Swiss Family Robinson Part 49

'Oh do, mother, let us taste birds' nests as soon as you can, though the idea makes me fancy my mouth full of feathers!' laughed Jack.

'It is really a most curious formation,' said Fritz. 'From whence are the swallows supposed to get this kind of gelatine?'

'It has never been exactly ascertained,' I replied, 'whether the birds discover or produce this curious substance. But whatever may be its basis, it is clear that a very large portion of it is furnished by certain glands, which pour out a viscid secretion.'

'After laying in my store of nests,' continued Fritz, 'I pursued my way through this vaulted cave or corridor; which, presently turning, opened into a very lonely bay, so calm and lake-like, that, although of considerable size, I concluded at once it must be nearly land-locked.

Its sh.o.r.es, beyond the rocky boundary through which I penetrated, extended in a fertile plain towards what seemed the mouth of a river, beyond which lay rough and probably marshy ground, and a dense forest of cedars, which closed the view.

'The water beneath me was clear as crystal; and, gazing into its depths and shallows, I perceived beds of sh.e.l.lfish, like large oysters, attached to the rocks and to each other by tufts of hairy filaments.

'"If these are oysters," thought I, "they must be better worth eating, as far as size goes, than our little friends in Safety Bay," and thereupon I hooked up several cl.u.s.ters with my boat-hook, and landing soon after on the beach, I flung them on the sand, resolving to fetch another load, and then tow them after me in the fishing-net.

'The hot sun disagreed with their const.i.tution, I suppose; for when I came back the sh.e.l.ls were all gaping wide open; so I began to examine them, thinking that after all they were probably much less delicate than the small oysters we have learnt to like so much.

'Somehow, when a thing is to be "examined", one generally needs a knife. The blade met with resistance here and there in the creature's body; and still closer "examination" produced from it several pearly b.a.l.l.s, like peas, of different sizes. Do you think they can be pearls?

I have a number here in a box.'

'Oh, show them to us, Fritz!' cried the boys. 'What pretty shining things! And how delicately rounded! And how softly they gleam!'

'You have discovered treasure, indeed!' I exclaimed. 'Why these are most beautiful pearls! Valueless, certainly, under present circ.u.mstances; but they may prove a source of wealth, should we ever again come into contact with the civilized world. We must visit your pearl-oyster beds at the earliest opportunity.'

'After resting for some time and refreshing myself with food,' pursued Fritz, 'I resumed my survey of the coast, my progress somewhat impeded by the bag of sh.e.l.lfish, which I drew after me; but I proceeded without accident past the mouth of the stream to the further side of the bay, which was there enclosed by a point corresponding to that through which I had entered; and between these headlands I found a line of reefs and sand-banks, with but a single channel leading out to the open sea; from which, therefore, Pearl Bay, as I named it, lies completely sheltered.

'The tide was setting strongly in sh.o.r.e, so that I could not then attempt a pa.s.sage through it, but examined the crags of the headland, thinking I might perchance discover a second vaulted archway. I saw nothing remarkable, however, but thousands of sea-fowl of every sort and kind, from the gull and sea-swallow to the mighty albatross.

'My approach was evidently regarded as an invasion and trespa.s.s; for they regularly beset me, screaming and wheeling over my head, till, out of all patience, I stood up, and hit furiously about me with the boat-hook; when, rather to my surprise, one blow struck an albatross with such force, that he fell stunned into the water.

'I now once more attempted to cross the reef by the narrow channel, and happily succeeding, found myself in the open sea, and speeding homewards, joyfully saw our flag flying, and heard the welcome salute you fired.'

Here ended the narrative; but next morning Fritz drew me aside, and confided to me a most remarkable sequel, in these words:

'There was something very extraordinary about that albatross, father. I allowed you to suppose that I left it as it fell, but in reality I raised it to the deck of the canoe, and then perceived a piece of rag wound round one of its legs. This I removed, and, to my utter astonishment, saw English words written on it, which I plainly made out to be "Save an unfortunate Englishwoman from the smoking rock!"

'This little sentence sent a thrill through every nerve: my brain seemed to whirl. I doubted the evidence of my senses.

'"Is this reality, or delusion?" thought I, "Can it be true, that a fellow creature breathes with us the air of this lonely region?"

'I felt stupefied for some minutes: the bird began to show signs of life, which recalled me to myself; and, quickly deciding what must be done, I tore a strip from my handkerchief, on which I traced the words, "Do not despair! Help is near!"

'This I carefully bound round one leg, replacing the rag on the other, and then applied myself to the complete restoration of the bird. It gradually revived; and after drinking a little, surprised me by suddenly rising on the wing, faltering a moment in its flight, and then rapidly disappearing from my view in a westerly direction.

'Now, father, one thought occupies me continually: will my note ever reach this Englishwoman? Shall I be able to find, and to save her?' I listened to this account with feelings of the liveliest interest and astonishment.

'My dear son,' said I, 'you have done wisely in confiding to me alone your most exciting discovery. Unless we know more, we must not unsettle the others by speaking of it; for it appears to me quite possible that these words were penned long ago on some distant sh.o.r.e, where, by this time, the unhappy stranger may have perished miserably. By the "smoking rock" must be meant a volcano. There are none here.'

Fritz was not disposed to look at the case from this gloomy point of view; did not think the rag so very old; believed smoke might rise from a rock which was not volcanic; and evidently cherished the hope that he might be able to respond effectually to this touching appeal. I was in reality as anxious as himself on the subject, but judged it prudent to abate rather than excite hopes of success which might be doomed to bitter disappointment.

After earnest consultation on the subject, we decided that Fritz should go in search of the writer of the message, but not until he had so altered the canoe as to fit it for carrying two persons, as well as provisions sufficient to admit of his absence for a considerable time.

Impatient as he was, he could not but see the wisdom of this delay. We returned to the house, and saw the boys busily opening the oysters, which they had had no time to do the previous night, and greatly excited as ever and anon a pearl was found.

'May we not establish a pearl-fishery at once, father?' shouted they.

'We might build a hut on the sh.o.r.e of the bay and set about it regularly.'

An excursion to Pearl Bay was now the event to which all thoughts turned, and for which preparations on a grand scale were made. It was to form, as it were, the basis of the more important voyage Fritz had in view, and to which, unsuspected by the rest, he could devote all his attention.

I took an opportunity, one day, when all were present, to remark in a serious tone:

'I have been considering, dear wife, that our eldest son is now of an age to be dependent on himself. I shall, therefore, henceforth leave him at liberty to act in all respects according to his own judgement; and, especially in the matter of voyages or excursions, he must not be hampered by the fear of alarming us should he choose to remain absent longer than we expect. I have such entire confidence in his prudence, and at the same time in his affection for us, that I am certain he will never needlessly cause us anxiety.'

Fritz looked gratefully towards me as I spoke; and his mother ratified my words, embracing him affectionately, and saying, with emotion, 'G.o.d bless and preserve thee, my boy!'

It took some time to make several raking or sc.r.a.ping machines, which I invented for the purpose of detaching and lifting the oysters from their native rocks; but that gave Fritz leisure to change the fittings of his canoe, so as to have a spare seat in it.

His brothers naturally concluded he meant to take one of them as shipmate on board, and he allowed the mistake to continue.

They occupied themselves in making various articles they expected to be of use, and bore the delay with tolerable patience.

At last came the day, when, taking leave of my wife and Franz, we went on board the yacht, accompanied by some of the dogs; while Jack, proudly occupying the new seat beside Fritz in the canoe, shared with him the honour of leading the way in the character of pilots.

We pa.s.sed safely through the rocks and shoals near Walrus Island into an expanse of calm water, sheltered by jutting cliffs, where the sea glanced like a mirror, and for the first time we observed the fairy-like sh.e.l.ls of the paper-nautilus sailing lightly over the dazzling surface.

It was impossible to see these lovely seafarers without wishing to obtain specimens; and the canoe accordingly gave chase, presently securing half a dozen, which were handed to us in the yacht to be carefully preserved for the museum, and the place was ever after called Nautilus Creek.

Further on we rounded a short promontory, flat, with an abrupt rock at the extremity, to which we gave the name of Cape Pug-Nose; and then, at some distance, appeared the grand cliffs of a headland running far out to sea.

This I supposed we should have to weather, but my pilots made no change in our course, and, following the canoe, we soon came in sight of the majestic archway which offered us a short pa.s.sage to Pearl Bay.

The wonderfully architectural appearance of the pillars, arches and pinnacles, surrounding and surmounting this n.o.ble entrance, struck me with admiration, resembling parts of a fine gothic cathedral, and inducing me to propose for it the name Cape Minster.

A perfect cloud of little swallows darted from the cavernous entrance on our approach, divided into flocks, soared, wheeled, flew right and left, and finally returned in a body as swiftly as they came, to the sides of the long dark tunnel, which were festooned with their nests.

We detached a number of these as we pa.s.sed, taking care to leave those containing eggs or young. The best were at a considerable height, but the broken and shelving rocks afforded, in some places, footing for such daring and active climbers as Fritz and Jack, and they quickly obtained as many as we could possibly require.

Our progress was much a.s.sisted by the tide, which, like a current, bore us onward along the nave of this natural cathedral; aisles, transepts, screens and side-chapels appearing between the columns and arches which in the 'dim religious light' were revealed to our wondering eyes.

On emerging into the dazzling sunshine, we found ourselves floating in the calm expanse of Pearl Bay; but it was some minutes before we could look around on the bright and lovely scene.

Fritz had not overrated its beauty, and the romantic islets which studded its waters seemed to give the effect of a pleasant smile to features already perfect.

We cruised about for some time, surveying the coast with its fertile meadows, shady groves, gently swelling hills and murmuring brooks, seeking a convenient landing-place in the vicinity of the shallows where lay the oyster-beds.

This we found, close to a sparkling streamlet; and, as the day was fast declining, we made speedy arrangements for burning a watch-fire; after which we partook of a hasty supper, and leaving the dogs, with Coco, the jackal, to sleep on sh.o.r.e, we returned on board the yacht for the night, anchoring within gunshot of the land.

The coast being quite strange to us, I knew not what wild beasts might frequent it; but, though I did not fear that any would approach us by swimming, yet I was glad to have with us our lively little ape, Mercury (the successor of our old favourite, Knips, long since gathered to his fathers), for he occupied at night a cosy berth on deck, and was certain to give vociferous notice should anything alarming occur.

Fritz moored the cajack alongside, and came on board. The night pa.s.sed in peace, although for a time we were disturbed by the yelping of jackals, with whom Coco persisted in keeping up a noisy conversation.

We awoke at daybreak, and after breakfasting a la fourchette*, we repaired in haste with nets, sc.r.a.pers and all other requisites, to the oyster-beds, where we worked with such diligence and success that in the course of two days we had an immense pile of sh.e.l.ls built up like a stack on the beach, and left to decay. I collected a quant.i.ty of seaweed to spread over them, which was afterwards burnt to make alkali, when we returned to secure our harvest of pearls.