Swiss Family Robinson Part 22

'Bravo!' I cried. 'You have retrieved your character; come down and receive the thanks of the company, what are you waiting up there for?'

'I am coming presently,' he replied, 'with the second half of my contribution; I hope it will be as fully appreciated as the first.' In a short time he slipped down the tree, and, advancing to his mother, presented her with the nutsh.e.l.l he had taken up with him.

'Here,' he said, 'is a wine which the greatest connoisseur would prize. Taste it, mother.'

The sh.e.l.l was filled with a clear rosy liquor, bright and sparkling.

My wife tasted it. 'Excellent, excellent,' she exclaimed. 'Your very good health, my dear boy!'

We drank the rosy wine in turn, and Ernest received hearty thanks from all.

It was getting late, and while we were enjoying our supper before our tent, our donkey, who had been quietly browsing near us, suddenly set up a loud bray, and, without the least apparent cause, p.r.i.c.ked up his ears, threw up his heels, and galloped off into the thicket of bamboos.

We followed for a short distance, and I sent the dogs in chase, but they returned without our friend, and, as it was late, we were obliged to abandon the chase.

I was annoyed by this incident, and even alarmed; for not only had we lost the a.s.s, but I knew not what had occasioned his sudden flight. I knew not whether he was aware, by instinct, of the approach of some fierce wild beast. I said nothing of this to my family, but, making up an unusually large fire, I bade them sleep with their weapons by their sides, and we all lay down.

A bright morning awoke us early, and I rose and looked out, thinking that perhaps our poor donkey might have been attracted by the light of the fires, and have returned. Alas, not a sign of him was to be seen.

As we could not afford to lose so valuable a beast, I determined to leave no attempt untried to regain him.

We hurriedly breakfasted, and, as I required the dogs to a.s.sist me in the search, I left my elder sons to protect their mother, and bade Jack get ready for a day's march. This arrangement delighted him, and we quickly set out.

For an hour or more we trudged onwards, directed by the print of the a.s.s's hoofs. Sometimes we lost the track for a while, and then again discovered it as we reached softer soil. Finally this guide failed us altogether, for the donkey seemed to have joined in with a herd of some larger animals, with whose hoof-prints his had mingled.

I now almost turned back in despair, but Jack urged me to continue the search. 'For,' said he, 'if we once get upon a hill we shall see such a large herd as this must be at almost any distance. Do let us go on, father.'

I consented, and we again pushed forwards, through bushes, and over torrents, sometimes cutting our way with an axe, and sometimes plunging knee-deep through a swamp. We at length reached the border of a wide plain, and on it, in the distance, I could see a herd of animals, browsing on the rich gra.s.s. It struck me that it might be the very herd to which our good donkey had joined himself; and, wis.h.i.+ng to ascertain whether this was so, I resolved to make a detour through a bamboo marsh, and get as near as possible to the animals without disturbing them.

The bamboos were huge, many of them over thirty feet in height; and, as we made our way through them, I remembered an account of the giant cane of South America, which is greatly prized by the Indians on account of its extreme usefulness; the reeds themselves make masts for their canoes, while each joint will form a cask or box.

I was delighted, for I had little doubt that the bamboos we were among were of the same species. I explained this to Jack, and as we discussed the possibility of cutting one down and carrying a portion of it home, we reached the border of the marsh, and emerged upon the plain.

There we suddenly found ourselves face to face with the herd which we sought--a herd of buffaloes. They looked up, and stared at us inquisitively, but without moving. Jack would have fired, but I checked him. 'Back to the thicket,' I said, 'and keep back the dogs!'

We began to retreat, but before we were again under cover, the dogs joined us; and, in spite of our shouts and efforts to restrain them, they dashed forwards, and seized a buffalo calf.

This was a signal to the whole herd to attack us. They bellowed loudly, pawed the ground, and tore it up with their horns, and then dashed madly towards us. We had not time to step behind a rock before the leader was upon us. So close was he that my gun was useless. I drew a pistol and fired. He fell dead at my feet.

His fall checked the advance of the rest. They halted, snuffed the air, turned tail and galloped off across the plain. They were gone, but the dogs still held gallantly to the calf. They dragged and tussled with him, but with their utmost efforts could not bring him to the ground.

How to a.s.sist them without shooting the poor beast, I knew not; and this I was unwilling to do, for I hoped that, if we could but capture him alive, we might in time manage to tame him, and use him as a beast of burden. Jack's clever little head, however, suddenly devised a plan for their aid, and with his usual prompt.i.tude he at once put it into execution.

He unwound the la.s.so, which was coiled round his body, and, as the young bull flung up his heels, he cast it and caught him by his hind legs. The noose drew tight, and in a twinkling the beast was upon the ground. We fastened the other end of the cord round a stout bamboo, called off the dogs, and the animal was at our mercy.

'Now we have got him,' said Jack, as he looked at the poor beast, lying panting on the ground, 'what are we to do with him?'

'I will show you,' said I; 'help me to fasten his forelegs together, and you shall see the next operation.'

The bull, thus secured, could not move; and while Jack held his head I drew my knife and pierced the cartilage of his nose, and when the blood flowed less freely, pa.s.sed a stout cord through the hole. I felt some repugnance at thus paining the animal, but it was a case of necessity, and I could not hesitate. We united the ends of the cord, freed the animal, set him upon his legs, and subdued and overawed, he followed us without resistance.

I now turned my attention to the dead buffalo, but as I could not then skin it, I contented myself with cutting off the most delicate parts, its tongue, and a couple of steaks, and, packing them in salt in my wallet, abandoned the rest to the dogs. They fell upon it greedily, and we retired under the shade to enjoy a meal after our hard work.

The dogs, however, were not to have undisputed possession of the carcase; vultures, crows and other birds of prey, with that marvellous instinct which always leads them to a dead body, quickly filled the air, and, with discordant cries, swooped down upon the buffalo. An amusing contest ensued; the dogs again and again drove off the intruders, and they, as often, returned reinforced by others who swarmed to the spot. Jack, with his usual impetuosity, wished to send a shot in amongst the robber band, but I prevented him, for I knew that the bird or two he might kill would be of no use to us, while his shot would not drive away the rest, even had we wished it.

Both we and the dogs were at length satisfied, and as it was getting late, I determined to give up for the present the search for the a.s.s, and to return to our camp.

We again made our way through the bamboos, but before we left the thicket, I cut down one of the smallest of the reeds, the largest of whose joints would form capital little barrels, while those near the tapering top would serve as moulds for our next batch of candles.

The buffalo, with a dog on either side and the rope through his nose, was following us pa.s.sively, and we presently induced him to submit to a package of our goods laid upon his back. We pushed rapidly forward, Jack eager to display our latest acquisition.

As we repa.s.sed the rocky bed of a stream we had crossed in the morning, Juno dashed ahead, and was about to rush into a cleft between the rocks, when the appearance of a large jackal suddenly checked her further progress. Both dogs instantly flew at the animal, and though she fought desperately, quickly overpowered and throttled her. From the way the beast had shown fight, I concluded that her young must be close by, probably within the very cleft Juno was about to enter.

Directly Jack heard this, he wished to creep in and bring out the young jackals. I hesitated to allow him to do so, for I thought it possible that the male jackal might be still lying in wait within the cave. We peered into the darkness, and after a while, Jack declared he could discern the little yellow jackals, and that he was quite sure the old one was not there.

He then crept in, followed closely by the dogs, and presently emerged bearing in his arms a handsome cub of a beautiful golden yellow and about the size of a small cat. He was the only one of the brood he had managed to save, for Turk and Juno, without pity for their youth or beauty, had worried all the rest. I did not much regret this, however, for I firmly believe that, had he saved them, Jack would have insisted upon bringing up the whole litter. As it was I considered that one jackal was, with our young bull, quite sufficient an addition to our livestock.

During the halt we had made, I had fastened the buffalo to a small tree, and as I now was again about to move on, I recognized it as the dwarf-palm, whose long sharp leaves form an excellent barrier if it is planted as a hedge. I determined to return and get some young plants to strengthen our hedge at Tentholm. It was late before we reached our camp, where we found our family anxiously awaiting our return.

The sight of the new animals delighted the children immensely, and in their opinion amply compensated for the loss of our poor donkey. Jack had to answer a host of questions concerning their capture, and to give a minute account of the affray with the buffaloes. This he did, with graphic power certainly, but with so much boasting and self-glorification, that I was obliged to check him, and give a plain and unvarnished account of the affair.

Supper-time arrived, and as we sat at that meal, for which Jack and I were heartily thankful, my wife and her party proceeded to give an account of their day's work.

Ernest had discovered a sago-palm, and had, after much labour, contrived to fell it. Franz and his mother had collected dry wood, of which a huge heap now stood before the tent sufficient to keep up a fire all the rest of the time we should stay on the spot.

Fritz had gone off shooting and had secured a good bag. While they had been thus variously employed, a troop of apes had visited the tent, and when they returned, they found the place ransacked and turned upside down. The provisions were eaten and gnawed, the potatoes thrown about, the milk drunk and spilt, every box had been peeped into, every pot and pan had been divested of its lid, the palisade round the hut had been partly destroyed, nothing had been left untouched.

Industriously had the boys worked to repair the damage, and when we returned not a sign was to be seen of the disorder. No one would have guessed what had occurred from the delicious supper we were eating.

After matters had been again arranged, Fritz had gone down to the sh.o.r.e and, amongst the rocks at Cape Disappointment, had discovered a young eaglet which Ernest declared to be a Malabar or Indian eagle; he was much pleased with his discovery, and I recommended him to bring the bird up and try to train it to hunt as a falcon.

'Look here though, boys,' said I, 'you are now collecting a good many pets, and I am not going to have your mother troubled with the care of them all; each must look after his own, and if I find one neglected, whether beast or bird, I set it at liberty. Mark that and remember it!'

My wife looked greatly relieved at this announcement, and the boys promised to obey my directions. Before we retired for the night I prepared the buffalo-meat I had brought; I lit a large fire of green wood, and in the smoke of this thoroughly dried both the tongue and steaks. We then properly secured all the animals, Jack took his little pet in his arms, and we lay down and were soon fast asleep.

At daybreak we were on foot, and began to prepare for a return to Falconhurst.

'You are not going to despise my sago, I hope,' said Ernest, 'you have no idea what a trouble it was to cut it down, and I have been thinking too that if we could but split the tree, we might make a couple of long useful troughs which might, I think, be made to carry water from Jackal River to Tentholm. Is my plan worth consideration?'

'Indeed it is,' I replied, 'and at all events we must not abandon such a valuable prize as a sago-palm. I would put off our departure for a day, rather than leave it behind.'

We went to the palm, and with the tools we had with us attempted to split the trunk. We first sawed off the upper end, and then with an axe and saw managed to insert a wedge. This accomplished, our task was less difficult, for with a heavy mallet we forced the wedge in further and further, until at length the trunk was split in twain. From one half of the trunk we then removed the pith, disengaging it, with difficulty, from the tough wood fibres; at each end, however, I left a portion of the pith untouched, thus forming a trough in which to work the sago.

'Now, boys,' said I, when we had removed the pith from the other half of the trunk, 'off with your coats and turn up your s.h.i.+rt-sleeves; I am going to teach you to knead.'

They were all delighted, and even little Franz begged to be allowed to help. Ernest brought a couple of pitchers of water, and throwing it in amongst the pith, we set to work right heartily. As the dough was formed and properly kneaded, I handed it to my wife who spread it out on a cloth in the sun to dry. This new occupation kept us busy until the evening, and when it was at length completed we loaded the cart with the sago, a store of cocoanuts and our other possessions, that we might be ready to start early on the following morning.

As the sun rose above the horizon, we packed up our tent and set forth, a goodly caravan. I thought it unfair to the cow to make her drag such a load as we now had alone, and determined if possible to make the young buffalo take the place of our lost donkey; after some persuasion he consented, and soon put his strength to the work and brought the cart along famously. As we had the trough slung under the cart we had to choose the clearest possible route, avoiding anything like a thicket; we, therefore, could not pa.s.s directly by the candleberry and caoutchouc trees, and I sent Ernest and Jack aside to visit the store we had made on our outward journey.

They had not long been gone when I was alarmed by a most terrible noise accompanied by the furious barking of the dog and shouts from Jack and Ernest. Thinking that the boys had been attacked by some wild beast, I ran to their a.s.sistance.