Father.—And yet you all said but a minute ago, that it was absolutely false.
Fritz.—Ah! but we said that, father, of a man by himself, independently of any machine he might construct; for though nature has refused him wings, she has not failed to bestow on him an inventive mind, which more than compensates for that deficiency.
Father.—Your observation is perfectly just, and I hope you will not fail to profit by it. With the aid of his intelligence, and his reason, there is scarcely any thing which man cannot attain to. But to return to our example: you will find in it the definition of the words which you ask me about: it is false, that man of himself can fly; it is probable, that by the aid of a machine of his own invention, he may be enabled to mount and sustain himself in the air; and it is absolutely true, that this has been effected by man, though without his having yet found a certain means of guiding these factitious wings; a defect, which in a great measure renders his discovery useless.
My Wife.—Well, now we have had a long lesson upon the subject, during which I have not been able to put in one single little word; I am afraid you will make your boys so learned, that I shall not know on what subjects to converse with them.
Father.—There is no fear of that, my dear; for even should I teach them all I know myself, they would not be very learned. A man should always endeavour to acquire knowledge: if he lives in the world, he is in consequence the more esteemed, the more respected, and knows the better how to manage his affairs: if, as will most likely be the case with our sons, their lot is to live in a kind of solitude, it will be less tiresome to them, if they have cultivated the habit of thinking and reflecting; so that even the little information in my power to give them, may be of use. I have never had occasion to regret that I knew so much, but often that I knew too little, particularly in our present situation, where no other master can be obtained for them than myself and nature. If the boys could conceive what advantages they would derive from study, they would impose upon themselves the strictest application, while at the age when learning is so easy. Conversing thus, we reached Jackall’s River, which we crossed, stepping with great care from stone to stone, and very shortly arrived at our old habitation, where we found every thing in perfect order as we had left it; and we immediately dispersed, each in pursuit of what he intended to take away. Fritz loaded himself with powder and shot; I and my wife and Francis employed ourselves in filling our pot with butter, the carrying of which on our return it was agreed was to fall on me. Ernest and Jack looked about for the geese and ducks; but as they were become somewhat savage, the boys could not succeed in catching one of them. The idea then occurred to Ernest, of taking a small bit of cheese, and tying it to the end of a piece of string, and holding it to float in the water. The voracious animals hastened eagerly to seize it. In this way, Ernest drew them towards him, one by one, with the cheese in its mouth, till he had caught the whole: he put them in their pocket handkerchiefs, leaving only their heads at liberty; and then we fastened them as a parcel to our game-bags, so that each had his share in carrying them.
We had thought of taking back with us a provision of salt; but we could not carry so much as we wished, the sacks being occupied with potatoes. I, however, thought of throwing in a certain quantity loose into one of them, to fill up the space between the potatoes: in this way we secured a tolerable supply; but it made the sack so heavy, that no one was willing to be incumbered with it. Fritz proposed that our faithful Turk should carry it; and accordingly we took off his superb coat of mail, and left it at Tent House, and the sack was tied on the back of the quiet, kind-tempered animal. Ponto was to carry the monkey as before.
We set out on our return, loaded with treasures, and the appearance of our caravan was even more amusing than it had been before: the ducks and geese, with their heads and necks stretching out at our shoulders, cackling with all their might, gave us a truly singular and ludicrous appearance: we could not help laughing immoderately as we passed the bridge, one after the other, loaded in so strange a fashion. Our mutual jokes, and the general good humour which prevailed, served to shorten the length of the walk, and we none of us were sensible of fatigue, till we were seated under our tree at Falcon’s Stream. My wife now prepared to console us, by putting some of the potatoes which we so eagerly desired to taste, immediately on the fire. She next milked the cow and the goat, and refreshed us with a draught of their warm milk, giving us a proof how the natural strength may be increased, by the feelings of conjugal and maternal love. The kind-hearted woman was at least as much fatigued as any of us; yet she made no attempt to rest herself, till she had provided us with all she had to give for our refreshment. At length, after dining heartily on our potatoes, on which we bestowed abundance of commendation, we concluded the day with evening-prayers, and then joyfully climbed our ladder to seek the blessing of repose in our aërial castle.
CHAPTER XV.
The imaginary bear—The sledge—A lesson in natural philosophy.
I had remarked the evening before, on our return to the sea-shore, a quantity of wood, of which I thought I could make a kind of conveyance for our cask of butter and other provisions from Tent House to Falcon’s Stream. I had secretly determined to go early the next morning, before my family should be awake, to the spot. I had fixed upon Ernest for my assistant, thinking that his indolent temper required to be stimulated to exertion. I made him feel as a great favour the preference I gave him, and he promised to be ready at a very early hour. I was also desirous to leave Fritz with the family, as, being the tallest and strongest, he was more able to protect the rest.
As soon as I perceived the first dawn of morning, I quietly awoke Ernest. He raised himself, stretching and gaping in his hammock. We descended the ladder without being perceived by the rest of the family, who continued to sleep soundly. The first thing we had to do, was to awake the ass, who was to be of our party; and that he might not go without a load, I made him draw a very large branch of a tree, which I wanted for my undertaking. As we walked along, I asked Ernest if he was not a little out of humour at being obliged to get up so early, to set about a laborious occupation, instead of remaining with his brothers, to shoot at the thrushes and the pigeons on the fig tree?