The History of Sandford and Merton Part 15

The spectators could hardly believe their eyes, and some of them got little pieces of bread, and held them out, imagining that he would do the same to them. But it was in vain they whistled and presented their bread; the bird remained unmoved upon the water, and obeyed no orders but those of his master.

When this exhibition had been repeated over and over again, to the extreme delight and astonishment of all present, the company rose and dispersed, and Mr Barlow and the little boys pursued their way home.

But Tommy's mind was so engaged with what he had seen, that for several days he could think and talk of nothing else. He would give all that he had in the world to find out this curious trick, and to be possessed of such a swan. At length, as he was one day talking to Harry upon this subject, Harry told him with a smile, that he believed he had found out a method of doing it, and that, if he did not mistake, he would the next day show him a swan that would come to be fed as well as the conjuror's.

Accordingly, Harry moulded a bit of wax into the shape of a swan, and placed it upon a basin of water. He then presented to it a piece of bread, and, to the inexpressible delight of Tommy, the swan pursued the bread, just as he had seen before.

After he had several times diverted himself with this experiment, he wanted to be informed of the composition of this wonderful swan. Harry therefore showed him, within the body of the bird, a large needle, which lay across it from one end to the other. In the bread with which the swan was fed, he also showed him concealed a small bar of iron.

Tommy could not comprehend all this, although he saw it before his eyes; but Mr Barlow, who was present, taking up the bar of iron, and putting down several needles upon the table, Tommy was infinitely surprised to see the needles all jump up, one after another, at the approach of the bar, and shoot towards it, as if they had been possessed of life and sense. They then hung all about the bar so firmly, that, though it was lifted into the air, they all remained suspended, nor ever quitted their hold. Mr Barlow then placed a key upon the table, and putting the iron near it, the key attached itself as firmly to the bar as the needles had done before. All this appeared so surprising to Tommy, that he begged an explanation of it from Mr Barlow. That gentleman told him, "that there was a stone often found in iron mines, that was called the _loadstone_.

This stone is naturally possessed of the surprising power of drawing to itself all pieces of iron that are not too large, nor placed at too great a distance. But what is equally extraordinary is, that iron itself, after having been rubbed upon the loadstone, acquires the same virtue as the stone itself, of attracting other iron. For this purpose they take small bars of iron, and rub them carefully upon the loadstone, and when they have acquired this very extraordinary power, they call them _magnets_. When Harry had seen the exhibition of the swan, upon revolving it over in his mind, he began to suspect that it was performed entirely by the power of magnetism. Upon his talking to me about the affair, I confirmed him in his opinion, and furnished him with a small magnet to put into the bread, and a large needle to conceal in the body of the bird. So this is the explanation of the feat which so much puzzled you a few days past."

Mr Barlow had scarcely done speaking, when Tommy observed another curious property of the swan, which he had not found out before. This bird, when left to itself, constantly rested in one particular direction, and that direction was full north and south.

Tommy inquired the reason of this, and Mr Barlow gave him this additional explanation: "The persons who first discovered the wonderful powers of the loadstone, in communicating its virtues to iron, diverted themselves, as we do now, in touching needles and small pieces of iron, which they made to float upon water, and attracted them about with other pieces of iron. But it was not long before they found out, as you do now, another surprising property of this wonderful stone; they observed, that when a needle had once been touched by the loadstone, if it was left to float upon the water without restraint, it would invariably turn itself towards the north. In a short time they improved the discovery farther, and contrived to suspend the middle of the needle upon a point, so loosely that it could move about in every direction; this they covered with a gla.s.s case, and by this means they always had it in their power to find out all the quarters of the heavens and earth."

_Tommy._--Was this discovery of any great use?

_Mr Barlow._--Before this time they had no other method of finding their way along the sea, but by observing the stars. They knew, by experience, in what part of the sky certain stars appeared at every season of the year, and this enabled them to discover east, west, north, and south.

But when they set out from their own country by sea, they knew in which direction the place was situated which they were going to. If it lay to the east, they had only to keep the head of the ship turned full to that quarter of the heavens, and they would arrive at the place they were going to; and this they were enabled to do by observing the stars. But frequently the weather was thick, and the stars no longer appeared, and then they were left to wander about the pathless ocean without the smallest track to guide them in their course.

_Tommy._--Poor people! they must be in a dreadful situation indeed, tossed about on such an immense place as the sea, in the middle of a dark night, and not able even to guess at their situation.

_Mr Barlow._--For this reason they seldom dared to venture out of sight of the sh.o.r.e, for fear of losing their way, by which means all their voyages were long and tedious; for they were obliged to make them several times as long as they would have done, could they have taken the straight and nearest way. But soon after the discovery of this admirable property of the loadstone, they found that the needle, which had been thus prepared, was capable of showing them the different points of the heavens, even in the darkest night. This enabled them to sail with greater security, and to venture boldly upon the immense ocean, which they had always feared before.

_Tommy._--How extraordinary that a little stone should enable people to cross the sea, and to find their way from one country to another! But I wonder why they take all these pains.

_Mr Barlow._--That you need not wonder at, when you consider that one country frequently produces what another does not; and therefore, by exchanging their different commodities, the people of both may live more conveniently than they did before.

_Harry._--But does not almost every country produce all that is necessary to support the inhabitants of it? and therefore they might live, I should think, even though they received nothing from any other country.

_Mr Barlow._--So might your father live, perhaps, upon the productions of his own farm, but he sometimes sells his cattle to purchase clothes; sometimes his corn to purchase cattle. Then he frequently exchanges with his neighbours one kind of grain for another, and thus their mutual conveniency is better promoted than if each were to confine himself to the produce of his own land. At the same time, it is true, that every country which is inhabited by men, contains within itself all that is necessary for their subsistence, and what they bring from other countries is frequently more hurtful than salutary to them.

_Harry._--I have heard you say that even in Greenland, the coldest and most uncomfortable country in the world, the inhabitants procure themselves necessaries, and live contented.

_Tommy._--What! is there a part of the world still colder than Lapland?

_Mr Barlow._--Greenland is still farther north, and therefore colder and more barren. The ground is there covered with eternal snows, which never melt, even in the summer. There are scarcely any animals to be found, excepting bears, that live by preying upon fish. There are no trees growing upon any part of the country, so that the inhabitants have nothing to build their houses with, excepting the planks and trees which the sea washes away from other countries and leaves upon their coast.

With these they erect large cabins, where several families live together. The sides of these huts are composed of earth and stones, and the top secured with turf; in a short time the whole is so cemented with frost, that it is impenetrable to the weather during the whole winter.

Along the sides of the building are made several part.i.tions, in each of which a Greenlander lives with his family. Each of these families have a small lamp continually burning before them, by means of which they cook their food, and light themselves, and, what is equally necessary in so cold a country, keep up agreeable warmth throughout their apartment.

They have a few deer, which sometimes visit them in the summer, and which the Greenlanders kill whenever they can catch them; but they are almost entirely dest.i.tute of all the vegetables which serve as nourishment to man, so that they are obliged to be continually upon the sea, in order to catch fish for their maintenance.

_Tommy._--What a dreadful life that must be in a country which is so cold!

_Mr Barlow._--In consequence of that extreme cold, those northern seas are full of such immense quant.i.ties of ice, that they are sometimes almost covered with them. Huge pieces come floating down, which are not only as big as the largest houses, but even resemble small mountains.

These are sometimes dashed against each other by the winds, with such immense force, that they would crush the strongest ship to pieces, and with a noise that exceeds the report of a cannon. Upon these pieces of ice are frequently seen white bears of an enormous size, which have either fallen asleep upon them, and so been carried away, or have straggled over those ice hills in search of fish.

_Tommy._--And is it possible that the inhabitants of such a country can find enough in it for all their necessities?

_Mr Barlow._--The necessities of life are very few, and are therefore to be found even in the most rugged climates, if men are not wanting to themselves, or deficient in industry. In plentiful countries like this, and in most of the more temperate climates, great numbers are maintained in idleness, and imagine that they were only born to live upon the labour of others; but, in such a country as Greenland is described to be, it requires continual exertion to procure the simplest support of human life; and therefore no one can live at all who will not employ himself in the same manner as his neighbours.

_Tommy._--You said that these people had neither flesh nor corn; do they then clothe themselves with the skins of fish, as well as live upon them?

_Mr Barlow._--There is in those seas a peculiar species of animal called a _seal_. He is nine or ten feet long, and has two small feet before, on which he is able to walk a little upon the sh.o.r.e, for he frequently comes out of the sea, and sleeps, or amuses himself upon the land or ice. His body is very large, and full of oil, and behind he has two legs which resemble fins, with which he swims in the water. This animal is the constant prey of the Greenlander, and furnishes him with all he wants. The flesh he eats, the fat serves him to feed his lamp, which is almost as necessary as food itself in that cold climate. With the skin he makes clothes that are impenetrable to the water, or lines the inside of his hut to keep out the weather. As this animal is so necessary to the existence of a Greenlander, it is his greatest glory to chase and take him. For this purpose he places himself in a small narrow boat, the top of which is covered over with the skins of seals, and closes round the middle of the fisher so tight as entirely to exclude the water. He has a long oar, or paddle, broad at both ends, which he dips first on one side, then on the other, and rows along with incredible swiftness over the roughest seas. He carries with him a harpoon, which is a kind of lance or javelin, tied to a long thong, at the end of which is fixed a bladder, or some other light thing that sinks with difficulty. When the fisherman is thus prepared, he skims lightly along the waters, till he perceives at a distance one of these animals floating upon the surface. The Greenlander then approaches him as softly as he is able, and, if possible, contrives that the animal shall have the wind and sun in his eyes. When he is sufficiently near he throws his harpoon, and generally wounds the creature, in which case he instantly hurries away, and carries with him the thong and bladder. But it is not long before he is compelled to rise again to the surface of the water to breathe; and then the Greenlander, who has been pursuing him all the time, attacks him anew, and dispatches him with a shorter lance, which he has brought with him for that purpose. He then ties his prey to his boat, and tows it after him to his family, who receive it with joy, and dress it for their supper. Although these poor people live a life of such continual fatigue, and are obliged to earn their food with so much hardship, they are generous and hospitable in the management of it, for there is not a person present but is invited to partake of the feast; and a Greenlander would think himself dishonoured for life, if he should be thought capable of wishing to keep it all to himself.

_Tommy._--I think it seems as if the less people had the more generous they are with it.

_Mr Barlow._--That is not unfrequently the case, and should be a lesson to many of our rich at home, who imagine that they have nothing to do with their fortune but to throw it away upon their pleasures, while there are so many thousands in want of the common necessaries of life.

_Tommy._--But, pray, sir, have you no more particulars to tell me about these Greenlanders? for I think it is the most curious account I ever heard in my life.

_Mr Barlow._--There is another very curious particular indeed to be mentioned of these countries; in these seas is found the largest animal in the world, an immense fish, which is called the whale.

_Tommy._--Oh dear! I have heard of that extraordinary animal. And pray, sir, do the Greenlanders ever catch them?

_Mr Barlow._--The whale is of such a prodigious size, that he sometimes reaches seventy or eighty, or even more than a hundred feet in length.

He is from ten to above twenty feet in height, and every way large in proportion. When he swims along the seas, he appears rather like a large vessel floating upon the waters than a fish. He has two holes in his head, through which he blows out water to a great height in the air, immense fins, and a tail with which he almost raises a tempest when he lashes the sea with it. Would you not believe that such an animal was the most dreadful of the whole brute creation?

_Tommy._--Indeed, sir, I should! I should think that such a fish would overset whole ships, and devour the sailors.

_Mr Barlow._--Far from it; it is one of the most innocent in respect to man that the ocean produces, nor does he ever do him the least hurt, unless by accidentally overturning vessels with his enormous bulk. The food he lives upon is chiefly small fish, and particularly herrings.

These fish are bred in such prodigious shoals amid the ice of those northern climates, that the sea is absolutely covered with them for miles together. Then it is that the hungry whale pursues them, and thins their numbers, by swallowing thousands of them in their course.

_Harry._--What numbers indeed must such a prodigious fish devour of these small animals!

_Mr Barlow._--The whale, in his turn, falls a prey to the cruelty and avarice of man. Some indeed are caught by the Greenlanders, who have a sufficient excuse for persecuting him with continual attacks, in their total want of vegetables, and every species of food which the earth affords. But the Europeans, who are too nice and squeamish to eat his flesh, send out great numbers of ships, every year, to destroy the poor whale, merely for the sake of the oil which his body contains, and the elastic bones which are known by the name of whalebone, and applied to several purposes. When those who go upon this dangerous expedition discern a whale floating at a distance, they instantly send out a large boat to pursue him. Some of the men row along as gently as possible, while the person that is appointed to attack the fish stands upon the forepart of the boat, holding in his hand a sharp harpoon, with which he is prepared to wound his prey. This is fastened to a long cord which lies ready coiled up in the boat, so that they may let it out in an instant, when the fish is struck; for such is his prodigious force, that, should the least impediment occur to stop the rope in its pa.s.sage, he would instantly draw the boat after him down to the bottom of the sea. In order to prevent these dangerous accidents, a man stands constantly ready to divide the rope with a hatchet, in case it should happen to tangle; and another is continually pouring water over it for fear the swiftness of the motion should make it take fire. The poor whale, being thus wounded, darts away with inconceivable rapidity, and generally plunges to the bottom of the sea. The men have a prodigious quant.i.ty of cord ready to let out, and when their store is exhausted there are generally other boats ready to supply more. Thus is the poor animal overpowered and killed, in spite of his immense bulk and irresistible strength; for, gradually wearied with his own efforts and the loss of blood, he soon relaxes in his speed, and rises again to the top of the water. Then it is that the fishers, who have pursued him all the time with the hopes of such an opportunity, approach him anew, and attack him with fresh harpoons, till in the end his strength is entirely exhausted, the waves themselves are tinged with a b.l.o.o.d.y colour from his innumerable wounds, and he writhes himself about in strong convulsions and unutterable pain. Then the conflict is soon at an end; in a short time he breathes his last, and turning upon his back, floats like some large vessel upon the surface of the sea. The fishers then approach, and cut off the fins and other valuable parts, which they stow on board their ships; the fat, or blubber, as it is often called, is received into large hogsheads, and when boiled, to purify it, composes the common oil, which is applied to so many useful purposes. The remains of this vast body are left a prey to other fish and to the Greenlanders, who carefully collect every fragment which they can find, and apply it to their own use. Sometimes they go to pursue the whale themselves, but when they do, it is in large numbers, and they attack him nearly in the same manner as the Europeans do, only, as they are not so well supplied with cord, they fix the skins of seals, which they have inflated with air, to the end of the thongs which are tied to their harpoons, and this serves both to weary out the fish, who drags them with him under the water, and to discover him the instant he approaches to the surface.

_Harry._--I cannot help pitying the poor whale that is thus persecuted for the sake of his spoils. Why cannot man let this poor beast live unmolested in the midst of the snows and ice in which he was born?

_Mr Barlow._--You ought to know enough of the world to be sensible that the desire of gain will tempt men upon every expedition. However, in this case you must consider that the whale himself is continually supported by murdering thousands of herrings and other small fish; so that, were they possessed of reason, they would welcome the Europeans, who came to destroy their enemies, as friends and benefactors.

_Tommy._--But pray, sir, how do the little boys amuse themselves in such a dismal country? Do their fathers take them out a-fishing with them?

_Mr Barlow._--When the men come home all covered with wet and icicles, and sit down comfortably in their huts to feast upon the prey, their common conversation is about the dangers and accidents they have met with in their expedition. A Greenlander relates how he bounded over the waves to surprise the monstrous seal; how he pierced the animal with his harpoon, who had nearly dragged the boat with him under the water; how he attacked him again in closer combat; how the beast, enraged with his wounds, rushed upon him in order to destroy him with his teeth; and how, in the end, by courage and perseverance, he triumphed over his adversary, and brought it safe to land. All this will he relate with the vehemence and interest which people naturally feel for things which concern them nearly; he stands in the midst of his countrymen, and describes every minute circ.u.mstance of his adventures; the little children gather round, and greedily catch the relation; they feel themselves interested in every circ.u.mstance; they hear, and wish to share in the toils and glory of their fathers. When they are a little bigger they exercise themselves in small skiffs, with which they learn to overcome the waves. Nothing can be more dangerous, or require greater dexterity than the management of a Greenlander's boat. The least thing will overset it, and then, the man who cannot disengage himself from the boat, which is fastened to his middle, sinks down below the waves, and is inevitably drowned, if he cannot regain his balance. The only hope of doing this, is placed in the proper application of his oar, and, therefore, the dexterous management of this implement forms the early study of the young Greenlanders. In their sportive parties they row about in a thousand different manners. They dive under their boats, and then set them to rights with their paddle; they learn to glide over the roughest billows, and face the greatest dangers with intrepidity, till in the end they acquire sufficient strength and address to fish for themselves, and to be admitted into the cla.s.s of men.

_Harry._--Pray, sir, is this the country where men travel about upon sledges that are drawn by dogs?

_Tommy._--Upon sledges drawn by dogs! that must be droll indeed. I had no idea that dogs could ever draw carriages.

_Mr Barlow._--The country you are speaking of is called Kamtschatka; it is indeed a cold and dreary country, but very distant from Greenland.

The inhabitants there train up large dogs, which they harness to a sledge, upon which the master sits, and so performs his journey along the snow and ice. All the summer the Kamtschatkans turn their dogs loose to shift for themselves, and prey upon the remains of fish which they find upon the sh.o.r.e or the banks of the rivers (for fish is the common food of all the inhabitants); in the winter they a.s.semble their dogs and use them for the purposes I have mentioned. They have no reins to govern the dogs, or stop them in their course, but the driver sits upon his sledge, and keeps himself as steady as he is able, holding in his hand a short stick, which he throws at the dogs if they displease him, and catches again with great dexterity as he pa.s.ses. This way of travelling is not without danger, for the temper of the dogs is such, that when they descend hills and slippery places, and pa.s.s through woods where the driver is exposed to wound himself with the branches and stumps, they always quicken their pace. The same is observed in case their master should fall off, which they instantly discover by the sudden lightness of the carriage, for then they set off at such a rate that it is difficult to overtake them. The only way which the Kamtschatcan finds, is to throw himself at his length upon the ground, and lay hold on the empty sledge, suffering himself to be thus dragged along the earth, till the dogs, through weariness, abate their speed. Frequently in their journeys these travellers are surprised by unexpected storms of wind and snow, which render it impracticable to proceed farther. How ill would an European fare, to be thus abandoned, at the distance perhaps of a hundred miles or more, from any habitable place, exposed, without shelter, in the midst of extensive plains, and unable to procure either wood or fire. But the hardy native of these cold climates, inured from his infancy to support difficulties, and almost superior to the elements, seeks the shelter of the first forest he can find; then, wrapping himself round in his warm fur garment, he sits with his legs under him, and, thus bundled up, suffers himself to be covered round with snow, except a small hole which he leaves for the convenience of breathing. In this manner he lies, with his dogs around him, who a.s.sist in keeping him warm, sometimes for several days, till the storm is past, and the roads again become pa.s.sable, so that he may be able to pursue his journey again.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Frequently in their journeys these travellers are surprised by unexpected storms of wind and snow, which render it impracticable to proceed farther." _P. 278._]

_Tommy._--I could not have conceived it possible that men should be able to struggle with so many hardships. But do not the poor people who inhabit these cold climates quit them, whenever they can find an opportunity, and come to settle in those that are warmer?

_Mr Barlow._--Not in the least. When they hear that there are no seals to be caught in other countries, they say that they must be wretched indeed, and much inferior to their own. Besides, they have in general so great a contempt for all Europeans, that they have no inclination to visit the countries which they inhabit.

_Tommy._--How can that be? How can a parcel of wretched ignorant savages despise men that are so much superior to themselves?