"We were busy of course every day, as we had plenty of work to do. We
laid a floor in our cabin, and fenced a couple of fields--one to plant
our corn in, and the other to keep Pompo from straying off into the
woods, and meeting with some animal that might feel inclined to devour
him. We also succeeded in killing several red-deer and a couple of elk,
which we stored up for our winter provision. We did not find the
black-tails very palatable, and most of their flesh went to feed Castor
and Pollux.
"Cudjo was the busiest of all of us. He made several household utensils
which proved of great service to us. He also constructed for himself a
wooden plough, which would serve every purpose--as there was a
considerable portion of the ground that was without turf, and could be
easily turned. This part had been covered with beautiful flowers, such
as sunflowers, red and orange-coloured poppies, and asclepias. It was
almost a pity to plough them up.
"With an eye to the future scarcity of our ammunition, we had begun to
practise hunting with a weapon which would answer all our purposes
almost as well as the rifle--still keeping the latter of course for
great occasions. We had found some of the _bois d'arc_, or "Osage
orange," as it is called, growing in the valley. This is the famous
bow-wood of the Indians; and taking a hint from these children of
Nature, we made three bows, stringing them--as the Indians do--with the
sinews of the deer. For arrows, we had the straight cane-reeds; and
Cudjo made us a set of barbs out of iron spikes that we had taken from
the wagon. With daily practising at a mark, before the winter was over,
we were all three able to use our new weapons to some purpose; and
Harry, to his mother's great delight, could bring down a squirrel from
the top of the highest tree in the valley. As a marksman, both with the
bow and rifle, he was quite superior to Frank, who, instead of feeling
jealous, seemed rather to be proud of the skill of his brother. Harry,
during all the winter, kept our table loaded with partridges,
squirrels--of which there were several species--hares, and wild turkeys;
the last of which, being much finer than tame ones, of course we were
all very fond of.
"My wife, too, added largely to the delicacies of our table. During the
last days of autumn, she made several botanical excursions--of course,
all of us accompanying her by way of guard--and in each of these some
useful production was discovered. We found several species of wild
fruits--currants, cherries, and a small fruit known as the
"serviceberry," which grew in great profusion. All these fruits were
gathered in quantity, and made into preserves. We obtained roots as
well--one of which was the _pomme-blanche_, or Indian turnip; but the
most interesting of all was the wild potato, which we dug up--for, in
fact, it is only upon the table-lands of America where that plant is
indigenous. We should not have recognised it as an old acquaintance,
but for the botanical knowledge of my wife. Its roots were not larger
than wren's eggs, and we could find so few of them that, in its wild
state, we saw it would be of no use to us as an article of food. Mary,
however, had hopes, that by cultivation, we might produce larger ones;
so we collected all the tubers we could fall in with, and kept them for
seed.
"Out of the pods of the honey-locust, we brewed a very agreeable sort of
beer; but we were able to extract a still more generous beverage from
the wild or fox-grapes that grew in all parts of the valley. While
travelling through France, I had learnt how wine was made; and our
vintage succeeded to perfection. On the winter nights, as we sat around
our cheerful log-fire, Mary was accustomed to deal out to us a measure
a-piece of the exhilarating drink. It was only, however, after a hard
day's work or hunting, that we were allowed to draw upon this precious
store.
"About this time, a new idea entered into my mind, which I communicated
to the others, and with which they all fully agreed. It was this:--To
capture as many of the wild animals as we could, and endeavour to
domesticate them to our uses. I was prompted to this purpose by various
considerations. First, because I saw, although there were several kinds
of deer in the valley, there were but few of each kind; and it was not
likely that for many years they had been upon the increase. Nature had
so disposed it, that these creatures had been regularly thinned off
every year by the numerous beasts of prey that prowled through the
valley. Now, an additional enemy was added to the number of their
destroyers; and I foresaw that, unless some precaution should be taken,
the deer would soon become so scarce and wild, that we should find it
difficult to obtain enough for our uses. Could we only kill off the
fierce beasts--such as panthers, and wolves, and wolverenes--that preyed
upon them, then the whole valley would become our deer-park, and the
deer would soon increase to any number we wanted. This, however, we
could not do; and, in fact, the beasts of prey were as likely to master
us as we them--for none of us were safe in venturing into the thick
woods alone; and whenever the boys made a short excursion from the
glade, their mother was always in a state of anxiety until they
returned. In fact, every hunt we made was attended with considerable
danger, as we always fell in with the tracks of wolves, panthers, and
even bears; and we frequently saw these animals skulking through the
underwood. We knew that in time our powder must run out, and then our
rifles would be useless to us. Our bows and arrows would then avail us
but little against such thick-hided monsters as these. We only hoped
that when we became better acquainted with the habits of these
carnivorous creatures, we should be enabled to destroy them in traps,
and thus thin them off at our leisure, and without wasting our
ammunition. This, of course, would constitute a branch of our
employment; and, besides being a work of utility, would furnish us with
an excitement not the less agreeable because it was hazardous. Could
we, therefore, collect a few of the more useful animals into an enclosed
park, they would soon propagate and increase; and then the trouble as
well as danger which we experienced in hunting them would be at an end.
We knew that our maize-corn, yielding two crops in the year, would
enable us to supply them abundantly with food.
"There was still another consideration which had its weight in these
plans. I was very fond of the study of natural history--particularly
that branch of it relating to quadrupeds--and I foresaw the pleasure of
observing the habits of these wild creatures. We should not, therefore,
confine ourselves to making `pets' of those animals that might merely
serve us for food. We should embrace in our collection all that we
could subject to our rule, whether gentle or fierce. In fact, it was
our intention to establish a regular `menagerie of the Desert.'
"The main object of our industry and prospective wealth--that is, the
collection of the beaver fur--would not in any way interfere with these
plans. The beavers, in short, would give as very little trouble--as the
drying and preserving the skins of those we should trap would only
occupy us a small portion of the year.
"Harry entered with more spirit into my designs than any of the others;
for Harry, like myself, was fond of quadrupeds. Frank, on the other
hand, was a great bird-catcher; and recommended that we should include
birds in our menagerie. To this, of course, we assented freely. Mary
had her own designs already shaped out; and these were, to gather all
the plants and trees that might be either curious or useful, and to
observe what effect cultivation would produce upon them--in short, it
was her wish to form a complete `botanical garden.'
"To each, then, was given a separate department. Harry and I were
designated `beast-tamers;' Frank the `bird-tamer;' while Mary was
appropriately styled the `tree-tamer.' To Cudjo was assigned a very
important share of the labour. He was to enclose the park for our deer,
as well as the grounds for the botanic garden. He was also to make our
traps and cages--all of which things Cudjo knew how to do, and how to do
them well. Of course, we were to assist him, as well as each other, in
carrying out our designs.
"Thus, our plans for the future were interesting to all of us. In our
various pursuits, we should be enabled to employ all our idle time. We
had no books, either to amuse or instruct us; but we knew that we should
derive both instruction and amusement from the study of the greatest of
all books--_the book of Nature_."