The family Robinson Crusoe

by Johann David Wyss

This fortunate beginning of a plan for a fishery inspired us all with hope and emulation. Fritz eagerly seized his harpoon and windlass; I, for my part, like Neptune, wielded a trident; Ernest prepared the large fishing rod, and Jack his arrow with the same apparatus as before, not forgetting the bladders which were so effectual in preventing the fish from sinking when struck. We were now more than ever sensible of our loss in the destruction of the tub-boat, with which we could have pursued the creature in the water, and have been spared much pains and difficulty; but on the other hand, such numbers of fishes presented themselves at the mouth of the river, that we had only to choose among them; and accordingly we were soon loaded with them to our heart’s content. Jack’s arrow after missing twice, struck the third time a large sturgeon, which was so untractable that we had great difficulty in securing him. I too had caught two of the same fish, and had been obliged to go up to the middle in the water to manage my booty. Ernest, with his rod and line and a hook, had also taken two smaller ones. Fritz with his harpoon had struck a sturgeon at least eight feet in length, and the skill and strength of our whole company were found necessary to conduct him safe to shore, where we harnessed the buffalo to him with strong cords to draw him to Tent House.

Our first concern was to clean our fish thoroughly inside to preserve them fresh the longer. I separated the eggs I found in them, and which could not be less than thirty pounds, and put them aside to make a dish called caviar, greatly relished by the Russians and the Dutch. I took care also of the bladders, thinking it might be possible to make a glue from them which would be useful for so many purposes. I advised my wife to boil some individuals of the salmon in oil, similar to the manner of preparing tunny-fish in the Mediterranean: and while she was engaged in this process, I was at work upon the caviar and the glue. For the first, I washed the berries in several waters, and then pressed them closely in gourd-rinds in which a certain number of holes had been bored. When the water had run off, the berries were taken out in a substance like cheese, which was then conveyed to the hut to be dried and smoked. For the second, we cut the bladders into strips, which we fastened firmly by one end to a stake, and taking hold of the other with a pair of pincers, we turned them round and round till the strip was reduced to a kind of knot, and these were then placed in the sun to harden; this being the simple and only preparation necessary for obtaining glue from the ingredient. When thoroughly dry, a small quantity is put on a slow fire to melt. We succeeded so well, and our glue was of so transparent a quality, that I could not help feeling the desire to manufacture some pieces large enough, for panes to a window frame.

When these various concerns were complete, we began to meditate a plan for constructing a small boat as a substitute for the tub raft, to come close into shore. I had a great desire to make it, as the savages do, of the rind of a tree; but the difficulty was to fix on one of sufficient bulk for my purpose; for though many were to be found in our vicinity, yet each was on some account or other of too much value to be spared. We therefore resolved to make a little excursion in pursuit of a tree of capacious dimensions, and in a situation where it was not likely to yield us fruit, to refresh us with its shade, or to adorn the landscape round our dwelling.

In this expedition we as usual aimed at more than one object: eager as we were for new discoveries, we yet allowed ourselves the time to visit our different plantations and stores at Falcon’s Stream. We were also desirous to secure a new supply of the wax berry, of gourds, and of elastic gum. Our kitchen garden at Tent-House was in a flourishing condition; nothing could exceed the luxuriance of the vegetation, and almost without the trouble of cultivation we had excellent roots and plants in abundance, which came in succession, and promised a rich supply of peas, beans of all sorts, lettuces, &c.; our principal labour was to give them water freely, that they might be fresh and succulent for use. We had besides, melons and cucumbers in great plenty, which during the hottest weather we valued more than all the rest. We reaped a considerable quantity of Turkey wheat from the seed we had sown, and some of the ears were a foot in length. Our sugar-canes were also in the most prosperous condition, and one plantation of pine-apples on the high ground was also in progress to reward our labour with abundance of that delicious fruit.

This state of general prosperity at Tent House gave us the most flattering expectations from our nurseries at Falcon’s Stream. Full of these hopes, we one day set out all together for our now somewhat neglected former abode.

We arrived at Falcon’s Stream, where we intended to pass the night. We visited the ground my wife had so plentifully sowed with grain, which had sprung up with an almost incredible rapidity and luxuriance, and was now nearly ready for reaping. We cut down what was fairly ripe, bound it together in bundles, and conveyed it to a place where it would be secure from the attacks of more expert grain consumers than ourselves, of which thousands hovered round the booty. We reaped barley, wheat, rye, oats, peas, millet, lentils,—only a small quantity of each, it is true, but sufficient to enable us to sow again plentifully at the proper season. The plant that had yielded the most was maize, a proof that it best loved the soil. It had already shown itself in abundance in our garden at Tent House; but here there was a surface of land, the size of an ordinary field, entirely covered with its splendid golden ears, which still more than the other plants attracted the voracity of the feathered race. The moment we drew near, a dozen at least of large bustards sprang up with a loud rustling noise which awakened the attention of the dogs; they plunged into the thickest parts, and routed numerous flocks of birds of all kinds and sizes, who all took hastily to flight; among the fugitives were some quails who escaped by running, and lastly some kangaroos, whose prodigious leaps enabled them to elude the pursuit of the dogs.

We were so overcome by the surprise such an assemblage of living creatures occasioned, as to forget the resource we had in our guns; we stood as it were stupid with amazement during the first moments, and before we came to ourselves the prey was beyond our reach, and for the most part out of sight. Fritz was the first to perceive and to feel with indignation the silly part we had been playing, and to consider in what way we could repair the mischief. Without further loss of time, he took the bandage from his eagle’s eyes, (for the bird always accompanied him perched upon his-game bag,) and showed him with his hand the bustards still flying, and at no great distance. The eagle took a rapid flight. Fritz jumped like lightning on the back of his onagra and galloped over every thing that intervened in the direction the bird had taken, and we soon lost sight of him.

We now beheld a spectacle which in the highest degree excited our curiosity and interest: the eagle had soon his prey in view; he mounted above the bustard in a direct line, without losing sight of it for an instant, and then darted suddenly down; the bustards flew about in utter confusion, now seeking shelter in the bushes, then crossing each other in every direction, in the attempt to evade the common enemy; but the eagle remained steady in the pursuit of the bird he had fixed upon for his prey, and disregarded all the rest: he alighted on the unlucky bustard, fixed his claws and his beak in its back, till Fritz arriving full gallop, got down from the onagra, replaced the bandage on the eagle’s eyes, seated him once more upon the game-bag, and having relieved the poor bustard from his persecutor, he shouted to us to come and witness his triumph! We ran speedily to the place. Jack alone remained in the maize plantation, meditating also the giving us a specimen of the happy effects of the education he had bestowed on the young jackal, who had slipped slily away after the birds we supposed were quails, and who on their parts were using every effort to escape; the jackal however soon overtook them, seized one of them by the wing and brought it to his master; in the same manner he had carried him at least a dozen more by the time we reached the spot: and now nothing was heard but the exclamations of Fritz and Jack, who had not words to express their self-congratulations for the good effects of their mode of training their respective animals, who, to say the truth, deserved the wonder and the praise of all. A large fat quail was immediately given to each as a token of approbation.

At the conclusion of this adventure we hastened forward to arrive the soonest possible at Falcon’s Stream, and pay the earliest attention to the wounds the bustard had received from the eagle. We perceived with pleasure that it was a male, and foresaw the advantage of giving him for a companion to our solitary female of the same species, who was completely tamed. I threw a few more bundles of maize into the cart, and without further delay we arrived at our tree, one and all sinking with faintness from hunger, thirst, and fatigue. It was on such occasions that my exemplary partner evinced the superior fortitude and generosity of her temper: though more a sufferer than either of us, her first thought was what she could administer to relieve us in the shortest time, for we had consumed our little store of wine, and could not soon and easily procure milk from the cow: she contrived to bruise some of the maize between two large stones, and then put it in a linen cloth, and with all her strength squeezed out the sap; she then added some juice from the sugar-canes, and in a few minutes presented us with a draught of a cool refreshing liquid, beautifully white in appearance and agreeable to the taste, and which we received at her hands with feelings of grateful emotion.

I applied myself without loss of time to the cure of the bustard’s wounds, which I washed carefully with a lotion composed of water, wine, and butter, which was our constant remedy; I then tied him by the leg close to the female in the yard. Jack had been able to preserve alive only two of the quails, which he now brought me, and I treated them in the same manner: all the others that the jackal had killed were plucked and put on the spit for supper. The rest of the day was employed in picking the grains of the different sorts of corn from the stalks: we put what we wished to keep for sowing into some gourd-shells, and the Turkey wheat was laid carefully aside in sheaves till we should have time to beat and separate it. Fritz observed that we should also want to grind it, and I reminded him of the hand-mill we had secured from our departed ally, the wrecked vessel.