The Swiss family Robinson
fugitives were some quails, who escaped by running; and lastly some
kangaroos, whose prodigious leaps enabled them to elude the pursuit
of the dogs.
We were so overcome by the surprise such an assemblage of living
creatures occasioned, as to forget the resource we had in our guns;
we stood as it were stupid with amazements during the first moments,
and before we came to ourselves, the prey was beyond our reach, and
for the most part out of sight. Fritz was the first to perceive and
to feel with indignation the silly part we had been playing, and to
consider in what way we could repair the mischief. Without further
loss of time, he took the bandage from his eagle’s eyes (for the bird
always accompanied him perched upon his game-bag), and showed him
with his hand the bustards still flying, and at no great distance.
The eagle took a rapid flight. Fritz jumped like lightning on the
back of his onagra, and galloped over everything that intervened, in
the direction the bird had taken, and we soon lost sight of him.
We now beheld a spectacle which in the highest degree excited our
curiosity and interest: the eagle had soon his prey in view; he
mounted above one of the bustards in a direct line, without losing
sight of it for an instant, and then darted suddenly down; the
bustards flew about in utter confusion, now seeking shelter in the
bushes, then crossing each other in every direction, in the attempt
to evade the common enemy; but the eagle remained steady in pursuit
of the bird he had fixed upon for his prey, and disregarded all the
rest: he alighted on the unlucky bustard, fixed his claws and his
beak in its back, till Fritz, arriving full gallop, got down from the
onagra, replaced the bandage on the eagle’s eyes, seated him once
more upon the game-bag, and having relieved the poor bustard from his
persecutor, he shouted to us to come and witness his triumph. We ran
speedily to the place.
At the conclusion of this adventure, we hastened forward to Falcon’s
Stream, and dressed the wounds of the bustard. We perceived with
pleasure that it was a male, and foresaw the advantage of giving him
for a companion to our solitary female of the same species, which was
completely tamed. I threw a few more bundles of maize into the cart,
and without further delay we arrived at our tree.
The rest of the day was employed in picking the grains of the
different sorts of corn from the stalks; we put what we wished to
keep for sowing into some gourd-shells, and the Turkey wheat was
laid carefully aside in sheaves till we should have time to beat and
separate it. Fritz observed that we should also want to grind it; and
I reminded him of the hand-mill we had secured from our departed ally
the wrecked vessel.
_Fritz._--But, father, the hand-mill is so small, and so subject to
be put out of order:--why should we not contrive a water-mill, as
they do in Europe? We have surely rapid streams of water in abundance.
_Father._--This is true; but such a mechanism is more difficult than
you imagine. The wheel alone, I conceive, would be an undertaking far
beyond our strength or our capacity. I am, however, well pleased with
the activity and zeal which prompted your idea; and we will hereafter
consider whether it may be worth while to bestow upon it further
attention. We have abundance of time before us, for we shall not
want a water-mill till our harvests are such as to produce plentiful
crops of corn. In the meantime, let us be thinking of our proposed
excursion for to-morrow; for we should set out at least by sunrise.
We began our preparations accordingly. My wife chose some hens and
two fine cocks, with the intention of taking them with us, and
leaving them at large to produce a colony of their species at a
considerable distance from our dwelling-places. I, with the same
view, visited our beasts, and selected four young pigs, four sheep,
two kids, and one male of each species; our numbers having so much
increased that we could well afford to spare these individuals for
the experiment. If we succeeded in thus accustoming them to the
natural temperature and productions of our island, we should have
eased ourselves of the burden of their support, and should always be
able to find them at pleasure.
We took this time a new direction, which was straight forward between
the rocks and the shore, that we might make ourselves acquainted with
everything contained in the island we seemed destined for ever to
inhabit. We found, as usual, much difficulty in pushing through the
tall tough grass, and alternately through the thick prickly bushes
which everywhere obtruded themselves. We were often obliged to turn
aside, while I cut a passage with my hatchet: but these accidents
seldom failed to reward my toil by the discovery of different small
additions to our general comfort; among others, some roots of trees
curved by nature to serve both for saddles and yokes for our beasts
of burden. I took care to secure several, and put them in the cart.
In about an hour we found ourselves at the extremity of the wood,
and a most singular phenomenon presented itself to our view: a
small plain, or rather a grove of low bushes, to appearance almost
covered with flakes of snow, lay extended before us. Suddenly a
suspicion crossed my mind, and was soon confirmed by Fritz, who
had darted forward on his onagra, and now returned with one hand
filled with tufts of a most excellent species of cotton, so that
the whole surface of low bushes was in reality a plantation of that
valuable article. The pods had burst from ripeness, and the winds
had scattered around their flaky contents; the ground was strewed
with them, they had gathered in tufts on the bushes, and they floated
gently in the air.
The joy of this discovery was almost too great for utterance. We
collected as much cotton as our bags would hold, and my wife filled
her pockets with the seed, to raise it in our garden at Tent House.
It was now time to proceed: and we took a direction towards a point
of land which skirted the wood of gourds, and being high, commanded
a view of the adjacent country. I conceived a wish to remove our
establishment to the vicinity of the cotton plantation and the
gourd wood, which furnished so many of the utensils for daily use
throughout the family. I pleased myself in idea, with the view of
the different colonies of animals I had imagined, both winged and
quadruped; and in this elevation of my fancy, I even thought it might
be practicable to erect a sort of farmhouse on the soil, which we
might visit occasionally, and be welcomed by the agreeable sounds
of the cackling of our feathered subjects, which would so forcibly
remind us of the customs of our forsaken but ever-cherished country.
We accordingly soon reached the high ground, which I found in all
respects favourable to my design. My plan for a building was
approved by all, and we lost no time in pitching our tent, and
forming temporary accommodations for cooking our victuals. When we
had refreshed ourselves with a meal, I, for my part, resolved to look
about in all directions, that I might completely understand what
we should have to depend upon in this place, in point of safety,
salubrity, and general accommodation. I had also to find a tree that
would suit for the proposed construction of a boat; and lastly, to
meet, if possible, with a group of trees, at such fit distances from
each other as would assist me in my plan of erecting a farmhouse. I
was fortunate enough in no long time to find in this last respect
exactly what I wanted, and quite near to the spot we on many accounts
had felt to be so enviable. I returned to my companions, whom I found
busily employed in preparing excellent beds of the cotton, upon
which, at an earlier hour than usual, we all retired to rest.
CHAPTER XXXII
Completion of Two Farmhouses--A Lake--A
Boat
The trees that I had chosen for the construction of my farmhouse
embellishments were for the most part one foot in diameter in the
trunk; they presented the form of a tolerably regular parallelogram,
with its longest side to the sea, the length twenty-four feet, and
the breadth sixteen. I cut little hollow places or mortises in the
trunks, at the distance of ten feet, one above the other, to form
two stories. The upper one I made a few inches shorter before than
behind, that the roof might be in some degree shelving; I then
inserted beams five inches in diameter respectively in the mortises,
and thus formed the skeleton of my building. We next nailed some
laths from tree to tree, at equal distances from each other, to form
the roof, and placed on them, in mathematical order, a covering
composed of pieces of the bark of trees, cut into the shape of tiles,
and in a sloping position, for the rain to run off in the wet season.
As we had no great provision of iron nails, we used for the purpose
the strong pointed thorn of the acacia, which we had discovered the
day before. We cut down a quantity of them, and laid them in the
sun to dry, when they became as hard as iron, and were of essential
service to our undertaking.
After our next meal we resumed with ardour our undertaking of the
farmhouse, which we continued without interruption for several days.
We formed the walls with matted reeds interwoven with pliant laths to
the height of six feet; the remaining space to the roof was enclosed
with only a simple grating, that the air and light might be admitted.
A door was placed in the middle of the front. We next arranged the
interior with as much convenience as the shortness of the time and
our reluctance to use all our timber would allow; we divided it
half-way up by a partition wall into two unequal parts; the largest
was intended for the sheep and goats, and the smallest for ourselves,
when we should wish to pass a few days here. At the further end of
the stable we fixed a house for the fowls, and above it a sort of
hay-loft for the forage. Before the door of entrance we placed two
benches, contrived as well as we could of laths and odd pieces of
wood, that we might rest ourselves under the shade of the trees, and
enjoy the exquisite prospect which presented itself on all sides. Our
own apartment was provided with a couple of the best bedsteads we
could make of twigs of trees, raised upon four legs, two feet from
the ground, and these were destined to receive our cotton mattresses.
Our aim was to content ourselves for the present with these slight
hints of a dwelling, and to consider hereafter what additions either
of convenience or ornament could be made, such as plastering, etc.
I had imagined we should accomplish what we wished at the farm in
three or four days; but we found in the experiment that a whole week
was necessary, and our victuals fell short before our work was done.
We began to consider what remedy we could apply to so embarrassing a
circumstance; I could not prevail upon myself to return to Falcon’s
Stream before I had completed my intentions at the farm, and the
other objects of my journey. I had even come to the determination
of erecting another building upon the site of Cape Disappointment; I
therefore decided that on this trying occasion I would invest Fritz
and Jack with the important mission. They were accordingly despatched
to Falcon’s Stream, and to Tent House, to fetch new supplies of
cheese, ham, potatoes, dried fish, manioc bread, for our subsistence,
and also to distribute fresh food to the numerous animals we had left
there.
During the absence of our purveyors I rambled with Ernest about
the neighbouring soil, to make what new discoveries I could, and
to procure, if possible, additions to our store of provisions. We