Youwarkee with child--Their stock of provisions--No beast or
fish in Youwarkeis country--The voices again--Her reason for
not seeing those who uttered them--She bears a son--A hard
speech in her lying-in--Divers birds appear--Their eggs
gathered--How Wilkits kept account of time
About three months after we were married, as we called it, Youwarkee
told me she believed she was breeding, and I was mightily pleased with
it, for though I had had two children before by Patty, yet I had never
seen either of them, so that I longed to be a father. I sometimes amused
myself with whimsical conjectures, as, whether the child would have a
graundee or not; which of us it would be most like; how we should do
without a midwife; and what must become of the infant, as we had not
milk, in case Youwarkee could not suckle it. Indeed, I had leisure
enough for indulging such reveries; for, having laid in our winter
stores, my wife and I had nothing to do but enjoy ourselves over a good
fire, prattling and toying together, making as good cheer as we could;
and truly that was none of the worst, for we had as fine bread as need
to be eaten; we had pears preserved; all sorts of dried fish; and once
a fortnight, for two or three days together, had fresh fish; we had
vinegar, and a biting herb which I had found, for pepper; and several
sorts of nuts; so there was no want.
It was at this time, after my return from watering one day, where
Youwarkee had been with me, that, having taken several fish, and amongst
them some I had not before seen, I asked her, as we were preparing and
salting some of them, how they managed fish in her country, and what
variety they had of them there. She told me she neither ever saw nor
heard of a fish in her life till she came to me. "How!" says I, "no fish
amongst you? Why, you want one of the greatest dainties that can be
set upon a table. Do you wholly eat flesh," says I, "at Doorpt
Swangeanti?"--"Flesh," says she laughingly, "of what?"--"Nay," says
I, "you know best what the beasts of your own country are. We have in
England, where I was born and bred, oxen, very large hogs, sheep, lambs,
and calves; these make our ordinary dishes: then we have deer, hares,
rabbits, and these are reckoned dainties; besides numberless kinds of
poultry, and fish without stint"--"I never heard of any of these things
in my life," says Youwarkee, "nor did I ever eat anything but fruits and
herbs, and what is made from them, at Normnbdsgrsutt."--"You will speak
that crabbed word," says I, "again."--"I beg your pardon, my dear,"
says she; "at Doorpt Swangeanti, I say; nor I, nor any one else, to my
knowledge, ever ate any such thing; but seeing you eat fish, as you
call them, I made no scruple of doing so too, and like them very well,
especially the salted ones, for I never tasted what you call salt
neither till I came here."--"I cannot think," says I, "what sort of a
country yours is, or how you all live there."--"Oh," says she, "there
is no want; I wish you and I were there." I was afraid I had talked too
much of her country already, so we called a new cause.
Soon after winter had set in, as we were in bed one night, I heard
the voices again; and though my wife had told me of her countryfolk's
swangeans in that place, I, being frighted a little, waked her; and she
hearing them too, cried out, "There they are! it is ten to one but
my sister or some of our family are there. Hark! I believe I hear
her voice." I myself hearkened very attentively; and by this time
understanding a great deal of their language, I not only could
distinguish different speakers, but knew the meaning of several of the
words they pronounced.
I would have had Youwarkee have gotten up and called to them. "Not for
the world," says she; "have you a mind to part with me? Though I have no
intent to leave you, as I am with child, if they should try to force me
away without my consent, I may receive some injury, to the danger of my
own life, or at least of the child's." This reason perfectly satisfying
me, endeared the loving creature to me ten times more, if possible, than
ever.
The next summer brought me a yawm,* as fair as alabaster.
* Man-child.
My wife was delivered without the usual assistance, and had as
favourable a labour as could be. The first thing I did, after giving her
some fish-soup, made as skilfully as I was able, and a little cordial,
was to see if my yawm had the graundee or not. Finding it had--"So,"
says I to Youwarkee, "you have brought me a legitimate heir to my
dominions, whose title sure cannot be disputed, being one of you."
Though I spoke this with as much pleasure, and in as endearing a way as
ever I spoke in my life, and quite innocently, the poor Youwarkee burst
into tears to such excess there was no pacifying her. I asked her
the reason of her grief, begged and entreated her to let me know what
disturbed her, but all in vain; till, seeing me in a violent passion,
such as I had never before appeared to be in, she told me she was very
sorry I should question her fidelity to me. She surprised me in saying
this, as I never had any such apprehension. "No, my dearest wife," says
I, "I never had any such suspicion as you charge me with, I can safely
affirm; nor can I comprehend your meaning by imputing such a thing to
me."--"Oh!" says she, "I am sure you have no cause for it; but you said
the poor child was one of us; as much as to intimate that had it been
your own, it would have been born as you were, without the graundee,
which thought I cannot bear, and if you continue to think so it must end
me; therefore take away my life now, rather than let me live to see my
farther misery."
I was heartily sorry for what I had said, when I saw the effects of it,
though I did not imagine it could have been perverted to such a contrary
meaning. But considering her to be the faithful-lest and most loving
creature upon earth, and that true love cannot bear anything
that touches upon or can be applied (though with ever so forced a
construction) to an opprobrious or contemptuous meaning, I attributed
her groundless resentment to her excess of fondness only for me; and
falling upon the bed by her, and bathing her face in my tears, I assured
her the interpretation she had put on my words was altogether foreign
from the view they were spoken with; professing to her that I never had,
nor ever could have, the least cause of jealousy. On my confirming this
absolute confidence in her virtue by the strongest asseverations, she
grew fully convinced of her error, and acknowledged she had been too
rash in censuring me; and growing pleased at my fresh professions of
love to her, we presently were reconciled, and became again very good
friends.
When Youwarkee had gathered strength again, she proved an excellent
nurse to my Pedro (for that was the name I gave him), so that he soon
grew a charming child, able to go in his twelvemonth, and spoke in his
twentieth. This and two other lovely boys I had by her in three years,
every one of which she brought up with the breast, and they thrived
delicately.
I don't mention the little intervening occurrences which happened
during this period; they consisted chiefly of the old rota of fishing,
watering, providing in the summer for the winter, and in managing my
salt-work; which altogether kept me at full employment, comfortably to
maintain an increasing family.
In this time I had found out several new sorts of eatables. I had
observed, as I said before, abundance of birds about the wood and lake
in the summer months. These, by firing at them two or three times on my
first coming, I had almost caused to desert my dominions. But as I had
for the last two or three years given no disturbance at all to them,
they were now in as great plenty as ever; and I made great profit of
them by the peace they enjoyed; and yet my table never wanted a supply,
fresh in the summer, or salted and pickled in winter.
I took notice it was about October these birds used to come; and most of
the month of November they were busy in laying their eggs, which I used
at that time to find in great plenty along the banks of the lake in the
reeds, and made great collections of them; I used also to find a great
many in the woods amongst the shrubs and underwood. These furnished our
table various ways; for with my cream-cheese flour, and a little mixture
of ram's-horn juice, I had taught my wife to make excellent puddings of
them; abundance of them also we ate boiled or fried alone, and often as
sauce to our fish. As for the birds themselves, having long omitted to
fire at them, I had an effectual means of taking them otherwise by nets,
which I set between the trees, and also very large pitfall nets, with
which I used to catch all sorts, even from the size of a thrush to that
of a turkey. But as I shall say more of these when I come to speak of my
ward by and by, and of my poultry, I shall omit any further mention of
them here.
You may perhaps wonder how I could keep an account of my time so
precisely, as to talk of the particular months. I will tell you. At my
coming from America, I was then exact; for we set sail the fourteenth of
November, and struck the first or second day of February. So far I kept
perfect reckoning; but after that I was not so exact, though I kept it
as well as my perplexity would admit even then, till the days shortening
upon me, prevented it.
Hereupon I set about making a year for myself. I found the duration of
the comparative darkness, or what might with me be termed night, in the
course of the twenty-four hours, or day, gradually increased for six
months; after which it decreased reciprocally for an equal time, and
the lighter part of the day took its turn, as in our parts of the world,
only inversely: so that as the light's decrease became sensible about
the middle of March, it was at the greatest pitch the latter end of
August, or beginning of September; and from thence, on the contrary,
went on decreasing to the close of February, when I had the longest
portion of light. Hereupon, dividing my year into two seasons only, I
began the winter half in March, and the summer half in September. Thus
my winter was the spring and summer quarters in Europe, and my summer
those of our autumn and winter.
From my settling this matter, I kept little account of days or weeks,
but only reckoned my time by summer and winter, so that I am pretty
right as to the revolutions of these; though the years, as to their
notation, I kept no account of, nor do I know what year of the Lord it
now is.