The family Robinson Crusoe

by Johann David Wyss

Where is he then? said I, for I do not see him.—There, that is he, father, crawling slowly down the tree; do you see him now?—It was a land crab, an animal that, to say the truth, deserved Jack’s description of him. The land crab resembles the sea crab, but is ten times more hideous: some kinds of them are excellent food, and are the principal subsistence of the natives where they are found. The one we now met with was of the kind called cocoa crab, on account of its fondness for that fruit. It crawls with great difficulty and slowly, up the trunk of the tree; when it has reached the clumps of leaves, it conceals itself in them, and falls to pinching off the bunches of cocoa-nuts at the stalks; he separates and then throws them down one by one, which often bruises them considerably. The crab then descends, and finds below a plentiful regale. It is said by some that their claws are strong enough to break the shell of the nut; but for myself, I doubt this, having always believed rather that they suck the milk by means of the small hole found in the fruit near the stalk. The land crab is not dangerous unless you are within reach of its claws, or, which is rarely the case, when they are found together in great numbers. Little Francis on seeing the animal was terribly frightened, and hid himself behind his mother; even Ernest drew back, and looked for a place of refuge: Jack, with a menacing air, raised the end of his gun; and we all cast some looks of curiosity as the creature slowly descended the tree. The moment he was on the ground, the intrepid Jack aimed a blow at him with his gun, which missed him. The crab, finding himself attacked, turned round and advanced with his claws stretched open towards his enemy. My little ruffian defended himself valiantly; he did not retreat a single step, but his attempts to strike, entirely failed, for the crab was perfect in the art of evading every blow. I however determined not to interfere: I saw that there could be no danger to the boy, and that the scene would conclude by his subduing the animal, if he conducted the affair with prudence and address. I must observe that nothing could be more amusing than this exhibition of a fight between a little boy and a crab.

After some time, being tired out with so many fruitless attempts, and perhaps recollecting that the pinches he might get from the animal’s claws would not be very agreeable, and finding himself likely to be brought to close quarters with him, suddenly gave him the slip and ran off. The other boys now burst into peals of laughter, bawling out: So the magician has conquered you! he has made you run away! poor Jack! but why did you engage with a magician, Jack? On this, the lad piqued by their jeers, stopped short, threw his gun and his game-bag on the ground, stripped off his coat, spread it before him, and made a stand at his adversary, who was making up to him with his claws stretched out in a menacing sort of motion. Jack, without a moment’s hesitation, threw his coat upon the creature, and wrapped him round in it; then tapping on the outside upon his shell: Wicked magician, cried he, I have you at last! I will teach you to brandish your horns another time.

I laughed so heartily at this scene, that I had not the power to give him any assistance. I saw by the motion under the coat that the crab was still alert and angry. I therefore took my hatchet and applied two or three powerful blows with it on the coat, which I took for granted would finish the affair at once. I lifted up the coat; and, as I expected, the terrible animal was dead, but still preserved a menacing posture.

What an ugly monster! cried Jack, as he stood over him: but far from being terrified by his ugliness, it only served to quicken my ardour:—one must always be glad to deliver the earth of such a monster.

You would have something to do, my young Hercules, said I, tapping him on the shoulder; no animal is so common as the crab on the shores of the sea: they are of numerous kinds, and may be seen by millions, all equally ugly. This, if I mistake not, is distinguished by the name of the poet’s crab. What say you, Jack, to a thought just come into my head, of creating an order of knighthood for you, in which you shall be dubbed—Sir Crab? This is the second time that you have engaged in combat with these pincer-clawed animals. We will say nothing of the first, in which you got a bite by the leg; but this time you have evinced considerable courage and presence of mind. The thought of throwing your coat over the creature was well imagined; I doubt if you would have subdued him by any other means. It must be an animal of prodigious strength for its size, to be able to open a cocoa-nut, so that it was no inconsiderable enemy you were engaged with: but human prudence and reason give man the advantage over even the most formidable of the brute creation.

Jack.—May we eat crabs, father?—they are so very ugly!

Father.—Use makes all things easy. Many ugly things find their way to the most delicately served tables. For our crab, it is the favourite food of the negro slaves of the Antilles, and frequently of their masters also. I should think its flesh must be hard and indigestible; but we will make trial of it for dinner.

I put the famous animal along with the cocoa nuts it had been the means of procuring us, together on the sledge, and we resumed our march. As we advanced, the wood became thicker and more difficult to pass; I was frequently obliged to use the hatchet to make a free passage for the ass. The heat also increased, and we were all complaining of thirst, when Ernest, whose discoveries were generally of a kind to be of use, made one at this moment of a most agreeable nature. He has already been described as a great lover of natural history, and now he was continually gathering, as he proceeded, such plants as he met with, and examining them with care, with the view of adding to his stock of knowledge. He found a kind of hollow stalk of a tolerable height, which grew at the foot of the trees, and frequently entangled our feet in walking. He cut some of the plants with his knife, and was much surprised in about a minute to see a drop of pure fresh water issue from them at the place where the knife had been applied: he showed it to us, put it to his lips, and found it perfectly agreeable, and felt much regret that there was no more. I then fell to examining the phenomenon myself, and soon perceived that the want of air prevented a more considerable issue of water. I made some more incisions, and presently water flowed out as if from a small conduit. Ernest, and after him the other boys, refreshed themselves and quenched their thirst at this new fountain, in the completest manner. For my own part, touched with deep gratitude for the goodness of God towards me and my beloved family, I raised my eyes to heaven: See, children, said I, what a blessing is sent us by Providence in these beneficial plants, the name of which I am much concerned to be unacquainted with. What would become of poor travellers in this burning climate, in crossing such immense forests far from the relief of water-springs! they must inevitably perish with heat and thirst, if the Almighty did not extend his goodness to the providing these necessary benefits.

I tried the experiment of dividing the plants longways, and they soon gave out water enough to supply even the ass, the monkey, and the wounded bustard. We were still compelled to fight our way through thick bushes, till at length we arrived at the wood of gourds, which was the object of our excursion, and we were not long in finding the spot where Fritz and I had once before enjoyed so agreeable a repose. Our companions had not soon done admiring and wondering at the magnificence of the trees they now beheld, and the prodigious size of the fruit which grew in so singular a manner upon the trunk. Fritz, who was already acquainted with particulars respecting them, now performed the office of lecturer to the rest, as I before had done to him. I was glad to observe that he had not forgot any part of the detail he received from me during our first visit; and while he was talking, I strolled about the wood, choosing among the numerous sizes of the gourds, such as were particularly suited for our necessities, and marking the places in my mind’s eye. I sought also to discover whether the malicious horde of monkeys were not still in the same neighbourhood, for I a little apprehended being molested by them during our occupation. I, however, to my great satisfaction, discovered no trace of them, and I returned to my companions.

I found Jack and Ernest actively employed in collecting dried branches and flints, while their mother was occupied in attending to the poor bustard, which however she saw reason to believe was not materially injured. She remarked to me that it was cruel to keep her any longer blinded and her legs tied together on the sledge. To please her, I took off the covering and loosened the string on the legs, but still left it so as to be a guard against its running away or inflicting blows on those who might approach. I contented myself with tying her by a long string to the trunk of a tree, that she might relieve herself by walking about. She had by no means the savageness of manners I should have expected, excepting when the dogs went near her. She did not appear to have any dread of man; which confirmed my previous belief, that the island in which we existed, had absolutely no human inhabitants but ourselves.