The Swiss family Robinson
out my hands, and, turning to the direction in which the pigeons
flew, I murmured, half aloud, the following words:
“Fly, little ones, fly far, far away; till to-morrow you may stay;
but then, return with your companions.”
I then turned toward my family, who stood stupefied with
astonishment, not knowing what to make out of my serious address to
the departed pigeons.
As for the other pigeons, they did not seem disposed to follow
their companions, but appeared completely tamed: they had found the
dove-cot of Europe with its shelter, and there they gladly remained.
We passed the rest of the day in the neighbourhood of the dove-cot,
conversing on sorcery and the question of the pigeons; we often
strained our eyes in the direction of Falcon’s Nest, but nothing
appeared. The evening came, and the European pigeons slept alone
in their palace. We supped gaily, and retired to rest in anxious
expectation of the morrow, which must establish either my defeat or
my triumph.
We renewed, the next day, our habitual occupations; and though I felt
a little doubtful about the return of the birds, I said nothing, but
anxiously awaited the evening; when, about noon, we saw Jack running
furiously toward us, clapping his hands, and screaming out:
“He has returned! he has returned!”
“Who? who?” was eagerly asked.
“The blue pigeon!” he answered, “the blue pigeon! Quick! quick! come
and see him!”
We ran to the dove-cot, and, besides the blue pigeon, we found with
him, on one of the exterior perches of the house, his mate, whom he
was endeavouring to persuade to venture into the interior. He would
put in his head, and then return to her, until at last he prevailed,
and we had the satisfaction of seeing her enter the pigeon-house.
My sons would have immediately closed the door, but I prevented them,
saying that some time or other it must be opened; “and besides,” I
added, “how are the other pigeons to enter if we close the door?”
“I begin to think,” said my wife, at last, “that there is something
extraordinary in this; and, unless you have used some enchantment, I
cannot comprehend it.”
“It is chance--pure chance,” interrupted Ernest.
“Chance!” replied I, laughing; “that will do very well for one time,
but when the other pigeon returns this evening, with his mate, will
you think _that_ chance?”
“Impossible!” answered he; “the same phenomenon could not happen
twice in a day.”
While we were thus speaking, Fritz suddenly interrupted us: his eagle
eyes had perceived the birds we were expecting.
“What do you say now, my little doctor?” said I to Ernest: “both
pairs of pigeons have now returned.”
“I do not know what to say,” he answered seriously; “it certainly
appears very extraordinary; but as for any sorcery or magic being
employed, I will not believe it.”
“It gives me pleasure to see that you are not credulous; but if a
third pair of Molucca pigeons should visit us to-day, would you call
that chance also?”
Ernest did not answer; but his silence showed that he was far from
being convinced.
We returned to our occupations, leaving Francis and his mother to
provide a dinner for us. We had worked about two hours, when we saw
our little Francis come running towards us. When he came near he drew
up his little form, and, bowing haughtily, commenced the following
speech:
“Most high and mighty lords, I am here to invite you, on the part of
my good mother, to come and behold the prince of pigeons, who, with
his noble spouse, has come to take possession of the magnificent
palace you have provided for him.”
“You are welcome for your good news, Mr. Messenger,” was the
universal answer.
We hastened to the dove-cot, where my wife, after cautioning us to
make no noise, pointed out to us two superb birds, whom those in the
interior were endeavouring to persuade to enter.
“I give up,” said Ernest, at last; “my little knowledge cannot
comprehend it. I beg of you, papa, to explain all.”
I explained to him, in detail, all that we had done. Jack laughed
heartily on hearing that his plant of anise had been the charm which
had so puzzled them; and I tried to persuade him to follow the
example of Ernest, and not believe everything so readily.
The following days were devoted to bringing our dove-cot as near
as possible to perfection; and we saw, with joy, that the new
inhabitants were permanently settled, and had already begun to
construct their nests. I observed among the articles they gathered
for that purpose, a sort of long, grey moss, which I had seen hanging
from the branches of old trees. I recognized it as being the same
thing as is exported from India as a substitute for horse-hair, in
the manufacture of mattresses. The Spaniards make cords also of it,
which are so light that a piece twenty feet in length, if suspended
from a pole, will float, like a flag, in the air.
I made this discovery known to my good wife, and one can easily
imagine my news was well received; for it added another treasure to
our domestic riches, and afforded promise of some fine mattresses.
We found, from time to time, in the soil of the dove-cot, nutmegs,
which, doubtless, the pigeons of Molucca had brought over. We washed
them, and, although they were deprived of their silky covering,
we committed them to the earth, without much hope of their ever
germinating.
CHAPTER XXXVI
Jack’s Adventure and Narrow Escape--A
Fountain
An adventure of which Master Jack was the hero diverted the monotony
of our existence, divided as it was between new constructions and
provisioning our habitation for winter.
Jack had one day set off on an expedition, the intent and purpose of
which nobody but himself had any knowledge of; but his absence was
not long, for we soon saw him returning, covered from head to foot
with a thick, black mud, and dragging after him a bundle of Spanish
rushes, likewise covered with mud.
“Where have you been,” said I, “to dirty yourself so?”
“In Flamingo Marsh.”
“Why, what in the name of common sense were you doing there?”
“Alas!” answered the poor boy, as he heaved a deep sigh, “I wanted to
get some Spanish osiers to make nests for the pigeons.”
“A praiseworthy intention,” said I. “It was not your fault that the
enterprise did not succeed well.”
“Oh, no; and if it had not been for these bundles of rushes I should
certainly have lost my life. I wanted some thin, flexible rushes;
those on the borders of the swamp were too large, and I advanced
farther into the marsh, jumping from hummock to hummock, until I
came to a spot where the only footing was a mass of soft, black
mud; my feet slipped in, and I found myself up to my knees in the
compound; and, gradually sinking deeper, I commenced screaming at
the top of my voice; but nobody heard me, except my jackal, who came
running up to me, and tried to assist me by howling with all his
might.”
“But why,” said Ernest, “did you not try to swim? you excel all of us
in swimming.”
“Fine advice, truly; I would like to see you swimming in a swamp, up
to your neck in mud, and surrounded by a thick forest of willows.
When I perceived that neither my cries nor those of the jackal
produced any good, I endeavoured to draw myself out; for I was
sinking fast, and had no time to lose. I took my knife from my
pocket, and cut, from the willows that surrounded me, two large
bundles, and, placing one under each arm, they served me as a sort
of hold. I then exerted all my strength, and, by moving my body, my
arms, and my legs, I managed to raise myself up a little. All this
time my jackal stood on the edge of the marsh, howling with all his
might. I whistled him to me, and, grasping hold of his tail at last,
with great difficulty, I reached terra firma.”
“God be praised, my poor child,” said I, “that you have been
preserved to us! but the risk was great, and you may thank your
jackal that you are alive.”
His mother hastened to wash and clean the poor adventurer: his entire
suit was put to soak in the Jackal’s River, and we also washed the
rushes, as I intended to make use of them. In their present condition
they were too long and hard, and we were obliged to cut them in
several strips.
I profited by the willows that Jack had brought, to commence the
construction of a machine that my wife had long expected of me, viz.,
a weaving-machine.
Two rushes, split lengthwise, and wound round with packthread, so
that they would dry without bending, formed four bars to make that
part of the machine called the “combs.” I made my sons cut me a
quantity of little pieces of wood, to make the teeth for the combs;
and when I had procured these first materials for my construction,
I put them aside, saying nothing to anybody concerning their
destination, as I wished the machine to be a surprise to my wife,
and I proved insensible to all the ridicule showered upon my little
sticks, which Ernest facetiously called _tooth-picks_.
“What are you going to make with all those sticks?” asked my wife,
with womanish curiosity.
“Oh, nothing but a whim of mine,” I answered, laughing. “I intend to
make you a superb instrument of music, such as the Hottentots have
called a _gom-gom_. Let me alone, and I promise you, you shall be the
first to dance to its melodious sounds.”
About this time, our onagra gave birth to a beautiful little ass of
its species. It was received with pleasure, for it not only added
to our number of useful animals, but also afforded us a courser,
that in future time would make quite a figure in our cavalcades. I
gave it the name of “Rapid,” as I designed him particularly for the
saddle; and we saw with pleasure that his limbs were all beautifully
proportioned.
The approach of the rainy season and the remembrance of the trouble
we had had in collecting our animals last year, induced us to invent
a method to render the service less painful; it was to accustom them
to return to their homes at the sound of a conch, in which I had
placed a bit of wood, like a flute. The pigs were the only ones that
we could not manage. They were unruly and loved their liberty too
much to be confined; we willingly abandoned them, as the dogs could
easily bring them together if desired.
Among the embellishments and comforts with which we had surrounded
our winter habitation, we yet wanted a reservoir of pure water, which
we were obliged to bring from the Jackal’s River. The distance was
too great in winter, and I wished to remedy the inconvenience before
the rains came on. I conceived the idea of bringing a stream of water
from the river to the grotto, and to establish a fountain, as we had
done at Falcon’s Nest. Bamboo canes, fitted into one another, served
us for canals; we rested them on crutches of wood, and a barrel sunk
in the ground performed the office of a basin.
We proposed, when time permitted us, to give to this construction the
elegance and perfection it wanted. But such as it was, it answered
our purpose; and my wife assured me she was just as contented with
the little fountain as if it had been built of marble, and surrounded
by dolphins and naiads, spouting water from their mouths.
CHAPTER XXXVII
The Approach of Winter and Wet Season--Invention
of a New Light--Literary
Acquisitions
The season of rains was fast approaching, and we used all possible
expedition to get in everything necessary. The grain, the fruits of
all sorts which surrounded our habitation, potatoes, rice, guavas,
sweet acorns, pineapples, anise, manioc, bananas, nothing in short
was forgotten. We sowed our seeds as we had done the year before,