CHAPTER VI.

      The Raft

       Table of Contents

      Briant, Donagan and Service went out on a long exploring expedition and discovered that someone had lived and died on the Island before their coming, for they found the ruined ajoupa or hut in which he had lived, rough tools he had made, a bolas for hunting and a map which showed the place to be a large island with a goodly river, lake and dense forests. Finally, they came across his skeleton and buried it. From the papers of the unfortunate man they learned that he was a French sailor, François Baudoin, and that he had been cast upon the island more than fifty years before the time when they had met with a like fate. Full of these tidings they returned to the wreck and the rest of their party.

      The reception the explorers met with can be imagined. Gordon, Cross, Baxter, Garnett and Webb, clasped them in their arms, while the little ones threw their arms around their necks and shouted for joy. Fan took part in the rejoicing, and barked as loudly as the youngsters cheered. It seemed so long since Briant and his companions had gone away.

      " Were they lost ? Had they fallen among savages ? Had they been attacked by cannibals ? " Such were the questions those who remained behind had asked themselves.

      But Briant, Donagan, Wilcox, and Service had come back again to tell them the story of their expedition. As, however, they were very tired after their long day's work, the story was postponed till the morning.

      " We are on an island ! "

      That was all Briant said, and that was enough to reveal the troubles in store for them, although Gordon received the news without betraying much discouragement.

      " Good ! I'll wait," he seemed to say to himself, " and not trouble myself about it till it comes."

      Next morning—the 5th of April—Gordon, Briant, Donagan, Baxter, Cross, Wilcox, Service, Webb, Garnett, and also Moko, whose advice was always valuable, gathered together in the bow of the yacht, while the others were still asleep. In turns Briant and Donagan told their comrades all that had happened. They told them how a causeway across a stream, and the remains of an ajoupa had led them to believe that the country was inhabited. They explained how the wide sheet of water they had at first taken for the sea was nothing but a lake; how fresh traces they had come upon led them to the cave, near where the stream flowed out of the lake; how the bones of Francois Baudoin had been discovered; and how the map made by him showed that it was an island on which the schooner had been wrecked.

      The story was told in full, neither Briant nor Donagan omitting the smallest detail; and now all who looked at the map understood only too well that help could come to them but from the sea.

      However, if the future presented itself in the gloomiest colours, and the boys could only place their hope in God, there was one who felt much less alarmed than the others, and that was Gordon. The young American had no relatives in New Zealand. And to his practical, methodical, organizing mind, there was nothing so very difficult in the task of founding a colony. He saw the chance that offered for the exercise of his natural gift, and he did not hesitate to keep up the spirits of his comrades by promising them a fairly good time if they would only help him.

      And in the first place, as the island was of considerable size, it seemed impossible that it was not marked on the map of the Pacific near the American coast. They turned to the atlas, but no island of importance could they find outside the Archipelagoes which include the Fuegian or Magellanic Islands, and those of Desolation, Queen Adelaide, Clarence, etc., etc. If it had been in one of these Archipelagoes, and only separated from the continent by narrow channels, Baudoin would certainly have shown it on his map, and this he had not done. It must be a lonely island, and probably more to the north or the south than these Archipelagoes. But without the necessary elements or instruments it was impossible to fix its position in the Pacific.

      All that could be done at present was to take up their quarters and make themselves comfortable before the wet season had made it impossible to move.

      " The best thing to do," said Briant, " is to move into the cave near the lake. It would make a capital place to live in."

      " Is it large enough to hold the lot of us ?" asked Baxter.

      " No," answered Donagan, " but I think we could make it larger by digging out another cave from it. We have tools—"

      " Let us try it first as it is," said Gordon, " and if it is too small we can—"

      " And let us get there as soon as we can," interrupted Briant.

      The matter was urgent. As Gordon had said, the schooner became less habitable every day. The late rains and the hot sun had opened up the cracks in the hull and deck considerably. The torn sails allowed the wind and water to find their way inside. The sand on which it rested had been undermined, and it had slanted further over and sunk deeper into the sand. If a storm were to come, there was every chance of the wreck going to pieces in a few hours. The sooner the boys cleared out the better, and it would be well for them to take the hull to pieces methodically, so as to secure all that would be useful, such as beams, planks, iron, copper, with a view of properly fitting up " French Den " as the cave had been called in memory of the shipwrecked Frenchman.

      " And in the meantime where shall we live ? " asked Donagan.

      " In a tent," answered Gordon. " In a tent under the trees by the river-side."

      " That is the best thing," said Briant, " and let us begin without losing an hour."

      The demolition of the yacht, the unloading of the material and provisions, the construction of a raft for the transport of the cargo, would take at least a month of hard work, and before leaving the bay it would be the first week of May, which corresponds to the first week in November in the northern hemisphere, that is to say, the beginning of winter.

      Gordon had chosen the bank of the river as the site of the tent because the transport was to take place by water. No other way was more direct or convenient. To carry all that remained of the yacht through the forest or along the bank of the river, would have been almost