Swiss Family Robinson Part 47

A systematic scheme of defence was now elabourated, and the erection of the barricade occupied us for at least a month, as it was to be a firm and durable building, proof against all invasion.

As our little tent was unsuited to a long residence of this sort, I adopted Fritz's idea of a Kamschatkan dwelling and, to his great delight, forthwith carried it out.

Instead of planting four posts, on which to place a platform, we chose four trees of equal size, which, in a very suitable place, grew exactly in a square, twelve or fourteen feet apart. Between these, at about twenty feet from the ground, we laid a flooring of beams and bamboo, smoothly and strongly planked. From this rose, on all four sides, walls of cane; the frame of the roof was covered so effectually by large pieces of bark that no rain could penetrate. The staircase to this tree-cottage was simply a broad plank with bars nailed across it for steps. The flooring projected like a balcony in front of the entrance door, and underneath, on the ground, we fitted up sheds for cattle and fowls.

Various ornaments in Chinese or j.a.panese style were added to the roof and eaves, and a most convenient, cool and picturesque cottage, overhung and adorned by the graceful foliage of the trees, was the result of our ingenuity.

I was pleased to find that the various birds taken by the boys during this excursion seemed likely to thrive; they were the first inmates of the new sheds, and even the black swans and cranes soon became tame and sociable.

Constantly roaming through the woods, the children often made new discoveries.

Fritz brought one day, after an excursion to the opposite side of the stream beyond the Gap, a cl.u.s.ter of bananas, and also of cacao-beans, from which chocolate is made.

The banana, although valuable and nourishing food for the natives of the tropical countries where it grows, is not generally liked by Europeans, and probably this variety was even inferior to many others, for we found the fruit much like rotten pears, and almost uneatable.

The cacao seeds tasted exceedingly bitter, and it seemed wonderful that by preparation they should produce anything so delicious as chocolate.

My wife, who now fancied no manufacture beyond my skill, begged for plants, seeds, or cuttings to propagate in her nursery garden, already fancying herself in the enjoyment of chocolate for breakfast, and I promised to make a cacao plantation near home.

'Let me have bananas also,' said she, 'for we may acquire a taste for that celebrated fruit, and, at all events, I am sure I can make it into an excellent preserve.'

The day before our return to Rockburg, Fritz went again to the inland region beyond the river to obtain a large supply of young banana-plants, and the cacao-fruit. He took the cajack, and a bundle of reeds to float behind him as a raft to carry the fruit, plants, and anything else he might wish to bring back.

In the evening he made his appearance, coming swiftly down stream. His brothers rushed to meet him, each eager to see and help to land his cargo. Ernest and Fritz were quickly running up the bank, with arms full of plants, branches and fruit, when Fritz handed to Jack a dripping wet bag which he had brought along partly under water. A curious pattering noise proceeded from this bag, but they kept the contents a secret for the present, Jack running with it behind a bush before peeping in, and I could just hear him exclaim:

'Hullo! I say, what monsters they are! It's enough to make a fellow's flesh creep to look at them!'

With that he hastily shut up the bag, and put it away safely out of sight in water.

Securing the cajack, Fritz sprang towards us, his handsome face radiant with pleasure, as he exhibited a beautiful water-fowl. Its plumage was rich purple, changing on the back to dark green; the legs, feet and a mark above the bill, bright red. This lovely bird I concluded to be the Sultan c.o.c.k described by Buffon, and as it was gentle, we gladly received it among our domestic pets.

Fritz gave a stirring account of his exploring trip, having made his way far up the river, between fertile plains and majestic forests of lofty trees, where the cries of vast numbers of birds, parrots, peac.o.c.ks, guinea-fowls and hundreds unknown to him, quite bewildered him and made him feel giddy.

'It was in the Buffalo Swamp,' continued he, 'that I saw the splendid birds you call Sultan c.o.c.ks, and I set my heart on catching one alive, which, as they seemed to have little fear of my approach, I managed by means of a wire snare. Farther on I saw a grove of mimosa trees, among which huge dark ma.s.ses were moving in a deliberate way. Guess what they were!'

'Savages?' asked Franz timidly.

'Black bears, I bet!' cried Jack.

'Your words suggest to my mind the manner and appearance of elephants,' said Ernest.

'Right you are, Professor!' exclaimed Fritz gaily, the words producing quite a sensation on the whole attentive family. 'From fifteen to twenty elephants were feeding peacefully on the leafy boughs, tearing down branches with their trunks and shoving them into their mouths with one jerk, or bathing in the deep waters of the marsh for refreshment in the great heat. You cannot imagine the wild grandeur of the scene! The river being very broad, I felt safe from wild animals, and more than once saw splendid jaguars crouched on the banks, their glossy skin glancing in the sunlight.

'While considering if it would be simply foolhardy to try a shot at one of these creatures, I was suddenly convinced that discretion is the better part of valour, and urging my canoe into the centre current, made a rapid retreat down the river. For just before me, in the calm deep water of a sheltered bay where I was quietly floating, there arose a violent boiling, bubbling commotion, and for an instant I thought a hot spring was going to burst forth--instead of that, up rose the hideous head and gaping jaws of a hippopotamus, who, with a hoa.r.s.e terrific snort, seemed about to attack me.

'I can tell you I did not wait to see the rest of him! A glimpse of his enormous mouth and its array of white gleaming tusks was quite enough.

"Right about face!" said I to myself, and shot down the stream like an arrow, never pausing till a bend in the river brought me within sight of the Gap, where I once more felt safe, and joyfully made my way back to you all.'

This narrative was of thrilling interest to us, proving the existence of tribes of the most formidable animals beyond the rocky barrier which defended, in so providential a manner, the small and fertile territory on which our lot was cast.

During the absence of the adventurer we had been busily engaged in making preparations for our departure--and everything was packed up and ready by the morning after his return.

After some hesitation I yielded to his great wish, which was to return by sea in his cajack round Cape Disappointment and so meet us at Rockburg.

He was much interested in examining the outlines of the coast, and the rugged precipices of the Cape. These were tenanted by vast flocks of sea-fowl and birds of prey; while many varieties of shrubs and plants, hitherto unknown to us, grew in the clefts and crevices of the rocks, some of them diffusing a strong aromatic odour. Among the specimens he brought I recognized the caper plant and, with still greater pleasure, a shrub which was, I felt sure, the tea-plant of China--it bore very pretty white flowers and the leaves resembled myrtle.

Our land journey was effected without accident or adventure of any kind.

Jack, mounted as usual on Hurry, the ostrich, carried the mysterious wet bag very carefully slung at his side, and when near home started off at a prodigious rate in advance of us.

He let fall the drawbridge, and we saw no more of him until, on reaching Rockburg, he appeared leisurely returning from the swamp, where apparently he had gone to deposit his 'moist secret', as Franz called it.

We were all glad to take up our quarters once more in our large and convenient dwelling, and my first business was to provide for the great number of birds we now had on our hands, by establishing them in suitable localities, it being impossible to maintain them all in the poultry-yard. Some were, therefore, taken to the islands; and the black swans, the heron, the graceful demoiselle cranes, and our latest acquisition, the splendid Sultan c.o.c.k, soon became perfectly at home in the swamp, greatly adding to the interest of the neighbourhood of Safety Bay.

The old bustards were the tamest of all our feathered pets, and never more so than at meal-times. They were unfailing in their attendance when we dined or supped in the open air.

Towards evening, as we sat in the verandah listening to Fritz's account of his trip round the Cape, an extraordinary hollow roaring noise sounded from the swamp, not unlike the angry bellowing of a bull.

The dogs barked and the family rose in excitement; but remarked a look of quiet humour in Fritz's eye, as he stood leaning against one of the verandah pillars, watching Jack, who, in some confusion, started off towards the marsh.

'Come back, you silly boy!' cried his mother. 'The child has not so much as a pistol, and is rushing off alone to face he knows not what!'

'Perhaps,' said I, looking at Fritz, 'this is not a case requiring the use of firearms. It may be only the booming of a bittern which we hear.'

'You need not be uneasy, mother,' said Fritz. 'Jack knows what he is about, only this charming serenade took him by surprise, and I fancy he will have to exhibit his treasures before they reach perfection. Yes, here he comes!'

Lugging his 'moist secret' along with him, Jack, flushed and breathless, came up to us, exclaiming:

'They were to grow as big as rabbits before you saw them! Such a shame! I never thought they would kick up a row like that. Now for it!'--and he turned out the bag. 'This is "Grace", and this is "Beauty".'

Two immense frogs rolled clumsily on the ground, and recovering their feet, sat squat before us, swelling and buffing with a ludicrous air of insulted dignity, while peals of laughter greeted them on all sides.

'Ladies and gentlemen, these are two very handsome young specimens of the famous African bull-frog,' said Jack, pretending to be offended at the mingled disgust and amus.e.m.e.nt occasioned by their appearance; 'they are but half-grown, and I hoped to maintain them in seclusion, until they reached full size, when I would have introduced them with proper eclat. But since their talent for music has brought them precociously into public notice, I must beg for your kind and indulgent patronage and--leave to take them back to the swamp.'

Great clapping of hands followed Jack's speech.

'Grace' and 'Beauty' were examined, and commented on with much interest, and voted decidedly handsome 'in their way'.

Their general colour was greenish-brown, mottled and spotted with reddish-brown, and yellow; the sides green and black; the underpart yellow, mottled with orange. The eyes were positively beautiful, of a rich chestnut hue, covered with golden white dots, which shone with a metallic l.u.s.tre. The skin of the body was puckered into longitudinal folds.

By general consent they were remanded to the swamp. Shortly after our return to Rockburg, my wife drew my attention to the somewhat neglected state of our dear old summer residence at Falconhurst, begging me to devote some time to its restoration and embellishment.

This I most willingly undertook, and we removed thither, as soon as the boys had completed the arrangement of the artificial salt-lick to their satisfaction.

At Falconhurst things were quickly in good order, and we made a great improvement by completing the broad terrace supported on the arching roots of the trees--it was better floored--and rustic pillars and trellis-work sustained a bark roof which afforded pleasant shade.

After this was done, I was compelled to consent to a plan long cherished by Fritz, who wished to construct a watch-tower and mount a gun on Shark Island. After great exertion, both mental and bodily, this piece of military engineering was completed; and a flagstaff erected, on which the guard at this outpost could run up a white flag to signal the approach of anything harmless from the sea, while a red flag would be shown on the least appearance of danger.

To celebrate the completion of this great work, which occupied us during two months, we hoisted the white flag and fired a salute of six guns.