The Swiss Family Robinson Part 11

Presently I heard a joyful shout, and saw Ernest running at full speed toward me, followed by his brothers. In his hand he held a plant, and, panting for breath, and with sparkling eyes, he held it up to me.

"Potatoes! potatoes! father," he gasped out.

"Yes," said Jack, "acres and acres of potatoes!"

"My dear Ernest," said I, for there was no mistaking the flower and leaf, and the light clear-green bulbous roots, "you have indeed made a discovery; with the potato we shall never starve."

"But come and look at them," said Jack, "come and feast your eyes on thousands of potatoes."

We hurried to the spot: there, spread out before us, was a great tract of ground, covered with the precious plant.

"It would have been rather difficult," remarked Jack, "not to have discovered such a great field."

"Very likely," replied Ernest, smiling; "but I doubt if you would have discovered that it was a potato field."

"Perhaps not," said Jack, "you are quite welcome, at all events, to the honor of the discovery; I'll have the honor of being the first to get a supply of them." So saying, he dug up, with hands and knife, a number of plants, and filled his game bag with the roots. The monkey followed his example, and scratching away with his paws most cleverly, soon had a heap beside him. So delighted were we with the discovery, and so eager were we to possess a large supply of the roots, that we stopped not digging until every bag, pouch, and pocket was filled. Some wished to return at once to Falconhurst, to cook and taste our new acquisition; but this I overruled, and we continued our march, heavily laden, but delighted.

"How," said I, "can we thank the Giver of all these blessings, sufficiently?"

"Oh," said Franz, "we can say, 'We thank thee, O Lord, for all thy goodness and mercy; and bless us for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.'"

"That would not be sufficient," said Fritz. "Do you think it would be enough, just to say to father and mother: 'Thank you for all you do,'

and not to show them we were really thankful, by loving them and doing what we can to please them?"

"You are quite right, Fritz," said I; "Franz did not say all that was necessary, he should have added, 'Give me grace to do Thy will, and to obey Thee in all things.'"

As we thus talked, we reached the head of our streamlet, where it fell from the rocks above in a beautiful, sparkling, splashing cascade. We crossed and entered the tall gra.s.s on the other side. We forced our way through with difficulty, so thick and tangled were the reeds. Beyond this, the landscape was most lovely. Rich tropical vegetation flourished on every side: the tall, stately palms, surrounded by luxuriant ferns; brilliant flowers and graceful creepers; the p.r.i.c.kly cactus, shooting up amidst them; aloe, jasmine, and sweet-scented vanilla; the Indian pea, and above all the regal pine-apple, loaded the breath of the evening breeze with their rich perfume. The boys were delighted with the pine-apple, and so eagerly did they fall to, that my wife had to caution them that there were no doctors on our territory, and if they became ill, they would have to cure themselves as best they might.

This advice, however, seemed to have small effect on my sons, and showing Knips what they wanted, they sent him after the ripest and best fruit.

While they were thus employed, I examined the other shrubs and bushes.

Among these I presently noticed one which I knew well from description to be the karatas.

"Come here, boys," I said; "here is something of far more value than your pine-apples. Do you see that plant with long pointed leaves and beautiful red flower? That is the karatas. The filaments of the leaves make capital thread, while the leaves themselves, bruised, form an invaluable salve. The pith of this wonderful plant may be used either for tinder or bait for fish. Suppose, Ernest, you had been wrecked here, how would you have made a fire without matches, or flint and steel?"

"As the savages do," replied he; "I would rub two pieces of wood together until they kindled."

"Try it," I said; "but, if you please, try it when you have a whole day before you, and no other work to be done, for I am certain it would be night before you accomplish the feat. But see here," and I broke a dry twig from the karatas, and peeling off the bark, laid the pith upon a stone. I struck a couple of pebbles over it, and they emitting a spark, the pith caught fire.

The boys were delighted with the experiment. I then drew some of the threads from the leaves, and presented them to my wife.

"But what," said Fritz, "is the use of all these other p.r.i.c.kly plants, except to annoy one? Here, for instance, is a disagreeable little tree."

"That is an Indian fig," said I. "It grows best on dry, rocky ground; for most of its nourishment is derived from the air. Its juice is used, I believe, medicinally, while its fruit is pleasant and wholesome."

Master Jack was off in a moment when he heard of a new delicacy, and attempted to gather some of the fruit, but in vain; the sharp thorns defied his efforts, and with bleeding hands, and rueful countenance, he returned. I removed the thorns from his hands, and making a sharp wooden skewer, I thrust it into a fig, and quickly twisted it from its branch and split it open with a knife, still holding it upon the skewer. The rest followed my example, and we regaled ourselves upon the fruit, which we found excellent. Ernest carefully examined the fig he was eating.

"What are these," he exclaimed presently; "little red insects! they cling all over the fruit, and I cannot shake them off. Can they be cochineal?"

He handed me the fig, and I examined it attentively.

"You are quite right, my boy," I said; "there is no doubt this is the real cochineal. However, though it is worth its weight in gold to European traders, it is of little use to us, I am afraid unless any of you care to appear in gay colors. The cochineal you know, forms the most lovely scarlet dye."

"No, thank you," said Jack; "but we will take a lot of it when we go home again. Now let us find something more useful to us." And they thereupon plied me incessantly with questions concerning every plant and shrub we pa.s.sed.

"Stop, stop," I said at length; "the most learned naturalist would be much puzzled with many of these trees, and I who have never seen any of them before, and know them merely by description, cannot pretend to tell you the names, or explain to you the use of one-quarter of them."

Discussing, however, the properties of such shrubs as I did know, we at length reached Tentholm. Everything was safe, and we set to work to collect what we wanted. I opened the b.u.t.ter cask, from which my wife filled her pot. Fritz saw after the ammunition, and Jack and Ernest ran down to the beach to capture the geese and ducks. This they found no easy matter, for the birds, left so long alone, were shy, and nothing would induce them to come on sh.o.r.e and be caught. Ernest at length hit upon an ingenious plan. He took some pieces of cheese, and tied them to long strings. This bait he threw into the water, and the hungry ducks instantly made a grab at it; then with a little skillful maneuvering he drew them on sh.o.r.e. While Jack and he were thus busily employed catching and tying the rebels together by the feet, we procured a fresh supply of salt, which we packed upon Turk's back, first relieving him of his coat of mail. The birds we fastened to our game bags, and carefully closing the door of our tent, started homeward by the seash.o.r.e. After a cheerful and pleasant walk, we once more reached our woodland abode. I released the birds and, clipping their wings to prevent their leaving us, established them on the stream. Then, after a delicious supper of potatoes, milk, and b.u.t.ter, we ascended our tree and turned in.

Having remarked a great deal of driftwood on the sands the preceding evening, it occurred to me that it would be well to get some of it, and make a kind of sledge, so that the labor of fetching what we wanted from our stores at Tentholm might not fall so heavily on ourselves.

I awoke early, and roused Ernest as my a.s.sistant, wishing to encourage him to overcome his natural fault of indolence. After a little stretching and yawning, he got up cheerfully, pleased with the idea of an expedition while the others still slept, and we made our way to the beach, taking with us the donkey, who drew a large broad bough, which I expected to find useful in bringing back our load.

As we went along, I remarked to Ernest that I supposed he was rather sorry for himself, and grudged leaving his cozy hammock and pleasant dreams at this untimely hour.

"Oh, father, do not laugh at my laziness! Indeed, I mean to cure myself of it. I am very glad to go with you. I intended to shoot some more of the ortolans this morning, but there will be plenty of time afterward.

The boys will be shooting at them, I daresay, but I don't expect they will have any great luck."

"Why not, pray?" inquired I.

"I don't believe they will know what shot to use at first, and, besides, they will most likely shoot upward at the birds and be sure to miss them, on account of the great height and thickness of the branches and foliage."

"Well, Ernest, you certainly possess the gifts of prudence and reflection, as well as observation. These are valuable; but sudden action is so often necessary in life, that I advise you to cultivate the power of instantly perceiving and deciding what must be done in cases of emergency. Presence of mind is a precious quality, which, although natural in some characters, may be acquired in a certain degree by all who train themselves to it."

Once on the seash.o.r.e, our work was quickly accomplished, for, selecting the wood I thought fit for my purpose, we laid it across the broad, leafy branch, and, with some help from us, the donkey dragged a very fair load of it homeward, with the addition of a small chest, which I raised from among the sand, which nearly covered it.

We heard the boys popping away at the birds as we drew near. They hastened to meet us, and inquired where we had been, looking curiously at the chest, which I allowed them to open, while I asked my wife to excuse our "absence without leave," and after submitting to her gentle reprimand, I explained my plan for a sledge, which pleased her greatly, and she already imagined it loaded with her hogshead of b.u.t.ter, and on its way from Tentholm to Falconhurst.

The chest proved to be merely that of a common sailor, containing his clothes, very much wetted by the sea water.

The boys exhibited an array of several dozen birds, and related, during breakfast, the various incidents of failure and success which had attended their guns. Ernest had rightfully guessed the mistakes they would make, but practice was making them perfect, and they seemed disposed to continue their sport, when their mother, a.s.suring them that she could not use more birds than those already killed, asked if I did not think some means of snaring them might be contrived, as much powder and shot would be expended if they fired on at this rate.

Entirely agreeing with this view of the subject, I desired the lads to lay aside their guns for the present, and the younger ones readily applied themselves to making snares of the long threads drawn from the leaves of the karatas, in a simple way I taught them, while Fritz and Ernest gave me substantial a.s.sistance in the manufacture of the new sledge.

We were busily at work, when a tremendous disturbance among our fowls led us to suppose that a fox or wild cat had got into their midst.

The c.o.c.ks crowed defiantly, the hens fluttered and cackled in a state of the wildest excitement. We hastened toward them, but Ernest remarking Master Knips slipping away, as though conscious of some misdemeanor, went to watch him, and presently caught him in the act of eating a new-laid egg, which he had carried off and hidden among the gra.s.s and roots. Ernest found several others. These were very welcome to my wife, for hitherto the hens had not presented us with any eggs. Hereafter she determined to imprison the monkey every morning until the eggs had been collected.

Soon after this, as Jack was setting the newly made snares among the branches, he discovered that a pair of our own pigeons were building in the tree. It was very desirable to increase our stock of these pretty birds, and I cautioned the boys against shooting near our tree while they had nests there, and also with regard to the snares, which were meant only to entrap the wild fig-eaters.

Although my sons were interested in setting the snares, they by no means approved of the new order to economize the ammunition. No doubt they had been discussing this hardship, for little Franz came to me with a brilliant proposal of his own.

"Papa," said he, "why should not we begin to plant some powder and shot immediately? It would be so much more useful than bare grain for the fowls."

His brothers burst into a roar of laughter, and I must confess I found it no easy matter to keep my countenance.

"Come, Ernest," said I; "now we have had our amus.e.m.e.nt, tell the little fellow what gunpowder really is."

"It is not seed at all, Franz," Ernest explained. "Gunpowder is made of charcoal, sulphur, and saltpeter, mixed cleverly together; so you see it cannot be sown like corn, any more than shot can be planted like peas and beans."