The Swiss family Robinson
preparation of our pigs precluded all thoughts of anything else.
I sent the two smaller boys to gather a quantity of green branches
and leaves, with which to smoke our pork, and we then set to work.
Ernest skinned the pigs. Fritz and I cut them up, and my wife salted
the pieces. I piled the hams all together, so that the salt would
penetrate every part, and we also poured salted water over them and
allowed them to remain until the hut for smoking was constructed. As
for the heads and bones, they were abandoned to the dogs.
The next morning, Fritz recalled to my memory the promise I had made
to allow him to serve us for dinner an Otaheitan roast. He began
by digging a deep trench; he then took the pig he had reserved for
the purpose, washed it with care, rubbed the interior with salt,
and filled it with a sort of stuffing made of meat, potatoes, and
different roots.
When the trench was full of combustibles, Fritz set it on fire, and
from time to time the boys threw in, by the direction of their elder
brother, a quantity of pebbles, which soon became red hot.
My wife observed all these particulars with a look of incredulity.
“Beautiful cookery you will make,” said she, “with an entire pig,
some ashes, and a hole in the ground--delicious eating I do not
doubt!”
Nevertheless, notwithstanding her sarcasms, she could not help giving
the boys some advice, and she aided Fritz in giving his pig the
graceful turn that roast pigs should always have to taste good.
When these preparations were finished, our cook-in-chief enveloped
his “roast” in leaves and pieces of bark; a hole was made in the
burning cinders large enough to receive it, and it was then covered
with red-hot stones, and the hole filled up with earth to prevent the
air from penetrating.
Fritz let his “roast” cook for about two hours; and it was not
without astonishment that, after having taken off the triple layer
of earth, cinders, and stones, the most delicious odour saluted our
olfactories. I scarcely expected anything eatable, and we had before
us meat cooked to a nicety, combined with a spicy perfume that would
have done honour to a Parisian cook. Fritz triumphed: his good mother
avowed that she was conquered, and every one proceeded, without
delay, to prove the pig. Some ashes which had fallen on it were
carefully removed, and the meat was pronounced delicious.
During the three days while our meat was being smoked, I had every
day, with my sons, explored the country. These excursions discovered
to us no traces of the boa; but they very seldom ended without our
bringing home some little addition to our comforts and luxuries.
One day we directed our course toward the wood of bamboo, and
returned home loaded with cups of all dimensions, formed from rushes,
which we sawed apart at every knot; some of them were very large,
twenty inches in diameter. We also made another discovery the same
day: it was that each knot of the rushes distilled a sugary matter
which crystallized in the sun, and resembled candied sugar. These
rushes also furnished us a quantity of long, strong thorns, which
filled the place of nails admirably.
We also made an excursion to Prospect Hill; but we found every thing
there in the greatest disorder: the walls of the farmhouse were
pulled down, and the cattle gone. The monkeys had passed that way,
and left unequivocal traces of their progress.
We then surrounded the hut, where our hams were suspended, with a
rampart of earth, and fortified it with branches and stones, so as
effectually to keep out all intruders; and we arranged everything so
that we might be ready to set off on the morning of the fourth day,
and commence our explorations beyond the defile that had been the
barrier between the district we had inhabited for nearly three years,
and an unknown land, which we had but once entered, and then were
nearly destroyed by a troop of buffaloes.
CHAPTER XLIV
Excursion into the Savanna--Two Horsemen--The
Ostrich Hunt--The Nest--The Land
Turtles
We began our march at daylight, and, after having journeyed on for
about two hours, I gave the signal for a halt, as about gunshot from
the defile which separated the two countries appeared to me to be a
favourable spot for our encampment. It was situated on an elevated
point that commanded a far extended prospect, and was defended on one
side by a thick pine forest.
Fritz wanted me, before quitting the place, to leave, as a mark
of our passage, a fortress, after the manner of the Kamschatkans,
which is simply composed of some boards, elevated by stones at each
corner, to a height sufficient to keep out all savage animals. Before
commencing this work, we made an investigation of the forest round
about; but we discovered nothing but two “margays,” or wild cats, who
fled into the forest before we could level a gun at them.
The rest of the morning was devoted to the fortification of our
encampment. We then dined; but the heat was so powerful that we were
obliged to postpone our excursion into the savanna until the morrow.
Nothing troubled the repose of the night. We were up at daylight,
and in a few moments our preparations were complete. I took with me
my three eldest sons, as I wished to be in force on entering into a
country as yet unknown. Francis remained with his mother to take care
of the baggage; and, after breakfast, we packed some provisions, and
took leave of our good mother, who saw us depart without uneasiness.
We passed through the defile, at the extremity of which we had
erected a palisade of bamboo and thorny palm; but it had all been
torn down, and we could easily trace on the sand the spiral imprints
of the boa, clearly demonstrating that he had come from savanna
through this passage. I intended to erect a solid rampart here, that
should be proof against the attack of any animal; but I was obliged
to defer the execution of the plan until some other time.
We had now ventured into a country we had entered but once before.
Jack recognized the place where we had taken the buffalo; the river
which divided the plain was bordered by a rich line of vegetation.
We followed its course for some time, and arrived at the grotto
where my son had taken the young jackal; but the farther we advanced
vegetation disappeared, and we soon found ourselves in the middle of
an immense plain, only bounded by the horizon. The sun beat right
down on our heads, the sand burned our feet--in one word, it was a
desert--a desert without a single tree--a desert of sand, the only
green things being a few withered geraniums and some sort of grass
that contrasted strangely with the aridity of the soil. On crossing
the river, we had filled our gourds with fresh water, but the sun had
heated it so that we could not drink it, and we were obliged to throw
it away.
After two hours of painful journeying we arrived at the foot of a
hill that we had perceived afar off: it was a rock that elevated
itself in the middle of the desert, and afforded us a refuge
against the rays of the sun. We were too fatigued to climb the
rock and reconnoitre the country: we could scarcely stand against
the overpowering rays of the sun, and our dogs were as tired as
ourselves; we were isolated in the middle of the desert, and could
see the river in the distance, like a silver thread, winding through
its green banks. It was like the Nile, beheld from a mountain under
the burning sun of Nubia.
We had scarcely been seated five minutes when Master Knips, who had
accompanied us, suddenly disappeared over the rock, having probably
scented some brother monkeys in the neighbourhood; our dogs, also,
and the jackal deserted us; but we were too tired to call them back.
I brought out some morsels of sugar-cane and distributed them among
the boys, for our thirst was terrible. This refreshment restored our
appetites, and some rounds of roast peccary furnished us with an
excellent repast.
Suddenly Fritz, whose excellent sight was always making discoveries,
cried out,
“What do I see! There are two horsemen galloping up towards us.
There, a third has joined them--doubtless they are Arabs of the
desert.”
“Arabs!” said Ernest! “Bedouins you mean.”
“Bedouins are but one division of the great family of Arabs, and your
brother was right,” said I; “but take my spy-glass, Fritz; your news
astonishes me.”
“Oh, I see now a number of waggons loaded with hay; but they are so
distant I can scarcely distinguish anything; something extraordinary
is certainly going on.”
“Let me have the glass,” cried Jack, impatiently; and he declared he
saw a crowd of cavaliers who carried little lances, with banners at
the point.
“Come, give me the glass now,” said I; “your imaginations are too
poetic to be relied upon.”
I applied the glass to my eye, and, after having looked some time
attentively--
“Well,” said I to Jack, “your Arabs, your cavaliers with lances, your
hay-carts, what do you think they have been transformed into?”
“Camelopards, perhaps.”
“No; although not a bad idea, yet they are ostriches, and chance
has thrown a splendid chase into our hands; and if you will take my
advice, we will not let these beautiful inhabitants of the desert
pass us by without measuring our strength with theirs.”
The ostriches were rapidly approaching, and it was time to think of
some mode of capturing them. It seemed to me that the best way would
be to wait until they came up, and then attack them by surprise. I
ordered Fritz and Jack to go in search of the dogs, whilst Ernest
and I sought some shelter to conceal us from the ostriches. We threw
ourselves down behind some large tufts of a plant that grew among
the rocks, and which I recognized as the euphorbia, commonly called
wolf’s milk, and the juice of which is one of the most active poisons
in the world.
Jack and Fritz now returned with our faithful companions, whom,
from their wet skins, we easily judged to have been taking a bath
somewhere.
The ostriches were now within eyesight, and I could distinguish that
the family was composed of three females and a male, who was easily
recognized by the long white feathers of his tail. We crouched closer
to the ground, and held our dogs close to our sides, for fear lest
their impatience should defeat our stratagem.
I now perceived that the ostriches were aware of our presence--they
appeared to hesitate in their march; but, as we remained immovable,
they at last seemed reassured, and were advancing directly to us,
when our dogs, whom we could not keep quiet, suddenly sprang out upon
them. Away went the timid birds, with a rapidity that can be compared
to nothing else but the wind driving before it a bundle of feathers.
Their feet did not appear to touch the ground, their half-extended
wings had the appearance of sails, and the wind greatly accelerated
their velocity. I then ordered Fritz to unhood his eagle; he did
so, and the noble bird soon lit upon the head of the male ostrich,
and, attacking his eyes, brought him to the ground. The dogs and
the jackal ran up, and when we arrived the gigantic bird was just
expiring under the numerous wounds that the ferocious animals had
inflicted.
We were greatly disappointed at this issue of our chase; but, as the
evil was without remedy, we contented ourselves with preserving the
lifeless corpse. The eagle and jackal were immediately taken away, as
being the most ferocious. We then deprived the unfortunate animal of
the white plumes in the tail, and we placed them proudly in our hats.
The rich and sumptuous feathers contrasted strangely with our old