The Swiss family Robinson
I, in the meantime, set about suspending our hammocks to some of
the arched roots of the trees. I next spread a piece of sail-cloth
large enough to cover them, to preserve us from the dew, and from the
insects. I then hastened with the two eldest boys to the seashore, to
choose out such pieces of wood as were most proper for the steps of
my ladder. Ernest was so lucky as to discover some bamboo canes in a
sort of bog. I took them out, and, with his assistance, completely
cleared them from the dirt; and stripping off their leaves, I found,
to my great joy, that they were precisely what I wanted. I then
instantly began to cut them with my hatchet, in pieces of four or
five feet long; the boys bound them together in faggots, and we
prepared to return with them to our place of abode. I next secured
some of the straight and most slender of the stalks, to make some
arrows with, of which I knew I should stand in need. At some distance
from the place where we stood, I perceived a sort of thicket, in
which I hoped to find some young pliant twigs, which I thought might
also be useful to me: we proceeded to the spot; but apprehending it
might be the retreat of some dangerous reptile or animal, we held
our guns in readiness. Flora, who had accompanied us, went before.
We had hardly reached the thicket before she made several jumps, and
threw herself furiously into the middle of the bushes; when a troop
of large-sized flamingoes sprang out, and with a loud rustling noise
mounted into the air. Fritz fired, when two of the birds fell among
the bushes: one of them was quite dead; the other was only slightly
wounded in the wing, and finding that he could not fly, he ran so
fast towards the water, that we were afraid he would escape us.
Fritz, in the joy of his heart, plunged up to his knees in the water,
to pick up the flamingo he had killed, and with great difficulty was
able to get out again; while I, warned by his example, proceeded
more cautiously in my pursuit of the wounded bird. Flora came to
my assistance, and running on before, caught hold of the flamingo,
and held him fast till I reached the spot, and took him into my
protection. All this was effected with considerable trouble; for the
bird made a stout resistance, flapping its wing with violence for
some time. But at last I succeeded in securing him.
Fritz was not long in extricating himself from the swamp; he now
appeared holding the dead flamingo by the feet: but I had more
trouble in the care of mine, as I had a great desire to preserve
him alive. I had tied his feet and his wings with my handkerchief;
notwithstanding which, he still continued to flutter about to a
distressing degree, and tried to make his escape. I held the flamingo
under my left arm, and my gun in my right hand. I made the best jumps
I was able to get to the boys, but the risk of sinking every moment
in the mud, which was extremely deep, and from which it would have
been difficult to release me.
I now selected some of the oldest of the stalks of bamboo, and cut
from them their hard pointed ends, to serve for the tips of my
arrows. Lastly, I looked for two of the longest canes, which I cut,
for the purpose of measuring the height of our giant tree, about
which I felt so deep an interest. When I told my sons the use I
intended to make of the two longest canes, they indulged themselves
in a hearty laugh at me, and maintained that, though I should lay
ten such canes up the trunk of the tree, the last would not reach
even the lowest branch. I requested they would oblige me by having a
little patience. We now thought of returning. Ernest took the charge
of the canes; Fritz carried the dead flamingo, and I resumed the care
of the living one.
We at length arrived once more at our giant trees, and were received
with a thousand expressions of interest and kindness. All were
delighted at the sight of our new captures. My wife, with her usual
anxiety about the means for subsisting, asked where we should get
food enough for all the animals we brought home?--“You should
consider,” said I, “that some of them feed us, instead of being fed;
and the one we have now brought need not give you much uneasiness,
if, as I hope, he proves able to find food for himself.” I now began
to examine his wound, and found that only one wing was injured by the
ball, but that the other had also been slightly wounded by the dog
laying hold of him. I applied some ointment to both, which seemed
immediately to ease the pain. I next tied him by one of his legs,
with a long string, to a stake I had driven into the ground, quite
near to the river, that he might go in and wash himself when he
pleased.
In the meantime, my little railers had tied the two longest canes
together, and were endeavouring to measure the tree with them;
but when they found that they reached no further than the top of
the arch formed by the roots, they all burst into immoderate fits
of laughter, assuring me, that if I wished to measure the tree, I
must think of some other means. I however sobered them a little by
recalling to Fritz’s memory some lessons in land-surveying he had
received in Europe, and that the measure of the highest mountains,
and their distance from each other, may be ascertained by the
application of triangles and supposed lines. I instantly proceeded
to this kind of operation, fixing my canes in the ground, and making
use of some string, which Fritz guided according to my directions.
I found that the height of the lower branches of our tree was forty
feet; a particular I was obliged scrupulously to ascertain before I
could determine the length of my ladder. I now set Fritz and Ernest
to work, to measure our stock of thick ropes, of which I wanted
no less than eighty feet for the two sides of the ladder; the two
youngest I employed in collecting all the small string we had used
for measuring, and carrying it to their mother. For my part, I sat
down on the grass, and began to make some arrows with a piece of the
bamboo, and the short sharp points of the canes I had taken such
pains to secure. As the arrows were hollow, I filled them with moist
sand, to give them a little weight; and lastly, I tipped them with a
bit of feather from the flamingo, to make them fly straight.
Just at this moment Fritz joined us, having finished measuring the
ropes: he brought me the welcome tidings, that our stock, in all, was
about five hundred fathoms, which I knew to be more than sufficient
for my ladder. I now tied the end of a ball of strong thread to an
arrow, and fixing it to the bow, I shot it off in such a direction
as to make the arrow pass over one of the largest branches of the
tree, and fall again to the ground. By this method I lodged my thread
securely, while I had the command of the end and the ball below. It
was now easy to tie a piece of rope to the end of the thread, and
draw it upwards, till the knot should reach the same branch. Having
thus made quite sure of being able to raise my ladder, we all set to
work with increased zeal and confidence. The first thing I did was to
cut a length of about one hundred feet from my parcel of ropes, an
inch thick; this I divided into two equal parts, which I stretched
along on the ground in two parallel lines, at the distance of a foot
from each other. I then directed Fritz to cut portions of sugar-cane,
each two feet in length. Ernest handed them to me, one after another;
and as I received them, I inserted them into my cords at the distance
of twelve inches respectively, fixing them with knots in the cord,
while Jack, by my order, drove into each a long nail at the two
extremities, to hinder it from slipping out again. Thus, in a very
short time, I had formed a ladder of forty rounds in length, and, in
point of execution, firm and compact, and which we all beheld with a
sort of joyful astonishment. I now tied it with strong knots to the
end of the rope which hung from the tree, and pulled it by the other,
till our ladder reached the branch, and seemed to rest so well upon
it, that the joyous exclamations of the boys and my wife resounded
from all sides. All the boys wished to be the first to ascend upon
it; but I decided that it should be Jack, he being the nimblest and
of the lightest figure among them. Accordingly, I and his brothers
held the ends of the rope and of the ladder with all our strength,
while our young adventurer tripped up the rounds with perfect ease,
and presently took his post upon the branch; but I observed that he
had not strength enough to tie the rope firmly to the tree. Fritz
now interfered, assuring me that he could ascend as safely as his
brother; but as he was much heavier, I was not altogether without
apprehension. I fastened the end of the ladder with forked stakes
to the ground, and then gave him instructions how to step in such a
way as to divide his weight, by occupying four rounds of the ladder
at the same time with his feet and hands. It was not long before we
saw him side by side with Jack, forty feet above our heads, and both
saluting us with cries of exultation. Fritz set to work to fasten the
ladder, by passing the rope round and round the branch; and this he
performed with so much skill and intelligence, that I felt sufficient
reliance to determine me to ascend myself, and well conclude the
business he had begun. But first I tied a large pulley to the end of
the rope, and carried it with me. When I was at the top, I fastened
the pulley to a branch which was within my reach, that by this means
I might be able the next day to draw up the planks and timbers I
might want for building my aërial castle. I executed all this by the
light of the moon, and felt the satisfaction of having done a good
day’s work. I now gently descended my rope ladder, and joined my wife
and children.
My wife presented me with the day’s work she had performed: it was
some traces, and a breast leather each for the cow and the ass. I
promised her, as a reward for her zeal and exertion, that we should
all be completely settled in the tree the following day, and we then
assembled to supper.
CHAPTER XI
The Settling in the Giant Tree
The next morning we took our breakfast, and fell to work. My wife,
having finished her daily occupation of milking the cow, and
preparing the breakfast, set off with Ernest, Jack and Francis,
attended by the ass, to the seashore: they had no doubt of finding
some more pieces of wood, and they thought it would be prudent to
replenish our exhausted store. In her absence, I ascended the tree
with Fritz, and made the necessary preparations for my undertaking,
for which I found it in every respect convenient; for the branches
grew close to each other, and in an exactly horizontal direction.
Such as grew in a manner to obstruct my design, I cut off either with
the saw or hatchet, leaving none but what presented me with a sort of
foundation for my work. I left those which spread themselves evenly
upon the trunk, and had the largest circuit, as a support for my
floor. Above these, at the height of forty-six feet, I found others,
upon which to suspend our hammocks; and higher still, there was a
further series of branches, destined to receive the roof of my tent,
which for the present was to be formed of nothing more than a large
surface of sail-cloth.
The progress of these preparations was considerably slow. It was
necessary to raise certain beams to this height of forty feet, that
were too heavy for my wife and her little assistants to lift from
the ground. I had, however, the resource of my pulley, which served
to excellent purpose, and Fritz and I contrived to draw them up to
the elevation of the tent, one by one. When I had already placed