The Swiss family Robinson
he threw himself into were expressive of a delirious voluptuousness;
he stretched himself at full length, made undulating motions with
his long tail, threw his head about, raised it up, and by this sort
of action disclosed the formidable range of his sharp-pointed teeth,
which were capable of tearing us to pieces if we had excited his
hostility. I dexterously seized the moment of his raising his head,
to throw my noose over him. When this was accomplished, the boys
drew near also, and wanted instantly to draw it tight and strangle
him at once; but this I positively forbade, being unwilling to cause
the poor animal so unmerited a suffering. I had used the noose only
to make sure of him, in case it should happen that a milder mode of
killing him, which I intended to try, failed of success, in which
case I should have looked to the noose for protection; but this
was rendered unnecessary. Continuing to whistle my most affecting
melodies, I seized a favorable moment to plunge my switch into one of
his nostrils. The blood flowed in abundance, and soon deprived him of
life, without his exhibiting the least appearance of being in pain;
on the contrary, to the last moment, he seemed to be still listening
to the music.
We had now to consider of the best way for transporting to Falcon’s
Stream so large and valuable a booty. After a moment of reflection,
I perceived that I had better come at once to the determination
of carrying him across my shoulders; and the figure I made with so
singular an animal on my back, with his tail dragging on the ground,
was not the least amusing circumstance of the adventure.
We were proceeding in our return, when we distinguished the voices
of my wife and little Francis calling loudly upon my name. Our long
absence had alarmed them: we had forgotten on this occasion to give
them notice of our approach by firing our gun, and they had imagined
some terrible disaster must have befallen us. We had so many things
to tell, that, till reminded by my wife, we forgot to mention that we
had failed of procuring any water. My sons had taken out some of the
unknown apples from their pockets, and they lay on the ground by our
sides. Knips soon scented them, and came slily up and stole several,
and fell to chewing them with great eagerness. I myself threw one or
two to the bustard, who also ate them without hesitation. Being now
convinced that the apples were not of a poisonous nature, I announced
to the boys, who had looked on with envy all the time, that they
also might begin to eat them, and I myself set the example. We found
them excellent in quality, and I began to suspect that they might
be the sort of fruit called _guava_, which is much esteemed in such
countries. This regale of the apples had in some measure relieved our
thirst; but on the other hand, they had increased our hunger; and
as we had not time for preparing a portion of the lizard, we were
obliged to content ourselves with the cold provisions we had brought
with us.
We had scarcely finished, before my wife earnestly entreated we would
begin our journey home, and it appeared to me, as the evening was so
far advanced, that it would be prudent to return this once without
the sledge, which was heavy laden, and the ass could have drawn it
but slowly. I therefore determined to leave it on the spot till the
following day, when I could return and fetch it, contenting myself
with loading the ass, for the present, with the bags which contained
our new sets of porcelain; the lizard, which I feared might not keep
fresh so long; and our little Francis, who began to complain of being
tired. I took these arrangements upon myself, and left to my wife and
Fritz the care of confining the bustard in such a manner that she
could walk before us without danger of escaping.
When these preparations were complete, our little caravan was put in
motion, taking the direction of a straight line to Falcon’s Stream.
The course of our route now lay along a wood of majestic oaks, and
the ground was covered with acorns. My young travellers could not
refrain from tasting them; and finding them both sweet and mild to
the palate, I had the pleasure of reckoning them as a new means of
support.
We arrived shortly at Falcon’s Stream, and had time to employ
ourselves in some trifling arrangements before it was completely
dark. We concluded the exertions of the day with a plain repast, and
the contriving a comfortable bed for the bustard by the side of the
flamingo, and then stretched our weary limbs upon the homely couch,
rendered by fatigue luxurious, in the giant tree.
CHAPTER XXII
Excursion into Unknown Tracts
My first thought, the next morning, was to fetch the sledge from
the wood. I had a double motive for leaving it there, which I had
refrained from explaining to my wife, to avoid giving her uneasiness.
I had formed a wish to penetrate a little farther into the land, and
ascertain whether anything useful would present itself beyond the
wall of rocks. I was, besides, desirous to be better acquainted with
the extent, the form, and general productions of our island: I wished
Fritz only, who was stronger and more courageous than his brothers,
and Turk, to accompany me. We set out very early in the morning, and
drove the ass before us for the purpose of drawing home the sledge.
As we were picking up some acorns, different birds of exquisite
plumage flitted about us; for this once, I could not refuse Fritz the
pleasure of firing upon them, that we might learn their species. He
brought down three. I recognized one to be the great blue Virginia
jay, and the other two were parrots. One of the two was a superb red
parrot: the other was green and yellow.
We soon arrived at the guava trees, and a little after at the spot
where we had left the sledge, when we found our treasures in the
best possible condition; but as the morning was not far advanced, we
entered upon our intended project of penetrating beyond the wall of
rocks.
We pursued our way in a straight line at the foot of these massy,
solid productions of nature, every moment expecting to reach their
extremity, or to find some turn, or breach, or passage through
them, that should conduct us into the interior of the island, if,
as I presumed, it was not terminated by these rocks. We walked on,
continually looking about, that nothing might escape us worthy of
notice, and to anticipate and avoid such dangers as should threaten.
We next entered a pretty little grove, the trees of which were
unknown to us. Their branches were loaded with large quantities of
berries of an extraordinary quality, being entirely covered with
a minute meal or farina. I knew of a sort of bush, the berries of
which, when boiled, yield a viscous scum resembling wax: it grows in
America, and is named by botanists _Myrica cerifera_, or candleberry
tree; this plant resembled it much, and the discovery gave me great
pleasure.
A short time after, another object presented itself with equal claims
to our attention; it was the singular modes of behaviour of a kind
of bird scarcely larger than a chaffinch, and clothed in feathers of
a common brown colour. These birds appeared to exist as a republic,
there being among them one common nest, inhabited at pleasure by all
their tribes. We saw one of these nests in a tree, in a somewhat
retired situation; it was formed of plaited straws and bulrushes
intermixed; it enclosed great numbers of inhabitants, and was built
round the trunk of a tree; it had a kind of roof formed of roots and
bulrushes, carefully knit together. We observed in the sides small
apertures, seemingly intended as doors and windows to each particular
cell of this general receptacle; from a few of these apertures issued
some small branches, which served the birds as points of rest for
entering and returning: the external appearance of the whole excited
the image of an immensely large open sponge.
While we were attentively examining this interesting little colony,
we perceived numbers of a very small kind of parrot hovering about
the nest. Their gilded green wings, and the variety of their colours,
produced a beautiful effect; they seemed to be perpetually disputing
with the colonists, and not infrequently endeavoured to prevent their
entrance into the building; they attacked them fiercely, and even
tried to peck at us, if we but advanced our hand to the structure.
Fritz, who was well trained in the art of climbing trees, was
earnestly desirous to take a nearer view of them, and to secure if
possible a few individuals. He threw his burden down, and climbed
to the nest: he then tried to introduce his hand into one of the
apertures, and to seize whatever living creature it should touch in
that particular cell; what he most desired, was to find a female
brooding, and to carry both her and the eggs away. Several of the
cells were empty, but by perseverance he found one in the situation
he wished; but he received so violent a peck from an invisible bird,
that his only care was now to withdraw his hand; presently, however,
he ventured a second time to pass his hand into the nest, and
succeeded in seizing his prey, which he laid hold of, and in spite of
the bird’s resistance, he drew it through the aperture, and squeezed
it into the pocket of his waistcoat, and buttoning it securely, he
slided down the tree, and reached the ground in safety. The signals
of distress sent forth by the prisoner collected a multitude of birds
from their cells, who all surrounded him, uttering loud cries, and
attacking him with their beaks, till he had made good his retreat. He
now released the prisoner, and we discovered him to be a beautiful
green parrot,[2] which Fritz entreated he might be allowed to
preserve, and make a present of to his brothers, who would make a
cage to keep him in, and would then tame him and teach him to speak.
On the road home, we observed to each other, that from the
circumstance of this young bird’s nesting within the structure,
it appeared probable that the true right of property was in this
species, and that the brown-coloured birds we at first observed were
intruders endeavouring to deprive them of it.
We reached a wood, the trees of which, in a small degree, resembled
the wild fig-tree; at least the fruit they bore, like the fig, was
round in form, and contained a soft juicy substance full of small
grains. Their height was from forty to sixty feet; the bark of the
trunk was scaly, like the pineapple, and wholly bare of branches,
except at the very top. The leaves of these trees are very thick; in
substance tough, like leather; and their upper and under surfaces are
different in colour. But what surprised us the most was a kind of gum
which issued in a liquid state from the trunk of the tree, and became
immediately hardened by the air. This discovery awakened Fritz’s
attention: in Europe he had often made use of the gum produced
by cherry trees, either as a cement or varnish, in his youthful
occupations: and the thought struck him, that he could do the same
with what he now saw.
As he walked, he frequently looked at his gum, which he tried to
soften with his breath, but without success: he now discovered a
still more singular property in the substance: that of stretching on
being pulled at the extremities, and, on being let go, of reducing
itself instantly, by the power of an elastic principle. He was struck
with surprise, and sprang towards me, repeating the experiment
before my eyes, and exclaiming, “Look, father! if this is not the
very thing we formerly used to rub out bad strokes in our drawings.”
“Ah! what do you tell me?” cried I with joy; “such a discovery would
be valuable indeed. The best thanks of all will be due to you, if it