At last the birds came, and I procured some of their eggs, which were a
very agreeable change, after living so long upon dried meat. My want of
occupation occasioned me also to employ some of my time in fishing,
which I seldom had done while Jackson was alive; and this created a
variety in my food, to which, for a long while, I had been a stranger.
Jackson did not care for fish, as to cook it we were obliged to go up
the ravine for wood, and he did not like the trouble. When the birds
came, I had recourse to my book on Natural History, to read over again
the accounts of the Man-of-War birds, Gannets, and other birds
mentioned in it; and there was a vignette of a Chinaman with tame
cormorants on a pole, and in the letter-press an account of how they
were trained and employed to catch fish for their masters. This gave me
the idea that I would have some birds tame, as companions, and, if
possible, teach them to catch fish for me; but I knew that I must wait
till the young birds were fit to be taken from the nest.
I now resolved that during the time the birds were mating, I would go
to the ravine and remain there several days, to collect bundles of
firewood. The firewood was chiefly cut from a sort of low bush, like
the sallow or willow, fit for making baskets, indeed fit for anything
better than firewood; however, there were some bushes which were of a
harder texture, and which burnt well. It was Jackson who told me that
the former were called willow and used for making baskets, and he also
shewed me how to tie the faggots up by twisting the sallows together.
They were not, however, what Jackson said they were--from after
knowledge, I should say that they were a species of Oleander or
something of the kind.
Having roasted several dozen of eggs quite hard, by way of provision, I
set off one morning, and went to the ravine. As Jackson had said
before, I had to walk under a wall of rock thirty feet high, and then
pass through a water-course to get up to the ravine, which increased
the distance to where the shrubs grew, at least half a mile. It was
over this wall that the captain fell and was killed, because Jackson
would not assist him. I gained the thicket where the bushes grew, and
for three days I worked very hard, and had cut down and tied about
fifty large faggots, when I thought that I had collected enough to last
me for a long while; but I had still to carry them down, and this was a
heavy task, as I could not carry more than one at a time. It occurred
to me that if I threw my faggots over the wall opposite to where they
had been cut down, I should save myself nearly a mile of carriage, as
otherwise I had to walk all the way to the water-course which divided
the wall of rock, and then walk back again. Indeed, where I cut down
the wood was not more than a quarter of a mile from the bathing-pool,
and all down hill. I was delighted at this idea, which I wondered had
never occurred to Jackson, and I commenced putting it into execution.
The top of the wall of rock was slippery from the constant trickling of
the water over the surface, but this was only in some places. I carried
my faggots down one by one, and threw them over, being careful not to
lose my footing in so doing. I had carried all but three or four, and
had become careless, when, on heaving one over, my heels were thrown
up, and before I could recover myself I slid down the remainder of the
ledge and was precipitated down below, a distance of more than thirty
feet. I must have remained there many hours insensible, but at last I
recovered and found myself lying on the faggots which I had thrown
down. It was my falling on the faggots, instead of the hard rock, which
had saved my life. I rose as soon as I could collect my scattered
senses. I felt very sore and very much shaken, and the blood was
running out of my mouth, but there were no bones broken. I was,
however, too ill to attempt anything more that day. I walked home at a
very slow pace and went to bed. A sound sleep restored me, and in a day
or two I was quite recovered. I watered my plants, which I found
drooping, as if they had grieved at my being so long away from them,
and then I returned to where my faggots had been left; and to lighten
my labour I resolved to carry them down to the bathing-pool and stack
them up there on the rocks near to it. I mention this for reasons that
the reader will comprehend bye-and-bye. This occupied me two days, for
I was not inclined, after my fall, to work hard; and very glad was I
when the labour was over.
The young birds were now hatched, but I had to wait four or five weeks
before they were fit to be taken. I began again to find solitude
tedious. The flowers in my garden had all bloomed and withered, and
there was not so much to interest me. I recommenced reading the Bible,
and the narratives in the Old and New Testaments again afforded me
pleasure. I hardly need say to the reader that I read the Bible as I
would have read any other book--for amusement, and not for instruction.
I had learnt little from Jackson--indeed, as regards the true nature of
the Christian religion, I may say, nothing at all. I do not believe
that he knew anything about it himself. It is true that the precepts in
the New Testament struck me, and that I was more interested about Our
Saviour than anybody else; but I could not comprehend him, or his
mission. In short, I read in darkness; and I may say that I almost knew
the Bible by heart without understanding it.--How could I? How many
thousands are there who do the same, without having an excuse to offer
for their blindness!
At last the time for taking the birds arrived, and I had then
sufficient employment to keep me from being melancholy. I collected
quite as many as we had done when Jackson and I had to be provided for;
and with my new knives my labour was comparatively easy. As soon as I
had completed my provision, I went back to take the young birds which
already I had selected and left for that purpose. It was high time, for
I found that when I went to take them they were ready to fly. However,
after a good battle with the old birds (for I had taken six young
ones--two from each nest, which arrayed a force of six old ones against
me, who fought very valiantly in defence of their offspring), I
succeeded in carrying them off, but followed by the old birds, who now
screamed and darted close to me as they came pursuing me to the cabin.
As soon as I got safe back, I took the young birds into the cabin,
tying each of them by the leg with a piece of fishing line, and the
other end of the line I fastened to some pieces of rock which I had
collected ready on the platform outside of the cabin. The old birds
continued to persecute me till it was dark, and then they went away,
and I, tired with my day's labour, was not sorry to go to sleep.
When I woke up the next morning, I found the old birds on the platform,
in company with the young ones, I presume trying to persuade them to
fly away with them; but the lines on their legs prevented that. They
did not leave at my approach for some little while; at last they all
took wing, and went off to sea; but in the course of a few minutes they
returned with some small fish in their mouths, with which they fed
their young ones. They continued to do this for the two following days,
when there was a general break up, announcing the departure of the main
body, which, after much soaring and wheeling in the air, flew off in a
northerly direction. The six parent birds, who were with their young
ones at the cabin, appeared for some time very uneasy, flying round and
round and screaming wildly; at last they soared in the air with loud
shrieks, and flew away after the main body, which was still in
sight--their love for their young overpowered by their instinctive
habits. I was not sorry when they were gone, as I wanted to have my new
family all to myself. I went down to the rocks and caught a fish, which
was large enough to supply them for three or four days. I fed them with
the inside of the fish, and they ate it very heartily. For several days
they appeared very uneasy; but gradually they settled, and not only
appeared to know me, but to welcome my coming, which was to me a source
of great pleasure.
I now neglected my flowers for the birds, which were the more animated
of the two; and I sat down for hours on the platform with my six
companions, who I must own were not over-lively and intelligent, but
they were alive, and had eyes. They seldom roused up, unless I brought
them fish, of which they had a supply four times a day, and then they
would stand on their legs and open their beaks far apart, each waiting
for its share. They were a great happiness to me, and I watched their
gradual increase of plumage and of size, which was very rapid. I gave
them all names out of my Natural History book. One was Lion, then
Tiger, Panther, Bear, Horse, and Jackass (at the time that I named
them, the last would have been very appropriate to them all); and as I
always called them by their names as I fed them, I soon found, to my
great joy, that they knew them well enough. This delighted me. I read
my books to them by way of amusement; I sang my songs to them; I talked
to them; I would even narrate the various histories out of the Bible to
them, such as that of Joseph and his brethren, &c., and the stolid air
with which the communications were received made me almost imagine they
were listened to.
After a time, I took the line off the legs of two of them, with the
precaution of first cutting their wings, and these two became much more
lively, following me into the cabin and generally staying there during
the night. As I found that no attempt was made to escape, I let them
all loose, after having cut their wings, and they all behaved equally
well with the two first to which I had given their liberty.
The perfect obedience and good behaviour of my new companions again
gave me leisure that was not altogether desirable, as it left a vacuum
to fill up. But I returned to my garden. I could do no more at present
but water my plants and look at the increased daily growth of the
climbers, as they now boldly ascended the sides of the cabin; but I
thought it was high time to go up into the ravine and about the island,
to see if I could not add to my collection.
One morning I set off up the ravine. I was not successful, so I
contented myself with carrying, by the long road, those faggots which I
had left behind me on the day when I fell over the precipice. This
labour I finished, and then returned to the cabin, where I was met by
my birds with half-extended wings and open mouths, as if they were very
glad to see me, and very hungry into the bargain. I ought to observe
that my birds appeared now to separate into pairs, male and female, as
their difference of plumage denoted. Lion and Horse were always side by
side, as were Jackass and Bear, and Tiger and Panther. I now fed them
one by one, calling them by name, to which they immediately responded,
and if anyone came who was not called, it was switched for its trouble.
The next morning I set off on another voyage of discovery after plants,
and this time I resolved upon trying what I could find among the
crevices of the rocks, for I had seen at a distance what appeared to me
to be a very pretty flower on the ledge of one of the clefts. I did not
go up the ravine this time, but commenced climbing the rocks behind
where the cabin was built. It was hard work, but I was not easily
discouraged, and after a couple of hours I arrived at a level which I
had in view when I commenced my labour, and here I was amply rewarded,
for I found several plants quite new to me, and a variety of ferns,
which I thought very beautiful, although they had no flowers. The
scene, from where I stood, was awful and beautiful. I looked down upon
the rocks below, and the cabin, which appeared very small, and I
thought that I could see my birds like dots upon the platform. It was a
bright day and smooth water, I could clearly distinguish the other
islands in the distance, and I thought that I saw something like a
white speck close to them--perhaps it was a vessel. This made me
melancholy, and I could not help asking myself whether I was to remain
all my life upon the island, alone, or if there were any chance of my
ever being taken off it. As I looked down upon the cabin, I was
surprised at the steepness of the rocks which I had climbed, and felt
alarmed, as if I never should be able to get back again. But these
thoughts were soon chased away. I turned from the seaward, and looked
inland. I found that on one side of me there was a chasm between the
rocks, the bottom of which was so far down that I could not see it; and
on the other side the rock rose up as straight as a wall. My attention
was soon diverted by discovering another plant, and I now commenced my
task of digging them all up. I obtained, with the ferns, about twenty
new varieties, which I made up in a bundle ready for carrying down
slung round my neck, for I knew that I should require both hands to
descend with. Then I sat down to rest myself a little before I
commenced my return, and after I had been seated a few minutes, I
thought I would sing a song by way of amusement.