All determined to improve our knowledge of German and French.
The two elder boys were to study English and Dutch with their mother.
Ernest, already possessing considerable knowledge of Latin, wished to continue to study it, so as to be able to make use of the many works on natural history and medicine written in that language.
Jack announced that he meant to learn Spanish, "because it sounded so grand and imposing."
I myself was interested in the Malay language, knowing it to be so widely spoken in the islands of the Eastern Seas, and thinking it as likely as any other to be useful to us.
Our family circle by and by represented Babel in miniature, for scraps and fragments of all these tongues kept buzzing about our ears from morning to night, each sporting his newly acquired word or sentence on every possible occasion, propounding idioms and peculiar expressions like riddles, to puzzle the rest.
In this way, the labor of learning was very considerably lightened, and every one came to know a few words of each language.
Occasionally we amused ourselves by opening chests and packages hitherto untouched, and brought unexpected treasures to light—mirrors, wardrobes, a pair of console tables with polished marble tops, elegant writing tables and handsome chairs, clocks of various descriptions, a musical box, and a chronometer were found; and by degrees our abode was fitted up like a palace, so that sometimes we wondered at ourselves, and felt as though we were strutting about in borrowed plumes.
The children begged me to decide on a name for our salt-cave dwelling, and that of Rockburg was chosen unanimously.
The weeks of imprisonment passed so rapidly, that no one found time hang heavy on his hands.