The family Robinson Crusoe

by Johann David Wyss

At last we ventured to free it by degrees from its restraints and to ride it as we had done with the buffalo, still keeping the fore feet tied; but notwithstanding this precaution and every preceding means, it proved as fierce and unruly as ever for the moment. The monkey, who was first put on its back, held on pretty well by clinging to its mane, from which it was suspended as often as the onagra furiously reared and plunged; it was therefore for the present impracticable for either of my sons to get upon it. The perverse beast baffled all our efforts, and the perilous task of breaking it was still to be persevered in with terror and apprehension. In the stable it seemed tolerably quiet and gentle; but the moment it was in any degree unshackled, it became wholly ferocious and unmanageable.

I was at length reduced to my last expedient, but not without much regret, as I resolved, if it did not answer, to restore the animal to full liberty. I tried to mount the onagra, and just as in the act of rearing up violently to prevent me, I seized with my teeth one of the long ears of the enraged creature, and bit it till it bled; instantly it stood almost erect on its hind feet, motionless, and as stiff as a stake; it soon lowered itself by degrees, while I still held its ear between my teeth. Fritz seized the moment and sprung on its back; Jack, with the help of his mother, did the same, holding by his brother, who, on his part, clung to the girth. When both assured me they were firmly seated, I let go the ear: the onagra made a few springs less violent than the former, and checked by the cords on its feet, it gradually submitted, began to trot up and down more quietly, and ultimately grew so tractable that riding it became one of our chief pleasures. My lads were soon expert horsemen; and their horse, though rather long-eared, was very handsome and well broken in. Thus patience on our parts conquered a serious difficulty, and gained for us a proud advantage.

In the name of goodness, said my wife to me one evening, after one of our first essays, where did you learn this strange notion of biting the animal’s ear? I learned it, replied I, from a horse-breaker whom I fell in with by chance: he had lived long in America and carried on the skin-trade with the savages, to whom he took in exchange various European goods. He employed in these journeys, half-tamed horses of the southern provinces of that country, which are caught in snares or with nooses. They are at first unruly and resist burthens, but as soon as the hunter bites one of their ears they become mild and submissive; and they become so docile, that any thing may be done with them. The journey is continued through forests and over heaths to the dwellings of the savages; skins are given in barter for the goods brought them, with which the horses are re-loaded. They set out again on their return, and are directed by the compass and stars to the European settlements, where they profitably dispose of their skins and horses.—Till now I thought this singular mode of taming a wild beast fabulous, but the young onagra convinces me of the truth of the accounts I heard. In a few weeks the onagra was so effectually tamed, that we all could mount it without fear: I still however kept his two fore legs confined together with the cord, to moderate the extreme swiftness of its running. In the room of a bit, I contrived a curb, and with this and a good bite applied, as wanted, to the ear, it went to right or left at the will of the rider. Now and then I mounted it myself, and not without an emotion of pride at my success in subduing an animal that had been considered by travellers and naturalists as absolutely beyond the power of man to tame. But how superior was my gratification in seeing Fritz spring at any time on the creature’s back and do what he pleased with it, drive along our avenue like lightning, in depicting to my fond imagination that even on a desert unknown island, I could qualify my dear children to re-enter society and become in such respects its ornament! in beholding their physical strength and native graces unfold themselves, and these keeping pace with the improvement of their intelligence and their judgement; and in anticipating that, buried as they were in a distant retreat, far from the tumult of the world, and all that excites the passions, their sentiments would be formed in exact conformity to the paternal feelings of my heart! I had not lost hope that we should one day return to Europe in some vessel chance might throw on our coast, or even with the aid of our pinnace; but I felt at the same time, and my wife still more, that we should not leave the island without a lively regret, and I determined to pursue my arrangements as if we were to close existence on a spot where all around us prospered.

During the training of our horse, which we named Light-foot, a triple brood of our hens had given us a crowd of little feathered beings; forty of these, at least, were chirping and hopping about us, to the great satisfaction of my wife, whose zealous care of them sometimes made me smile. Most women’s hearts are so imbued with maternal love as to excite in them a fondness for whatever bears a similitude to infancy. Thus, my admirable partner, far from complaining of the trouble such a number of young chickens gave her, took delight in it, and was constantly admiring them; yet her care and admiration did not prevent her appropriating a part of them to the table, and sending the remainder in small colonies to feed and breed in the desert, where we could find them as they were wanted for our use.

Here, she said, are animals of real utility in a family, far beyond your monkeys, jackals, and eagles, that do nothing but eat, and are unfit to be eaten. The buffalo was not found fault with, because it brought her the provisions, nor the onagra, on which she liked to see her sons gallop. From the time we had trained it to this, the rough-paced buffalo that shook us to pieces was no longer used for riding, but kept entirely for drawing.

This increase of our poultry reminded us of the necessity of an undertaking we had long thought of, and was not in prudence to be deferred any longer; this was the building between the roots of our great tree, covered sheds for all our bipeds and quadrupeds. The rainy season, which is the winter of these countries, was drawing near, and to avoid losing most of our stock it was requisite to shelter it.

We began by forming a kind of roof above the arched roots of our tree, and employed bamboo canes for the purpose; the longest and strongest supported the roofing in the place of columns, the smaller more closely united and composed the roof itself. I filled up the interstices with moss and clay, and I spread over the whole a thick coat of tar. By these means I formed a compact and solid covering, capable of bearing pressure. I then made a railing round it, which gave the appearance of a pretty balcony, under which, between the roots, were various stalls sheltered from rain and sun, that could be easily shut and separated from each other by means of planks nailed upon the roots; part of them were calculated to serve as a stable and yard, part as an eating-room, a store-room, &c., and as a hay-loft to keep our hay and provisions dry in.

This work was soon completed; but afterwards it was necessary to fill these places with stores of every kind for our supply throughout the wet season. In this task we engaged diligently, and went daily here and there with our cart to collect every thing useful, and that might give us employment whilst the weather confined us to the house.

One evening on our return from digging up potatoes, as our cart loaded with bags, drawn by the buffalo, ass and cow, was gently rolling along, seeing still a vacant place in the vehicle, I advised my wife to go home with the two youngest boys whilst I went round by the wood of oaks with Ernest and Fritz to gather as many sweet acorns as we could find room for. We had still some empty sacks. Ernest was accompanied by his monkey, who seldom left him; and Fritz, horseman like, was on his dear onagra, which he had appropriated to himself, inasmuch as he had helped to take and tame it, and indeed because he knew how to manage it better than his brothers. Ernest was too lazy, and preferred walking at ease with the monkey on his shoulder, and the more so because it spared him the trouble of gathering fruit. Jack was too giddy to be trusted alone on the horse, though he often got up behind his brother, and Francis still too little to attempt mounting it. Notwithstanding the onagra was so well broken in for riding, it continued to be very mettlesome and restive in the shafts, to which we could not inure it; but occasionally it submitted to our putting a loaded sack or two on its back; but we could seldom prevail even in this, without Fritz being seated in front; he would then take them to the house, and thus was rendered of some general use.

When we reached the oaks Lightfoot was tied to a bush, and we set actively to work to gather the acorns that had dropped from the trees. While all were busily employed, the monkey quitted its master’s shoulder and skipped unperceived into an adjoining bush. It had been there some time when we heard on that side the loud cries of birds and flapping of wings, and this assured us a sharp conflict was going on betwixt master Knips and the inhabitants of the bushes. I dispatched Ernest to reconnoitre. He went stoutly towards the place, and in an instant we heard him exclaim, Come quickly, father! a fine heath-fowl’s nest full of eggs; Mr. Knips, as usual, wished to make a meal of them; the hen and he are fighting for it: come quick, Fritz, and take her; I am holding greedy-chops as well as I can.