THE meal at an end, my first thought was to make some steps by means of
which we could reach the first strong branch of the tree. Ernest and I
went in search of some thick canes that grew in the sands hard by. These
we cut down, bound them to four long poles, and thus made a pair of
steps that would, we thought, reach far up the trunk.
On our way back from the sands, one of the dogs made a dart at a clump
of reeds, and a troop of large birds rose on the wing with a loud noise.
Fritz let fly at them, and brought down two at a shot. One of them fell
quite dead, but its mate, though hurt in the wing, made use of its long
legs so well that it would have got off if Bill had not held it. The joy
of Fritz, to have caught such a strange bird, was so great that he would
have us at once bind it by the neck and take it back with us. "Look,"
said Ernest, "what fine plumes he has, and you see he has web feet like
a goose, and has long legs like a stork: thus he can run on land as fast
as he can swim."
"Yes," said I, "and he can fly with more speed through the air, for
these birds have great strength in their wings. In fact, few birds have
such means of flight as the FLA-MIN-GO."
My wife thought the great bird might need more food than we could spare.
I told her that it would feed on small fish and worms, and not rob our
geese of their grain. I then tied him to a stake near the stream; and
in a few days we were glad to find that he knew us, and would come at a
call, like a tame bird.
While I sat on the grass with my sons, late in the day, I thought I
would try to make a bow and thus save our shot. This I did with a long
cane and a piece of string, and then made a dart with a sharp point,
which I shot off and found it would go straight. The branch of the tree
on which we were to fix our hut was so high that our steps would not
near reach it. I tied some strong thread to the dart, and shot it over
the branch; then tied a piece of rope to the end of the thread, and drew
that up, and at last made a long row of cane steps, with a rope at each
side, which we drew up to the first strong branch. The boys were now
all in haste to climb the tree, but I chose that Jack, who was light of
build and sure of foot, should go up first and try the strength of our
work. Fritz went up next with some nails, and made the ropes fast to the
tree, while I drove stakes in the ground to keep them firm at the foot.
It was now time for me to mount, and up I went with an axe to lop off
the twigs and smooth the bough that was to form the ground of our new
house. I sent the boys down out of my way, and kept hard at work till it
was late, for the sky was clear, and the moon lent me her beams of light
to see by.
When I came down my wife spread a good meal on the ground, which we ate
as best we could, and then made our beds of dry moss, round which we put
heaps of twigs. These we set light to, as watch fires to keep off wild
beasts and snakes. The toils of the day had made the boys tired, and
they were soon in a sound sleep, but my wife and I took it in turns to
watch through the whole night.
We were all out of bed as soon as light was in the sky, and set to work
to hoist up the planks that were to form the floor of our hut. These we
laid down on the branch, with their ends made fast to a cross piece of
wood that we had to fix to the trunk of the tree. Our nails were long,
and we drove each one of them home, so that we had no cause to fear
the strength of our work. By the time we had done this the day was far
spent, and we were all glad to lay by our tools and rest our limbs. That
night we lit our fires round the tree, tied the dogs to the roots, and
went up to sleep out of harm's way for the first time since we left the
ship. When the steps were drawn up we all felt that we were now safe at
last, and that we had brought the toils of the day to a good end.