The Swiss Family Robinson Part 32

"Oh, what is a secretary bird?" interrupted Franz. "I thought a secretary meant a man who wrote letters."

"So it does, Franz, and the bird Ernest spoke of has curious long feathers projecting from either side of its head, something like pens stuck behind a man's ear; hence its name.

"It is perfectly true that it lives on snakes, lizards, toads, and frogs, but, Ernest, I cannot give up my pigs; for, in the first place, the secretary bird is an inhabitant of Southern Africa, and is never seen in North America, neither does it ever fly in a flock; still, so ravenous is its appet.i.te, that, no doubt, even one or two, had they by some miracle found themselves on Lake Superior, would have been able to give a very good account of the deadly reptiles, and at least shared in the glory of their extermination."

My wife having gone to prepare dinner, we continued talking as we rested in the shade of some rocks, near the serpent, for a considerable time.

The open air was welcome to us after our long imprisonment: and we were, besides, desirous to drive off any birds of prey who might be attracted to the carca.s.s, which we wished to preserve entire.

My boys questioned me closely on the subject of serpents in general; and I described to them the action of the poison fangs; how they folded back on the sides of the upper jaw; and how the poison-secreting glands and reservoir are found at the back and sides of the head, giving to the venomous serpents that peculiar width of head which is so unfailing a characteristic.

"The fangs are hollow," said I, "and when the creature bites, the pressure forces down a tiny drop of the liquid poison which enters the wound, and, through the veins, quickly spreads over the entire system.

Sometimes, if taken in time, cures are effected, but in most cases the bite of a serpent is followed by speedy death."

The children were much interested in my account of the snake-charmers of India, how they fearlessly handle the most deadly of the serpent tribe, the Cobra di Capello--or hooded cobra--cause them to move in time to musical sounds from a small pipe, twine the reptile about their arms and bare necks, and then, to prove that the poison fangs have not been removed, make them bite a fowl, which soon dies from the effects.

"How is it possible to extract the fangs, father!" asked Ernest.

"No instrument is required," replied I; "I have read the account written by a gentleman in India, who saw a snake-charmer catch a large cobra in the jungle, and for the purpose of removing the fangs, hold up a cloth at which the irritated snake flew, and the fangs being caught in it, the man seized the reptile by the throat, extracted them, and then squeezed out the poison, a clear oily substance, upon a leaf."

"What does the rattle of the rattlesnake look like? and how does it sound?"

"At the tip of the tail are a number of curious, loose, h.o.r.n.y structures formed of the same substance as the scales. A very good idea of the structure of the rattle may be formed by slipping a number of thimbles loosely into each other.

"The rattlesnake lies coiled with its head flat, and the tip of its tail elevated; when alarmed or irritated it gives a quivering movement to the tail which causes the joints of the rattle to shake against each other with a peculiar sound not easily described; all animals, even horses newly brought from Europe, tremble at this noise, and try to escape."

"What is the best thing to be done for the bite of a serpent?" inquired Fritz.

"Remedies are very various, very uncertain, and differ with the species inflicting the bite.

"Suction, ammonia, oil, the use of the knife, application of fresh mold, lunar caustic, leaves of certain plants, all these and more are mentioned. There is a creeping plant, called _Aristolochia indica_, the leaves of which have in repeated instances done wonders for fearful bites. It is found in many parts of the world, but most plentifully in the hotter regions.

"A mode of cure adopted by natives of India, Ceylon, and parts of Africa, is by the application of a remarkable object called snake-stone.

These are described as flattish, something like half an almond with squared ends, rather light, bearing a very high polish, and of an intense jetty black.

"On being bitten by a cobra, the sufferer applies one of these 'stones'

to each puncture, where they adhere strongly for a time, five or six minutes being about the average. They seem to absorb the blood as it flows from the wound, and at last fall off, when the danger is considered to be over.

"But now we must leave this fertile subject of discussion, and I can only say I sincerely trust we may never have cause to resume it from the appearance of another serpent here of any sort, size, or description.

"Come, Ernest, can you not give us an epitaph for our unfortunate friend the donkey?

"We must afford him more honorable sepulture than he enjoys at present, when we proceed, as we speedily must, to disembowel his murderer."

Ernest took the matter quite seriously, and planting his elbows on his knees, he bent his thoughtful brow in his hands, and remained wrapt in poetic meditation for about two minutes.

"I have it!" cried he; "but perhaps you will all laugh at me?"

"No, no, don't be shy, old fellow; spit it out!" and thus encouraged by his brother, Ernest, with the blush of a modest author, began:

"Beneath this stone poor Grizzle's bones are laid, A faithful a.s.s he was, and loved by all.

At length, his master's voice he disobeyed, And thereby came his melancholy fall.

A monstrous serpent, springing from the gra.s.s, Seized, crushed, and swallowed him before our eyes But we, though yet we mourn our honest a.s.s, Are grateful; for he thereby saved the lives Of all the human beings on this sh.o.r.e-- A father, mother, and their children four."

"Hurrah for the epitaph! Well done, Ernest!" resounded on all sides, and taking out a large red pencil I used for marking wood, the lines were forthwith inscribed on a great flat stone, being, as I told the boy, the very best poetry that had ever been written on our coast.

We then had dinner, and afterward went to work with the serpent.

The first operation was to recover the mangled remains of the a.s.s, which being effected, he was buried in the soft marshy ground close by, and the hole filled up with fragments of rock.

Then we yoked Storm and Grumble to the serpent, and dragged it to a convenient distance from Rockburg, where the process of skinning, stuffing, and sewing up again afforded occupation of the deepest interest to the boys for several days.

We took great pains to coil it round a pole in the museum, arranging the head with the jaws wide open, so as to look as alarming as possible, and contriving to make eyes and tongue sufficiently well to represent nature; in fact, our dogs never pa.s.sed the monster without growling, and must have wondered at our taste in keeping such a pet.

Over the entrance leading to the museum and library were inscribed these words:

NO ADMITTANCE FOR a.s.sES.

The double meaning of this sentence pleased us all immensely.

CHAPTER XII.

We examine the marsh--A cave discovered--We find the floor covered with fuller's earth--Discharge our pistols--Jack's fright--Ernest captures an eel--An expedition toward the Gap--Visit Falconhurst and Woodlands and examine the country round--Franz shoots a capybara--Ernest and Knips fight the rats--A lecture on musk--Cinnamon apples--A peccary hunt--We prepare the peccary meat--Disasters at Prospect Hill--An exploring expedition through the Gap--We find our barrier broken down across the desert--Strange objects in the distance--An account of ostriches--An ostrich slain--We discover the nest--A mud tortoise--We encounter bears--A desperate fight--Back again to camp--We skin the bears and smoke their flesh--Pepper found--Three of the boys start on an expedition--I discover talc.

The greatest danger to which we had yet been exposed was now over, but there remained much anxiety in my mind lest another serpent might, unseen by us, have entered the swamp, or might appear, as this had done, from the country beyond Falconhurst.

I projected then two excursions, the first to make a thorough examination of the thicket and mora.s.s; the next right away to the Gap, through which alone the archenemy could have entered our territory.

On summoning my sons to accompany me to the marsh, I found neither Ernest nor Jack very eager to do so, the latter vowing he had the cold shivers each time he thought how his ribs might have been smashed by the last flap of the snake's tail; but I did not yield to their reluctance, and we finally set about crossing the marsh by placing planks and wicker hurdles on the ground, and changing their places as we advanced.

Nothing was discovered beyond tracks in the reeds and the creature's lair; where the rushes, gra.s.s, and bog-plants were beaten down.

Emerging beyond the thicket we found ourselves on firm ground, near the precipitous wall of rock, and perceived a clear sparkling brook flowing from an opening, which proved to be a cave or grotto of considerable size.

The vaulted roof was covered with stalact.i.tes, while many formed stately pillars, which seemed as though supporting the roof. The floor was strewn with fine snow-white earth, with a smooth soapy feeling, which I felt convinced was fuller's earth.

"Well, this is a pleasant discovery!" said I. "This is as good as soap for washing, and will save me the trouble of turning soap-boiler."

Perceiving that the streamlet flowed from an opening of some width in the inner rock, Fritz pa.s.sed through, in order to trace it to its source, presently shouting to me that the opening widened very much, and begging me to follow him.

I did so, leaving the other boys in the outer cave, and fired a pistol-shot--the reverberating echoes of which testified to the great extent of the place; and lighting the bit of candle I always carried with me, we advanced, the light burning clear and steadily, though shedding a very feeble light in so vast a s.p.a.ce.

Suddenly Fritz exclaimed:

"I verily believe this is a second cave of salt! See how the walls glance! and how the light is reflected from the roof!"