THEIR ISLAND HOME
_THE LATER ADVENTURES OF
THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON_
By JULES VERNE
AUTHOR OF
"THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG," "THE LIGHTHOUSE
AT THE END OF THE WORLD," ETC.
Frontispiece by
H. C. MURPHY
NEW YORK
G. HOWARD WATT
1819 BROADWAY
1924
COPYRIGHT, 1924, BY
G. HOWARD WATT
_Printed in the United States of America_
PREFACE
In a long preface to the original French edition of this story--too
long to be given in full here--M. Jules Verne tells how the stories of
"Robinson Crusoe" and "The Swiss Family Robinson" were the books of his
childhood, and of the imperishable impression they made upon his mind.
They influenced his bent in literature to a very marked extent--not
only the two books named, but imitations such as "The Twelve-Year-old
Robinson," "The Robinson of the Desert," and "The Adventures of Robert
Robert," half-forgotten, perhaps now completely forgotten, French
stories for young readers, and an island story of Fenimore Cooper's,
"The Crater," which it is safe to say has not been read by one person
for every hundred who have rejoiced in the great Leatherstocking series.
To this influence we owe "The Mysterious Island" and "Godfrey Morgan."
There were also "The Robinsons at School" and "Two Years' Holidays,"
which have not yet appeared in English form. The author does not
mention "Godfrey Morgan," by the way, but that book must surely be
classed with these.
Jules Verne found the part of "Robinson Crusoe" which deals with the
island "a masterpiece which is merely an episode in a long and tedious
tale." But he drew delight from every page of "The Swiss Family
Robinson." He came to believe, he says, that New Switzerland was a
real island and he felt that the story did not really end with the
arrival of the _Unicorn_. The surface of the island had not been fully
explored. Fritz, Frank, and Jenny Montrose had gone to Europe. They
must have had adventures, and those adventures ought to be told. So he
felt that he positively must write about them.
One can guess that the romancer of Amiens got out of his work upon
this book--"Their Island Home"--and its sequel--"The Castaways of the
_Flag_"--a pleasure at least equal to that he derived from the writing
of any of the numerous volumes which have enchanted generations of
boys. All his stories were very real to him; but one doubts whether any
other was quite so real as these two, whether even Captain Nemo or Dick
Sands were quite as dear to him as the Wolstons and the Zermatts.
The author of the original work was Rudolph Wyss, who was born at Berne
in 1781, and died in 1860. The book which made him a popular author was
not his only one, but the others seem to have been more the product of
his mind as a professor than of his imaginative faculties, and they do
not matter here. "The Swiss Family Robinson" was published (in German)
at Zurich in 1812, and a first French translation appeared in 1813. The
English version could not have been very long after this, and the book
has maintained its popularity in England as in France and Switzerland,
doubtless as in a dozen other countries.
CONTENTS
PREFACE
I. SHOTS ASHORE AND SHOTS AT SEA!
II. FRITZ AND JACK PLAY SAVAGES
III. THE BRITISH CORVETTE "UNICORN"
IV. A RETROSPECT
V. THE STORY OF JENNY MONTROSE
VI. PLANNING AND WORKING
VII. THE START OF AN EXPEDITION
VIII. EXPLORERS OF UNKNOWN COASTS
IX. MONTROSE RIVER
X. THE DISTANT SMOKE!
XI. IN THE SEASON OF RAINS
XII. THE NEW VENTURE
XIII. THE MOUNTAIN RANGE
XIV. JEAN ZERMATT PEAK
XV. JACK AND THE ELEPHANTS
XVI. TROUBLE AHEAD
[The sequel to this story is "The Castaways of the _Flag_," which
is on sale at the same time and the same price.]
[Illustration: And when the elephants lifted their trunks and waved
them about and started trumpeting, there was a general stampede.]
"THEIR ISLAND HOME"
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
It is a commonplace of criticism that sequels are unsatisfactory.
For the most part they are, and the reason is fairly obvious. If the
original story has been properly planned and written it should be
a complete and completed thing with which the author has finished.
If, yielding to public clamour for "more," he then professes to have
regarded it merely as a "first part" of a larger thing and grafts
something else on to it the probabilities are that his "second part"
will prove to be but a mechanical invention mothered not by the
necessity of inspiration but by some less noble emotion such as vanity
or desire for further gain. Sir Walter Scott made no such blunder.
He was not lured by the prodigious success of "Waverly" into putting
forth any "farther adventures" of that somewhat precious young man
but directed his creative powers upon a wholly new subject and while
thereby satisfying the public desire for further romance set fresh
laurels on his own brow and put more money in his purse.
Inspiration, in truth, is not to be captured. It comes from an outside
source. And if sequels are to be written--and one must admit that
sometimes they seem to be required--they should be written by another
hand irresistibly compelled by the inspiration derived from the first
originating genius. Robert Louis Stevenson could have written a better
"second part" to "Robinson Crusoe" than was accomplished by Daniel
Defoe and--to come to the particular--Jules Verne achieved a triumph
when, his imagination fired by the one great work of Rudolph Wyss, he
was impelled to carry it a further stage in "Their Island Home" and to
its final stage in "The Castaways of the Flag."
Of the genius manifested by Rudolph Wyss, Jules Verne had much more
than a double portion. An Island was ever his spiritual home and no
one, not even Robert Louis Stevenson, was ever happier upon one. "Their
Island Home" is a satisfactory sequel to "The Swiss Family Robinson"
because it is essentially the spontaneous production of an original
genius set in activity by something outside itself. Wherever "The Swiss
Family Robinson" is read--and that is everywhere--"Their Island Home"
and "The Castaways of the Flag" should be read. In French they are
already established classics. I hope that in this English translation
they will prove equally enduring.
CRANSTOUN METCALFE.
THEIR ISLAND HOME
CHAPTER I
SHOTS ASHORE AND SHOTS AT SEA!
The dry season set in at the beginning of the second week of October.
This is the first spring month in the Southern zone. The winter in this
nineteenth degree of latitude between the Equator and the tropic of
Capricorn had not been very severe. The inhabitants of New Switzerland
would soon be able to resume their wonted labours.
After eleven years spent upon this land it was none too soon to attempt
to ascertain whether it was a part of one of the continents laved by
the Indian Ocean or whether it must be included by geographers among
the islands of those seas.
Since the rescue by Fritz of the young English girl upon Burning Rock,
M. Zermatt and his wife, his four sons and Jenny Montrose had been
happy on the whole. Of course they had at times fears of the future and
of the great improbability of deliverance reaching them from outside,
and they had, too, memories of home and a longing to get into touch
again with mankind.
To-day, then, at a very early hour, M. Zermatt passed through the
orchard of Rock Castle and walked along the bank of Jackal River.
Fritz and Jack were there before him, equipped with their fishing
tackle. As for Ernest, always bad at getting up, yearning for five
minutes longer between the sheets, he had not yet left his bed.
Mme. Zermatt and Jenny were busy within doors.
"Papa," said Jack, "it is going to be a fine day."
"I think it is, my boy," M. Zermatt replied. "And I hope that it will
be followed by many more as fine, since we are at the beginning of
spring."
"What are you going to do to-day?" Frank asked.
"We are going fishing," Fritz answered, showing his net and lines.
"In the bay?" M. Zermatt enquired.
"No," Fritz answered; "if we go up Jackal River as far as the dam, we
shall catch more fish than we shall require for breakfast."
"And then?" said Jack, addressing his father.
"Then, my boy," M. Zermatt replied, "we shall not be at a loss for
a job. In the afternoon, for example, I am thinking of going to
Falconhurst to see if our summer dwelling requires any repairs.
Besides, we shall take advantage of the first fine days to visit our
other farms, Wood Grange, Sugar-cane Grove, the hermitage at Eberfurt
and the villa at Prospect Hill. And then there will be the animals to
attend to and the plantations to get into order."
"That, of course, papa," Fritz rejoined. "But since we can have an hour
or two this morning, come along, Jack; come along, Frank."
"We are quite ready," cried Jack, "and I can feel a fine trout at the
end of my line already. Houp-la! Houp-la!"
Jack pretended to gaff the imaginary fish caught on his hook while
calling in glad and ringing tones:
"Off we go!"
Perhaps Frank would have preferred to remain at Rock Castle, where his
mornings were generally devoted to study. However, his brother pressed
him so eagerly that he made up his mind to follow him.
The three young men were going towards the right bank of Jackal River
when M. Zermatt stopped them.
"My children," he said, "your eagerness to go fishing has made you
forget----"
"Forget what?" Jack asked.
"What we have made a practice of doing every year, at the beginning of
the dry season."
Fritz came back to his father.
"What can that be?" he said, scratching his head.
"What--do you not remember, Fritz--or you, Jack?" M. Zermatt persisted.
"Is it that we have not given you an embrace in honour of the spring?"
Jack replied.
"No, no!" Ernest answered, who had just come out from the paddock,
rubbing his eyes and stretching his limbs.
"Then it is because we are going off without having had breakfast,
isn't it, Ernest, you young glutton?" said Jack.
"No," Ernest replied, "it has nothing to do with that. Papa only wants
to remind you of our custom of firing the two guns of Shark's Island
battery every year at this time."
"Precisely," M. Zermatt answered.
As a matter of fact, it had been the custom of Fritz and Jack, on one
of the days in the second fortnight of October, at the end of the
rainy season, to go to the island at the entrance to Deliverance Bay
and rehoist the New Switzerland flag, then to salute it with two guns
whose report could be heard quite distinctly at Rock Castle. After
this, without much hope, they took a survey of the whole sea and shore.
Perhaps some ship passing through those waters would catch the sound
of the two reports. Perhaps it would soon arrive within sight of the
bay. Perhaps some shipwrecked people had even been cast upon some point
of this land, which they must suppose to be uninhabited, and these
discharges of ordnance would give them warning.
"It is quite true," said Fritz, "we were about to forget our duty. Go
and get the canoe ready, Jack, and we shall be back in less than an
hour."
But Ernest objected.
"What is the good of this artillery racket? Think of all the years we
have fired our guns, only to wake the echoes of Falcon's Nest and Rock
Castle! Why waste these charges of powder?"
"That is you all over, Ernest!" Jack exclaimed. "If a cannon shot costs
so much it must bring back so much, or else be silent!"
"You are wrong to talk like that," said M. Zermatt to his second son,
"and I do not regard the cost as wasted. To fly a flag over Shark's
Island cannot be sufficient, for it would not be seen from far out at
sea, while our cannon shots can be heard a good two and a half miles.
It would be foolish to neglect this chance of making our presence known
to any ship passing by."
"In that case," said Frank, "we ought to fire every morning and every
evening."
"Certainly; just as they do in the navy," Jack declared.
"In the navy there is no danger of running short of ammunition,"
remarked Ernest, who was by far the most obstinate of the four brothers.
"Make your mind easy, my boy; we are not nearly out of powder," M.
Zermatt assured him. "Two cannon shots, twice a year, at the beginning
and the end of winter, only cost a trifle. It is my opinion that we
should not discontinue this custom."
"Papa is right," said Jack. "If the echoes of Falconhurst and Rock
Castle object to being disturbed from their sleep, well and good!
Ernest will make an apology to them in verse, and they will be
delighted. Come along, Fritz!"
"We must go and let Mamma know first," said Frank.
"And Jenny too," Fritz added.
"I will attend to that," M. Zermatt replied, "for the reports might
cause them some surprise, and even lead them to imagine that some ship
was coming into Deliverance Bay."
Just at this moment Mme. Zermatt and Jenny Montrose, who were coming
out of the verandah, stopped at the gate of the orchard.
After having embraced his mother Fritz gave his hand to the young girl,
who smiled upon him. And as she saw Jack moving towards the creek where
the long boat and the pinnace were moored, she asked:
"Are you going to sea this morning?"
"Yes, Jenny," answered Jack, returning. "Fritz and I are making our
preparations for a long voyage."
"A long voyage?" Mme. Zermatt repeated, ever uneasy about absences of
this kind, however great her confidence might be in the skill of her
sons in managing the canoe.
"Make your mind easy, my dear Betsy, and you, too, Jenny," M. Zermatt
said. "Jack is only joking. It is only a matter of going to Shark's
Island and firing the two regulation guns when the flag is hoisted, and
of coming back after seeing that everything is in order."
"That is all right," Jenny replied, "and while Fritz and Jack are going
to the island Ernest and Frank and I will go and fish--that is, of
course, if Mme. Betsy does not want me."
"No, my dear child," said Mme. Zermatt, "and meanwhile I will go and
get the washing ready."
After going down to the mouth of Jackal River, whither Jack brought the
canoe, Fritz and he embarked. All wished them a good voyage and the
light boat shot quickly out of the little creek.
The weather was fine, the sea calm, the tide favourable. Sitting one in
front of the other, each in the narrow opening allotted to him, the
two brothers plied their paddles alternately and rapidly drew away from
Rock Castle. As the current bore a little towards the east, the canoe
was obliged to approach the opposite shore, crossing the inlet which
connected Deliverance Bay with the open sea.
At this time Fritz was twenty-five years of age. Vigorous and skilful,
well trained in every physical exercise, a tireless walker and an
intrepid hunter, this eldest son was a credit to the Zermatt family.
His temper, in his boyhood rather bad, had become better. His brothers
never suffered now, as they used to do, from those fits of anger of
his which had often brought upon him remonstrances from his father and
mother. Something had changed him materially.
He could not forget the young girl whom he had taken off Burning Rock,
and Jenny Montrose could not forget that she owed her deliverance to
him. Jenny was charming, with her fair hair falling in silky ringlets,
her graceful figure, her pretty hands, and the fresh complexion which
was not spoiled by the sunburn on her face. When she came into this
family she brought into it what it had lacked till then, gladness of
the home, and she was the good genius of the hearth.
Ernest, Jack, and Frank saw no more than a sister in this charming
girl. But was it quite the same with Fritz? Was it the self-same
emotion that made his heart beat so? Was it only friendship that Jenny
felt for the brave young fellow who had come to her rescue? Already
nearly two years had passed since that poignant incident upon Burning
Rock. Fritz had not been able to live by Jenny's side without falling
in love with her. And many a time did the father and mother talk of
what the future held for these two.
If Jack's character had undergone any modification it was in the
development of his natural inclination for all exercises which called
for strength, courage and skill, and on this score he now had nothing
to envy Fritz. His age was now one and twenty, his stature medium, his
figure strapping, and he was still the same gallant, merry, pleasant,
impulsive, and also good fellow as ever. He had not given up teasing
his brothers, but they were always ready to forgive him. Was he not the
best pal in the world?
The canoe sped like an arrow over the surface of the water. Fritz
had not hoisted the little sail which it carried when the wind was
favourable, because the breeze was blowing off the sea. On the return
journey the mast would be stepped, and it would not be necessary to use
the paddles to make the mouth of Jackal River.
Nothing happened to catch the attention of the two brothers during
their short voyage of a couple of miles. To the east, the arid desert
shore showed only a long succession of yellowish dunes. To the west,
the verdant coast extended from the mouth of Jackal River to the mouth
of Flamingo River and beyond that to False Hope Point.
"There is no doubt," said Fritz, "that our New Switzerland does not
lie in the course of any ships, and this Indian Ocean is pretty well
deserted."
"Well," said Jack, "I am not so very keen upon their discovering our
New Switzerland! A ship which touched at it would not lose any time in
taking possession of it. And if it planted its flag here, what would
become of ours? You may be quite sure it would not be a Swiss flag,
seeing that it isn't exactly over the seas that Switzerland carries her
flag, so we should run a considerable risk of not feeling ourselves at
home any more."
"And the future, Jack: what about the future?" Fritz replied.
"The future?" Jack made answer; "the future will be a continuation of
the present, and if you are not satisfied----"
"All of us are, perhaps," said Fritz. "But you forget Jenny; and her
father who believes that she was lost in the wreck of the _Dorcas_.
Must she not be longing to be restored to him? She knows that he is
over there, in England, and how is she ever to join him there unless a
ship arrives some day?"
"Quite so," said Jack with a smile, for he guessed what was going on
within his brother's heart.
In about three-quarters of an hour the canoe reached the low-lying
rocks of Shark's Island.
Fritz and Jack's first business was to visit the interior and then
to make a circuit of the island. It was important to ascertain the
condition of the plantations made some years ago round the battery hill.
These plantations were much exposed to the winds from the north and
north-east, which lashed the island with their full force before
rushing down the funnel-like entrance into Deliverance Bay. At this
point there were actually atmospheric backwaters, or eddies, of
dangerous strength, which more than once already had torn the roofing
off the hangar under which the two guns were placed.
Fortunately the plantations had not suffered excessively. A few trees
were lying on the beach on the north side of the island, and these
would be sawn up to be stored at Rock Castle.
The enclosures in which the antelopes were penned had been so solidly
constructed that Fritz and Jack detected no damage done to them. The
animals had abundant pasture there throughout the year. The herd now
numbered fifty head, and was bound to go on increasing.
"What shall we do with all these animals?" Fritz asked, as he watched
them frolicking between the quickset hedges of the enclosures.
"Sell them," was Jack's answer.
"Then you do admit that some day or another ships will come to which it
will be possible to sell them?" Fritz enquired.
"Not a bit of it," Jack replied; "when we sell them it will be in open
market in New Switzerland."
"Open market, Jack! From the way you talk one would suppose it won't be
very long before New Switzerland has open markets."
"No doubt about it, Fritz; or that it will have villages and little
towns, cities, and even a capital, which, naturally, will be Rock
Castle."
"And when will that be?"
"When the provinces of New Switzerland have several thousand
inhabitants."
"Foreigners?"
"No, no, Fritz," Jack declared; "Swiss: none but Swiss. Our native land
has enough people to be able to send us a few hundred families."
"But it never has had any colonies, and I don't suppose it ever will,
Jack."
"Well, it will have one, at any rate, Fritz."
"But our countrymen don't seem to show any inclination to emigrate."
"What about ourselves?" Jack exclaimed. "Didn't we develop the liking
for colonisation--and not without some advantage?"
"Because we were obliged to," Fritz answered. "No, if ever New
Switzerland is to be populated, I am very much afraid she won't
continue to justify her name, and that the large majority of her
inhabitants will be Anglo-Saxon."
Fritz was right, and Jack knew it so well that he could not refrain
from making a grimace.
For at this period Great Britain was still frequently acquiring new
possessions. Bit by bit, the Indian Ocean was always giving her fresh
domains. So the great probability was that if a ship ever did come in
sight, the British flag would be flying at her peak and her captain
would take possession of New Switzerland and hoist the British flag on
the summit of Prospect Hill.
When they had finished their inspection of the island the two brothers
climbed the hill and went to the hangar where the battery stood.
Standing upon the edge of the upper terrace they swept with their
telescopes the whole vast segment of sea contained between False Hope
Point and the cape which shut in Deliverance Bay to the east.
Nothing but a desert waste of water! Right out to the extreme horizon,
where sky and ocean met, nothing was to be seen except, three or four
miles away to the north-east, the reef on which the _Landlord_ had run
aground.
Turning their eyes towards False Hope Point, Fritz and Jack perceived
between the trees upon the hill the belvidere of the villa at Prospect
Hill. The summer dwelling was still standing--which would be a
satisfaction to M. Zermatt, who was constantly afraid that it might be
destroyed by some of the sudden squalls of the rainy season.
The two brothers went into the hangar, which the storms had spared,
although there had been more than enough thunderstorms and squalls
during the two and a half months that the winter had lasted.
Their next business was to run up to the head of the mast near the
hangar the red and white flag which would wave there until the end of
autumn, and to honour it with the annual salute of two guns.
While Jack was busy taking the flag out of its case and fastening it
by the corners to the halyard, Fritz examined the two carronades that
were pointed towards the open sea. They were both in good condition,
and only required to be loaded. In order to economise powder, Fritz
was careful to use a wad of damped sod, as it was his practice to do,
which increased the intensity of the discharge. Then he fixed in the
touch-hole the quick match which would fire the gun the instant the
flag reached the top of the mast.
It was then half past seven in the morning. The sky, cleared now of the
mists of early dawn, was absolutely serene. Only towards the west a few
wisps of cloud rose in delicate spirals. The breeze seemed dying down.
The bay, glittering beneath the streaming rays of the sun, was almost
dead calm.
As soon as he had finished, Fritz asked his brother if he was ready.
"When you like, Fritz," Jack answered, satisfying himself that the
halyard would run without catching on the roof of the hangar.
"Number one, fire! Number two, fire!" cried Fritz, who took himself
very seriously as artilleryman.
The two shots rang out one after the other while the red and white
bunting fluttered out in the breeze.
Fritz busied himself reloading the two guns. But he had hardly put the
cartridge in the second cannon when he jumped upright.
A distant detonation had just struck upon his ear.
At once Jack and he rushed out of the hangar.
"A gun!" cried Jack.
"No!" said Fritz. "It isn't possible. We are mistaken."
"Listen!" answered Jack, scarcely breathing.
A second detonation rang through the air, and then after an interval of
a minute a third resounded.
"Yes, yes!" Jack insisted. "Those are cannon shots all right."
"And they came from the east," Fritz added.
Was it really a ship, passing within sight of New Switzerland, that had
replied to the double discharge from Shark's Island, and would that
ship steer her course for Deliverance Bay?