The family Robinson Crusoe

by Johann David Wyss

Father.—Again, my son, you form your judgement from appearances. The greatest part of these plants possess medicinal virtues; great use is made in pharmacy of the aloe, which produces such abundance of beautiful flowers; in green-houses in Europe, some have been seen to bear more than three thousand blossoms. At Carlsbad, upon the estates of Count de Limbourg, there was an aloe tree twenty-six feet in height; it had twenty-eight branches, which branches bore more than three thousand blossoms in the space of a month. At Paris, at Leyden, in Denmark, there have been also seen some exceedingly curious specimens of this tree; many of them are full of a resinous sort of sap, of which valuable gums are made. But look, here, too, is the Indian fig or prickly pear, a vegetable of no common interest; it grows in the poorest soils, and, as you see, upon the rocks; the poorer the soil, the more its leaves are thick and succulent; I should be tempted to believe that it was nourished by the air, rather than by the earth. It is also called the racket-tree, from the resemblance of its long, thick, flat leaves to that well-known instrument. This plant bears a kind of fig, which is said to be sweet and palatable, when ripened in its native sun, and it is both a salutary and refreshing food. This, then, is another plant of great utility. Scarcely had I pronounced these words, than our light-footed Jack was on the rock, trying to gather some of the fruit; but this time he had reason to repent his precipitation; for the fruit of this tree is covered with fine prickles, which assail the skin of the bold hand that dares to gather them. Poor Jack soon came down again, crying heartily, striking his feet upon the ground, and shaking his hand with the pain the prickles occasioned. I had not the courage to make this the moment for a lesson of morality founded upon the effects of his gluttony, for which he was sufficiently punished; and I reproved his brothers, who stood by laughing while I was drawing out the thorns. I then instructed them how to gather this fruit without incurring the same inconvenience. I threw up a stone, and brought down a fig, which I caught upon my hat; I cut off its two ends, and was thus enabled to hold it without injury, while I peeled off the skin. I then resigned it to the curiosity of my young companions.

The novelty, rather than the taste, of the fruit, made them think it excellent: they all found means to gather some of the figs, and each was busied in inventing the best method of taking off the skins: but that of Fritz had the best success; he gathered his figs, by plunging the sharp point of his stick into them, and then pulling the stick a little sideways to bring them down: he peeled them quite neatly while they were still on the stick, and presented several to his mother, who partook of them with pleasure.

In the mean time, I perceived Ernest holding a fig upon the end of his knife, turning it about in all directions, and bringing it close to his eye with a look of curious inquiry. I wish I could know, said at length our young observer, what little animals these are in the fig, which feed so eagerly upon it, and are as red as scarlet.

Father.—Ha, ha! this too will perhaps turn out a new discovery, and an additional source of usefulness, which this plant possesses. Let me look at your fig; I will lay a wager that it is the insect called the cochineal.

Jack.—The cochineal! what a droll name! What is the cochineal, father?

Father.—It is an insect of the kind called suckers, or kermes; he feeds upon the Indian fig, which, no doubt, is the cause of his beautiful colour, which forms an object of considerable importance in the trade of a dyer; for nothing else produces so fine a scarlet. In America, they stretch pieces of linen under the branches, and then shake the tree; and when the insects have fallen in great numbers, the ends of the linen are folded together to inclose them; the insects are sprinkled with vinegar or cold water, and then dried, and sent to Europe, for the use of dyers, who pay a high price for the commodity.

Ernest.—I now perfectly agree with you, that this plant is of ten times more use than the finest pine-apple: the latter, however, has also its merit, and we are not obliged to reject the one, if we choose the other: yet, as we have not any occasion for a scarlet dye, and that the fruit of the fig-tree is certainly inferior to the pine-apple, so I think it is but reasonable to prefer the last.

Father.—In this you are to blame; I have not yet mentioned a still superior usefulness peculiar to the Indian fig-tree; it serves as a protection to man.

Fritz.—As a protection to man! Why, how can that be, father?

Father.—It is used for making hedges round the habitations of man, its prickly surface effectually preventing the approach of animals; for you see, that besides the prickles which took such a fancy to Jack’s hand, there is a large thorn at each of the knots, which appear in the plant.