I did not disembark on this unknown shore without great emotion: it
might be inhabited by a barbarous and cruel race, and I almost doubted
the prudence of thus risking my three remaining children in the
hazardous and uncertain search after our dear lost ones. I think I could
have borne my bereavement with Christian resignation, if I had seen my
wife and child die in my arms; I should then have been certain they were
happy in the bosom of their God; but to think of them in the power of
ferocious and idolatrous savages, who might subject them to cruel
tortures and death, chilled my very blood. I demanded of my sons, if
they felt courage to pursue the difficult and perilous enterprise we had
commenced. They all declared they would rather die than not find their
mother and brother. Fritz even besought me, with Ernest and Jack, to
return to the island, in case the wanderers should come back, and be
terrified to find it deserted; and to leave him the arms, and the means
of trafficking with the savages, without any uneasiness about his
prudence and discretion.
I assured him I did not distrust his courage and prudence, but I showed
him the futility of hoping that the savages would voluntarily carry back
their victims, or that they could escape alone. And should he meet with
them here, and succeed, how could he carry his recovered treasures to
the island?
“No, my children,” said I, “we will all search, in the confidence that
God will bless our efforts.”
“And perhaps sooner than we think,” said Ernest. “Perhaps they are in
this island.”
Jack was running off immediately to search, but I called my little
madcap back, till we arranged our plans. I advised that two of us should
remain to watch the coast, while the other two penetrated into the
interior. The first thing necessary to ascertain was if the island was
inhabited, which might easily be done, by climbing some tree that
overlooked the country, and remarking if there were any traces of the
natives, any huts, or fires lighted, &c. Those who made any discovery
were immediately to inform the rest, that we might go in a body to
recover our own. If nothing announced that the island was inhabited, we
were to leave it immediately, to search elsewhere. All wished to be of
the party of discovery. At length, Ernest agreed to remain with me, and
watch for any arrivals by sea. Before we parted, we all knelt to invoke
the blessing of God on our endeavours. Fritz and Jack, as the most
active, were to visit the interior of the island, and to return with
information as soon as possible. To be prepared for any chance, I gave
them a game-bag filled with toys, trinkets, and pieces of money, to
please the savages; I also made them take some food. Fritz took his gun,
after promising me he would not fire it, except to defend his life, lest
he should alarm the savages, and induce them to remove their captives.
Jack took his lasso, and they set out with our benedictions, accompanied
by the brave Turk, on whom I depended much to discover his mistress and
his companion Flora, if she was still with her friends.
As soon as they were out of sight, Ernest and I set to work to conceal
as much as possible our pinnace from discovery. We lowered the masts,
and hid with great care under the deck the precious chest with our
treasure, provisions, and powder. We got our pinnace with great
difficulty, the water being low, behind a rock, which completely
concealed it on the land-side, but it was still visible from the sea.
Ernest suggested that we should entirely cover it with branches of
trees, so that it might appear like a heap of bushes; and we began to
cut them immediately with two hatchets we found in the chest, and which
we speedily fitted with handles. We found also a large iron staple,
which Ernest succeeded, with a hammer and pieces of wood, in fixing in
the rock to moor the pinnace to. We had some difficulty in finding
branches within our reach; there were many trees on the shore, but their
trunks were bare. We found, at last, at some distance, an extensive
thicket, composed of a beautiful shrub, which Ernest recognized to be a
species of mimosa. The trunk of this plant is knotty and stunted, about
three or four feet high, and spreads its branches horizontally, clothed
with beautiful foliage, and so thickly interwoven, that the little
quadrupeds who make their dwellings in these thickets are obliged to
open covered roads out of the entangled mass of vegetation.
At the first blow of the hatchet, a number of beautiful little creatures
poured forth on all sides. They resembled the kangaroos of our island,
but were smaller, more elegant, and remarkable for the beauty of their
skin, which was striped like that of the zebra.
“It is the striped kangaroo,” cried Ernest, “described in the voyages of
Peron. How I long to have one. The female should have a pouch to contain
her young ones.”
He lay down very still at the entrance of the thicket, and soon had the
satisfaction of seizing two, which leaped out almost into his arms. This
animal is timid as the hare of our country. They endeavoured to escape,
but Ernest held them fast. One was a female, which had her young one in
her pouch, which my son took out very cautiously. It was an elegant
little creature, with a skin like its mother, only more brilliant—it
was full of graceful antics. The poor mother no longer wished to escape;
all her desire seemed to be to recover her offspring, and to replace it
in its nest. At last, she succeeded in seizing and placing it carefully
in security. Then her desire to escape was so strong, that Ernest could
scarcely hold her. He wished much to keep and tame her, and asked my
permission to empty one of the chests for a dwelling for her, and to
carry her off in the pinnace; but I refused him decidedly. I explained
to him the uncertainty of our return to the island, and the imprudence
of adding to our cares, and, “certainly,” added I, “you would not wish
this poor mother to perish from famine and confinement, when your own
mother is herself a prisoner?”
His eyes filled with tears, and he declared he would not be such a
savage as to keep a poor mother in captivity. “Go, pretty creature,”
said he, releasing her, “and may my mother be as fortunate as you.” She
soon profited by his permission, and skipped off with her treasure.
We continued to cut down the branches of the mimosa; but they were so
entangled, and the foliage so light, that we agreed to extend our search
for some thicker branches.
As we left the shore, the country appeared more fertile: we found many
unknown trees, which bore no fruit; but some covered with delicious
flowers. Ernest was in his element, he wanted to collect and examine
all, to endeavour to discover their names, either from analogy to other
plants, or from descriptions he had read. He thought he recognized the
_melaleuca_, several kinds of _mimosa_, and the Virginian pine, which
has the largest and thickest branches. We loaded ourselves with as much
as we could carry, and, in two or three journeys, we had collected
sufficient to cover the vessel, and to make a shelter for ourselves, if
we were obliged to pass the night on shore. I had given orders to my
sons that both were to return before night, at all events; and if the
least hope appeared, one was to run with all speed to tell us. All my
fear was that they might lose their way in this unknown country: they
might meet with lakes, marshes, or perplexing forests; every moment I
was alarmed with the idea of some new danger, and never did any day seem
so long. Ernest endeavoured, by every means in his power, to comfort and
encourage me; but the buoyancy of spirit, peculiar to youth, prevented
him dwelling long on one painful thought. He amused his mind by turning
to search for the marine productions with which the rocks were covered:
sea-weed, mosses of the most brilliant colours, zoophytes of various
kinds, occupied his attention. He brought them to me, regretting that he
could not preserve them.
“Oh! if my dear mother could see them,” said he, “or if Fritz could
paint them, how they would amuse Francis!”
This recalled our sorrows, and my uneasiness increased.
* * * * *