Swiss Family Robinson

Chapter 2-2

`That is a very clever plan: very simple too. I daresay I should have hit on it, if I had tried,' said Fritz.

`The friends of Columbus thought it very easy to make an egg stand upon its end when he had shown them how to do it. But now suppose we prepare some of these calabashes, that they may be ready for use when we take them home.'

Fritz instantly took up one of the gourds, and tried to split it equally with his knife, but in vain: the blade slipped, and the calabash was cut jaggedly. `What a nuisance!' said Fritz, flinging it down, `The thing is spoiled; and yet it seemed so simple to divide it properly.'

`Stay,' said I, `you are too impatient, those pieces are not useless. Do you try to fashion from them a spoon or two while I provide a dish.' I then took from my pocket a piece of string, which I tied tightly round a gourd, as near one end of it as I could; then tapping the string with the back of my knife, it penetrated the outer shell. When this was accomplished, I tied the string yet tighter; and drawing the ends with all my might, the gourd fell, divided exactly as I wished.

`That is clever!' cried Fritz. `What in the world put that plan into your head?'

`It is a plan,' I replied, `which savages adopt, as I have learned from reading books of travel.'

`Well, it certainly makes a capital soup-tureen, and a soup-plate too,' said Fritz, examining the gourd. `But supposing you had wanted to make a bottle, how would you have set to work?'

`It would be an easier operation than this, if possible. All that is necessary, is to cut a round hole at one end, then to scoop out the interior, and to drop in several shot or stones; when these are shaken, any remaining portions of the fruit are detached, and the gourd is thoroughly cleaned, and the bottle completed.'

`That would not make a very convenient bottle though, father; it would be more like a barrel.'

`True, my boy; if you want a more shapely vessel, you must take it in hand when it is younger. To give it a neck, for instance, you must tie a bandage round the young gourd while it is still on the tree, and then all will swell but that part which you have checked.' As I spoke, I filled the gourds with sand, and left them to dry; marking the spot that we might return for them on our way back.

`Are the bottle-shaped gourds I have seen in Europe trained similarly?'

`No, they are of another species, and what you have seen is their natural shape.'

For three hours or more we pushed forward, keeping a sharp look-out on either side for any trace of our companions, till we reached a bold promontory, stretching some way into the sea, from whose rocky summit I knew that we should obtain a good and comprehensive view of the surrounding country. With little difficulty we reached the top, but the most careful survey of the beautiful landscape failed to show us the slightest sign or trace of human beings.

Before us stretched a wide and lovely bay, fringed with yellow sands, either side extending into the distance, and almost lost to view in two shadowy promontories; enclosed by these two arms lay a sheet of rippling water, which reflected in its depths the glorious sun above. The scene inland was no less beautiful; and yet Fritz and I both felt a shade of loneliness stealing over us as we gazed on its utter solitude.

`Cheer up, Fritz, my boy,' said I, presently. `Remember that we chose a settler's life long ago, before we left our own dear country; we certainly did not expect to be so entirely alone—but what matters a few people, more or less? With God's help, let us endeavour to live here contentedly, thankful that we were not cast upon some bare and inhospitable island. But come, the heat here is getting unbearable; let us find some shady place before we are completely broiled away.'

We descended the hill and made for a clump of palm trees, which we saw at a little distance. To reach this, we had to pass through a dense thicket of reeds, no pleasant or easy task; for, besides the difficulty of forcing our way through, I feared at every step that we might tread on some venomous snake.

Sending Turk in advance, I cut one of the reeds, thinking it would be a more useful weapon against a reptile than my g*n. I had carried it but a little way, when I noticed a thick juice exuding from one end. I tasted it, and to my delight, found it sweet and pleasant. I at once knew that I was standing amongst sugar-canes.

Wishing Fritz to make the same discovery, I advised him to cut a cane for his defense; he did so, and as he beat the ground before him, the reed split, and his hand was covered with the juice. He carefully touched the cane with the tip of his tongue, then, finding the juice sweet, he did so again with less hesitation; and a moment afterwards sprang back to me, exclaiming, `Oh, father, sugar-cane, sugar-cane! Taste it. Oh, how delicious, how delightful! Do let us take a lot home to mother,' he continued, sucking eagerly at the cane!

`Gently there,' said I, `take breath a moment, moderation in all things, remember. Cut some to take home if you like; only don't take more than you can conveniently carry.'

In spite of my warning, my son cut a dozen or more of the largest canes, and stripping them of their leaves, carried them under his arm. We then pushed through the cane-brake, and reached the clump of palms for which we had been making; as we entered it a troop of monkeys, who had been disporting themselves on the ground, sprang up, chattering and grimacing, and before we could clearly distinguish them, were at the very top of the trees.

Fritz was so provoked by their impertinent gestures that he raised his g*n, and would have shot one of the poor beasts. `Stay,' cried I, `never take the life of any animal needlessly. A live monkey up in that tree is of more use to us than a dozen dead ones at our feet, as I will show you.'

Saying this, I gathered a handful of small stones, and threw them up towards the apes. The stones did not go near them, but influenced by their instinctive mania for imitation, they instantly seized all the cocoanuts within their reach, and sent a perfect hail of them down upon us.

Fritz was delighted with my stratagem, and rushing forward picked up some of the finest of the nuts. We drank the milk they contained, drawing it through the holes which I pierced. The milk of a cocoanut has not a pleasant flavor, but it is excellent for quenching thirst. What we liked best was a kind of solid cream which adheres to their shells, and which we scraped off with our spoons.

After this delicious meal, we thoroughly despised the lobster we had been carrying, and threw it to Turk, who ate it gratefully; but far from being satisfied, the poor beast began to gnaw the ends of the sugar-canes, and to beg for cocoanut. I slung a couple of the nuts over my shoulder, fastening them together by their stalks, and Fritz having resumed his burden, we began our homeward march.

I soon discovered that Fritz found the weight of his canes considerably more than he expected: he shifted them from shoulder to shoulder, then for a while carried them under his arm, and finally stopped short with a sigh. `I had no idea,' he said, `that a few reeds would be so heavy. How sincerely I pity the poor n*****s who are made to carry heavy loads of them! Yet how glad I shall be when my mother and brothers are tasting them.'

`Never mind, my boy,' I said, `Patience and courage! Do you not remember the story of Aesop and his breadbasket, how heavy he found it when he started, and how light at the end of his journey? Let us each take a fresh staff, and then fasten the bundle crosswise with your gun.'

We did so, and once more stepped forward. Fritz presently noticed that I from time to time sucked the end of my cane.

`Oh, come,' said he, `that's a capital plan of yours, father,

I'll do that too.'

So saying, he began to suck most vigorously, but not a drop of the juice could he extract. `How is this?' he asked. `How do you get the juice out, father?'

`Think a little,' I replied, `you are quite as capable as I am of finding out the way, even if you do not know the real reason of your failure.'

`Oh, of course,' said he, `it is like trying to suck marrow from a marrow bone, without making a hole at the other end.'

`Quite right,' I said, `you form a vacuum in your mouth and the end of your tube, and expect the air to force down the liquid from the other end which it cannot possibly enter.'

Fritz was speedily perfect in the accomplishment of sucking sugar-cane, discovering by experience the necessity for a fresh cut at each joint or knot in the cane, through which the juice could not flow; he talked of the pleasure of initiating his brothers in the art, and of how Ernest would enjoy the cocoanut milk, with which he had filled his flask.*

* M. Wyss's acquaintance with sugar has not extended to the sugar cane. The sap does not flow; it is embedded in the very fibrous pulp, and the cane must be crushed, and its juice cooked and repeatedly refined, to make the sugar. People enjoying the cane in its natural state must chew the pulp, which is not particularly sweet.

`My dear boy,' said I, `you need not have added that to your load; the chances are it will be vinegar by the time we get home. In the heat of the sun, it will ferment soon after being drawn from the nut.'

`Vinegar! Oh, that would be a horrid bore! I must look directly, and see how it is getting on,' cried Fritz, hastily swinging the flask from his shoulder, and tugging out the cork. With a loud `pop' the contents came forth, foaming like champagne.

`There now!' said I, laughing as he tasted this new luxury.

`You will have to exercise moderation again, friend Fritz!

I daresay it is delicious, but it will go to your head, if

you venture deep into your flask.'

`My dear father, you cannot think how good it is! Do take some.

Vinegar, indeed! This is like excellent wine.'

We were both invigorated by this unexpected draught, and went on so merrily after it, that the distance to the place where we had left our gourd dishes seemed less than we expected. We found them quite dry, and very light and easy to carry.

Just as we had passed through the grove in which we breakfasted, Turk suddenly darted away from us, and sprang furiously among a troop of monkeys, which were gambolling playfully on the turf at a little distance from the trees. They were taken by surprise completely, and the dog, now really ravenous from hunger, had seized one, and was fiercely tearing it to pieces before we could approach the spot.

His luckless victim was the mother of a tiny little monkey, which, being on her back when the dog flew at her, had hindered her flight; the little creature attempted to hide among the grass, and in trembling fear watched the tragic fate of its mother.