Neither our voyages to the wreck, nor the laboriousness of our occupations at Tent-House had made us forget the regular observance of our duties on the sabbath-day, which now again occurred the day after our return to Falcon’s Stream; and we accordingly distinguished it by consecrating the forenoon to reading the church prayers, some chapters in the Bible, singing psalms, and lastly, the recital of a new parable I had invented, and which I had named the “Arabian Travellers.” I reminded my children in it, by the help of imagery and fictitious names, of all the aid and all the benefits bestowed upon us by an all-beneficent Providence, from the moment of our being cast upon our present abode;—that it was his compassion for our station which had endued us with sagacity and perseverance in the discovery of so many things necessary for our existence; and one treasure, valuable above all the rest—a talisman, bestowed by the good genius who watched over poor defenceless wanderers. This talisman was such as to inspire them on every occasion with the knowledge of what was best for their happiness, and that by listening to these inspirations, they might be sure of always keeping in the right path, and finding every want supplied. I need not explain that by the good genius I alluded to the ever-watchful care of the exemplary wife and mother; and by the talisman, the sacred volume she had so miraculously preserved and concealed in her enchanted bag. I was well understood by my hearers; and as I finished my discourse, the children all ran spontaneously at once to embrace their mother, addressing her by the term “Good Genius,” and thanking her for having been the means of securing the Bible, to which we might all resort for consolation and instruction.
After dinner I again addressed my family with a short moral discourse, and then allowed them to use whatever kind of recreation they pleased; one feature of my system being, not to tire them with the subjects I wished them to feel an attachment for. I recommended to them, for the sake of uniting usefulness with their amusement, to resume the exercise we began upon the first Sunday of our abode in these regions, the shooting of arrows; for I had an extreme solicitude about their preserving and increasing their bodily strength and agility, which in a situation like ours, might prove of such critical importance. Nothing tends more to the extinction of personal courage in a human being, than the consciousness of wanting that strength of limb, or that address, which may be necessary to aid us in defending ourselves, or in escaping from dangers. On this occasion, I added the exercises of running, jumping, getting up trees, both by means of climbing by the trunk, or by a suspended rope, as sailors are obliged to do to get to the masthead. We began at first by making knots in the rope at a foot distance from each other; then we reduced the number of knots, and before we left off, we contrived to succeed without any. I next taught them an exercise of a different nature, with which they were unacquainted, and which was to be effected by means of two balls made of lead, fastened one to each end of a string about a fathom in length. While I was preparing this machinery, all eyes were fixed upon me.—What can it be intended for? cried one: How can we use it? asked another: Will it soon be ready? continued a third.
Father.—Have a little patience, boys, if it be not quite impossible for you to practise this precious virtue; for though the thing I am endeavouring to make for you may turn out extremely useful, yet this said virtue of patience is much more likely to be a constant, steady, and efficient friend.—But now for the object of your curiosity. It is nothing less than an imitation of the arms used by a valiant nation remarkable for their skill in the chase, and whom you all must have heard of: I mean the Patagonians, inhabitants of the most southern point of America; but instead of balls, which they are not able to procure, they tie two heavy stones, one at each end of a cord, but considerably longer than the one I am working with: every Patagonian is armed with this simple instrument, which they use with singular dexterity. If they desire to kill or wound an enemy or an animal, they fling one of the ends of this cord at him, and begin instantly to draw it back by the other, which they keep carefully in their hand, to be ready for another throw if necessary: but if they wish to take an animal alive, and without hurting it, they possess the singular art of throwing it in such a way as to make it run several times round the neck of the prey, occasioning a perplexing tightness; they then throw the second stone, and with so certain an aim, that they scarcely ever miss their object: the operation of the second is, the so twisting itself about the animal as to impede his progress, even though he were at a full gallop. The stones continue turning, and carrying with them the cord: the poor animal is at length so entangled, that he can neither advance nor retire, and thus falls a prey to the enemy.
This description of the field sports of the Patagonians was heard with much interest by the boys, who now all entreated I would that instant try the effect of my own instrument upon a small trunk of a tree which we saw at a certain distance. My throws entirely succeeded; and the string with the balls at the ends so completely surrounded the tree that the skill of the Patagonian huntsmen required no further illustration. Each of the boys must then needs have a similar instrument; and in a short time Fritz became quite expert in the art, as indeed he was in every kind of exercise that required strength or address: he was not only the most alert of my children, but being the eldest, his muscles were more formed, and his intelligence was more developed, than could yet be expected in the other three.
The next morning, as I was dressing, I remarked from my window in the tree that the sea was violently agitated, and the waves swelled with the wind. I rejoiced to find myself in safety in my home, and that the day had not been destined for out-of-door occupation. Though such a wind was in reality quite harmless for skilful sailors, for us it might be truly dangerous, from our ignorance in these matters. I observed then to my wife that I should not leave her the whole day, and should therefore hold myself ready to execute any little concerns she found wanting in our domestic arrangement. We now fell to a more minute examination than I had hitherto had time for, of all our various possessions at Falcon’s Stream. She showed me many things she had herself found means to add to them during my repeated absences from home: among these was a large barrel filled with small birds half-roasted and stowed away in butter to preserve them fresh: this she called her “game,” which she had found means to ensnare with birdlime in the branches of the neighbouring bushes. Next she showed me a pair of young pigeons which had been lately hatched, and were already beginning to try their wings, while their mother was again sitting on her eggs. From these we passed to the fruit-trees we had laid in earth to be planted, and which were in real need of our assistance, being almost in a decaying state. I immediately set myself to prevent so important an injury. I had promised the boys the evening before, to go all together to the wood of gourds, for the purpose of providing ourselves with vessels of different sizes to keep our provisions in: they were enchanted with the idea, but I bargained that they must first assist me to plant all the young trees; which was no sooner said than executed, excited as we were by our eager desire for the promised excursion.
When we had finished, a little disappointment however occurred; the evening, I thought, seemed too far advanced for so long a walk, especially as my wife and little Francis were to be of the party. By the time that all were ready, it was too late to think of setting out, and we accordingly postponed the expected pleasure till the following day, when we made the necessary preparations for leaving Falcon’s Stream very early in the morning. By sunrise all were on foot; for nothing can exceed the alertness of young persons who act in expectation of a pleasurable change of scene. The ass, harnessed to the sledge, played on this occasion the principal character; his office was to be the drawing home the empty gourds for the service of our kitchen and the table, and in addition, little Francis, if he should be tired: in the journey out, he carried our dinner, a bottle of the Canary wine, and some powder and shot. Turk, according to custom, led the way as our advanced guard; next followed the three eldest boys, equipped for sporting; after them, their amiable mother, leading the little one; and Ponto brought up the rear with the monkey on his back, to which the boys had given the name of Knips. On this occasion I took with me a double-barreled gun, loaded on one side with shot for game, and on the other with ball, in case of meeting with an enemy.
In this manner we set out, full of good humour and high spirits, from Falcon’s Stream. Turning round Flamingo Marsh, we soon reached the pleasant spot which before had so delighted us. My wife, who now beheld for the first time its various beauties, was never tired of praising and admiring it. Fritz, who longed to be engaged in some sporting adventure, took a direction a little further from the seashore; and sending Turk into the tall grass, he followed himself, and both disappeared. Soon, however, we heard Turk barking loud, a large bird sprang up, and almost at the same moment a shot from Fritz brought it down: but the bird though wounded was not killed; it raised itself and got off with incredible swiftness, not by flying, but by running. Turk pursued with the eagerness of an animal enraged; Fritz, bawling out like a mad creature, followed; and Ponto, seeing what was going on, threw the monkey off his back, and fell speedily into the same track. It was Ponto that seized the bird, and held it fast till Fritz came up. But now a different sort of scene succeeded from that which took place at the capture of the flamingo. The legs of that bird are long and weak, and it was able to make but a poor resistance. The present captive was large in size, and proportionately strong; it struck the dogs, or whoever came near, with its legs, with so much force, that Fritz, who had received a blow or two, retired from the field of battle, and dared not again approach this feathered antagonist. Turk, who had gallantly assailed the bird, was also discouraged by some severities applied to his head by the sturdy combatant, and yielded the contest. The brave Ponto alone withstood the animal’s attacks; he seized one of its wings, and did not let it go till I reached the spot, which I was long in doing on account of the height of the grass and the great weight of my gun; but when I was near enough to distinguish the bird as it lay on the ground, I was overjoyed to see that it was a female bustard of the largest size. I had long wished to possess and to tame a bird of this species for our poultry-yard, though I foresaw that it would be somewhat difficult.
To effect the complete capture of the bird without injuring it, I took out my pocket-handkerchief, and seizing a favourable moment, I threw it over the head of the bustard; it could not disengage itself, and its efforts only served to entangle it the more. As in this situation it could not see me, I got sufficiently near to pass a string with a running knot over its legs, which, for the present, I drew tight, to prevent further mischief from such powerful weapons. I gently released its wing, which was still in the possession of Ponto, and tied that and its fellow close to the bird’s body. In short, the bustard was at length vanquished, though not till each and all of us had felt the powerful blows it was capable of inflicting.—But it was our own, and that in a condition to promise its preservation when we should once have conveyed it to Falcon’s Stream, and could administer abundance of care and kindness to compensate for the rough treatment it had experienced at our hands.
Without further delay we removed the prisoner to the spot on the shore where some of our companions had been waiting our return. On seeing us, Ernest and Jack ran briskly forward, bawling out, Oh what a handsome bird! And what a size! What beautiful feathers!—I will lay a wager that it is a female bustard, said Ernest, the instant he had cast his eyes upon it. And you would win, my boy, answered I; it is a female bustard; its flesh is excellent, having somewhat of the flavour of the turkey, to which it also in some other respects has a resemblance. The male spreads its tail in the form of a wheel, as is said, to please its female. Let us endeavour to tame and preserve it by all means.
Mother.—If I had the choice, I would give it back its liberty: most likely it has young ones which stand in need of its assistance.
Father.—For this once, my dear, the kindness of your heart misleads you; the poor bird, being wounded, would perish if set at liberty, for want of care. If, when I have examined its wound, I find it too serious to admit of cure, I shall kill it, and thus secure an excellent dish. But if the wound is slight, we shall have gained for our poultry yard a bird of rare value on account of its size, and which will, it may be hoped, attract its mate, and thus furnish us with a brood of its species: should it even happen that it has at this time a young brood, it is not improbable that they will find the way to take care of themselves, for no doubt, like chickens, they were able to run as soon as they came out of the egg.
While conversing on this subject I had been fixing the bustard on the sledge, taking care to place it in such a posture as to be the least painful, and to avoid exciting it to struggle against its fetters. We then pursued our way towards the wood where Fritz and I had seen such troops of monkeys, who in their spite thought to beat us from the field by assailing us with showers of coconuts. Fritz now again repeated the adventure with much humour to his mother. During this recital, Ernest was employed in going a little from us in every direction, in admiration of the height and beauty of the trees: he stopped in ecstasy at the sight of one in particular which stood alone, gazing with rapturous wonder at the prodigious distance from the root to the nearest bunches of coconuts, which he saw hanging in clusters under their crown of leaves, and which excited an eager desire to possess some of them. I glided behind him without his perceiving me, and was highly amused with the expression of his features: at length he drew a deep sigh and uttered these words:—Heavens! What a height!
Father.—Yes, my Ernest, they are indeed at a most unaccommodating height, and not a monkey in the way to throw them down to you! Even were I to set Knips at liberty, besides that he is not in the habit of giving away what he might keep for himself, he would perhaps take it into his head to stay in the tree when once there, so fond is every creature that lives of liberty! It is really a pity, and I am sure you are of my opinion, that those fine coconuts cannot find a way to drop down into your mouth.
Ernest.—No indeed, father, this is not the case; I have no great mind to them, I assure you; they are too hard, and would fall from too great a height: I should expect to have a tooth or two knocked out at least.
Scarcely had he ended his sentence, when a nut of the very largest size fell down. Ernest, alarmed, stepped aside, and looked up at the tree: another fell, and almost near enough to touch me; so that I was no less surprised than he, not being able to imagine the cause of the phenomenon. Not the smallest sign of a living creature appeared, and I was certain that coconuts never fall of themselves, but when in a state of over-ripeness, while those were absolutely hard and immature.
Ernest.—This is somewhat like the adventures of Fairyland, father, I think—No sooner do the personages form a wish, than it is granted.
Father.—I begin indeed to think so. However, it may be that the magician who is so ready to oblige us, may lie concealed behind some of the leaves in the tree in the form of a wicked little monkey, which all the time may not intend so much to do us a favour, as to drive us from the place.
Ernest now ventured to take up the nuts. We found them even too unripe to be made use of, and were more than ever at a loss to account for their falling from the tree, round which we continually paced, endeavouring to explain the mystery. In vain, however, we strained our eyes; we saw nothing, but now and then a slight motion of the leaves: but neither bird nor beast appeared; and not a breath of wind was stirring.
Fritz had by this time concluded his narration to his mother; and observing that Ernest and I seemed occupied by something of a perplexing kind, and looked up repeatedly at one tree, he supposed we must have discovered some animal in it, and ran to have his share of the adventure, bringing also his younger brothers. We told him what had passed:—he showed us that he had the eyes of a lynx. I shall soon, said he, see what it all means, raising his face to gaze at the tree; if one would but fall at this moment, I would soon tell you who threw it.—At the very instant two nuts fell, and so near to the speaker as to bruise his lip and his chin. Ernest could not refrain from laughing heartily. The magician is at least polite, said he; he conducts his gifts to your very mouth; and it is no fault of his if the dimensions of yours are not large enough to receive it:—but look, look, there are two more falling close to our mother and Francis. How well-behaved this magician shows himself;—In proportion as the guests increase, he takes care to send one for each. Let us quickly open one of them and refresh ourselves with the liquor it contains, in drinking to the health of our unknown friend. We did so; and each obtained a small quantity of the milk, in the fragments of the shell; and all called out together as they drank it, looking up at the tree, Long life and thanks to the good magician!—Ah, ah, I see him; there he is, exclaimed Jack. Oh, heavens! what a hideous creature! what an ugly shape he has! he is as large as my hat, and has two monstrous pincer claws.
Where is he then? said I, for I do not see him.—There, that is he, father, crawling slowly down the tree; do you see him now?—It was a land crab, an animal that, to say the truth, deserved Jack’s description of him. The land crab resembles the sea crab, but is ten times more hideous: some kinds of them are excellent food, and are the principal subsistence of the natives where they are found. The one we now met with was of the kind called coconut crab, on account of its fondness for that fruit. It crawls with great difficulty and slowly, up the trunk of the tree; when it has reached the clumps of leaves, it conceals itself in them, and falls to pinching off the bunches of coconuts at the stalks; he separates and then throws them down one by one, which often bruises them considerably. The crab then descends, and finds below a plentiful regale. It is said by some that their claws are strong enough to break the shell of the nut; but for myself, I doubt this, having always believed rather that they suck the milk by means of the small hole found in the fruit near the stalk. The land crab is not dangerous unless you are within reach of its claws, or, which is rarely the case, when they are found together in great numbers. Little Francis on seeing the animal was terribly frightened, and hid himself behind his mother; even Ernest drew back, and looked for a place of refuge: Jack, with a menacing air, raised the end of his gun; and we all cast some looks of curiosity as the creature slowly descended the tree. The moment he was on the ground, the intrepid Jack aimed a blow at him with his gun, which missed him. The crab, finding himself attacked, turned round and advanced with his claws stretched open towards his enemy. My little ruffian defended himself valiantly; he did not retreat a single step, but his attempts to strike, entirely failed, for the crab was perfect in the art of evading every blow. I however determined not to interfere: I saw that there could be no danger to the boy, and that the scene would conclude by his subduing the animal, if he conducted the affair with prudence and address. I must observe that nothing could be more amusing than this exhibition of a fight between a little boy and a crab.
After some time, being tired out with so many fruitless attempts, and perhaps recollecting that the pinches he might get from the animal’s claws would not be very agreeable, and finding himself likely to be brought to close quarters with him, suddenly gave him the slip and ran off. The other boys now burst into peals of laughter, bawling out: So the magician has conquered you! he has made you run away! poor Jack! but why did you engage with a magician, Jack? On this, the lad piqued by their jeers, stopped short, threw his gun and his game-bag on the ground, stripped off his coat, spread it before him, and made a stand at his adversary, who was making up to him with his claws stretched out in a menacing sort of motion. Jack, without a moment’s hesitation, threw his coat upon the creature, and wrapped him round in it; then tapping on the outside upon his shell: Wicked magician, cried he, I have you at last! I will teach you to brandish your horns another time.
I laughed so heartily at this scene, that I had not the power to give him any assistance. I saw by the motion under the coat that the crab was still alert and angry. I therefore took my hatchet and applied two or three powerful blows with it on the coat, which I took for granted would finish the affair at once. I lifted up the coat; and, as I expected, the terrible animal was dead, but still preserved a menacing posture.
What an ugly monster! cried Jack, as he stood over him: but far from being terrified by his ugliness, it only served to quicken my ardour:—one must always be glad to deliver the earth of such a monster.
You would have something to do, my young Hercules, said I, tapping him on the shoulder; no animal is so common as the crab on the shores of the sea: they are of numerous kinds, and may be seen by millions, all equally ugly. This, if I mistake not, is distinguished by the name of the poet’s crab. What say you, Jack, to a thought just come into my head, of creating an order of knighthood for you, in which you shall be dubbed—Sir Crab? This is the second time that you have engaged in combat with these pincer-clawed animals. We will say nothing of the first, in which you got a bite by the leg; but this time you have evinced considerable courage and presence of mind. The thought of throwing your coat over the creature was well imagined; I doubt if you would have subdued him by any other means. It must be an animal of prodigious strength for its size, to be able to open a coconut, so that it was no inconsiderable enemy you were engaged with: but human prudence and reason give man the advantage over even the most formidable of the brute creation.
Jack.—May we eat crabs, father?—they are so very ugly!
Father.—Use makes all things easy. Many ugly things find their way to the most delicately served tables. For our crab, it is the favourite food of the negro slaves of the Antilles, and frequently of their masters also. I should think its flesh must be hard and indigestible; but we will make trial of it for dinner.
I put the famous animal along with the coconuts it had been the means of procuring us, together on the sledge, and we resumed our march. As we advanced, the wood became thicker and more difficult to pass; I was frequently obliged to use the hatchet to make a free passage for the ass. The heat also increased, and we were all complaining of thirst, when Ernest, whose discoveries were generally of a kind to be of use, made one at this moment of a most agreeable nature. He has already been described as a great lover of natural history, and now he was continually gathering, as he proceeded, such plants as he met with, and examining them with care, with the view of adding to his stock of knowledge. He found a kind of hollow stalk of a tolerable height, which grew at the foot of the trees, and frequently entangled our feet in walking. He cut some of the plants with his knife, and was much surprised in about a minute to see a drop of pure fresh water issue from them at the place where the knife had been applied: he showed it to us, put it to his lips, and found it perfectly agreeable, and felt much regret that there was no more. I then fell to examining the phenomenon myself, and soon perceived that the want of air prevented a more considerable issue of water. I made some more incisions, and presently water flowed out as if from a small conduit. Ernest, and after him the other boys, refreshed themselves and quenched their thirst at this new fountain, in the completest manner. For my own part, touched with deep gratitude for the goodness of God towards me and my beloved family, I raised my eyes to heaven: See, children, said I, what a blessing is sent us by Providence in these beneficial plants, the name of which I am much concerned to be unacquainted with. What would become of poor travellers in this burning climate, in crossing such immense forests far from the relief of water-springs! they must inevitably perish with heat and thirst, if the Almighty did not extend his goodness to the providing these necessary benefits.
I tried the experiment of dividing the plants longways, and they soon gave out water enough to supply even the ass, the monkey, and the wounded bustard. We were still compelled to fight our way through thick bushes, till at length we arrived at the wood of gourds, which was the object of our excursion, and we were not long in finding the spot where Fritz and I had once before enjoyed so agreeable a repose. Our companions had not soon done admiring and wondering at the magnificence of the trees they now beheld, and the prodigious size of the fruit which grew in so singular a manner upon the trunk. Fritz, who was already acquainted with particulars respecting them, now performed the office of lecturer to the rest, as I before had done to him. I was glad to observe that he had not forgot any part of the detail he received from me during our first visit; and while he was talking, I strolled about the wood, choosing among the numerous sizes of the gourds, such as were particularly suited for our necessities, and marking the places in my mind’s eye. I sought also to discover whether the malicious horde of monkeys were not still in the same neighbourhood, for I a little apprehended being molested by them during our occupation. I, however, to my great satisfaction, discovered no trace of them, and I returned to my companions.
I found Jack and Ernest actively employed in collecting dried branches and flints, while their mother was occupied in attending to the poor bustard, which however she saw reason to believe was not materially injured. She remarked to me that it was cruel to keep her any longer blinded and her legs tied together on the sledge. To please her, I took off the covering and loosened the string on the legs, but still left it so as to be a guard against its running away or inflicting blows on those who might approach. I contented myself with tying her by a long string to the trunk of a tree, that she might relieve herself by walking about. She had by no means the savageness of manners I should have expected, excepting when the dogs went near her. She did not appear to have any dread of man; which confirmed my previous belief, that the island in which we existed, had absolutely no human inhabitants but ourselves.
The boys now amused themselves with making a large fire, which they joyously surrounded. I took the liberty to laugh at them, and asked if they had become salamanders, or inhabitants of the planet Mercury, who, it is said, make fires to refresh themselves from the burning heat of the sun; the heat of our island could scarcely be less ardent, and this irony was therefore fair and admissible.
The fire, father, is to enable us to cook the magician.—Ah, hah, that is quite another thing, replied I. It was then for the same purpose, I suppose, that I saw you picking up some large shells: you mean no doubt to use them in the cooking, instead of the rind of the gourds which would not bear sufficient heat.
They all agreed to my conclusion. Begin then, continued I, by making the dish you will want for dressing your crab, before you make a large fire and get roasted yourself by its side.
I require also, said my wife, that some vessels to contain milk, and a large flat spoon to cut out my butter by pieces, and next some pretty plates for serving it at table, should be completed, gentlemen, among you all.
Father.—You are perfectly reasonable in your demand, dear wife, said I; and for me there must be manufactured some nests for the pigeons, some baskets for eggs, and some hives for bees.
All.—Oh yes, these things must all be made, we will set earnestly to work.
Jack.—But first, father, let me make a dish for my crab; the excessive heat would certainly make him unfit to be eaten by the evening, and I should be sorry to be obliged to throw away what it cost me so much trouble to obtain: I should soon have finished, if you will tell me how to divide one of the rinds with a string.
Father.—Well, well, it is but fair to allow you to enjoy the fruit of your victory. As to the cutting with a string, it was good for something when we had no saw. I will however show you, for fear of the worst, how to do it, though I took care to bring here the different instruments I thought we might want. Gather then a sufficient quantity of the gourds, of different sizes, and you shall see how soon we will cut them.
They all began to gather or collect, and we were soon in possession of a sufficient number of this valuable commodity. We found a certain quantity already dry upon the tree, and these we considered fit for immediate use: many also were so bruised or broken in falling, and others so immature, that we threw them aside as useless. We now began our work: some had to cut; others to saw, scoop out, and model into agreeable forms. It was a real pleasure to witness the activity exhibited in this manufacture of porcelain: each tried what specimens of imagination he could present for the applause of his companions. For my own part, I made a pretty basket, large enough to carry eggs, with one of the gourds, leaving an arch at the top to serve as a cover. I likewise accomplished a certain number of vessels, also with covers, fit to hold our milk, and then some spoons to skim the cream. My next attempt was to execute some bottles large enough to contain a supply of fresh water, and these occasioned me more trouble than all the rest. It was necessary to empty the gourd through the small opening of the size of one’s finger which I had cut in it; I was obliged after loosening the contents by means of a stick, to get them out by the friction of shot and water well shaken on the inside. Lastly, to please my wife I undertook the labour of a set of plates for her use. Fritz and Jack engaged to make the hives for the bees, and nests for the pigeons and hens. For this last object, they took the largest gourds, and cut a hole in front proportioned to the size of the animal for whose use it was intended: they had when finished so very pretty an appearance, that little Francis was ready to cry that he was not quite small enough to get into and live in one of them. The pigeons’ nests were intended to be tied to the branches of our tree; those for the hens, the geese, and the ducks, were to be placed between its roots or on the seashore, and to represent a sort of hen-coop. When the most essential of the utensils were finished, I allowed them, as they had requested, to add a dish to dress their crab in. This also was soon accomplished; but when the cooking was completed, they discovered that they had no water. We found nothing on this spot like our providential fountain plants, as we had named them. The boys entreated me to go about with them in different directions, and try to find a small supply of this precious article, not daring by themselves to venture further into the wood.
I was therefore of necessity compelled to accompany them. Ernest with great eagerness proposed relieving me of this trouble, and putting himself in my place. He had found it impossible to succeed in assisting to make the utensils; he broke more than half the pieces of gourd he took in hand, and to make amends for his awkwardness, he exerted himself in every direction to discover a water-spring, or to do something else that might be useful. It was not long before we heard him calling loudly to us, and saw him returning in great alarm. Run quick, father, said he, here is an immense wild boar. Oh, how he frightened me! I heard him grunting quite close to me, and then he scampered away to the wood, and I hear him at this very moment.
Here, here! I then called out to the boys: call the dogs quickly; here is fine game for us, if we are so lucky as to catch it. Halloo, here, Turk, Ponto! The dogs arrived full gallop. Ernest was our leader, and conducted us to the place where the boar had approached him; but he was gone, and we saw nothing but a plot of potatoes which had the appearance of having been ransacked by the animal. The ardour for the chase had been somewhat checked in Jack and Ernest, when they considered for a moment that they had so formidable a creature as a boar to encounter; they stopped short, and began to dig potatoes, and left it to Fritz and me to follow the traces of the dogs. We soon heard the cry of the latter; for they had overtaken the runaway, and soon after the most hideous growling assailed our ears from the same quarter.
We advanced with caution to the spot, holding our guns before us in readiness to fire together, the instant the animal should show itself within the proper distance. Presently the spectacle of the two brave creatures attacking him on the right and left presented itself; each held one of his ears between their teeth. But the beast was not a boar, as the account of Ernest had made me suppose, but a pig of the true common breed, which on our approach, appeared rather to ask for our assistance, than to have any inclination to attack us. Contrary to our expectation, Fritz and myself also suddenly lost the relish for sporting against this animal; for we immediately recognised in the supposed boar, our own sow which had run away and had so long been lost. After the first surprise we could not resist a hearty laugh; and then we hastened to disencumber our old friend of the teeth of her two adversaries. Her frightful squalling resounded through the wood and drew the attention of our companions, who now ran to the place, when a warfare of banter and accusation went round among the parties:—Fritz knew certain persons whose passion for the chase ended in digging potatoes! Jack and Ernest returned the sally by complimenting Fritz on the fine martial appearance of the wild boar they had been so fortunate as to make captive!—Why, Fritz, we knew in a moment, by the grunting, that it was only our old sow.—You however believed it to be a wild boar, Mr. Ernest, returned Fritz, and even after you had seen it.
I know not what Ernest would have answered; for the attention of all was attracted to a kind of small potato which we observed lying thick on the grass around us, and which had fallen from some trees which appeared loaded with the same production: our sow devoured them greedily, thus consoling herself for the fright she had been put into, and the pain the dogs had occasioned her.
The fruit was of different colours, and extremely pleasing to the eye. Fritz expressed his apprehension that it was the pernicious kind of apple called the Mancenilla, against which I had so strenuously cautioned them; but the sow ate them with so much eagerness, and the tree which bore them being neither so high, and having neither the form nor foliage ascribed by naturalists to the mancenilla, made me doubt of the truth of his idea. I forbore from immediately pronouncing its condemnation; but I desired my sons to put some of the fruit in their pockets, to make an experiment with them upon the monkey. I was shortly after nearly satisfied of their harmless quality, from seeing that the two dogs also fell upon them with eagerness; but I persisted in forbidding the boys to taste them till I had further examined into their nature and properties; and they all of course obeyed me. We now again, from extreme thirst, began to recollect our want of water, and determined to seek for some in every direction. Jack sprang off and sought among the rocks, hoping, and with reason, that he should discover some little stream: but scarcely had he left the wood, than he bawled to us that he had found a crocodile. …
A crocodile! cried I with a hearty laugh, you have a fine imagination, my boy! who ever saw a crocodile on such scorching rocks as these, and with not a drop of water near? Now, Jack, you are surely dreaming. …
Not so much of a dream as you may think, father, answered Jack, trying to speak in a low voice;—fortunately he is asleep;—he lies here on a stone at his full length;—he is exactly like our mother.
Father.—This is excellent, upon my word! So then your mother is like a crocodile?—This is really an indiscreet sort of a joke.
Jack.—I meant, father, that the crocodile is about as long as the height of our mother; I had not, I assure you, the least idea of a joke; for it is certainly a crocodile, though perhaps only a young one. … Do, father, step here and look at it, it does not stir in the least.
I knew not what to think: we stole softly to the place where the animal lay; but instead of a crocodile I saw before me an individual of a large sort of lizard, named by naturalists Leguana or Iguana, and the flesh of which is considered in the West Indies as the greatest delicacy. I explained this to my sons, and tranquillised them as to the danger of approaching this animal, formed by nature of a mild character, and excellent as food. All were then immediately seized with the hope of seizing the lizard and presenting so rare a prize to their mother. Fritz in a moment had his gun ready, and was taking his aim, but that I was in time to lay hold of his arm and prevent him: You are always too quick, said I, in your determinations; your piece might have missed, or you might have wounded him only slightly; for this sort of animal is protected by a coat of scales as you see, and it is extremely difficult to destroy him. I think too that he is known to be extremely dangerous if approached when he is angry. Let us try another sort of experiment; as he is asleep, we need not be in a hurry: only a little contrivance is necessary to have him safe in our power alive, and the process will afford us all an amusing spectacle.
I cut a stout stick from a bush, to the extremity of which I tied a string with a running knot. I guarded my other hand simply with a little switch, and thus with cautious steps approached the sleeping animal. When I was very near to him, I began to whistle a lively air, taking care to make the sounds low at first, and to increase in loudness till the lizard was awaked. The creature appeared entranced with pleasure as the sounds fell upon his ear; he raised his head to receive them still more distinctly, and looked round on all sides to discover from whence they came. I now advanced by a step at a time, without a moment’s interval in the music, which fixed him like a statue to the place. At length I was near enough to reach him with my switch, with which I tickled him gently, still continuing to whistle, one after the other, the different airs I could recollect. The lizard was bewildered by the charms of the music; the attitudes he threw himself into were expressive of a delirious voluptuousness; he stretched himself at full length, made undulating motions with his long tail, threw his head about, raised it up, and by this sort of action, disclosed the formidable range of his sharp-pointed teeth, which were capable of tearing us to pieces if we had excited his hostility. I dexterously seized the moment of his raising his head, to throw my noose over him. When this was accomplished, the boys drew near also, and wanted instantly to draw it tight and strangle him at once; but this I positively forbad, being unwilling to cause the poor animal so unmerited a suffering. I had used the noose only to make sure of him in case it should happen that a milder mode of killing him, which I intended to try, failed of success, in which case I should have looked to the noose for protection; but this was rendered unnecessary. Continuing to whistle my most affecting melodies, I seized a favourable moment to plunge my switch into one of his nostrils; the blood flowed in abundance, and soon deprived him of life, without his exhibiting the least appearance of being in pain; on the contrary, to the last moment he seemed to be still listening to the music.
As soon as he was dead I allowed the boys to come quite near and to tighten the noose, which we now found useful to draw him to the ground from the large stone on which he lay. My sons were delighted with the means I had used for killing him without pain. But little praise is due to me, I replied; for I have often in books of travels, read the description of the manner of deluding and destroying this animal, so well known in the West Indies. But now let us consider of the best way for transporting to Falcon’s Stream so large and valuable a booty. After a moment of reflection, I perceived that I had better come at once to the determination of carrying him across my shoulders: and the figure I made with so singular an animal on my back, with his tail dragging on the ground, was not the least amusing circumstance of the adventure. Fritz and Jack presented themselves as pages, contending which should support my train, as they called the tail, which, independently of the good-humour inspired amongst us, considerably eased me of the weight, and gave me the air of an old Chinese emperor habited in a superb royal mantle of many colours, for those of the lizard shone like precious stones in the eyes of the sun.
We were already far advanced in our return, when we distinguished the voice of my wife calling upon my name in a tone which indicated great uneasiness; and in addition, we heard loud sobs from little Francis. Our long absence had excited painful apprehensions concerning us: we had forgot on this occasion to give them notice of our approach, by firing our gun, and they had imagined some terrible disaster must have befallen us. No sooner, however, did our cheerful notes in speaking reach their ear, than their fears and lamentations were changed to joy, and we soon found ourselves assembled together, the happiest of beings, under a large gourd-tree, where we related to our dear companions every particular of the excursion we had made; not forgetting Jack’s singular fancy of finding a resemblance between his mother and the lizard, who now lay extended at her feet. We had so many things to inform her of, that we lost sight of the principal object which caused our separation; and till she reminded us with some regret at our ill success, we forgot to mention that we had failed of procuring any water. My sons had taken out some of the unknown apples from their pockets, and they lay on the ground by our side. Knips soon scented them, and according to custom he came slyly up and stole several, and fell to chewing them with great eagerness. I myself threw one or two to the bustard, who also ate them without hesitation. Being now convinced that the apples were not of a poisonous nature, I announced to the boys, who had looked on with envy all the time, that they also might now begin to eat them, and I myself set the example. We found them excellent in quality, and I began to suspect that they might be the sort of fruit called guava, which is much esteemed in such countries. The tree which bears them is sometimes twenty feet in height; no doubt therefore, those from which we procured the fruit, were too young to have attained their full stature. The tree itself is of so fertile a nature, that in inhabited countries they are constantly obliged to be thinned and cut down, on account of the quantity of land they would occupy.
This regale of the apples had in some measure relieved our thirst; but on the other hand, they had increased our hunger; and as we had not time for preparing a portion of the lizard, we were obliged to content ourselves with the cold provisions we had brought with us. But we contrived to have an excellent dessert of potatoes, which the boys had had the foresight to lay under the cinders of the fire they had made to cook their crab.
We had scarcely finished taking this refreshment, before my wife earnestly entreated that we might immediately begin our journey home, to be sure of arriving before dark. In fact, it appeared to me, as the evening was so far advanced, that it would be prudent to return this once without the sledge, which was heavy laden, and the ass would have drawn it but slowly: I was besides, inclined to take a shorter road by a narrow path that divided a plantation of thick bushes, which would have been too difficult a passage for the ass burdened with the sledge. I therefore determined to leave it on the spot till the following day, when I could return and fetch it, contenting myself with loading the ass for the present, with the bags which contained our new sets of porcelain; with the lizard, which I feared might not keep fresh so long; and our little Francis, who began to complain of being tired. I took these arrangements upon myself, and left to my wife and Fritz, the care of confining the bustard in such a manner that she could walk before us without danger of escaping.
When these preparations were complete, our little caravan was put in motion, taking the direction of a straight line to Falcon’s Stream. On leaving the wood of gourds, we arrived at a spot where we found more of the guava trees, and could not resist the temptation to stay a few moments and secure a new supply. The course of our route lay next along a majestic wood of oaks, agreeably interspersed with fig-trees of luxuriant growth, and of the same species as those at Falcon’s Stream. The ground in this place was absolutely covered with acorns. My young travellers, ever on the watch for something new and gratifying to the palate, could not refrain from tasting them: in form they exactly resembled the same fruit in Europe, though from the difference of climate, they would probably not be the same in regard to quality and flavour. One of the boys bit an acorn in two; and finding it both sweet and mild to the taste, he told his brothers, who soon fell eagerly to filling their own pockets with them, as well as mine and those of their mother. I always hailed with satisfaction every occasion that presented, of increasing the number of our resources for support: in the one that now presented itself, I perceived the hope that we might not only be ourselves nourished but our poultry also: I more than ever admired the magnificence of the trees which at this moment covered us with their shade, and made us a present of so inestimable a value: on considering, I recognised that they were a kind of oak which remains always green, and are a common production of the woods in Florida, and that the Indians of North America extract from its fruit an excellent kind of sweet oil, which they use in cooking their rice. Numerous kinds of birds subsist upon these acorns. This we were led to remark, by the wild and discordant cries of several sorts of jays and parrots, which were skipping merrily among the foliage and the branches. The boys would instantly have fired their guns; and I could only prevail upon them to desist, by observing how late it was, and promising that we would return another time, and thus procure them an opportunity for their favourite amusement.
We arrived shortly, and sooner than we expected, at Falcon’s Stream; the path we had taken had so considerably lessened the distance, that we were in time to employ ourselves in some trifling arrangements, before it was completely dark. My wife had great pleasure in taking out her service of porcelain and using some of the articles that very evening; particularly the handsome egg-basket and the vessels for the milk. Fritz was instructed to dig a place in the ground to serve for a kind of cooler, the better to preserve the milk; and we covered it with boards and put heavy stones to keep them down. Jack took the pigeons’ nests, and scampered up the tree, where he nailed them to the branches; he next laid some dry moss within, and placed one of the female pigeons we had contrived to tame, and which at the time was brooding, upon it; he put the eggs carefully under the mother, who seemed to accept his services, and to coo in return, with gratitude.
Ernest was occupied in distributing and fixing those intended for the fowls among the roots of the trees: when he had finished, it was of importance to observe how well they would accustom themselves to this their new abode; they were already on their perches, with their head under their wing and half asleep, and took very much amiss the being thus disturbed; while Ernest, for his part, was enraged at the little inclination they discovered to inhabit their new abode.
My own employment was to clean the inside of the lizard and prepare a piece of it for our supper, my wife having expressed an extreme repugnance to both the lizard and the crab; we therefore added some potatoes and some acorns, and dressed them together, and thus suited every palate. Francis had the care of turning the spit, and liked his office all the better, for its allowing of his being constantly near his mother. We all drew near a clear brisk fire while the supper was in hand: a sea breeze had refreshed the air, and after great fatigue, a good fire seldom fails to occasion agreeable sensations. This well-spent and useful day was concluded by a refreshing repast, at which all but my wife bestowed encomiums on the palatable properties of the leguana. My wife could not prevail upon herself even to taste it; she therefore supped on the potatoes. The crab was found to have but little flavour, and was put aside as useless. We concluded the exertions of the day, by contriving a comfortable bed for the bustard by the side of the flamingo, and then hastened to stretch our weary limbs upon the homely couch, but rendered by fatigue luxurious, that waited for us in the giant tree.