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He told us that his name was Macco, that he was born in Madagascar, at a village in the north of that large island. With several lads from the same village he had gone on board a vessel which had carried them to the Mauritius. There he had worked as a field-labourer for some time, and though not a slave, treated very little better than one.
I endeavoured to comfort him by saying, that as they were Mohammedans they certainly would not eat us, though I could not be answerable for their not taking our lives; and, as far as I could, I endeavoured to persuade him to be prepared for whatever might happen. "But how I know he does love us?" asked Macco.
We could not help feeling anxious, lest on this occasion they might discover us. "But we must hope for the best," I said half aloud. "Yes, Massa Walter, hope for de best," repeated Macco; "and if it no come, still hope for de best. All best when we put trust in God."
Having caught a good supply of fish, we paddled back towards the shore. "I vote we land on the beach, instead of going back to those dirty huts," I observed. And Oliver agreed with me. Macco, however, seemed rather doubtful that we should bring down on our heads the displeasure of our masters. The women had landed some time before.
It was important, however, to get the creature out at once, for if it were exposed to the sun, it would, in all probability, not be fit to eat by the evening. Macco, ever fertile in resource, ran off, and soon returned with a supply of bamboos, which he split up into fine long wedges.
Macco, indeed, was installed soon afterwards as a butler at the vicarage; while Potto Jumbo became under-cook in my establishment, and soon, by his intelligence and attention, rose to be head-cook. Dick Tarbox and Roger Trew promised, when they gave up the sea, to come and settle down on my estate, and I pointed out the site where I would build two cottages for their accommodation.
Just as we were within ten yards of the entrance, out popped a large black creature, which turned round chattering and grinning at us, and then bolted off as fast as it could, with a lump of sago in its paws. "Monkey! monkey!" cried Macco, giving chase with his spear.
We can work away at the stem with our knives, and do a little every day, in the meantime subsisting on the eggs and the shell-fish." "Yes, yes," said Macco; "we choose small tree, enough for us to live on for many days, and we soon have him down." Before starting, however, the tide being still low, we collected a further supply of shell-fish.
On the other side rose up the dark forests with their curious tracery of creepers. Here and there our feet struck against shells of rare beauty, such as would delight a collector in England. Just then, however, we thought of little but making our way as rapidly as we could from our captors. I asked Macco if he could make out where the princess was leading us. "Not know," he answered.
As soon as we were clear of the harbour, we got out our oars and paddles, and urged the raft away from the island. It was nearly calm. The heat was drawing the air towards the mountain, thus creating a contrary breeze to what we expected to find, or wished for. The scene which took place on our own island when Macco and I were carried from it, was vividly recalled to my mind.
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