WE were all up at the break of day, and knelt down to thank God that He
had kept us from harm through the night.
We then put all the things on the raft, and ten live hens and two cocks
were put in one of the tubs. Some ducks and geese we let go, in the hope
that they would swim to the shore; and a pair of doves were set free, as
they could fly to the land.
There was a place in the raft for each of us. In the first tub sat my
wife; in the next Frank, who was eight years old; in the third Fritz,
not quite twice the age of Frank; in the fourth were the fowls, and some
old sails that would make us a tent; the fifth was full of good things
in the way of food; in the sixth stood Jack, a bold lad, ten years old;
in the next Ernest, twelve years of age, well taught, but too fond of
self, and less fond of work than the rest; while I sat in the eighth, to
guide the raft that was to save all that was dear to me in the world.
As soon as the dogs (Bill and Turk by name) saw us push off from the
ship they leaped in the sea, swam near the raft, and kept well up with
us.
The sea was calm; so that we felt quite safe. We made good use of the
oars, and the raft bore its freight straight to the land; but as we drew
near to the shore the sight of the bare rocks led us to think that we
might still be in need of food and drink when that which we had was
gone.
As we got near, the coast lost its bare look, and we were glad to see
that there was no lack of trees. We soon found a bay, to which the ducks
and geese had found their way, and here we saw a place where we could
land.
As soon as we had made the raft fast with a strong rope, we took out all
our wealth, and made a tent with the old sail cloth we had brought with
us, and stuck a pole in the ground to keep it up. This done, I sent
the boys to get some moss and dry grass to make our beds with. With the
flint and steel we soon set fire to some dry twigs, and my wife made a
pot of soup with what she had brought from the ship.
Fritz, who had charge of the guns, chose one, and took a stroll by the
side of a stream, while Jack went in search of shell fish, which he
thought he might find on the rocks. My share of the work was to save two
large casks which were near the shore. While I was up to my knees in the
sea I heard a shrill cry, which I knew to come from Jack. I got out at
once, took up an axe, and ran to his help. I found him with his legs in
a rock pool, where a large crab held him by his toes. It soon made off
as I came near; but I struck at it with the axe, and brought it out of
the pool. Jack then took it up, though it gave him a pinch or two ere he
found out how to hold it, and ran off in high glee to show what he had
caught.
When I got back to the tent, I found that Ernest had brought us news
that he had seen salt in the chinks of the rocks, and that shell fish
were not scarce.
"Well, my boy, if you are sure you saw them, I will ask you to go back
for some. We must each do some work for the good of all."
He went, and soon found the salt, left by the sea on the rocks, which
the sun had made quite dry. There was some sand with it, but my wife did
not take long to find a way to cure that. She had been to a fresh stream
with a large jug; from this I saw her pour some on the salt, strain it
through a cloth, and let it drip in a cup, so that all the sand was left
on the cloth.
When the soup was made hot we had each a taste, and all said that it was
good.
"Be not in too great haste," said my wife, "we must wait for Fritz; but
if he were here, I do not see how we are to take our soup, for we have
no plates nor spoons."
"If we had but some large nuts," said Ernest, "we might cut them in
half, and they would make good bowls."
"Quite true," said I; "but as there are none, we may as well wish for
delf bowls and real spoons at once."
"Now I have it," quoth Ernest. "Let us use the shells I saw on the
shore."
Off ran Jack to the shore, with Ernest at his heels, and back they both
came with large and small shells for us all.
Just then Fritz came in, with a look of gloom on his face, which I could
see was a sham.
"You do not mean to tell me you have come back with nought?" said I, as
he put out his hands as if to prove that such was the case. But Jack,
who had been round him, cried out, "No, no! he's got a pig!--such a fine
one. Tell us where you found it."
Fritz now brought forth his prize. When I saw it, I knew, from what
I had read, that it was not a pig, but a swift beast, known in these
parts, that lives on fruit and nuts, and hides in the earth. (*The
Agouti.)
"I like the place much more than I do this spot," said he. "The shore
lies low, and there are planks, casks, chests, and all sorts of things,
that the sea has thrown up. Why not leave this place at once, and go
there?"
"There is a time for all things," said I. "We must at least rest here
for one night."
We all sat down to take our soup with the shell spoons. Ernest took from
his coat a large shell, which he had hid till now, put it in the soup,
and then set it down to cool.
"You do not show want of thought," said I to him. "But I am not glad to
see that you think so of your-self, and do so much for your own ease,
when all the rest do so much for yours. Now, that shell full of soup you
must give to our two dogs. We can all dip our small shells in the pot,
and you must do as we do."
I knew he felt hurt at this, but he gave it to the dogs at once, and
they soon made quick work of their share of the soup.
The sun was low when our meal came to an end. The fowls came round us to
pick up the stray crumbs we had let fall, and my wife took out her bag
of grain and fed the cocks and hens, and sent them to roost on the top
of our tent.
We took care to load our fire-arms, in case we might need them in the
night; sang a hymn of praise to God, and then left our fate in His
hands.