The Swiss family Robinson
at the idea of eating birds’ nests. I explained to them that the
feathers and moss lining the inside were not eaten, but only the
covering, which is carefully cleaned and cooked with spices, making a
transparent, savoury jelly.
“I advanced boldly through the passage,” said Fritz, “and came out
into a magnificent bay, whose low and fertile shores stretched out
into a savanna of vast extent; trees and shrubs everywhere varied
the beauty of the scene: on the right, a vast mass of rocks rose up,
being a prolongation of those that I had passed through; on the left
rolled a calm and limpid river; and beyond this was a thick swamp,
which terminated in a dense forest of cedars. While I was coasting
along the shores of the bay, I perceived at the bottom of the
transparent waters beds of shells resembling large oysters. ‘Here,’
said I to myself, ‘is something that is much better than our little
oysters at Felsenheim; if they taste good, I will take some home
with me.’ I detached some with my hook and threw them on the sand,
without getting out of my canoe, and set to work to obtain more. When
I returned with a new load, I found that the oysters I had first
deposited on the sand were opened, and the sun had already begun to
corrupt them. I took up one or two; but instead of finding the nice
fat oyster I expected, I found nothing but a hard, gritty meat. In
trying to detach this from the shell, I felt some little round, hard
stones, like peas, under my knife; I took them out, and found them so
brilliant that I filled a little box with them which I happened to
have with me. Do you not think, my father,” added Fritz, “that they
are really pearls?”
I took the box in my hand. “They are really pearls,” cried I,
“oriental pearls of the greatest beauty. You have, in truth,
discovered a treasure, my son, which one day will be, I hope, of
immense value to us. We will pay a visit to this rich bay as soon as
possible; but continue your story.”
“I pursued my course,” resumed Fritz, “along the coast, indented with
creeks, and covered with verdure and flowers. I came up to the mouth
of the river, the calm waters of which floated on tranquilly toward
the sea; its surface, overgrown with aquatic plants, resembled a
verdant prairie covered with different sorts of birds. I gave to this
river the name of St. John, as it put me in mind of the description
I had read of a river of that name in Florida. Having renewed my
provision of fresh water, I then directed my course towards the other
promontory, opposite the arch by which I had entered. I endeavoured
to leave the bay; but the tide had risen so high that it filled the
vault, and I was obliged to await its ebb. I stepped on shore, as I
saw on all sides, popping up out of the water, the heads of marine
animals, which appeared about the size of a calf, and they plunged
and frisked about in such a manner that I was afraid they would
overset my cajack; so I secured it to a point in the rock, and,
taking my eagle in my hand, I stood ready to attack the first game
that came near me; for I wished to procure one of the animals, which
resembled a stuffed valise, as I thought its thick skin might be of
use to me. A company of them soon came, plunging and diving, close to
the shore. I cast off my eagle, who seized on the largest and best,
and soon blinded him; I jumped on a projecting rock, and, catching
hold of the animal with my boat-hook, drew it to the shore. All the
others fled as if by enchantment. I had to remove the entrails of the
animal, as the weight was too heavy for my little skiff; but, while I
was thus occupied, a prodigious number of sea-birds clustered around
me: gulls, sea-swallows, frigates, and half a dozen other kinds.
They came up so close that I whirled my staff around to keep them
off, and in doing so knocked down a very large bird, an albatross,
I think. After this operation was finished, I fastened my sea-otter
to the stern of my boat; and, taking a sack full of oysters, made
preparations for my return. I soon passed through the arch, and
sailed quietly along, until I saw your flag and heard the report of
the cannon.”
After this narrative, and while my wife and the younger boys had
gone to the cajack, my son drew me aside and confided to my ear an
important secret.
“A very singular circumstance,” said he, “happened on my voyage. In
examining the albatross which I had knocked down, judge my surprise
when I saw a piece of linen around one of its feet. I untied it, and
read the following words written upon it in good English: ‘_Save the
poor shipwrecked sailor on the smoking rock._’ I cannot express to
you, my father, what I felt on seeing this linen. I read and re-read
the line to assure myself that it was not an optical illusion. I
cried aloud to the Almighty that it might but be true. From this
moment my only thought shall be to search the coast in quest of
the smoking rock, to save the sufferer--my brother--my friend. Oh!
once more perhaps I may see a human being. An idea occurred to me
to attach the linen again to the foot of the albatross, and to
write upon a second piece, which I fastened to the other foot, the
following sentence in English: ‘_Have confidence in God: succour is
near._’ If the bird returns to the place from whence it came, thought
I, the person can read the answer: at all events there will be no
harm in trying this experiment. The albatross had been stunned, and I
poured some hydromel down its throat to reanimate it. I attached my
note to its foot, and let it go, earnestly praying that its mission
might be successful. The bird flew up, hesitated for a moment, and
then darted rapidly away in an easterly direction, which decided
me to take that route in my search. And now, my father,” continued
Fritz with emotion, “what do you think of this event? If we could
find a new friend, a new brother--for certainly we will go in search
of the stranger, oh yes, we will go--what joy! what happiness! But,
alas! what despair if we should not succeed! The reason I did not
communicate this to my brothers and my mother was to spare them the
agonies of a hope which, after all, might never be realized.”
My son pronounced these last words with sadness.
“You have acted very prudently,” said I, “and I am glad that you have
sufficient strength of mind to resist the temptation of immediately
flying to the assistance of the sufferer. As for the result of any
expedition of discovery, I cannot say much; the albatross is a
traveller-bird, and it flies extremely swiftly: the linen might have
been put on its foot thousands of miles from here; and even if near,
perhaps years ago, and now succour may be too late. But continue to
keep the secret, and I will try to imagine whether some way cannot be
devised to save the poor unfortunate, if in our vicinity.”
The pearls were too important an object to be forgotten, and my sons
importuned me to start immediately for the newly-discovered fishery.
“Softly,” said I; “before riding, you must saddle your horse; and if
you wish that your enterprise should succeed, you must take with you
the necessary implements. Let each one of you try to invent something
useful for our purpose, and then we will start.”
This proposition was received with joyous acclamations, and each
member of the party set his ingenuity to work. I forged for myself
two large iron rakes and two small hooks of the same metal; I
fixed wooden handles to the first-named, with iron rings attached,
so that I could fasten them to the boat and drag them over the
banks of oysters; with the hooks I intended to loosen the oysters,
which the rakes were insufficient to detach. Ernest made a sort of
butterfly-net with scissors attached, intended to receive the birds’
nests. Jack constructed a kind of ladder, made by piercing a long
bamboo at regular distances, and fixing in sticks crosswise; the
machine looked like the stick in a parrot’s cage. To the top the
young man fixed a hook of iron, and a spike at the bottom, so that it
should rest firmly in the rocks. Francis, very adroit in making nets,
made several very strong ones to hold our oysters.
During this time, Fritz worked in silence at his cajack, endeavouring
to construct a second seat in it. I alone knew his intention; but I
dared not encourage him by evincing my knowledge of his object.
We next prepared our provisions for the voyage: two hams were
cooked, cassava cakes, barley-bread, rice, nuts, almonds, and other
dry fruits; and for drink we took a barrel of water, and one of
hydromel. These stores, with our tools and finishing implements,
loaded down the boat.
CHAPTER LVI
Edible Birds’ Nests--Pearl-Fishery--Poor Jack
is “Killed”--Discovery of Truffles
We had spent an entire day in preparing our cargo. A fresh and
favourable breeze and a slightly ruffled sea induced us to embark
immediately. Francis and his mother were left to guard the shore, and
we gaily put off, amid their prayers and wishes for our safe return.
We took with us some of our domestics: young Knips, the successor
of our good old monkey, Jack’s jackal, Flora, Braun, and Folb, all
found a place in the boat. Jack occupied the second seat in Fritz’s
cajack. Ernest and I conducted the canoe loaded with our provisions
and animals.
The cajack led the way, and we followed, steering our course through
the shoals and rocks with the greatest difficulty. We did not
encounter any marine monsters; but the rocks were covered with the
whitened bones of walruses and sea-horses, and Ernest made us stop
several times, at the risk of bruising our boat against the rocks,
in order that he might collect some of these osseous remains for our
museum of natural history.
We soon attained the promontory, behind which, Fritz said, was the
Bay of Pearls. This promontory was singular and imposing. Arch
rose above arch, column above column; in a word, it resembled the
front of one of those old Gothic cathedrals, embellished with a
thousand grotesque carvings and antiquated decorations, with the
only difference that, instead of a pavement of marble, we had the
blue sea, and the columns were washed by the waves. It struck us
as a temple elevated to the Eternal, in the midst of immensity. We
penetrated into the vault; it was sombre and gloomy, like an old
cathedral, and only lighted by a few apertures in the rock.
The noise of our oars frightened the peaceable salanganes, and they
flew about in such numbers as almost to render it impossible to guide
the boat; but when our eyes became habituated to the darkness, we
saw with pleasure that every niche and corner was filled with their
nests. These nests resembled white cups, were as transparent as horn,
and filled, like the nests of other birds, with feathers, and dry
sticks of some sort of perfumed wood.
The trial which we had made of this substance, after boiling it with
salt and spices, convinced us that it was a delicate and wholesome
food; besides, we knew how highly it was valued in China, and we were
so possessed with the idea that, some day or other, a vessel would
arrive on our shores, with which we could trade, that I resolved
to gather a considerable number of these nests, only taking care
to leave those which contained eggs or young ones. Fritz and Jack
climbed like cats along the rocks and detached the nests, which
they gave to Ernest and me, who placed them in a large sack we had
brought. It was soon filled, and I was glad of it, as the boys were
tired, and I could not bear to see them suspended on the ladder over
the water.
I now gave the order for departure. Fritz had assured me that
the canal which flowed through the vault was navigable, and that
by following the passage, we should soon arrive at the bay. The