The family Robinson Crusoe

by Johann David Wyss

As soon as he was dead I allowed the boys to come quite near and to tighten the noose, which we now found useful to draw him to the ground from the large stone on which he lay. My sons were delighted with the means I had used for killing him without pain. But little praise is due to me, I replied; for I have often in books of travels, read the description of the manner of deluding and destroying this animal, so well known in the West Indies. But now let us consider of the best way for transporting to Falcon’s Stream so large and valuable a booty. After a moment of reflection, I perceived that I had better come at once to the determination of carrying him across my shoulders: and the figure I made with so singular an animal on my back, with his tail dragging on the ground, was not the least amusing circumstance of the adventure. Fritz and Jack presented themselves as pages, contending which should support my train, as they called the tail, which, independently of the good-humour inspired amongst us, considerably eased me of the weight, and gave me the air of an old Chinese emperor habited in a superb royal mantle of many colours, for those of the lizard shone like precious stones in the eyes of the sun.

We were already far advanced in our return, when we distinguished the voice of my wife calling upon my name in a tone which indicated great uneasiness; and in addition, we heard loud sobs from little Francis. Our long absence had excited painful apprehensions concerning us: we had forgot on this occasion to give them notice of our approach, by firing our gun, and they had imagined some terrible disaster must have befallen us. No sooner, however, did our cheerful notes in speaking reach their ear, than their fears and lamentations were changed to joy, and we soon found ourselves assembled together, the happiest of beings, under a large gourd-tree, where we related to our dear companions every particular of the excursion we had made; not forgetting Jack’s singular fancy of finding a resemblance between his mother and the lizard, who now lay extended at her feet. We had so many things to inform her of, that we lost sight of the principal object which caused our separation; and till she reminded us with some regret at our ill success, we forgot to mention that we had failed of procuring any water. My sons had taken out some of the unknown apples from their pockets, and they lay on the ground by our side. Knips soon scented them, and according to custom he came slily up and stole several, and fell to chewing them with great eagerness. I myself threw one or two to the bustard, who also ate them without hesitation. Being now convinced that the apples were not of a poisonous nature, I announced to the boys, who had looked on with envy all the time, that they also might now begin to eat them, and I myself set the example. We found them excellent in quality, and I began to suspect that they might be the sort of fruit called guava, which is much esteemed in such countries. The tree which bears them is sometimes twenty feet in height; no doubt therefore, those from which we procured the fruit, were too young to have attained their full stature. The tree itself is of so fertile a nature, that in inhabited countries they are constantly obliged to be thinned and cut down, on account of the quantity of land they would occupy.

This regale of the apples had in some measure relieved our thirst; but on the other hand, they had increased our hunger; and as we had not time for preparing a portion of the lizard, we were obliged to content ourselves with the cold provisions we had brought with us. But we contrived to have an excellent dessert of potatoes, which the boys had had the foresight to lay under the cinders of the fire they had made to cook their crab.

We had scarcely finished taking this refreshment, before my wife earnestly entreated that we might immediately begin our journey home, to be sure of arriving before dark. In fact, it appeared to me, as the evening was so far advanced, that it would be prudent to return this once without the sledge, which was heavy laden, and the ass would have drawn it but slowly: I was besides, inclined to take a shorter road by a narrow path that divided a plantation of thick bushes, which would have been too difficult a passage for the ass burthened with the sledge. I therefore determined to leave it on the spot till the following day, when I could return and fetch it, contenting myself with loading the ass for the present, with the bags which contained our new sets of porcelain; with the lizard, which I feared might not keep fresh so long; and our little Francis, who began to complain of being tired. I took these arrangements upon myself, and left to my wife and Fritz, the care of confining the bustard in such a manner that she could walk before us without danger of escaping.

When these preparations were complete, our little caravan was put in motion, taking the direction of a straight line to Falcon’s Stream. On leaving the wood of gourds, we arrived at a spot where we found more of the guava trees, and could not resist the temptation to stay a few moments and secure a new supply. The course of our route lay next along a majestic wood of oaks, agreeably interspersed with fig-trees of luxuriant growth, and of the same species as those at Falcon’s Stream. The ground in this place was absolutely covered with acorns. My young travellers, ever on the watch for something new and gratifying to the palate, could not refrain from tasting them: in form they exactly resembled the same fruit in Europe, though from the difference of climate, they would probably not be the same in regard to quality and flavour. One of the boys bit an acorn in two; and finding it both sweet and mild to the taste, he told his brothers, who soon fell eagerly to filling their own pockets with them, as well as mine and those of their mother. I always hailed with satisfaction every occasion that presented, of increasing the number of our resources for support: in the one that now presented itself, I perceived the hope that we might not only be ourselves nourished but our poultry also: I more than ever admired the magnificence of the trees which at this moment covered us with their shade, and made us a present of so inestimable a value: on considering, I recognised that they were a kind of oak which remains always green, and are a common production of the woods in Florida, and that the Indians of North America extract from its fruit an excellent kind of sweet oil, which they use in cooking their rice. Numerous kinds of birds subsist upon these acorns. This we were led to remark, by the wild and discordant cries of several sorts of jays and parrots, which were skipping merrily among the foliage and the branches. The boys would instantly have fired their guns; and I could only prevail upon them to desist, by observing how late it was, and promising that we would return another time, and thus procure them an opportunity for their favourite amusement.

We arrived shortly, and sooner than we expected, at Falcon’s Stream; the path we had taken had so considerably lessened the distance, that we were in time to employ ourselves in some trifling arrangements, before it was completely dark. My wife had great pleasure in taking out her service of porcelain and using some of the articles that very evening; particularly the handsome egg-basket and the vessels for the milk. Fritz was instructed to dig a place in the ground to serve for a kind of cooler, the better to preserve the milk; and we covered it with boards and put heavy stones to keep them down. Jack took the pigeons’ nests, and scampered up the tree, where he nailed them to the branches; he next laid some dry moss within, and placed one of the female pigeons we had contrived to tame, and which at the time was brooding, upon it; he put the eggs carefully under the mother, who seemed to accept his services, and to coo in return, with gratitude.

Ernest was occupied in distributing and fixing those intended for the fowls among the roots of the trees: when he had finished, it was of importance to observe how well they would accustom themselves to this their new abode; they were already on their perches, with their head under their wing and half asleep, and took very much amiss the being thus disturbed; while Ernest, for his part, was enraged at the little inclination they discovered to inhabit their new abode.

My own employment was to clean the inside of the lizard and prepare a piece of it for our supper, my wife having expressed an extreme repugnance to both the lizard and the crab; we therefore added some potatoes and some acorns, and dressed them together, and thus suited every palate. Francis had the care of turning the spit, and liked his office all the better, for its allowing of his being constantly near his mother. We all drew near a clear brisk fire while the supper was in hand: a sea breeze had refreshed the air, and after great fatigue, a good fire seldom fails to occasion agreeable sensations. This well-spent and useful day was concluded by a refreshing repast, at which all but my wife bestowed encomiums on the palatable properties of the leguana. My wife could not prevail upon herself even to taste it; she therefore supped on the potatoes. The crab was found to have but little flavour, and was put aside as useless. We concluded the exertions of the day, by contriving a comfortable bed for the bustard by the side of the flamingo, and then hastened to stretch our weary limbs upon the homely couch, but rendered by fatigue luxurious, that waited for us in the giant tree.

CHAPTER XXIII.
Excursion into unknown countries.

It is scarcely necessary to relate, that my first thought the next morning, was to fetch the sledge from the wood. I had a double motive for leaving it there, which I had refrained from explaining to my wife, to avoid giving her uneasiness. I had formed a wish to penetrate a little further into the soil, and ascertain whether any thing useful would present itself beyond the wall of rocks. I was, besides, desirous to be better acquainted with the extent, the form, and general productions of our island: I wished Fritz only, who was stronger and more courageous than his brothers, to accompany me; and accordingly left the three others, and Ponto, to protect my wife. We allowed Turk to be our travelling companion, who did not fail to testify his joy by jumping about, and barking loud. We set out very early in the morning, and drove the ass before us for the purpose of drawing home the sledge.