CHAPTER XXII.
Gymnastic exercises;—various discoveries; singular animals, &c.
Neither our voyages to the wreck, nor the laboriousness of our occupations at Tent House had made us forget the regular observance of our duties on the sabbath-day, which now again occurred the day after our return to Falcon’s Stream; and we accordingly distinguished it by consecrating the forenoon to reading the church prayers, some chapters in the Bible, singing psalms, and lastly, the recital of a new parable I had invented, and which I had named the Arabian Travellers. I reminded my children in it, by the help of imagery and fictitious names, of all the aid and all the benefits bestowed upon us by an all-beneficent Providence, from the moment of our being cast upon our present abode;—that it was his compassion for our station which had endued us with sagacity and perseverance in the discovery of so many things necessary for our existence; and one treasure, valuable above all the rest—a talisman, bestowed by the good genius who watched over poor defenceless wanderers. This talisman was such as to inspire them on every occasion with the knowledge of what was best for their happiness, and that by listening to these inspirations, they might be sure of always keeping in the right path, and finding every want supplied. I need not explain that by the good genius I alluded to the ever-watchful care of the exemplary wife and mother; and by the talisman, the sacred volume she had so miraculously preserved and concealed in her enchanted bag. I was well understood by my hearers; and as I finished my discourse, the children all ran spontaneously at once to embrace their mother, addressing her by the term Good Genius, and thanking her for having been the means of securing the Bible, to which we might all resort for consolation and instruction.
After dinner I again addressed my family with a short moral discourse, and then allowed them to use whatever kind of recreation they pleased; one feature of my system being, not to tire them with the subjects I wished them to feel an attachment for. I recommended to them, for the sake of uniting usefulness with their amusement, to resume the exercise we began upon the first Sunday of our abode in these regions, the shooting of arrows; for I had an extreme solicitude about their preserving and increasing their bodily strength and agility, which in a situation like ours, might prove of such critical importance. Nothing tends more to the extinction of personal courage in a human being, than the consciousness of wanting that strength of limb, or that address, which may be necessary to aid us in defending ourselves, or in escaping from dangers. On this occasion, I added the exercises of running, jumping, getting up trees, both by means of climbing by the trunk, or by a suspended rope, as sailors are obliged to do to get to the mast-head. We began at first by making knots in the rope at a foot distance from each other; then we reduced the number of knots, and before we left off, we contrived to succeed without any. I next taught them an exercise of a different nature, with which they were unacquainted, and which was to be effected by means of two balls made of lead, fastened one to each end of a string about a fathom in length. While I was preparing this machinery, all eyes were fixed upon me.—What can it be intended for? cried one: How can we use it? asked another: Will it soon be ready? continued a third.
Father.—Have a little patience, boys, if it be not quite impossible for you to practise this precious virtue; for though the thing I am endeavouring to make for you may turn out extremely useful, yet this said virtue of patience is much more likely to be a constant, steady, and efficient friend.—But now for the object of your curiosity. It is nothing less than an imitation of the arms used by a valiant nation remarkable for their skill in the chase, and whom you all must have heard of: I mean the Patagonians, inhabitants of the most southern point of America; but instead of balls, which they are not able to procure, they tie two heavy stones, one at each end of a cord, but considerably longer than the one I am working with: every Patagonian is armed with this simple instrument, which they use with singular dexterity. If they desire to kill or wound an enemy or an animal, they fling one of the ends of this cord at him, and begin instantly to draw it back by the other, which they keep carefully in their hand, to be ready for another throw if necessary: but if they wish to take an animal alive, and without hurting it, they possess the singular art of throwing it in such a way as to make it run several times round the neck of the prey, occasioning a perplexing tightness; they then throw the second stone, and with so certain an aim, that they scarcely ever miss their object: the operation of the second is, the so twisting itself about the animal as to impede his progress, even though he were at a full gallop. The stones continue turning, and carrying with them the cord: the poor animal is at length so entangled, that he can neither advance nor retire, and thus falls a prey to the enemy.
This description of the field sports of the Patagonians was heard with much interest by the boys, who now all entreated I would that instant try the effect of my own instrument upon a small trunk of a tree which we saw at a certain distance. My throws entirely succeeded; and the string with the balls at the ends so completely surrounded the tree that the skill of the Patagonian huntsmen required no further illustration. Each of the boys must then needs have a similar instrument; and in a short time Fritz became quite expert in the art, as indeed he was in every kind of exercise that required strength or address: he was not only the most alert of my children, but being the eldest, his muscles were more formed, and his intelligence was more developed, than could yet be expected in the other three.
The next morning, as I was dressing, I remarked from my window in the tree that the sea was violently agitated, and the waves swelled with the wind. I rejoiced to find myself in safety in my home, and that the day had not been destined for out-of-door occupation. Though such a wind was in reality quite harmless for skilful sailors, for us it might be truly dangerous, from our ignorance in these matters. I observed then to my wife that I should not leave her the whole day, and should therefore hold myself ready to execute any little concerns she found wanting in our domestic arrangement. We now fell to a more minute examination than I had hitherto had time for, of all our various possessions at Falcon’s Stream. She showed me many things she had herself found means to add to them during my repeated absences from home: among these was a large barrel filled with small birds half-roasted and stowed away in butter to preserve them fresh: this she called her game, which she had found means to ensnare with birdlime in the branches of the neighbouring bushes. Next she showed me a pair of young pigeons which had been lately hatched, and were already beginning to try their wings, while their mother was again sitting on her eggs. From these we passed to the fruit-trees we had laid in earth to be planted, and which were in real need of our assistance, being almost in a decaying state. I immediately set myself to prevent so important an injury. I had promised the boys the evening before, to go all together to the wood of gourds, for the purpose of providing ourselves with vessels of different sizes to keep our provisions in: they were enchanted with the idea, but I bargained that they must first assist me to plant all the young trees; which was no sooner said than executed, excited as we were by our eager desire for the promised excursion.
When we had finished, a little disappointment however occurred; the evening, I thought, seemed too far advanced for so long a walk, especially as my wife and little Francis were to be of the party. By the time that all were ready, it was too late to think of setting out, and we accordingly postponed the expected pleasure till the following day, when we made the necessary preparations for leaving Falcon’s Stream very early in the morning. By sun-rise all were on foot; for nothing can exceed the alertness of young persons who act in expectation of a pleasurable change of scene. The ass, harnessed to the sledge, played on this occasion the principal character; his office was to be the drawing home the empty gourds for the service of our kitchen and the table, and in addition, little Francis, if he should be tired: in the journey out, he carried our dinner, a bottle of the Canary wine, and some powder and shot. Turk, according to custom, led the way as our advanced guard; next followed the three eldest boys, equipped for sporting; after them, their amiable mother, leading the little one; and Ponto brought up the rear with the monkey on his back, to which the boys had given the name of Knips. On this occasion I took with me a double-barreled gun, loaded on one side with shot for game, and on the other with ball, in case of meeting with an enemy.
In this manner we set out, full of good humour and high spirits, from Falcon’s Stream. Turning round Flamingo Marsh, we soon reached the pleasant spot which before had so delighted us. My wife, who now beheld for the first time its various beauties, was never tired of praising and admiring it. Fritz, who longed to be engaged in some sporting adventure, took a direction a little further from the sea-shore; and sending Turk into the tall grass, he followed himself, and both disappeared. Soon, however, we heard Turk barking loud, a large bird sprang up, and almost at the same moment a shot from Fritz brought it down: but the bird though wounded was not killed; it raised itself and got off with incredible swiftness, not by flying, but by running. Turk pursued with the eagerness of an animal enraged; Fritz, bawling out like a mad creature, followed; and Ponto, seeing what was going on, threw the monkey off his back, and fell speedily into the same track. It was Ponto that seized the bird, and held it fast till Fritz came up. But now a different sort of scene succeeded from that which took place at the capture of the flamingo. The legs of that bird are long and weak, and it was able to make but a poor resistance. The present captive was large in size, and proportionately strong; it struck the dogs, or whoever came near, with its legs, with so much force, that Fritz, who had received a blow or two, retired from the field of battle, and dared not again approach this feathered antagonist. Turk, who had gallantly assailed the bird, was also discouraged by some severities applied to his head by the sturdy combatant, and yielded the contest. The brave Ponto alone withstood the animal’s attacks; he seized one of its wings, and did not let it go till I reached the spot, which I was long in doing on account of the height of the grass and the great weight of my gun; but when I was near enough to distinguish the bird as it lay on the ground, I was overjoyed to see that it was a female bustard of the largest size[2]. I had long wished to possess and to tame a bird of this species for our poultry-yard, though I foresaw that it would be somewhat difficult.
To effect the complete capture of the bird without injuring it, I took out my pocket-handkerchief, and seizing a favourable moment, I threw it over the head of the bustard; it could not disengage itself, and its efforts only served to entangle it the more. As in this situation it could not see me, I got sufficiently near to pass a string with a running knot over its legs, which, for the present, I drew tight, to prevent further mischief from such powerful weapons. I gently released its wing, which was still in the possession of Ponto, and tied that and its fellow close to the bird’s body. In short, the bustard was at length vanquished, though not till each and all of us had felt the powerful blows it was capable of inflicting.—But it was our own, and that in a condition to promise its preservation when we should once have conveyed it to Falcon’s Stream, and could administer abundance of care and kindness to compensate for the rough treatment it had experienced at our hands.
Without further delay we removed the prisoner to the spot on the shore where some of our companions had been waiting our return. On seeing us, Ernest and Jack ran briskly forward, bawling out, Oh what a handsome bird! And what a size! What beautiful feathers!—I will lay a wager that it is a female bustard, said Ernest, the instant he had cast his eyes upon it. And you would win, my boy, answered I; it is a female bustard; its flesh is excellent, having somewhat of the flavour of the turkey, to which it also in some other respects has a resemblance. The male spreads its tail in the form of a wheel, as is said, to please its female. Let us endeavour to tame and preserve it by all means.