A Storm and a Strange Land

It was the summer vacation in New Zealand at the end of 1859, and fourteen boys were all very excited.

They all attended a school in New Zealand for the sons of wealthy families, and had been chosen to go on a sea voyage.

They were going to cruise around the whole of New Zealand to advance their education.

The voyage was expected to take six weeks. The boys couldn’t think of a better way to spend their vacation!

On the boat, there was a crew of seven sailors. There was also a cook, and a boy called Moko. He was a servant on the boat.

When the boys went aboard the boat, most of the crew had gone into town for a drink. The captain wasn’t there yet.

Only Moko and one sailor were there to greet them.

Once the boys were in bed, the sailor left Moko in charge and he went into town, too. But Moko was too tired to stay awake.

KEY WORDS

■ strange

■ land

■ New Zealand

■ at the end of

■ attend

■ wealthy

■ choose (choose–chose–chosen)

■ go on a sea voyage ( cf . voyage)

■ be going to + Verb

■ cruise

■ whole

■ advance

■ education

■ be expected to + Verb ( cf . expect)

■ take (take–took–taken)

■ week

■ better

■ crew

■ sailor

■ servant

■ go aboard ( cf . aboard)

■ go for a drink (go–went–gone)

■ captain

■ yet

■ greet

■ once

■ leave (leave–left–left)

■ in charge

■ too ... to ~

■ stay awake ( cf . stay)

Somehow, the rope that tied the boat to the harbor wall became unfastened. Nobody noticed the boat slipping out onto the water.

Moko was the first to wake up, and he shouted as loud as he could to wake up the others. Gordon, Briant, Doniphan, and a few others woke up. They called for help, but they were too far away for anyone to hear them.

The wind pushed the boat right out to sea, toward the Pacific Ocean. The boys saw a light coming toward them and yelled for help. It was a steam ship, huge and noisy.

Nobody aboard noticed the tiny boat or heard the boys’ cries above the noise of their own engine.

KEY WORDS

■ somehow

■ tie (↔ untie)

■ harbor

■ become (become–became–become)

■ unfastened

■ nobody

■ notice

■ slip out

■ shout

■ as loud as

■ call for ( cf. call)

■ far away

■ the Pacifi Ocean

■ light

■ yell

■ steam ship

■ huge

■ noisy

■ tiny

■ above (↔ below)

■ engine

The steam ship came so close to the boys’ boat that it knocked off a piece of the nameboard.

Luckily, the small boat stayed upright instead of sinking, but the steam ship sailed past… and the boys sailed on into a rising storm.

Of course, the boys’ families searched for them, but when they found the piece of nameboard, they guessed that the boat had sunk. Broken-hearted, they gave up the search.

KEY WORDS

■ so ... that ~

■ knock off

■ piece

■ nameboard

■ luckily

■ upright

■ instead of

■ sink (sink–sank–sunk)

■ sail

■ rising ( cf . rise)

■ search for ( cf . search)

■ guess

■ broken-hearted

■ give up (give–gave–given)

■ several

■ fin oneself (find–found–found)

■ yet another

■ endurance

■ through

■ crashing

■ rough

■ nothing to do but + Verb

■ hold on (to) (hold–held–held)

■ tight

■ tear (tear–tore–torn)

Several weeks later, the boys found themselves in yet another storm.

Each day was a test of endurance as the boat sailed on through the crashing waves.

When the weather was rough like this, there was nothing to do but hold on tight and hope that the sails would not tear.

On the deck stood Gordon, Briant, Doniphan, and Moko, all trying to steer the ship by holding onto the wheel. Doniphan looked white with fear, while Moko’s skin was as dark as the clouds above them. These four were all aged between twelve and fourteen.

In the rooms below the deck were eleven younger boys and a dog.

KEY WORDS

■ deck

■ stand (stand–stood–stood)

■ try to + Verb

■ steer

■ wheel

■ fear

■ while

■ aged

■ between

■ suddenly

■ peer

■ gloom

■ question

■ lord

■ certainly ( cf . certain)

■ seem

■ reply

■ mast

■ strip

■ horizon

Suddenly, Moko yelled, “Land! I can see land!”

“Are you sure?” asked Doniphan, peering through the early morning gloom.

He always questioned everything that other people said, wanting to be right. Some of the others called him ‘Lord

Doniphan’ because he certainly seemed to think that he was better than everyone else.

“Yes, I’m certain,” replied Moko. “Look, to the right of the mast.”

“It is land!” cried Briant. “It really is!”

Then, they all saw a long, low strip of land on the horizon. Briant was a natural leader and a quick thinker. He reasoned that if the boat was going to crash onto any rocks, everyone would be safer on deck.

He opened the door that led down to the rooms below the deck, and yelled, “Come up on deck, all of you.”

Immediately, the dog jumped out and all eleven boys followed.

The youngest ones began to scream when they saw the waves around them.

Suddenly, there was a great thud. The boat had run aground on the rocks. Waves swirled around it and lifted it clear

again, but they only carried it further in and dumped it onto some sand in shallow water.

The boat had reached the land, but what kind of land was it?

It could be a continent, in which case they could travel

overland until they reached some kind of settlement such as a village or town.

But if it was an island, things would be more complicated because there was no way of leaving without a seaworthy boat.

KEY WORDS

■ natural

■ leader

■ quick thinker ( cf . quick)

■ reason

■ crash (onto)

■ safer

■ l ead down to (lead–led–led)

■ immediately

■ follow

■ youngest

■ begin (begin–began–begun)

■ scream

■ thud

■ run aground (run–ran–run)

■ swirl

■ lift

■ clear

■ carry

■ further

■ dump

■ shallow

■ reach

■ continent

■ travel

■ overland

■ until

■ settlement

■ such as

■ village

■ island

■ things ( cf . thing)

■ complicated

■ without

■ seaworthy

The boys scrambled out of the boat and waded ashore, pulling the boat with them so that it was out of the water.

It was battered and broken up, so there was no way of sailing away from here. The shore was deserted.

KEY WORDS

■ scramble

■ wade

■ ashore

■ so that

■ battered

■ break up (break–broke–broken)

■ shore

■ deserted

“First, we need food and shelter,” said Briant. “Then, we can work out what to do next.”

Briant and Gordon walked up the beach and into the forest,where they found a cliff. They followed the cliff until they reached a stream.

On the other side of the stream was a marsh. It was clear that there was no place to shelter there.

Disappointed, the boys returned to the wrecked boat. They would have to shelter there for now.

Fortunately, the bedding, clothes, and cooking things were still on the boat. There was even food, which Moko made into a good meal.

KEY WORDS

■ shelter

■ work out

■ cliff

■ stream

■ on the other side of

■ marsh

■ disappointed

■ return

■ wrecked

■ have to + Verb

■ for now

■ fortunately

■ bedding

■ still

■ meal

Moko was a very sensible and helpful boy, with many practical skills that he used to make everyone safe and comfortable.

Everyone seemed to be surprisingly cheerful, except Briant’s younger brother, Jack, who was quite miserable.

Next morning, the boys looked at their food supplies.

Briant and Gordon judged that they had enough to last for two months, but they didn’t know how long they might have to survive in this place, so they needed to find other sources of food.

KEY WORDS

■ sensible

■ helpful

■ practical

■ skill

■ used to + Verb

■ comfortable

■ surprisingly

■ cheerful

■ except

■ quite

■ miserable

■ food supply ( cf . supply)

■ judge

■ enough

■ last

■ might + Verb

■ survive

■ source

They gathered the eggs of seabirds and caught some fish using the fishing lines from the boat. They also found shellfish on the rocks near the sea.

As well as food, there were other supplies on board, such as ropes, sails, maps, and matches. There were plenty of warm,waterproof clothes.

There were also some guns, though Briant hoped that they would never have to use those!

They decided that they must try to find shelter in the forest.

The weather on the beach was too wild, and they could not stay there when winter came.

KEY WORDS

■ gather

■ seabird

■ catch (catch–caught–caught)

■ fishing lin

■ shellfis

■ as well as

■ board

■ match

■ plenty of

■ waterproof

■ though

■ decide

■ wild

Briant, Doniphan, Service, and Wilcox set out to explore, taking the dog, Phann, with them.

Gordon, who was very sensible, stayed behind to look after the other boys.

Service was a good-hearted boy, a little lazy but generally kind and easy to get along with.

The four explorers set off along the beach. They climbed up the cliff with some difficulty, and scrambled down the other side, where they found more forest. The boys walked and walked. The forest seemed to have no end.

KEY WORDS

■ set out (set–set–set)

■ explore

■ stay behind

■ look after

■ good-hearted

■ generally

■ get along with (get–got–gotten)( cf . along)

■ set off

■ difficult

■ in the middle of

■ come across

■ make a discovery ( cf . discovery)

■ a sort of

■ wash

■ suggest

■ prove

■ nearby

In the middle of the forest, they came across a river, where they made a surprising discovery.

“Look at this,” said Service as he peered at some rocks.

“Someone has made a sort of bridge with these rocks.”

“The rocks could have been washed there by a storm,”suggested Briant. “It doesn’t prove that there are people nearby.”

But the boys were very watchful that night as they settled down to camp in the forest. They decided not to make a fire,in case there were people around. They didn’t want to attract anyone’s attention, but it meant that they spent a very cold night outside, with only cold food to eat.

The next morning, the boys woke up early and went a little way into the forest to explore it. To everyone’s surprise, they discovered that they had been sleeping close to a hut made out of leaves and wood.

KEY WORDS

■ watchful

■ settle down ( cf . settle)

■ camp

■ make a fir

■ in case

■ attract

■ attention

■ mean (mean–meant–meant)

■ to one’s surprise

■ discover

■ close to

■ hut

■ made out of

■ leaves

■ surely

■ whisper

■ as though

■ anxiously

■ cannibal

“Surely that means that there are people nearby.” whispered Doniphan.

“The hut looks old, as though it has not been used for a long time,” said Briant.

“But there might be people around,” said Service, anxiously,“and we don’t know if they are good or bad.”

“I hope they aren’t cannibals.” whispered Wilcox. CNup/80AiptInx3zPpfancfCTyVQKxbqKRgjYlUaYV+gLDjytT8qSSsKZfmrxyql