we were on the sea, declared that our chances of drowning were, with
the pinnace, already sufficiently great, and that there was not the
slightest necessity for our adding to these chances by constructing
another craft which would tempt us out upon the perfidious element. My
wife's fears were, however, speedily allayed, for I assured her that
the boat I intended to construct should be no flimsy cockleshell, but
as safe and stout a craft as ever floated upon the sea. The
Greenlander's cajack I intended to be my model, and I resolved not
only to occupy the children, but also to produce a strong and
serviceable canoe--a masterpiece of art. The boys were interested, and
the boat building was soon in operation. We constructed the skeleton
of whalebone, using split bamboo canes to strengthen the sides and
also to form the deck, which extended the whole length of the boat,
leaving merely a square hole in which the occupant of the canoe might
sit.
The work engrossed our attention most entirely, and by the time it was
complete the rain had passed away and the glorious sun again shone
brightly forth.
Our front door was just wide enough to admit of the egress of our
boat, and we completed her construction in the open air. We quickly
cased the sides and deck with sealskin, making all the seams
thoroughly water-tight with caoutchouc.
The cajack was indeed a curious-looking craft, yet so light that she
might be lifted easily with one hand, and when at length we launched
her she bounded upon the water like an india-rubber ball. Fritz was
unanimously voted her rightful owner, but before his mother would hear
of his entering the frail-looking skiff she declared she must contrive
a swimming dress, that "should his boat receive a puncture from a
sharp rock or the dorsal fin of a fish and collapse, he might yet have
a chance of saving his life."
Though I did not consider the cajack quite the soap bubble the mother
imagined it, I yet willingly agreed to assist her in the construction
of the dress.
The garment we produced was most curious in appearance, and I must own
that I doubted its efficiency. It was like a double waistcoat, made of
linen prepared with a solution of india rubber, the seams being
likewise coated with caoutchouc, and the whole rendered perfectly air-
tight. We so arranged it that one little hole was left, by means of
which air could be forced into the space between the outer covering
and the lining, and the dress inflated.
Meanwhile I perceived with pleasure the rapid vegetation the climate
was producing. The seeds we had scattered had germinated, and were now
promising magnificent crops. The veranda, too, was looking pleasant
with its gay and sweet-scented creepers, which were already aspiring
to the summit of the pillars. The air was full of birds, the earth
seemed teeming with life.
The dress was at length completed, and Fritz one fine afternoon
offered publicly to prove it. We all assembled on the beach, the boy
gravely donned and inflated the garment, and, amid roars of laughter
from his brothers, entered the water. Quickly and easily he paddled
himself across the bay toward Shark Island, whither we followed in one
of our boats.
The experiment was most successful, and Ernest, Jack, and Franz, in
spite of their laughter at their brother's garment, begged their
mother to make for each of them a similar dress.
While on the island we paid a visit to the colonists whom we had
established there the previous autumn. All were well; we could
perceive by the footprints that the antelopes had discovered and made
use of the shelter we had erected for them, and feeling that we could
do nothing more we scattered handfuls of maize and salt, and strolled
across to the other side of the island. The shore was covered with
lovely shells, many of which, with beautiful pieces of delicate coral,
the boys collected for their museum; strewn by the edge of the water,
too, lay a great quantity of seaweed of various colors, and as the
mother declared that much of it was of use, the boys assisted her to
collect it and store it in the boat. As we pulled back to the land I
was surprised to see that my wife chose from among the seaweed a
number of curious leaves with edges notched like a saw. When we
reached home she carefully washed these and dried them in the oven.
There was evidently something mysterious about this preparation, and
my curiosity at length prompted me to make an attempt to discover the
secret.
"Are these leaves to form a substitute for tobacco?" said I; "do you
so long for its refreshing smell?"
My wife smiled, for her dislike to tobacco was well known, and she
answered in the same jocular tone: "Do you not think that a mattress
stuffed with these leaves would be very cool in summer?"
The twinkle in her eyes showed me that my curiosity must still remain
unsatisfied, but it nevertheless became greater than ever.
The boys and I had one day made a long and fatiguing expedition, and,
tired out, we flung ourselves down in the veranda. As we lay there
resting, we heard the mother's voice.
"Could any of you enjoy a little jelly?"
She presently appeared, bearing a porcelain dish laden with most
lovely transparent jelly. Cut with a spoon and laid before us it
quivered and glittered in the light. "Ambrosia!" exclaimed Fritz,
tasting it. It was indeed delicious, and, still marveling from whence
the mother could have obtained a dish so rare, we disposed of all that
she had set before us.
"Aha," laughed the mother, "is not this an excellent substitute for
tobacco, far more refreshing than the nasty weed itself? Behold the
product of my mysterious seaweed."
"My dear wife," exclaimed I, "this dish is indeed a masterpiece of
culinary art, but where had you met with it? What put it into your
head?"
"While staying with my Dutch friends at the Cape," replied she, "I
often saw it, and at once recognized the leaves on Shark Island. Once
knowing the secret, the preparation of the dish is extremely simple;
the leaves are soaked in water, fresh every day, for a week, and then
boiled for a few hours with orange juice, citron, and sugar."
At last came the day when Fritz was to make his trial trip with the
cajack. Completely equipped in swimming costume--trousers, jacket and
cap--it was most ludicrous to see him cower down in the canoe and puff
and blow till he began to swell like the frog in the fable.
All trace of his original figure was speedily lost, and shouts of
laughter greeted his comical appearance. Even his mother could not
resist a smile, although the dress was her invention.
I got the other boat out, that my wife might see we were ready to go
to his assistance the moment it became necessary.
The cajack was launched from a convenient shelving point, and floated
lightly on the sea-green ocean mirror. Fritz with his paddles then
began to practice all manner of evolutions; darting along with arrowy
swiftness, wheeling to the right, then to the left; and at last,
flinging himself quite on his side, while his mother uttered a shriek
of terror, he showed that the tiny craft would neither capsize nor
sink. Then, recovering his balance, he sped securely on his further
way.
Encouraged by our shouts of approbation, he now boldly ventured into
the strong current of Jackal River, and was rapidly carried out to
sea.
This being more than I had bargained for, I lost no time in giving
chase in the boat, with Ernest and Jack; my wife urging us to greater
speed, and declaring that some accident could not fail to happen to
"that horrid soap bubble."
We soon arrived outside the bay, at the rocks where formerly lay the
wreck, and gazed in all directions for signs of the runaway.
After a time we saw, at a considerable distance, a faint puff of
smoke, which was followed by the crack of a pistol. Upon this we fired
a signal shot, which was presently answered by another, and, steering
in the direction of the sound, we soon heard the boy's cheery halloo;
the cajack darted from behind a point of land, and we quickly joined
company.
"Come to this rocky beach," cried Fritz; "I have something to show
you."
With blank amazement we beheld a fine, well-grown young walrus,
harpooned and quite dead.
"Did you kill this creature, my dear Fritz?" I exclaimed, looking
round in some anxiety, and half expecting to see a naked savage come
to claim the prize.
"To be sure, father! don't you see my harpoon?"
I wished Fritz to keep close to us, that we might all arrive together;
but I yielded to his earnest wish to return alone as he came; he
longed to act as our avant-courrier, and announce our approach to his
mother; so he was soon skimming away over the surface of the water,
while we followed at a slower rate.
[Illustration: THE WALRUS]
Black clouds meanwhile gathered thick and fast around us, and a
tremendous storm came on. Fritz was out of sight, and beyond our
reach.
We buckled on the swimming belts, and firmly lashed ourselves to the
boat, so that we might not be washed overboard by the towering seas
which broke over it.
The horizon was shrouded in darkness, fearful gusts of wind lashed the
ocean into foam, rain descended in torrents, while livid lightning
glared athwart the gloom. Both my boys faced the danger nobly; and my
feelings of alarm were mingled with hope on finding how well the boat
behaved.
The tempest swept on its way, and the sky began to clear as suddenly
as it had been overcast; yet the stormy waves continued for a long
time to threaten our frail bark with destruction, in spite of its
buoyancy and steadiness.
Yet I never lost hope for ourselves--all my fears were for Fritz; in
fact, I gave him up for lost, and my whole agonized heart arose in
prayer for strength to say, "Thy will be done!"
At last we rounded the point, and once more entering Safety Bay,
quickly drew near the little harbor.
What was our surprise--our overwhelming delight--when there we saw the
mother with Fritz as well as her little boy, on their knees in prayer
so earnest for our deliverance, that our approach was unperceived,
until with cries of joy we attracted their notice. Then indeed ensued
a happy meeting, and we gave thanks together for the mercy which had
spared our lives.
Returning joyfully to Rockburg, we changed our drenched garments for
warm, dry clothes; and, seated at a comfortable meal, considered and
described at our ease the perils of the storm.
Afterward, the head of the walrus was conveyed to our workshop, where
it underwent such a skilful and thorough process of cleaning,
embalming, and drying, that ere long it was actually fixed on the prow
of the cajack, and a most imposing appearance it presented.
The strips of hide, when well tanned and prepared, made valuable
leather.
Much damage had been done by the late storm. The heavy rain had
flooded all the streams, and injured crops which should have been
housed before the regular rainy season. The bridge over Jackal River
was partly broken down, and the water tanks and pipes all needed
repair. So our time was much occupied in restoring things to order.
The return of the fishing season again gave us busy days. Large takes
of salmon, sturgeon and herring rewarded our exertions, and our
storeroom again assumed a well-stocked appearance.
X
THE BOYS ON THE SECOND EXCURSION
Many quiet, uneventful days passed by, and I perceived that the boys,
wearied by the routine of farm work at Rockburg, were longing for a
cruise in the yacht or an expedition into the woods, which would
refresh both mind and body.
"Father," said Fritz at length, "we want a quantity of hurdles, and
have scarcely any more bamboos of which to make them. Had we not
better get a supply from Woodlands? And you said, too, the other day,
that you wished you had some more of the fine clay; we might visit the
Gap at the same time."
I had really no objection to propose; and it was shortly afterward
settled that Fritz, Jack and Franz should start together; and that
Ernest, who had no great desire to accompany his brothers, should
remain with his mother and me, and assist in the construction of a
sugar mill, the erection of which I had long contemplated.
They were ready to start, when I observed Jack quietly slip a basket
containing several pigeons, under the packages in the cart.
[Illustration: LATEST NEWS BY PIGEON POST]
The weather was exquisite; and, with exhortations to prudence and
caution from both me and their mother, the three lads started in the
very highest spirits. Storm and Grumble, as usual, drew the cart, and
were ridden by Fritz and Franz; while Hurry carried Jack swiftly
across the bridge in advance of them, followed by Floss and Bruno,
barking at his heels.
The sugar mill occupied us for several days, and was made so much like
our other mills that I need not now describe it.
On the evening of the first day, as we sat resting in the porch at
Rockburg, we naturally talked of the absentees, wondering and guessing
what they might be about.
Ernest looked rather mysterious, and hinted that he might have news of
them next morning.
Just then a bird alighted on the dovecot, and entered. I could not
see, in the failing light, whether it was one of our own pigeons or an
intruder. Ernest started up, and said he would see that all was right.
In a few minutes he returned with a scrap of paper in his hand.
"News, father! The very latest news by pigeon post, mother!"
"Well done, boys! what a capital idea!" said I, and taking the note I
read:
"DEAREST PARENTS AND ERNEST:
"A brute of a hyena has killed a ram and two lambs. The dogs seized
it. Franz shot it. It is dead and skinned. We are all right. Love to
all. "FRITZ.
"WOODLANDS, 15th instant."
"A true hunter's letter!" laughed I; "but what exciting news. When
does the next post come in, Ernest?"
"To-night, I hope," said he, while his mother sighed, and doubted the
value of such glimpses into the scenes of danger through which her
sons were passing, declaring she would much rather wait and hear all
about it when she had them safe home again.
Thus the winged letter-carriers kept us informed from day to day of
the outline of adventures which were afterward more fully described.
On approaching the farm at Woodlands, the boys were startled by
hearing, as they thought, human laughter, repeated again and again;
while, to their astonishment, the oxen testified the greatest
uneasiness, the dogs growled and drew close to their masters, and the
ostrich fairly bolted with Jack into the rice swamp. The laughter
continued, and the beasts became unmanageable.
"Something is very far wrong!" cried Fritz. "I cannot leave the
animals; but while I unharness them, do you, Franz, take the dogs, and
advance cautiously to see what is the matter."
Without a moment's hesitation, Franz made his way among the bushes
with his gun, closely followed by the dogs; until, through an opening
in the thicket, he could see, at a distance of about forty paces, an
enormous hyena, in the most wonderful state of excitement; dancing
round a lamb just killed, and uttering, from time to time, the ghastly
hysterical laughter which had pealed through the forest.
The beast kept running backward and forward, rising on its hind legs,
and then rapidly whirling round and round, nodding its head, and going
through most frantic and ludicrous antics.
Franz kept his presence of mind very well; for he watched till,
calming down, the hyena began with horrid growls to tear its prey; and
then, firing steadily both barrels, he broke its fore leg, and wounded
it in the breast.
Meanwhile Fritz, having unyoked the oxen and secured them to trees,
hurried to his brother's assistance. The dogs and the dying hyena were
by this time engaged in mortal strife; but the latter, although it
severely wounded both Floss and Bruno, speedily succumbed, and was
dead when Fritz reached the spot. They raised a shout of triumph,
which guided Jack to the scene of action; and their first care was for
the dogs, whose wounds they dressed before minutely examining the
hyena. It was as large as a wild boar; long, stiff bristles formed a
mane on its neck, its color was gray marked with black, the teeth and
jaws were of extraordinary strength, the thighs muscular and sinewy,
the claws remarkably strong and sharp altogether. But for his wounds
he would certainly have been more than a match for the dogs.
After unloading the cart at the farm, the boys returned for the
carcass of the tiger-wolf, as it is sometimes called, and occupied
themselves in skinning it during the remainder of the day, when, after
dispatching the carrier-pigeon to Rockburg, they retired to rest on
their bearskin rugs, to dream of adventures past and future.
The following day they devised no less a scheme than to survey the
shores of Wood Lake, and place marks wherever the surrounding marsh
was practicable, and might be crossed either to reach the water or
leave it.
Fritz in the cajack, and the boys on shore, carefully examined the
ground together; and when they found firm footing to the water's edge,
the spot was indicated by planting a tall bamboo, bearing on high a
bundle of reeds and branches.
They succeeded in capturing three young black swans, after
considerable resistance from the old ones. They were afterward brought
to Rockburg, and retained as ornaments to Safety Bay. The young
hunters seemed to have lived very comfortably on peccary ham, cassava
bread and fruit, and plenty of baked potatoes and milk.
After collecting a supply of rice and cotton, they took their way to
Prospect Hill; "and," said Fritz, as he afterward vividly described
the dreadful scene there enacted, "when we entered the pine wood, we
found it in possession of troops of monkeys, who resolved to make our
passage through it as disagreeable as possible, for they howled and
chattered at us like demons, pelting us as hard as they could with
pine cones.
"They became so unbearable, that at last we fired a few shots right
and left among them; several bit the dust, the rest fled, and we
continued our way in peace to Prospect Hill, but only to discover the
havoc the wretches had made there.
"Would you believe it, father? The pleasant cottage had been overrun
and ruined by apes just as Woodland was last summer! The most dreadful
dirt and disorder met our eyes wherever we turned, and we had hard
work to make the place fit for human habitation; and even then we
preferred the tent. I felt quite at a loss how to guard the farm for
the future; but seeing a bottle of the poisonous gum of the euphorbia
in the tool chest, I devised a plan for the destruction of the apes
which succeeded beyond my expectations.
"I mixed poison with milk, bruised millet, and anything I thought the
monkeys would eat, and put it in cocoanut shells, which I hung about
in the trees, high enough to be out of reach of our own animals. The
evening was calm and lovely; the sea murmured in the distance, and the
rising moon shed a beauty over the landscape which we seemed never
before to have so admired and enjoyed. The summer night closed around
us in all its solemn stillness, and our deepest feelings were touched;
when suddenly the spell was broken by an outburst of the most hideous
and discordant noises. As by one consent, every beast of the forest
seemed to arise from its den, and utter its wild nocturnal cry.
Snorting, snarling, and shrieking filled the wood beneath us.
"From the hills echoed the mournful howl of jackals, answered by Fangs
in the yard, who was backed up by the barking and yelping of his
friends Floss and Bruno. Far away beyond the rocky fastnesses of the
Gap, sounded unearthly, hollow snortings and neighings, reminding one
of the strange cry of the hippopotamus; above these, occasional deep
majestic roaring made our hearts quail with the conviction that we
heard the voices of lions and elephants.
"Overawed and silent, we retired to rest, hoping to forget in sleep
the terrors of the midnight forest, but ere long the most fearful
cries in the adjoining woods gave notice that the apes were beginning
to suffer from the poisoned repast prepared for them.
"As our dogs could not remain silent amid the uproar and din, we had
not a wink of sleep until the morning. It was late, therefore, when we
rose, and looked on the awful spectacle presented by the multitude of
dead monkeys and baboons thickly strewn under the trees round the
farm. I shall not tell you how many there were. I can only say, I
wished I had not found the poison, and we made all haste to clear away
the dead bodies and the dangerous food, burying some deep in the
earth, and carrying the rest to the shore, where we pitched them over
the rocks into the sea. That day we traveled on to the Gap."
The same evening that the boys reached the rocky pass, a messenger
pigeon arrived at Rockburg, bearing a note which concluded as follows:
"The barricade at the Gap is broken down. Everything laid waste as far
as the sugar-brake, where the hut is knocked to pieces, and the fields
trampled over by huge footmarks. Come to us, father--we are safe, but
feel we are no match for this unknown danger."
I lost not an instant, but saddled Swift, late as it was, in order to
ride to the assistance of our boys, desiring Ernest to prepare the
small cart, and follow me with his mother at daybreak, bringing
everything we should require for camping out for some days.
The bright moonlight favored my journey, and my arrival at the Gap
surprised and delighted the boys, who did not expect me till the next
day. Early on the following morning I inspected the footprints and
ravages of the great unknown. The canebrake had, without doubt, been
visited by an elephant. That great animal alone could have left such
traces and committed such fearful ravages. Thick posts in the
barricade were snapped across like reeds; the trees in the vicinity,
where we planned to build a cool summerhouse, were stripped of leaves
and branches to a great height, but the worst mischief was done among
the young sugar-cane plants, which were all either devoured or
trampled down and destroyed.
It seemed to me that not one elephant, but a troop must have invaded
our grounds. The tracks were very numerous, and the footprints of
various sizes; but, to my satisfaction, I saw that they could be
traced not only from the Gap, but back to it in evidently equal
numbers.
We did not, therefore, suppose that the mighty animals remained hidden
in the woods of our territory; but concluded that, after this
freebooting incursion, they had withdrawn to their native wilds,
where, by greatly increasing the strength of our ramparts, we hoped
henceforth to oblige them to remain. The mother and Ernest arrived
next day, and she rejoiced to find all well, making light of trodden
fields and trampled sugar canes, since her sons were sound in life and
limb.
A systematic scheme of defense was now elaborated, and the erection of
the barricade occupied us for at least a month, as it was to be a firm
and durable building, proof against all invasion. As our little tent
was unsuited to a long residence of this sort, I adopted Fritz's idea
of a Kamschatchan dwelling, and, to his great delight, forthwith
carried it out.
Instead of planting four posts, on which to place a platform, we chose
four trees of equal size, which, in a very suitable place, grew
exactly in a square, twelve or fourteen feet apart. Between these, at
about twenty feet from the ground we laid a flooring of beams and
bamboo, smoothly and strongly planked. From this rose, on all four
sides, walls of cane; the frame of the roof was covered so effectually
by large pieces of bark that no rain could penetrate. The staircase to
this tree-cottage was simply a broad plank with bars nailed across it
for steps. The flooring projected like a balcony in front of the
entrance door, and underneath, on the ground, we fitted up sheds for
cattle and fowls. Various ornaments in Chinese or Japanese style were
added to the roof and eaves, and a most convenient, cool, and
picturesque cottage, overhung and adorned by the graceful foliage of
the trees, was the result of our ingenuity.
I was pleased to find that the various birds taken by the boys during
this excursion seemed likely to thrive; they were the first inmates of
the new sheds, and even the black swans soon became tame and sociable.
The day before our return to Rockburg, Fritz went again to the inland
region beyond the river to obtain a large supply of young banana
plants, and the cacao fruit. He took the cajack and a bundle of reeds
to float behind him as a raft to carry the fruit, plants, and anything
else he might wish to bring back.
In the evening he made his appearance, coming swiftly down stream. His
brothers rushed to meet him, each eager to see and help to land his
cargo.
Securing the cajack, Fritz sprang toward us, his handsome face radiant
with pleasure, as he exhibited a beautiful waterfowl.