The Swiss family Robinson
turkeys, pintadoes, and peacocks, whose cries and screams imparted an
air of life to the sombre river. Farther on the scene had changed:
there were enormous elephants feeding along the bank, in troops of
twenty or thirty; some were playing in the water, and squirting the
cooling fluid over the heated bodies of their companions; tigers
and panthers, too, lay sleeping in the sun, their magnificent fur
contrasting strangely with the green bank upon which they reclined;
but not one of these animals paid the least attention to the young
navigator.
“I felt my inability and weakness,” said Fritz, “on finding myself
face to face with these terrible enemies; my gun, my balls, and my
skill would have been of little use, and I thought I had better
retrace my steps. I commenced to turn my cajack round, when what was
my surprise to see, at about the distance of two gun-shots before me,
a long and large mouth, armed with rows of formidable teeth, and the
whole apparatus moving directly toward me. I cannot say how I found
strength enough to escape, I felt so frightened at the apparition. I
took a lesson then in natural history that I have no desire soon to
repeat.”
“What animal was it,” asked Francis, “the mouth and teeth of which
Fritz saw coming out of the water?”
“An alligator, probably,” said Ernest; “or, if you would prefer using
a name more familiar to you, a crocodile.”
We finished our preparations for departure, and set off at break of
day the next morning for Felsenheim. Fritz asked my permission to
allow him to make the journey by water, in his cajack, and to return
home by doubling Cape Disappointment. I readily consented, as the
ease with which he managed his little boat gave me nothing to fear,
and besides, I was anxious to know more about the cape.
We both set out at the same time, and both arrived home safely. The
sailor, in doubling the cape, had made two new discoveries: among the
bushes which covered the rock he remarked two shrubs, one of which
was covered with very highly-scented, rose-coloured flowers, and had
long, narrow leaves; the other had numerous small white flowers, and
in its whole appearance very much resembled the myrtle. He brought
home to us specimens of these two shrubs, one of which my wife
recognized as the caper-tree, used in pickling; the other was a sort
of Chinese tea-plant, which was received with marked distinction.
When we were a little rested from our fatigue, my wife recalled
to mind Falcon’s Nest and its aërial chateau, which we had almost
forgotten since our discovery of the salt cavern.
“It is wrong,” said she, “to let that beautiful habitation go to
ruin. Although Felsenheim offers us a sure protection in winter, yet
Falcon’s Nest, with its gigantic branches and pleasant verdure, is
the most agreeable habitation we could possess.”
My wife spoke reasonably, and I promised her that I would do as
she wished. We left Felsenheim and took up our residence in our
old habitation. The roof that we had made over the roots was now
plastered with gum and resin; the staircase was repaired: we
substituted a bark roof for the old linen one over our chamber in the
tree; we made a balcony all around it, and repaired everything, so
that it was a clean, agreeable habitation.
But the embellishments at Falcon’s Nest were but a prelude to more
considerable and difficult works. Fritz had conceived the idea of
fortifying Shark Island, and making that a sort of rallying point in
case of danger. He teased me so about it, and his head was so full
of plans and projects, that it was impossible to resist him, and the
work was at length begun. One can easily conceive how great were the
obstacles that a man and four boys had to contend with, in order to
convey two cannons to the island, and level them on a platform more
than fifty feet in height. It cost us immense labour even to effect
the transport of the cannons. I then placed on the platform we had
built a large capstan; and, to shorten the time and reduce the labour
in passing round the rock, I let down a rope, made into loops, so
that we could easily ascend and descend. The cannons were attached by
strong ropes, and then hauled up by the capstan. This work cost us a
whole day of hard labour; but at last the cannons were landed on the
platform, and established with their mouths toward the sea. We placed
a long pole in the rock, with a string and pulley, so that we could
hoist up a flag at any time. How glad we felt when our work was done,
and how proud we were of our ingenuity! When we had crowned this
military construction with a flag, a cry of joy was uttered; and, as
economical as I felt we must be in powder, six times we fired our
cannons, and the rocks repeated the echo over a vast extent of ocean.
CHAPTER LIV
A General Review of the Colony after Ten Years
of Establishment
It is with dismay that I cast my eyes over the number of pages I have
filled, and which every day grow more numerous.
Although I should like to mention the minutest details of our
domestic life, yet I have some consideration for my readers, who
would throw down the book in disgust and grow weary of the monotony
of the design; therefore, I must content myself with merely
describing our principal occupations.
Ten years have passed away since we were thrown on this coast, each
year resembling the preceding one in the similarity of its works:
we had our fields to sow, our harvests to gather, and our domestic
cares to attend to. These formed the almost unbroken circle of our
existence. My only desire is, that the end I intended in writing this
journal may be fulfilled, and that my readers, if I ever have any,
may learn how, with God’s blessing, to provide for their necessities
when thrown, as we have been, entirely on their own resources.
Providence had willed that the land of our exile should be in one of
the most favoured quarters of the globe, and every day we offered up
our thanks to Him for His goodness and beneficent kindness toward us.
The ten years we had passed were but years of conquest and
establishment. We had constructed three habitations, built a solid
wall across the defile, which would secure us against invasion from
the wild beasts which infested the savanna. The part of the country
in which we dwelt was defended by high mountains on one side, and the
ocean on the other; we had traversed the whole extent, and rested
in perfect surety that no enemy lurked within it. Our principal
habitations were beautiful, commodious, and especially very healthy.
Felsenheim was a safe retreat for us during the storms of winter,
while Falcon’s Nest was our summer residence and country villa;
Waldegg, Prospect Hill, and even the establishment at the defile,
were like the quiet farmhouses that the traveller finds in the
mountains of our own dear Switzerland.
The remembrance of our native land is never obliterated from the
mind; the love of one’s birthplace is a love that survives youth, and
exists in all its ardour in the bosom of the old man.
Of all our resources, the bees had prospered most; experience had
taught me how to manage them, and the only trouble that I had was
to provide new hives each year for the increasing swarms; and, in
truth, so great was the number of our hives that they attracted a
considerable flock of those birds called _merops_, or bee-eaters, who
are extremely fond of these insects.
We finished the gallery which extended along the front of our grotto:
a roof was made to the rock above it, and it rested on fourteen
columns of light bamboo, which gave it an elegant and picturesque
appearance; large pillars supported the gallery, around which twined
the aromatic vines of the vanilla and the pepper, and each end of
the gallery was terminated by a little cabinet with elevated roofs,
having the appearance of Chinese pavilions, surrounded by flowers
and foliage. A flight of steps led up into the gallery, which we had
paved with a sort of stone so soft when dug out as to be cut with a
chisel, but hardening rapidly in the sun.
The environs of our habitation were rich and agreeable; our
plantations had perfectly succeeded; and between the grotto and the
bay was a grove of trees and shrubs, planted in tasteful confusion,
which gave the spot the aspect of an English garden.
Shark Island no longer was an arid bank of sand: palm and pine-apple
trees had been planted everywhere, and the earth was covered with a
carpet of vivid green; while far above the trees towered a staff,
upon the top of which the Swiss flag floated gaily in the breeze.
Our European trees had grown with a strength and rapidity of
vegetation almost incredible; but their fruits had lost their
flavour; and whether because the soil or the air was unfavourable,
the apples and pears became black and withered, the plums and
apricots were nothing but hard kernels surrounded by a tough
skin. On the other hand, the indigenous productions, multiplied a
hundred-fold: the bananas, the figs, the guavas, the oranges and
the citron, made our corner of the island a complete terrestrial
paradise, where all the riches of vegetation were assembled. But
the abundance of fruit brought on another plague: multitudes of
pillagers, in the shape of birds, flocked to the spot. We kept our
bird-snares always ready, and it sometimes happened that an unknown
animal would be taken in the trap; for example, the great squirrel
of Canada, remarkable for its beautiful tufted tail and lustrous
red skin, attracted hither probably by our almonds and chestnuts;
parroquets, in all their diversity of colours, would sometimes be
caught; blue jays, thrushes, yellow loriots, abounded plentifully,
to the great prejudice of our cherries, figs, and native grapes.
Besides the birds by day, there were other destroyers by night, and
we had a great deal of trouble to dislodge a nest of flying squirrels
that had taken up their residence in the topmost branches of one of
our finest trees.
Our beautiful flowers also attracted numerous guests: these were the
humming birds; and it was one of our greatest amusements to watch
these little birds flying around us, sparkling like precious stones,
and hardly perceptible by the quickness of their motions; it was an
amusing spectacle to see these passionate, choleric little fellows
attack others twice their size, and drive them away from their nests,
and at other times they would tear in pieces the unlucky flower that
had deceived their expectations of a rich feast. These little scenes
diverted us, and we endeavoured to induce the birds to remain in
our neighbourhood by fixing little pots of honey on the branches,
and planting the flowers we observed they preferred. Our cares were
recompensed; several couples suspended their little nests, lined with
soft cotton, to the branches of the vanilla which wound around the
columns of the gallery, or on the vines of the pepper, the perfume of
which is very enticing to the humming-bird.
The making of sugar was an object of our special attention, and
we gradually improved our manufacture; not that I can say we
crystallized it as done in the refineries, but we obtained a very
satisfactory result. We had saved from the wreck of the ship many
articles intended for a sugar factory; among others, three metal
cylinders with which to press the sugar-cane, three great kettles to
boil the liquid in, and ladles and skimmers in abundance. The press
was fixed under a perpendicular screw, working in connection with the
cylinders, the whole turned by a lever passed horizontally through
the screw, and moved by one of our beasts of burden.