3itional incentive 20 toll up thp e.eep
sAapA er,--',32 lingering by the Uny.
On leaving a fiat savanna Of sedge
grass ge reached a series of wooded
ridges, which form the base ot the
mountain, at every step roustng clords
OF hirds. especially a species of black
cock. and t~jGe in the jungle we came
! apou the lair Of wild boars of great
SIZE and such ferocity Of aspect that
we were glad to shrink astern of Tat
tooed Tom, who carried the Ratchet,
lhls jungle was exceedingly difficult
OF penetration, owing to its density,
the number of wild aloes, with GREEN
ing plants, prickly pears and Other
tropical weeds, of what kisd I knox
not, twined about them, 1t was a l9s.
era wilderness of serrated gross
blades. yellow gourds and great
squashy pumpkins, like gigantic vega
table marrowa, all woven in4o an in
e~xtrlcable network OF leaves, tendrils
and branches.
In other places We had to force n
passage through thickets Of richly
noWered shrubs and tall plants, with
mighty leaves, the general g~reenerv
or the landscape being increased nv
1ne many runnels of fine spring water
which poured down the assures of the
mountain into the plain we had left.
BY the sides of these ruznsIs we
frequently paused, and making a Gun
OF a large leaf, filled it with the cool,
limpld water that gurgled over the
rocks, to quench our constant thirst:
and for a time such cups were the only
drinking vessels we had while on the
island of Alphonso.
At last We gained the summit of the
mountain, and with mingled satisfac-
ton and anxiety in our hearts, swept
the horizon with eager eyes.
Not a sail was in sight!
Far as eyesight could reach
around us in a mighty circle. rolled
the waters of the Southern Atlantic,
almost tepid with heat, and pale and
white, they seemed to palpitate under
the rays of the unclouded sun.
AT our feet lay the whole isle of
Alphonso and its two rock appendices,
with the encircling sea boiling in the
narrow chasms between them with a
fury which was the result of contrary
currents, and which formed a singular
contrast to its calmness elsewhere.
After a brief rest We prepared to set
up the s~ignal-post.
Tom took off his shirt, and drawing
from his pocket a piece of spunyarn,
which a seaman is seldom without, he
dashed his undergarment to the end
of the studding-sail boom, and by the
cid OF the Ratchet and our hands, we
scrapea e hole sufficiently deep in
which to erect The spar, and then jam
NED n hard and fast with stones. AS
the shirt was blown out flag fashion
upon the wind. we hoped it would