Chapter 10 - The elephantine tortoise
Twenty-four hours later, the fugitives, continued to consume coal, so decided to distance the steamboat as much as possible. Before running out of fuel, sighted the high mountains of the greater island of Kikobar, where they planned to stop a few days, to get food and fuel before starting the western Indian Ocean crossing.
For fear of being taken and massacred by the natives, they had not stopped in any of the other islands. However, they had to stock up on coal, and because during those hours they had eaten only two biscuits, forgotten in the driver's box, who knows how long, and hadn't drunk a drop of water.
«Let's move straight to Kicobar». Said Blake, who knew nearly every island planted in the vast Indian Ocean. «There we will find water and food and wait for the steamboat to pass. Please, keep away from the natives, lest they inform our pursuers of our presence».
They had loaded the boat's boiler up to their mouths and speeded up the race, it being almost evening.
The Nicobaras form an archipelago of ten islands, distant from each other, of which the great Kikobar, which is the southernmost. They are all mountainous and covered with trees, with many fruit trees.
However, the climate is very unhealthy, due to the continuous rains produced by the monsoons.
Terrible fevers have always made colonization of those impossible lands, even though they have convenient ports where ships could find a safe haven, that have multiplied after the abandonment of those lands by the settlers.
The natives are not that wild, indeed they are shy and hospitable, as long as they do not touch their women of which they are extremely jealous.
The lifeboat, voraciously devouring the last part of the coal. They arrived an hour after sunset near the western part of Kicobar, which were covered with thick plants.
They passed two villages, near a coral reef and stopped in a tiny bay, where a stream flowed. The three men put out the fire so as not to waste the coal that was still burning in vain, and after having firmly tied the lifeboat, they went ashore carrying the rifle, the pistol and two blankets, the only ones they possessed and with which they expected to be more late sails.
«Let's look for dinner first», said Blake «pleased to be on the ground and so far from the penitentiary».
«Are there any inhabitants on this island?» Kaj asked.
«Few villages, but we don't have to worry about the natives. Even if they found us they wouldn't bother us, they respect the visitors, they already know the Europeans» Blake reassured them, but he didn't know how much he was wrong.
«Is it true they have tails, Mr. Blake?» Jody asked.
«This is just a legend!» replied the former officer laughing «From a distance, it really seems that they have it, because these islanders wear a piece, hang up down their backs».
«Will the vessel come looking for us here?» Kaj asked.
«It is likely that he will make a stop in the bay, to question the natives, so I would prefer they not see us. But this place seems deserted to me and in the middle of the forest they won't find us easily. Go find oysters and crabs on the beach, Jody, while we look for fruit to eat».
«Mr. Blake», said Jody, stopping «are there any wild beasts here?» I would not like to fall into the tigers'nails».
«No tigers, yes crocodiles, and very poisonous snakes too. Look well where you put your feet.
As Jody made his way towards the beach, Blake and Kaj entered the forest, over which giant bats hovered, stopping in front of a tree, whose branches bent under the weight of some wrinkled fruit, almost as big as a man's head child.
«This is an Ulu, or breadfruit tree, who will provide us as much food as we want» said Blake, who had immediately recognized it.
«A mellori we call, sir.» Kaj said «We will be able to load the lifeboat and keep the pulp if we have the precaution of making it ferment a few days underground».
«Can you go up Kaj?»
«The injuries don't bother me anymore, Mr. Blake.»
The pearl fisherman clung to some creepers, which bore the large leaves folded and filled with rainwater and, reaching a branch, he dropped a dozen of those large fruits to the ground.
He was about to go down, when towards the beach they heard Jody scream:
«Quick, run or it runs away!»
Blake jumped to the rifle he had leaned against the tree trunk, while Kaj dropped to the ground.
«Quick, Kaj!» launching into a wild race. «Someone can threaten Jody».
It was no longer than a meter and a half, but its strong black shell rose to form a kind of dome, under which at least two hundred kilos of meat must have been.
Those monsters, whose sight makes you think of dinosaurs, are rarely seen in the Indian Ocean, when sailors meet them try to catch them for their succulent meat.
The turtle, discovered by the machinist, under the numerous sticks, had withdrawn its head and stopped, sure to be protected inside its bony fortress, certainly did not think it would be overturned on its back.
But he had made the math badly, because Blake, since he didn't want to offer his head to Kaj's knife, fired a gunshot into him, smashing his skull.
«There he is immobilized forever» he declared.
«Already the taste on the spit» said the machinist «I'm just thinking about opening this shell, because we don't even have an ax and then it wouldn't be enough, we would need picks».
«There is only one thing to do» Kaj said.
«Which?» asked Jodv curiously.
«Surround it with dry wood and cook it on the spot, as a pot. When the shell has charred, it will give way easily».
«Here's an idea that would never have occurred to me!» Jody laughed. «If I had been alone I would have starved to death, beside this mountain of flesh. What a beast! Too bad we can't eat all this exquisite pulp».
«Invite a dozen natives to lunch» Kaj suggested «and perhaps that wouldn't be enough to empty this mass yet. And where did you surprise this animal?».
«He was fighting another less big one, in the middle of the beach dunes. The other was faster and was saved in time by sinking into the sea.»
«They were fighting! How heavy are they?»
«Yes Kaj and they bit fiercely on the neck, trying to knock the opponent over on the back.»
«Indeed, this is the blow they usually try, because if it succeeds, it kills the rival forever» said Blake.
«How do they kill themselves by falling on their backs?» Jody asked «I don't think they have backbones, with that armor that protects it».
«That's not what they die for, they can't turn around anymore, because of their short legs and enormous weight, so they stay in that position forever, until they starve and the sun dries them».
«I didn't think turtles were so clever, but I saw that the smaller one was trying to get under the belly of the bigger one.»
«We haven't eaten anything for twenty-four hours, can we postpone the conversation until after dinner?» Kai suggested.
«You're right, let's go gather wood.»
They weren't forced to go very far. There were plenty of dry branches under the trees, and even the ocean shore was strewn with dry seaweed.
They completely covered the colossal turtle with one and the other and set it on fire, without thinking that the flame could be seen both by the natives and perhaps even by the vessel.
While the poor beast sizzled in its fat spreading an exquisite scent around it, Kai collected the oil that escaped from the openings in its legs, filling several large shells that he had collected on the beach. It could be burnt as coal with the wood.
Blake peeled the fruit, removing the internal pulp, a nice yellow color and soft like bread dough, which he cut into large pieces and put them to roast on the embers.
Half an hour later, leaving the fire to go out, Kaj with a few strokes of his knife broke through the armor, in the upper part, now charred, and with a shell with sharp edges extracted several kilos of meat, which had to be exquisite by the perfume.
«At the table, gentlemen» he announced, placing in front of the other two fugitives one of the largest and most beautiful mother-of-pearl shells of the Indian Ocean, iridescent in color and which had become their dish.
«Come on, stuff yourself, there are another twenty portions of this delicious meat left inside that barrel.»
The three convicts, who had a ferocious appetite, attacked dinner, boasting, between one bite and another, the goodness of that meat and its very tasty flavor, accompanied by toasted slices of the breadfruit.
They were about to declare themselves more than full when they heard the sound of loose branches and hurried steps towards the nearby wood. Blake leapt to his feet, cocking his rifle and shouting:
«Who lives?...»