Scarcely had I completed my pottery, when great black clouds and
terrific storms heralded the approach of another winter. The rainy
season having set in, we were compelled to give up our daily
excursions.
Even in the spacious house which we now occupied, and with our varied
and interesting employments, we yet found the time dragging heavily.
The spirits of all were depressed, and even occasional rapid rides,
during a partial cessation of the rain, failed permanently to arouse
them. Fritz, as well as I, had perceived this, and he said to me:
`Why, father, should we not make a canoe, something swifter and more
manageable than those vessels we as yet possess? I often long for a
light skiff, in which I might skim over the surface of the water.' The
idea delighted all hands, but my wife, who was never happy when we were
on the sea, declared that our chances of drowning were, with the
pinnace and canoe, 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.
Her 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 seal-skin, making all the seams
thoroughly watertight 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 that she must
contrive a swimming-dress, so 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 my wife
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
airtight. 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 verandah, 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 amidst roars of laughter
from his brothers, entered the water. Quickly and easily he paddled
himself across the bay towards 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 colours, 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 of 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 verandah. 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 marvelling from whence my wife could have obtained a dish so
rare, we disposed of all that she had set before us.
`Aha,' laughed my wife, `is not this an excellent substitute for
tobacco, far more refreshing than the nasty weed itself. Behold the
produce 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.'
We were all delighted with the delicacy, and thanked my wife for it
most heartily, the boys declaring that they must at once go off again
to the island to collect as many of the leaves as they could find. I
agreed to accompany them, for I wished to examine the plantations we
had made there.
All were flourishing, the palms and mangroves had shot up in a most
marvellous manner, and many of the seeds which I had cast at random
amongst the clefts in the rocks had germinated, and promised to clothe
the nakedness of the frowning boulders.
A way up among the rocks too we discovered a bright sparkling spring of
delicious water, at which, from the footprints around, we saw that the
antelopes must have refreshed themselves.
Finding everything so satisfactory, we were naturally anxious to
discover how our colony and plantations on Whale Island had fared. It
was evident at a glance that the rabbits had increased, the young and
tender shoots of the trees bore the marks of many greedy mischievous
little teeth. The cocoanut palms alone had they spared.
Such depredations as these could not be allowed, and with the help of
the boys I erected round each stem a hedge of prickly thorn, and then
prepared again to embark; before we did so, however, I noticed that
some of the seaweed had also been gnawed by the rabbits, and wondering
what it could have been to tempt them, I collected some of it to
examine more fully at home.
The skeleton of the whale, too, attracted our attention, for picked
clean by the birds and bleached by sun and rain the bones had been
purified to a most perfect whiteness. Thinking that the joints of the
vertebrae might be made of use, I separated some ten or twelve, and
rolled them down to the boat, and then returned to the shore, towing
them after us.
A scheme now occupied my mind for the construction of a crushing
machine which would prove of the greatest service to us. I knew that to
make such a machine of stone was far beyond my power, but it had struck
me that the vertebrae of the whale might serve my purpose.
I determined next morning to look out a tree from which I might cut the
blocks of wood that I should require to raise my crushers.
My expedition was destined to be a solitary one, for when I went to the
stables for a horse, I discovered that the boys had gone off by
themselves with their guns and traps, and had left to me a choice
between the bull and buffalo.
With Storm, therefore, I was fain to be content. I crossed the bridge,
but as I reached the cassava field I noticed to my great annoyance that
it had been overrun and laid waste by some mischievous animals. I
examined the footprints, and seeing that they greatly resembled those
of pigs, determined to follow the trail, and see who these invaders of
our territory would prove to be.
The track led me on for some way until I almost lost sight of it near
our old potato field. For some time I hunted backwards and forwards
without seeing a sign of the animals; at length a loud barking from
Floss and Bruno, who were with me, announced that they had been
discovered.
The whole family of our old sow, and she herself, were standing at bay,
showing their teeth and grunting so savagely, that the dogs feared to
approach them.
I raised my gun and fired twice amongst the herd: two of the pigs
fell, and the rest fled, followed by the dogs. I picked up the pigs,
and calling back the pursuers, continued my way through the forest.
A tree suited to my purpose was soon found; I marked it, and returned
home.
Ernest, who had remained at home, assisted me to flay the young
porkers, and I handed them over to my wife to prepare for supper; by
which time I hoped the other lads would have returned.
Late in the evening we heard the sounds of trampling hoofs, and
presently Jack appeared, thundering along upon his two-legged steed,
followed in the distance by Fritz and Franz. These latter carried upon
their cruppers game-bags, the contents of which were speedily
displayed: four birds, a kangaroo, twenty musk-rats, a monkey, two
hares and half a dozen beaver rats, were laid before me. Besides these,
Fritz threw down, without a word of explanation, a bundle of thistles.
The boys seemed almost wild with excitement at the success of their
expedition, and presently Jack exclaimed:
`Oh, father, you can't think what grand fun hunting on an ostrich is;
we flew along like the wind; sometimes I could scarcely breathe, we
were going at such a rate, and I was obliged to shut my eyes because of
the terrific rush of air; really, father, you must make me a mask with
glass eyes to ride with, or I shall be blinded one of these fine days.'
`Indeed!' replied I, `I must do no such thing.' `Why not?' asked he,
with a look of amazement upon his face.
`For two reasons: firstly, because I do not consider that I must do
anything that you demand; and, secondly, because I think that you are
very capable of doing it yourself. However, I must congratulate you
upon your abundant supply of game; you must have indeed worked hard.
`Yet I wish that you would let me know when you intend starting on such
a long expedition as this; you forget that though you yourselves know
that you are quite safe, and that all is going on well, yet that we at
home are kept in a constant state of anxiety. Now, off with you, and
look to your animals, and then you may find supper ready.'
Presently the boys returned, and we prepared for a most appetizing meal
which the mother set before us.
While we were discussing the roast pig, and washing it down with
fragrant mead, Fritz described the day's expedition.
They had set their traps near Woodlands, and had there captured the
musk-rats, attracting them with small carrots, while with other traps,
baited with fish and earthworms, they had caught several beaver rats,
and a duck-billed platypus. Hunting and fishing had occupied the rest
of the day, and it was with immense pride that Jack displayed the
kangaroo which he had run down with his swift courser.
Contributions to the garden had not been forgotten, and Fritz handed
over to his mother several cuttings from cinnamon and sweet-apple
trees. Finally, when all the other treasures had been displayed, Fritz
begged me to examine his thistles which he had gathered, thinking, he
said, that it was a plant used in the manufacture of wool.
He was perfectly right, for I recognized it at once as the `fuller's
teazle', a plant whose sharp little thorns, which cover the stem and
leaves, are used to raise the nap of cloth. We resolved to be up
betimes the following morning, that we might attend to the preparation
of the booty, and as I now noticed that the boys were all becoming
extremely drowsy, I closed the day with evening devotions.
The number of the creatures we killed rendered the removal of their
skins a matter of no little time and trouble. It was not an agreeable
task at any time, and when I saw the array of animals the boys had
brought me to flay, I determined to construct a machine which would
considerably lessen the labour.
Amongst the ship's stores, in the surgeon's chest, I discovered a
large syringe. This, with a few alterations, would serve my purpose
admirably. Within the tube I first fitted a couple of valves, and then,
perforating the stopper, I had in my possession a powerful air pump.
The boys stared at me in blank amazement when, armed with this
instrument, I took up the kangaroo, and declared myself ready to
commence operations.
`Skin a kangaroo with a squirt?' said they, and a roar of laughter
followed the remark.
I made no reply to the jests which followed, but silently hung the
kangaroo by its hind legs to the branch of a tree. I then made a small
incision in the skin, and inserting the mouth of the syringe forced air
with all my might between the skin and the body of the animal. By
degrees the hide of the kangaroo distended, altering the shape of the
creature entirely.
Still I worked on, forcing in yet more air until it had become a mere
shapeless mass, and I soon found that the skin was almost entirely
separated from the carcase. A bold cut down the belly, and a few
touches here and there where the ligatures still bound the hide to the
body, and the animal was flayed.
`What a splendid plan!' cried the boys. `But why should it do it?'
`For a most simple and natural reason,' I replied. `Do you not know
that the skin of an animal is attached to its flesh merely by slender
and delicate fibres, and that between these exist thousands of little
bladders or air chambers; by forcing air into these bladders the fibres
are stretched, and at length, elastic as they are, cracked. The skin
has now nothing to unite it to the body, and, consequently, may be
drawn off with perfect ease.
`This scientific fact has been known for many years; the Greenlanders
make constant use of it; when they have killed a seal or walrus they
distend the skin that they may tow the animal more easily ashore, and
then remove its hide at a moment's notice.' The remaining animals were
subjected to the same treatment, and, to my great joy, in a couple of
days the skins were all off, and being prepared for use.
I now summoned the boys to assist me in procuring blocks of wood for my
crushing machine, and the following day we set forth with saws, ropes,
axes and other tools. We soon reached the tree I had selected for my
purpose, and I began by sending Fritz and Jack up into the tree with
axes to cut off the larger of the high branches so that, when the tree
fell, it might not injure its neighbours.
They then descended, and Fritz and I attacked the stem. As the easiest
and most speedy method we used a saw, such as is employed by sawyers in
a saw-pit and, Fritz taking one end and I the other, the tree was soon
cut half through. We then adjusted ropes that we might guide its fall,
and again began to cut. It was labourious work, but when I considered
that the cut was sufficiently deep we took the ropes and pulled with
our united strength. The trunk cracked, swayed, tottered, and fell with
a crash.
The boughs were speedily lopped off, and the trunk sawed into blocks
four feet long. To cut down and divide this tree had taken us a couple
of days, and on the third we carted home four large and two small
blocks, and with the vertebrae joints of the whale I, in a very short
time, completed my machine.
While engaged on this undertaking I had paid little attention to our
fields of grain, and, accordingly, great was my surprise when one
evening the fowls returned, showing most evident indifference to their
evening meal, and with their crops perfectly full. It suddenly struck
me that these birds had come from the direction of our cornfield. I
hurried off to see what damage they had done, and then found to my
great joy that the grain was perfectly ripe.
The amount of work before us startled my wife. This unexpected
harvest, which added reaping and threshing to the fishing, salting, and
pickling already on hand, quite troubled her.
`Only think,' said she, `of my beloved potatoes and manioc roots! What
is to become of them, I should like to know? It is time to take them
up, and how to manage it, with all this press of work, I can't see.'
`Don't be downhearted, wife,' said I; `there is no immediate hurry
about the manioc, and digging potatoes in this fine, light soil is easy
work compared to what it is in Switzerland, while as to planting more,
that will not be necessary if we leave the younger plants in the
ground. The harvest we must conduct after the Italian fashion, which,
although anything but economical, will save time and trouble, and as we
are to have two crops in the year, we need not be too particular.'
Without further delay, I commenced leveling a large space of firm
clayey ground to act as a threshing floor; it was well sprinkled with
water, rolled, beaten, and stamped; as the sun dried the moisture it
was watered anew, and the treatment continued until it became as
flat, hard, and smooth as a threshing floor need be.
Our largest wicker basket was then slung between Storm and Grumble; we
armed ourselves with reaping hooks, and went forth to gather in the
corn in the simplest and most expeditious manner imaginable. I told my
reapers not to concern themselves about the length of the straw, but to
grasp the corn where it was convenient to them, without stooping; each
was to wind a stalk around his own handful, and throw it into the
basket; in this way great labour was saved.
The plan pleased the boys immensely, and in a short time the basket had
been filled many times, and the field displayed a quantity of tall,
headless stubble, which perfectly horrified the mother, so extravagant
and untidy did she consider our work.
`This is dreadful!' cried she; `you have left numbers of ears growing
on short stalks, and look at that splendid straw completely wasted! I
don't approve of your Italian fashion at all.'
`It is not a bad plan, I can assure you, wife, and the Italians do not
waste the straw by not cutting it with the grain; having more arable
than pasture land, they use this high stubble for their cattle, letting
them feed in it, and eat what grain is left; afterward, allowing the
grass to grow up among it, they mow all together for winter fodder. And
now for threshing, also in Italian fashion. We shall find it spares our
arms and backs as much in that as in reaping.'
The little sheaves were laid in a large circle on the floor, the boys
mounted Storm, Grumble, Lightfoot, and Hurry, starting off at a brisk
trot, with many a merry jest, and round they went, trampling and
stamping out the grain, while dust and chaff flew in clouds about them.
My wife and I were incessantly occupied with hayforks, by means of
which we shook up and moved the sheaves over which the threshers rode,
so as to throw them in the track.
From time to time the animals took mouthfuls of the tempting food they
were beating out; we thought they well deserved it, and called to mind
the command given to the Jews, `Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that
treadeth out the corn.'
After threshing, we proceeded to winnowing: by simply throwing the
threshed corn with shovels high in the air when the land or sea-breeze
blew strong, the chaff and refuse was carried away by the wind and the
grain fell to the ground.
During these operations our poultry paid the threshing-floor many
visits, testifying a lively interest in the success of our labours, and
gobbling up the grain at such a rate that my wife was obliged to keep
them at a reasonable distance; but I would not have them altogether
stinted in the midst of our plenty. I said, `Let them enjoy themselves;
what we lose in grain, we gain in flesh. I anticipate delicious
chicken-pie, roast goose, and boiled turkey!'
When our harvest stores were housed, we found that we had reaped
sixty, eighty, even a hundred-fold what had been sown. Our garner was
truly filled with all manner of store.
Expecting a second harvest, we were constrained to prepare the field
for sowing again, and immediately therefore commenced mowing down the
stubble. While engaged in this, flocks of quails and partridges came to
glean among the scattered ears. We did not secure any great number, but
resolved to be prepared for them next season, and by spreading nets, to
catch them in large quantities.
My wife was satisfied when she saw the straw carried home and stacked;
our crop of maize, which of course had not been threshed like the other
corn, afforded soft leaves which were used for stuffing mattresses,
while the stalks, when burnt, left ashes so rich in alkali as to be
especially useful.
I changed the crops sown on the ground to rye, barley and oats, and
hoped they would ripen before the rainy season.
The shoals of herring made their appearance just as we finished our
agricultural operations. This year we pickled only two barrels of them;
but we were not so merciful towards the seals, which arrived on the
coast directly afterwards. We hunted them vigorously, requiring their
skins for many purposes, more especially for the completion of the
cajack. On the little deck of that tiny vessel I had made a kind of
magazine, in which to store pistols, ammunition, water and provisions,
and this I meant to cover with seal-skin, so as to be quite watertight.
A couple of harpoons furnished with seal bladders were to be suspended
alongside.