Next morning all were early awake, and the children sprang about the
tree like young monkeys.
`What shall we begin to do, father?' they cried. `What do you want us
to do, today?'
`Rest, my boys,' I replied, `rest.'
`Rest?' repeated they. `Why should we rest?'
`"Six days shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do, but on
the seventh, thou shalt do no manner of work." This is the seventh
day,' I replied, `on it, therefore, let us rest.'
`What, is it really Sunday?' said Jack, `How jolly! Oh, I won't do any
work; but I'll take a bow and arrow and shoot, and we'll climb about
the tree and have fun all day.'
`That is not resting,' said I, `that is not the way you are accustomed
to spend the Lord's day.'
`No! But then we can't go to church here, and there is nothing else to
do.'
`We can worship here as well as at home,' said I.
`But there is no church, no clergyman and no organ,' said Franz.
`The leafy shade of this great tree is far more beautiful than any
church,' I said, `there will we worship our Creator. Come, boys, down
with you: turn our dining hall into a breakfast room.'
The children, one by one, slipped down the ladder.
`My dear Elizabeth,' said I, `this morning we will devote to the
service of the Lord, and by means of a parable, I will endeavor to give
the children some serious thought; but, without books, or the
possibility of any of the usual Sunday occupations, we cannot keep them
quiet the whole day; afterward, therefore I shall allow them to pursue
any innocent recreation they choose, and in the cool of the evening we
will take a walk.'
My wife entirely agreed with my proposal, and having breakfasted, the
family assembled round me, as we sat in the pleasant shade on the
fresh, soft grass.
After singing some hymns and offering heartfelt prayers to the
Almighty Giver of all good, I told the children I would relate to them
a parable instead of preaching a sermon.
`Oh, that would be delightful! I like the parables in the Bible better
than anything,' said Franz. `When can we hear you read out of the Bible
again, father?'
`Ah, my little boy, your words reproach me,' returned I. `While
eagerly striving to procure from the ship would feed our bodies and
provide for their comfort, I blush to think that I have neglected the
Bread of Life, the word of God. I shall search for a Bible on my next
return to the wreck: although our own books were nearly all destroyed,
I am pretty sure to find one.'
At these words my wife arose, and fetching her magic bag, she drew from
it a copy of the Holy Scriptures, which I thankfully received from her
hand; and after reading aloud from its sacred pages, I spoke as
follows:
`A Great King, ruling in power and splendor over a vast realm of light
and love, possessed within its boundaries a desolate and unfruitful
island. This spot he made the object of his special care; and,
lavishing on it all the varied resources of his might and goodness, it
bloomed in beauty, and became the happy residence of a band of
colonists, who were charged not only with the cultivation and
improvement of the soil, but each, individually, was bound to cherish
in his soul the spirit of love and true allegiance to his Sovereign.
`While this faithful union was maintained, the colony flourished; and
the noblest virtues exalted and rendered happy the existence of every
member of the race.
`That a discontented and rebellious spirit should ever have infected
these fortunate subjects of so loving a master, seems incredible, yet
it was so; disobedience and pride brought misery and punishment, the
fair prospects of the colony were blighted, the labours of the
colonists were unblessed, and total separation from the parent kingdom
seemed inevitable.
`A message of pardon--of free forgiveness--was nevertheless accorded to
these rebels; and to all who, humbly accepting it, molded their future
lives to the will of the Great King (now revealed in a character even
more gracious than before), was held out the promise of removal at last
from among the ruins caused by the great rebellion, to the glory and
undimmed splendor of the realm of Light and Blessedness.'
Having interested the children, I then, leaving allegory, pressed
simply and earnestly home to each young heart the truths I sought to
teach; and, with a short prayer for a blessing on my words, brought the
service to a close.
After a thoughtful pause, we separated, and each employed himself as he
felt disposed.
I took some arrows, and endeavoured to point them with porcupine
quills.
Franz came to beg me make a little bow and arrow for him to shoot
with, while Fritz asked my advice about the tiger-cat skin and the
cases he was to contrive from it. Jack assisted with the arrow-making,
and inserting a sharp spine at one end of each reed made it fast with
pack-thread, and began to wish for glue to ensure its remaining firm.
`Oh, Jack! Mamma's soup is as sticky as anything!' cried Franz. `Shall
I run and ask for a cake of it?'
`No, no, little goose! Better look for some real glue in the
tool-box.'
`There he will find glue, to be sure,' said I, `and the soup would
scarcely have answered your purpose. But Jack, my boy, I do not like to
hear you ridicule your little brother's idea. Some of the most valuable
discoveries have been the result of thoughts which originally appeared
no wiser than his.'
While thus directing and assisting my sons, we were surprised by
hearing a shot just over heads; at the same moment two small birds fell
dead at our feet, and looking up, we beheld Ernest among the branches,
as bending his face joyfully towards us, he cried, `Well hit! Well hit!
A good shot, wasn't it?'
Then slipping down the ladder, and picking up the birds, he brought
them to me. One was a kind of thrush, the other a small dove called the
ortolan, and esteemed a very great delicacy on account of its exquisite
flavour.
As the figs on which these birds came to feed were only just beginning
to ripen, it was probable that they would soon flock in numbers to our
trees; and by waiting until we could procure them in large quantities,
we might provide ourselves with valuable food for the rainy season, by
placing them, when half cooked, in casks with melted lard or butter
poured over them.
By this time Jack had pointed a good supply of arrows, and
industriously practised archery. I finished the bow and arrows for
Franz, and expected to be left in peace; but the young man next
demanded a quiver, and I had to invent that also, to complete his
equipment. It was easily done by stripping a piece of bark from a small
tree, fitting a flat side and a bottom to it, and then a string.
Attaching it to his shoulders, the youthful hunter filled it with
arrows and went off; looking, as his mother said, like an innocent
little Cupid, bent on conquest.
Not long after this, we were summoned to dinner, and all right
willingly obeyed the call.
During the meal I interested the boys very much by proposing to decide
on suitable names for the different spots we had visited on this coast.
`For,' said I, `it will become more and more troublesome to explain
what we mean, unless we do so. Besides which, we shall feel much more
at home if we can talk as people do in inhabited countries: instead of
saying, for instance, "the little island at the mouth of our bay, where
we found the dead shark", "the large stream near our tent, across which
we made the bridge", "that wood where we found cocoanuts, and caught
the monkey", and so on. Let us begin by naming the bay in which we
landed. What shall we call it?'
`Oyster Bay,' said Fritz.
`No, no!--Lobster Bay,' cried Jack, `in memory of the old fellow who
took a fancy to my leg!'
`I think,' observed his mother, `that, in token of gratitude for our
escape, we should call it Safety Bay.'
This name met with general approbation, and was forthwith fixed upon.
Other names were quickly chosen. Our first place of abode we called
Tentholm; the islet in the bay, Shark's Island; and the reedy swamp,
Flamingo Marsh. It was some time before the serious question of a name
for our leafy castle could be decided. But finally it was entitled
Falconhurst; and we then rapidly named the few remaining points:
Prospect Hill, the eminence we first ascended; Cape Disappointment,
from whose rocky heights we had strained our eyes in vain search for
our ship's company; and Jackal River, as a name for the large stream at
our landing place, concluded our geographical nomenclature.
In the afternoon the boys went on with their various employments.
Fritz finished his cases, and Jack asked my assistance in carrying out
his plan of making a cuirass for Turk, out of the porcupine skin. After
thoroughly cleansing the inside, we cut and fitted it round the body of
the patient dog; then when strings were sewn on, and it became
tolerably dry, he was armed with this ingenious coat of mail, and a
most singular figure he cut!
Juno strongly objected to his friendly approaches, and got out of his
way so fast as she could; and it was clear that he would easily put to
flight the fiercest animal he might encounter, while protected by
armour at once defensive and offensive. I determined to make also a
helmet for Jack out of the remainder of the skin, which to his infinite
delight I speedily did.
Amid these interesting occupations the evening drew on, and after a
pleasant walk among the sweet glades near our abode, we closed our
Sabbath day with prayer and a glad hymn of praise, retiring to rest
with peaceful hearts.
Next morning, I proposed an expedition to Tentholm, saying I wished to
make my way thither by a different route. We left the tree well armed;
I and my three elder sons each carrying a gun and game-bag, while
little Franz was equipped with his bow and quiver full of arrows. A
most curious party we formed: Fritz adorned with his belt of margay
skin, and Jack, with his extraordinary headdress, looked like a couple
of young savages.
Their mother and I walked together; she, of the whole party, being the
only one unarmed, carried a jar in which to get butter from Tentholm;
we were preceded by the dogs Turk armed most effectually with his
cuirass of porcupine skin, and Juno keeping at a respectful distance
from so formidable a companion.
Master Knips fully intended to mount his charger as usual; but when he
saw him arrayed apparently in a new skin, he approached him carefully,
and touching him with one paw, discovered that such a hide would make
anything but an agreeable seat; the grimace he made was most comical,
and chattering vociferously he bounded towards Juno, skipped on her
back, seated himself, and soon appeared perfectly reconciled to the
change of steed.
The flamingo saw us starting, and, having been much petted during the
last day or two, considered himself entitled to accompany us; for some
time he kept beside the children, following first one and then another
as they explored the wood on either side; their irregular course,
however, at length disgusted him, and, abandoning them, he walked
sedately by my side.
We strolled on in the cool evening air, following the course of the
stream. The boys roamed ahead of me, intent on exploration.
Presently I heard a joyful shout, and saw Ernest running at full speed
towards me, followed by his brothers. In his hand he held a plant, and,
panting for breath, and with sparkling eyes, he held it up to me.
`Potatoes! Potatoes, father,' he gasped out.
`Yes,' said Jack, `acres and acres of potatoes!'
`My dear Ernest,' said I, for there was no mistaking the flower and
leaf, and the light clear-green bulbous roots, `you have indeed made a
discovery; with the potato we shall never starve.'
`But come and look at them,' said Jack, `come and feast your eyes on
thousands of potatoes.'
We hurried to the spot: there, spread out before us, was a great tract
of ground, covered with the precious plant.
`It would have been rather difficult,' remarked Jack, `not to have
discovered such a great field.'
`Very likely,' replied Ernest, smiling, `but I doubt if you would have
discovered that it was a potato field.'
`Perhaps not,' said Jack, `you are quite welcome, at all events, to the
honour of the discovery; I'll have the honour of being the first to get
a supply of them.' So saying, he dug up, with hands and knife, a number
of plants, and filled his game-bag with the roots. The monkey followed
his example, and scratching away with his paws most cleverly, soon had
a heap beside him. So delighted were we with the discovery, and so
eager were we to possess a large supply of the roots, that we stopped
not digging until every bag, pouch and pocket was filled.
Some wished to return at once to Falconhurst, to cook and taste our new
acquisition; but this I overruled, and we continued our march, heavily
laden, but delighted.
`How,' said I, `can we thank the Giver of all these blessings,
sufficiently?'
`Oh,' said Franz, `we can say, "We thank thee, O Lord, for all thy
goodness and mercy; and bless us for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen."'
`That would not be sufficient,' said Fritz. `Do you think it would be
enough just to say to father and mother: "Thank you for all you do,"
and not to show that we were really thankful, by loving them and doing
what we can to please them?'
`You are quite right, Fritz,' said I; `Franz did not say all that was
necessary, he should have added, "Give me grace to do Thy will, and to
obey Thee in all things."'
As we thus talked, we reached the head of our streamlet, where it fell
from the rocks above in a beautiful, sparkling, splashing cascade. We
crossed and entered the tall grass on the other side.
We forced our way through with difficulty, so thick and tangled were
the reeds. Beyond this, the landscape was most lovely. Rich tropical
vegetation flourished on every side: the tall stately palms, surrounded
by luxuriant ferns; brilliant flowers and graceful creepers; the
prickly cactus, shooting up amidst them; aloe, jasmine and
sweet-scented vanilla; the Indian pea and, above all, the regal
pineapple*, loaded the breath of the evening breeze with their rich
perfume. The boys were delighted with the pineapple, and so eagerly did
they fall to, that my wife had to caution them that there were no
doctors on our territory, and that if they became ill, they would have
to cure themselves as best they might.
* At this point the author seems to assume that pineapples
grow on trees. They do not.
This advice, however, seemed to have small effect on my sons, and
showing Knips what they wanted, they sent him after the ripest and best
fruit.
While they were thus employed, I examined the other shrubs and bushes.
Among these I presently noticed one which I knew well from description
to be the karatas.
`Come here, boys,' I said, `here is something of far more value than
your pineapples. Do you see that plant with long pointed leaves and
beautiful red flower? That is the karatas. The filaments of the leaves
make capital thread, while the leaves themselves, bruised, form an
invaluable salve. The pith of this wonderful plant may be used either
for tinder or bait for fish.
`Suppose, Ernest, you had been wrecked here, how would you have made a
fire without matches, or flint and steel?'
`As the savages do,' replied he, `I would rub two pieces of wood
together until they kindled.'
`Try it,' I said, `but, if you please, try it when you have a whole day
before you, and no other work to be done, for I am certain it would be
night before you accomplished the feat. But see here,' and I broke a
dry twig from the karatas, and peeling off the bark, laid the pith upon
a stone. I struck a couple of pebbles over it, and, they emitting a
spark, the pith caught fire.
The boys were delighted with the experiment. I then drew some of the
threads from the leaves, and presented them to my wife.
`But what,' said Fritz, `is the use of all these other prickly plants,
except to annoy one? Here, for instance, is a disagreeable little
tree.'
`That is an Indian fig,' said I. `It grows best on dry, rocky ground;
for most of its nourishment is derived from the air. Its juice is used,
I believe, medicinally, while its fruit is pleasant and wholesome.'
Master Jack was off in a moment when he heard of a new delicacy, and
attempted to gather some of the fruit, but in vain; the sharp thorns
defied his efforts, and with bleeding hands and rueful countenance, he
returned.
I removed the thorns from his hands, and making a sharp wooden skewer,
I thrust it into a fig, and quickly twisted it from its branch and
split it open with a knife, still holding it upon the skewer. The rest
followed my example, and we regaled ourselves upon the fruit, which we
found excellent.
Ernest carefully examined the fig he was eating. `What', he exclaimed,
presently, `are these little red insects? They cling all over the
fruit, and I cannot shake them off. Can they be cochineal?'
He handed me the fig, and I examined it attentively.
`You are quite right, my boy,' I said, `there is no doubt this is the
real cochineal. However, though it is worth its weight in gold to
European traders, it is of little use to us, I am afraid, unless any of
you care to appear in gay colours. The cochineal, you know, forms the
most lovely scarlet dye.'
`No, thank you,' said Jack, `but we will take a lot of it when we go
home again. Now let us find something more useful to us.' And they
thereupon plied me incessantly with questions concerning every plant
and shrub we passed.
`Stop, stop,' I said at length. `The most learned naturalist would be
much puzzled with many of these trees; and I, who have never seen any
of them before, and know them merely by description, cannot pretend to
tell you the names, or explain to you the use of one quarter of them.'
Discussing, however, the properties of such shrubs as I did know, we at
length reached Tentholm. Everything was safe, and we set to work to
collect what we wanted. I opened the butter cask from which my wife
filled her pot. Fritz saw after the ammunition, and Jack and Ernest ran
down to the beach to capture the geese and ducks. This they found no
easy matter, for the birds, left so long alone, were shy, and nothing
would induce them to come on shore and be caught. Ernest at length hit
upon an ingenious plan.
He took some pieces of cheese, and tied them to long strings. This bait
he threw into the water, and the hungry ducks instantly made a grab at
it; then with a little skilful manoeuvring he drew them on shore.
While Jack and he were thus busily employed catching and tying the
rebels together by the feet, we procured a fresh supply of salt, which
we packed upon Turk's back, first relieving him of his coat of mail.
The birds we fastened to our game-bags, and carefully closing the door
of our tent, started homewards by the sea-shore. After a cheerful and
pleasant walk, we once more reached our woodland abode. I released the
birds, and, clipping their wings to prevent their leaving us,
established them on the stream. Then, after a delicious supper of
potatoes, milk and butter, we ascended our tree and turned in.
Having remarked a great deal of driftwood on the sands the preceding
evening, it occurred to me that it would be well to get some of it, and
make a kind of sledge, so that the labour of fetching what we wanted
from our stores at Tentholm might not fall so heavily on ourselves.
I awoke early and roused Ernest as my assistant, wishing to encourage
him to overcome his natural fault of indolence. After a little
stretching and yawning, he got up cheerfully, pleased with the idea of
an expedition while the others still slept, and we made our way to the
beach, taking with us the donkey, who drew a large broad bough, which I
expected to find useful in bringing back our load.
As we went along, I remarked to Ernest that I supposed he was rather
sorry for himself, and grudged leaving his cosy hammock and pleasant
dreams at this untimely hour.
`Oh, father, do not laugh at my laziness! Indeed I mean to cure myself
of it. I am very glad to go with you. I intended to shoot some more of
the ortolans this morning, but there will be plenty of time afterwards.
The boys will be shooting at them, I daresay, but I don't expect they
will have any great luck.'
`Why not, pray?' inquired I.
`I don't believe they will know what shot to use at first, and,
besides, they will most likely shoot upwards at the birds and be sure
to miss them, on account of the great height and thickness of the
branches and foliage.'
`Well, Ernest, you certainly possess the gifts of prudence and
reflection, as well as observation. These are valuable; but sudden
action is so often necessary in life, that I advise you to cultivate
the power of instantly perceiving and deciding what must be done in
cases of emergency. Presence of mind is a precious quality, which,
although natural in some characters, may be acquired to a certain
degree by all who train themselves to it.'
Once on the seashore, our work was quickly accomplished, for selecting
the wood I thought fit for my purpose, we laid it across the broad
leafy branch, and, with some help from us, the donkey dragged a very
fair load of it homewards, with the addition of a small chest which I
raised from among the sand which nearly covered it.
We heard the boys popping away at the birds as we drew near. They
hastened to meet us, and inquired where we had been, looking curiously
at the chest, which I allowed them to open, while I asked my wife to
excuse our `absence without leave'; and after submitting to her gentle
reprimand, I explained my plan for a sledge, which pleased her greatly,
and she already imagined it loaded with her hogshead of butter, and on
its way from Tentholm to Falconhurst.
The chest proved to be merely that of a common sailor, containing his
clothes, very much wetted by the sea water.
The boys exhibited an array of several dozen birds, and related,
during breakfast, the various incidents of failure and success which
had attended their guns. Ernest had rightly guessed the mistakes they
would make, but practise was making them perfect, and they seemed
disposed to continue their sport, when their mother, assuring them that
she could not use more birds than those already killed, asked if I did
not think some means of snaring them might be contrived, as much powder
and shot would be expended if they fired on at this rate.
Entirely agreeing with this view of the subject, I desired the lads to
lay aside their guns for the present, and the younger ones readily
applied themselves to making snares of the long threads drawn from the
leaves of the karatas in a simple way I taught them, while Fritz and
Ernest gave me substantial assistance in the manufacture of the new
sledge.
We were busily at work, when a tremendous disturbance among our fowls
led us to suppose that a fox or wild cat had got into their midst. The
cocks crowed defiantly, the hens fluttered and cackled in a state of
the wildest excitement.
We hastened towards them, but Ernest remarking Master Knips slipping
away, as though conscious of some misdemeanour, went to watch him, and
presently caught him in the act of eating a new-laid egg, which he had
carried off and hidden among the grass and roots. Ernest found several
others.
These were very welcome to my wife, for hitherto the hens had not
presented us with any eggs. Hereafter she determined to imprison the
monkey every morning until the eggs had been collected.
Soon after this, as Jack was setting the newly made snares among the
branches, he discovered that a pair of our own pigeons were building in
the tree. It was very desirable to increase our stock of these pretty
birds, and I cautioned the boys against shooting near our tree while
they had nests there, and also with regard to the snares, which were
meant only to entrap the wild-fig-eaters.
Although my sons were interested in setting the snares, they by no
means approved of the new order to economize on ammunition.
No doubt they had been discussing this hardship, for little Franz came
to me with a brilliant proposal of his own.
`Papa,' said he, `why should not we begin to plant some powder and shot
immediately? It would be so much more useful than bare grain for the
fowls.'
His brothers burst into a roar of laughter, and I must confess I found
it no easy matter to keep my countenance.
`Come, Ernest,' said I, `now we have had our amusement, tell the
little fellow what gunpowder really is.'
`It is not seed at all, Franz,' Ernest explained. `Gunpowder is made of
charcoal, sulphur and saltpetre, mixed cleverly together; so you see it
cannot be sown like corn, any more than shot can be planted like peas
and beans.'
My carpentering meantime went on apace. In order to shape my sledge
with ends properly turned up in front, I had chosen wood which had been
part of the bow of the vessel, and was curved in the necessary way for
my purpose. Two pieces, perfectly similar, formed the sides of my
sleigh, or sledge, and I simply united these strongly by fixing short
bars across them. Then, when the ropes of the donkey's harness were
attached to the raised points in front, the equipage was complete and
ready for use.
My attention had been for some time wholly engrossed by my work, and I
only now observed that the mother and her little boys had been busily
plucking above two dozen of the wild birds, and were preparing to roast
them, spitted in a row on a long, narrow sword blade, belonging to one
of our ship's officers.
It seemed somewhat wasteful to cook so many at once, but my wife
explained that she was getting them ready for the butter-cask I was
going to fetch for her on the new sledge, as I had advised her to
preserve them half-cooked, and packed in butter.
Amused at her promptitude, I could do nothing less than promise to go
for her cask directly after dinner. For her part, she resolved in our
absence to have a grand wash of linen and other clothes, and she
advised me to arrange regular baths for all the boys in future.
Early in the afternoon Ernest and I were ready to be off. Fritz
presented us each with a neat case of margay skin to hang at our
girdles.
We harnessed both cow and ass to the sledge and, accompanied by Juno,
cheerfully took our departure, choosing the way by the sands, and
reaching Tentholm without accident or adventure.
There, unharnessing the animals, we began at once to load the sledge,
not only with the butter-cask, but with a powder-chest, a barrel of
cheese, and a variety of other articles--ball, shot, tools and Turk's
armour, which had been left behind on our last visit.
Our work had so closely engaged our attention, that when we were ready
to leave it and go in search of a good bathing-place, we discovered
that our two animals had wandered quite out of sight, having crossed
the bridge to reach the good pasture beyond the river.
I sent Ernest after them, and went alone to the extremity of the bay.
It terminated in bold and precipitous cliffs, which extended into the
deep water, and rose abruptly so as to form an inaccessible wall of
rock and crag. Swampy ground, overgrown with large canes, intervened
between me and these cliffs. I cut a large bundle of the reeds, and
returned to Ernest.
It was some time before I found him, comfortably extended full length
on the ground near the tent, and sleeping as sound as a top, while the
cow and the ass, grazing at will, were again making for the bridge.
`Get up, Ernest, you lazy fellow!' exclaimed I, much annoyed, `Why
don't you mind your business? Look at the animals! They will be over
the river again!'
`No fear of that, father,' returned he, with the utmost composure. `I
have taken a couple of boards off the bridge. They won't pass the gap.'
I could not help laughing at the ingenious device by which the boy had
spared himself all trouble; at the same time I observed that it is
wrong to waste the precious moments in sleep when duty has to be
performed. I then bid him go and collect some salt, which was wanted at
home, while I went to bathe.
On coming back, much refreshed, I again missed Ernest, and began to
wonder whether he was still gathering salt, or whether he had lain down
somewhere to finish his nap, when I heard him loudly calling: `Father,
father! I've caught a fish! An immense fellow he is. I can scarcely
hold him, he drags the line so!'
Hastening towards the spot, I saw the boy lying in the grass, on a
point of land close to the mouth of the stream, and with all his might
keeping hold of a rod. The line was strained to the utmost by the
frantic efforts of a very large fish, which was attempting to free
itself from the hook.
I quickly took the rod from him, and giving the fish more line, led him
by degrees into shallow water. Ernest ran in with his hatchet and
killed him. It proved to be a salmon of full fifteen pounds weight, and
I was delighted to think of taking such a valuable prize to them.
`This is capital, Ernest!' cried I. `You have cleared yourself for once
of the charge of laziness! Let us now carry this splendid salmon to the
sledge. I will clean and pack it for the journey, that it may arrive in
good condition, while you go and take a bath in the sea.'
All this being accomplished, we harnessed our beasts to the well-laden
vehicle, and replacing the boards on the bridge, commenced the journey
home.
We kept inland this time, and were skirting the borders of a grassy
thicket, when Juno suddenly left us, and plunging into the bushes, with
fierce barking hunted out, right in front of us, the most
singular-looking creature I ever beheld. It was taking wonderful flying
leaps, apparently in a sitting posture, and got over the ground at an
astonishing rate. I attempted to shoot it as it passed, but missed.
Ernest, who was behind me, observed its movements very coolly, and
seeing that the dog was puzzled, and that the animal, having paused,
was crouching among the grass, went cautiously nearer, fired at the
spot he had marked, and shot it dead.
The extraordinary appearance of this creature surprised us very much.
It was as large as a sheep, its head was shaped like that of a mouse;
its skin also was of a mouse-colour; it had long ears like a hare, and
a tail like a tiger's. The fore-paws resembled those of a squirrel, but
they seemed only half-grown while the hind legs were enormous, and so
long, that when upright on them the animal would look as if mounted on
stilts.
For some time we stood silently wondering at the remarkable creature
before us. I could not recollect to have seen or heard of any such.
`Well, father,' said Ernest at last, `I should say this was about the
queerest beast to be met with anywhere. I am glad I knocked it over.
How they will all stare when I carry it home!'
`You have had a lucky day altogether, certainly,' said I, `but I
cannot think what this animal can be. Examine its teeth, and let us see
to what class of mammalia it belongs. We may be led to guess at its
name in that way.'
`I see four sharp incisor teeth, father--two upper, and two under, as a
squirrel has.'
`Ah! Then he is a rodent. What rodents can you remember, Ernest?'
`I do not know them all, but there are the mouse, the marmot, the
squirrel, the hare, the beaver, the jerboa--'
`The jerboa!' I exclaimed, `The jerboa! Now we shall have it. This is
really very like a jerboa, only far larger. It must be a kangaroo, one
of the class of animals which has a pouch or purse beneath the body, in
which its young can take refuge. They were discovered in New Holland,
by the great Captain Cook, and I congratulate you on being the first to
obtain a specimen in New Switzerland!' I added, laughing, as I
extemporised the name.
The kangaroo was added to the already heavy load on our sledge, and we
proceeded slowly, arriving late at Falconhurst, but meeting with the
usual bright welcome. Very eager and inquisitive were the glances
turned towards the sledge, for the load piled on it surpassed all
expectation: we on our part staring in equal surprise at the
extraordinary rig of the young folks who came to meet us.
One wore a long night-shirt, which, with a belt, was a convenient
length in front, but trailed behind in orthodox ghost fashion. Another
had on a very wide pair of trousers, braced up so short that each
little leg looked like the clapper in a bell. The third, buttoned up in
a pea-jacket which came down to his ankles, looked for all the world
like a walking portmanteau.
Amid much joking and laughter, my wife explained that she had been
washing all day, and while their clothes were drying, the boys amused
themselves by dressing up in things they found while rummaging the
sailor's chest, and had kept them on, that Ernest and I might see the
masquerade. It certainly amused us, but made me regret that so little
belonging to ourselves had been saved from the wreck, in consequence of
which the children had scarcely a change of linen.
Turning now to our new acquisitions, we excited great interest by
exhibiting each in turn; the large salmon, but more especially the
kangaroo, surprised and delighted everyone.
Fritz alone wore a look expressive of dissatisfaction, and I saw that
he was envious of his younger brother's success. Vexed that so noble a
prize had fallen to Ernest's gun, instead of his own, he treated it
rather slightingly; but I could see that he was struggling against his
jealous feelings, and he, after a while, succeeded in recovering his
good humour, and joined pleasantly in the conversation.
`What a famous day's sport you have had altogether!' said he, coming
close up to me. `It will be my turn to go out with you next, will it
not, father? Just about here there is nothing to shoot, and I have
found it very dull.'
`Still you have been doing your duty, my dear boy; you were entrusted
with the care of the family, and a youth of manly character will not
depend for happiness on mere excitement.'
As the shades of night approached, we made haste to conclude the day's
work, by preparing the kangaroo, part for immediate use, and part for
salting. The animals were fed, and a plentiful allowance of salt made
to them. Our own supper of broiled salmon and potatoes was dispatched
with great appetite, and we retired, with thankful hearts, to sound and
well-earned repose.