CHAPTER VIII.

_Construction of a bridge._

When my wife and I were awake next morning, we resumed the question
of our change of abode. I observed to her, that it was a matter
of great difficulty, and required mature consideration; otherwise
we might hereafter have reason to repent the useless labour and
inconvenience we should have brought upon ourselves, by a fruitless
removal. My own opinion is, said I, that, upon the whole, we
had better remain here, where Providence seems to have conducted
us; the situation of the place affords conveniences, both with
respect to our personal safety and being so near to the vessel,
from which we may continue to enrich ourselves. See how completely
we are on all sides protected by the rocks; it is an asylum,
inaccessible but by sea or by the passage of the river, which
is not easily accomplished. Let us then have patience yet a little
longer, at least, till we have got all that can be removed, or
that would be useful to us, from the ship.

Nothing can be sounder than your reasons, my love, replied my
wife; but indeed no patience can endure the intense heat of these
sands, which is even increased by the vicinity of the rocks.
It is not easy for you to conceive how great my sufferings are
from this cause; for you have generally been out on some voyage
of discovery, and have been occasionally relieved by the shade
of trees. Another consideration is, that by remaining here, we
must renounce all hope of procuring fruits of any kind, and must
live on oysters, to which we have all a great aversion, or on
such wild birds as that which you found so unpalatable. And,
for the safety you boast of, the rocks did not prevent our receiving
a visit from the jackalls; nor is it improbable that tigers or
other animals might follow their example. Lastly, in regard to
the treasures we might continue to draw from the vessel, I renounce
them with all my heart. We are already in possession of a great
abundance of provisions and other useful things; and, for my part,
my heart is always filled with the most distressing apprehensions,
whenever you and Fritz are exposed to the danger of that perfidious
element the sea.

Upon my word, my love, the shade of your giant trees has inspired
you with a most powerful eloquence; and I perceive that nothing
so effectually animates the language of a female, as an ardent
desire and a fixed determination to carry a particular point;
I see that the affair will end by my submitting to your will.
You are, as you ought to be, the director of our plans; but let
us have a well-digested scheme of operation before we leave this
spot for your favourite wood.—First, we must contrive a place
among the rocks, where we can leave our provisions and other
things, which may serve both for a fortress and a storehouse,
and to which, in case of any danger from invasion in the wood,
we can immediately retreat.—Come then, this agreed, the next
thing is to throw a bridge across the river, if we are to pass
it with all our family and baggage.

A bridge! exclaimed my wife; can you possibly think of such a
thing? If we stay while you build a bridge, we may consider ourselves
as fixt here for life. What reason can there be, that we should
not cross the river as we did before? The ass and the cow will
carry all our goods upon their backs.

But do you recollect, that to preserve dry what they carry, they
must not perform their journey as they did from the vessel? For
this reason, then, if for no other, we must contrive a bridge.
We shall want also some sacks and baskets to contain our different
matters; you may therefore set about making these, and I will
undertake the bridge, which the more I consider, the more I find
to be of indispensable necessity; for the stream will, no doubt,
at times increase, and the passage become impracticable in any other
way. At this very time it would be found so for our shortest-legged
animals, and I am sure you would not wish to see them drowned.
But even our own boys, at least the youngest, will derive a means
of safety from my bridge; for it is not quite certain that they
would always succeed so well as they did the first time, in their
jumping from stone to stone.

Well, then, a bridge let there be, said my wife; I see I must
consent. But let us not allow ourselves a moment of leisure till
we have completed all that is necessary for our departure. You
will leave our stock of gunpowder here, I hope; for I am not
easy with a large quantity of it so near us; a thunder-storm,
or some thoughtless action of one of the boys, might expose us
to serious danger.

You are right, my love; and I will carefully attend to your
suggestion. We will keep on hand only a sufficient quantity for daily
use; I will contrive a place in the rock for the rest, where it will
be safe from the chance of fire or dampness. It is an article
which, according to the use which is made of it, may become on
the one hand, a most dangerous enemy, and, on the other, a most
useful friend.

Thus, then, we decided the important question of removing to
a new abode; after which we fixed in concert upon a plan of labour
for the day, and then awaked the boys. Their ecstasy on hearing
of our project may easily be conceived; but they expressed their
fear that it would be a long while before a bridge could be built;
a single hour appearing an age to them, with such a novelty in
view as the prospect of removing to the wood, to live under the
giant trees. They, in the fullness of their joy, entreated that
the place might be called, _The promised Land_.

We now began to look about for breakfast; Fritz taking care not
to neglect his monkey, who sucked one of the goats as quietly
and as contentedly as if she had been his mother. My wife undertook
to milk another, and then the cow, and afterwards gave some of
the milk to each of the children: with a part of what remained
she made a sort of soup with biscuits, and the rest she put into
one of the flasks, to accompany us in our expedition. During
this time, I was preparing the boat for another journey to the
vessel, to bring away a sufficient quantity of planks and timbers
for the bridge. After breakfast we set out; and this time I took
with me Ernest as well as Fritz, that we might accomplish our
object in a shorter time. We rowed stoutly till we reached the
current, which soon drew us on beyond the bay; but scarcely had
we passed a little islet, lying to one side of us, than we perceived
a prodigious quantity of sea-gulls and other birds, whose various
and discordant sounds so disagreeably assailed us, that we were
obliged to stop our ears. Fritz would instantly have fired upon
them, if I had not prevented him. I had a great curiosity to
discover what could possibly be the reason of so numerous an
assembly of these creatures. I therefore steered to the spot;
but, finding that the boat made but little way, I hoisted my
sail, that we might have the assistance of the wind.

To Ernest our expedition afforded the highest delight. He was
in ecstasies at seeing the sail begin to swell, and the motion
of the streamer in the air. Fritz, on his part, did not for a
moment take his eyes from the islet where the birds had assembled.
Presently he suddenly exclaimed: I see what it is; the birds
are all pecking, tooth and beak, at a monstrous fish, which lies
dead upon the soil.

Tooth! brother Fritz, replied Ernest; it must be curious to see birds
with teeth. Fritz, however, was right; I approached, sufficiently
near to step upon the land, and after bringing the boat to an
anchor with a heavy stone, we walked cautiously and gently up
to the birds. We soon perceived that the object which attracted
them was in reality an enormous fish, which had been thrown by
the sea upon the islet, and whose dead body lay invitingly there
for all the birds which should pass that way. Indeed, so eagerly
were they occupied with the feast, that though we were within
the distance of half gun-shot, not one of them attempted to fly
off. We observed with astonishment the extreme voracity of this
plumed group; each bird was so intent upon its prey, that nothing
could have been more easy than to have killed great numbers of
them with our sticks alone: we did not, however, envy them their
prize. Fritz did not cease to express his wonder at the monstrous
size of the animal, and asked me by what means he could have
got there.

I believe, answered I, you were yourself the means; there is
every appearance that it is the very shark you so skilfully wounded
yesterday. See, here are the two balls which you discharged at
its head.

Yes, yes, it is the very same, said my young hero skipping about
for joy; I well remember I had two balls in my gun, and here
they are, lodged in his hideous head.

I grant it is hideous enough, continued I; its aspect even when
dead makes one shudder with disgust, particularly when I recollect
how easy it would have been for him to have devoured us. See
what a horrible mouth he has, and what a singular kind of mustachio
projecting above! and what a rough and prickly skin! one might
almost use it for a file. Nor is he small of his species; for
I would lay any wager that he measures more than twenty feet,
from head to tail. We ought to be thankful to Providence, and
a little to our Fritz also, for having delivered us from such
a monster! But let us each take away with us a bit of his skin,
for I have an idea that it may in some way or other be useful
to us. But how to drive away these eager intruders, so as to
get at him, is the difficulty.

Ernest instantly drew out the iron ramrod from his gun, and in
a few moments killed several, by striking among them to right
and left, while all the others took their flight. Fritz and I
then advanced and cut several long strips of the skin from the
head of the shark, with which we were proceeding to our boat,
when I observed, lying on the ground, some planks and timbers
which had recently been cast by the sea on this little island.
I therefore made choice of such as seemed proper for my purpose;
and, with the assistance of the crow and a lever which we had
brought with us, I found means to get them into the boat, and
thus spare ourselves the trouble of proceeding further to the
vessel. I bound the timbers together, with the planks upon them,
in the manner of a raft, and tied them to the end of the boat;
so that, in consequence of this adventure, we were ready to return
in about four hours after our departure, and might with justice
boast of having done a good day’s work. I accordingly pushed
again for the current, which soon drove us out to sea; then I
tacked about, and resumed the direct route for the bay and for
our place of embarkation, by this means avoiding the danger of
touching upon shallows. All this succeeded to my utmost wishes;
I unfurled my sail, and a brisk wind soon conveyed us to our
landing-place.

While we were sailing, Fritz, at my request, had nailed the strips
of skin we cut from the shark, to the mast to dry. Ernest had
been employed in examining the birds he had killed with his ramrod.
I cannot imagine, father, said he, why you should think they
are not good to eat. What is their name?

I believe they are called sea-gulls, a bird that lives upon the
carcases of other animals, and whose flesh for that reason must
have contracted a bad flavour; there are many kinds of them,
and all of so senseless a nature, as to fly down in flocks upon
dead whales, even while the fishermen are round them cutting
them up; and the birds try to seize upon small pieces of the
fat, as they hold them in their hands; and they suffer themselves
to be killed, rather than let go their prize.

They must indeed be stupid creatures, said Fritz, to have let
Ernest kill them with the ramrod. But look here, father, you
were wrong in telling me to nail my skins to the mast; for they
have curled round in drying, and I cannot make them flat again.

That was precisely my intention, replied I, they will be much
more useful to us round than flat: besides, you have still some
left, which you may dry flat; and then we shall have a fine provision
of shagreen, if we can find out a good method to rub off the
sharp points, and afterwards to polish it.

I thought, said Ernest, that shagreen was made of ass’s skin.
And you were not mistaken, rejoined I; the best shagreen is made
in Turkey, Persia, and Tartary, from skin taken from the back
of the ass and of horses. While the skin is yet moist, it is
stretched upon a kind of hard fat; they then beat the skin, by
which means the fat is incorporated, and gives the surface the
appearance of a kind of file: but very good shagreen is also
made from the skin of sea-fish, particularly in France.

Ernest asked his brother if he knew why the mouth of the shark
is not, as in other animals, placed in the middle of the snout,
but directly under. Fritz confessed his inability to answer this
question. And for my part, continued he a little consequentially,
all I know is how to kill them when the occasion presents itself.
So pray, learned brother, be kind enough to let us share your
information on the subject, for I take for granted, your question
means that you can answer it yourself.

I suppose, rejoined Ernest, that the mouth of the shark is thus
placed, with the intention of preventing him from depopulating
the sea and the land. With so excessive a voraciousness of appetite
as he possesses, nothing would escape him, if he had the power
to seize his prey without turning his body; but as it is, there
is time enough for a smaller animal to make his escape.

Well reasoned, my young philosopher, cried I; and though we should
not always be able to comprehend the intention of the Creator
in the objects which surround us, at least the conjectures we
are induced to form respecting them, cannot fail of being a useful
exercise to the mind.

I have already said we were once more landed safely on our shore,
but no one of our family appeared. We called out to them as loud
as we could, which was answered by the same sounds in return,
and in a few minutes my wife appeared between her two little
boys returning from the river, a rising piece of ground having
concealed her from our sight: each carried a handkerchief in
hand, which appeared filled with some new prize; and little Francis
had a small fishing-net formed like a bag and strung upon a stick,
which he carried on his shoulder. No sooner did they hear our
voices, than they flew to meet us, astonished at our quick return.
Jack reached us before the rest; and his first act was to open
the handkerchief he held, and pour out a large number of lobsters
at our feet: their mother and little Francis produced each as
many more, forming all together a prodigious heap, and all alive;
so that we were sure of excellent dinners for some days at least.
Some of the animals tried to escape in different directions;
and the boys in following them, were kept in full chase, sometimes
pleased and sometimes angry; sometimes laughing, sometimes scolding
at the bootless trouble they were engaged in; for no sooner had
they seized on one deserter, than ten more had followed his example.

Now, have I not been very lucky, papa? said little Francis; for
you must know it was I who found them out! Look, there are more
than two hundred of them, and see how large they are, and what
fine claws they have! I am sure they will be quite delicious!

_Father._—Excellent indeed, my little fellow, and particularly
if it was your industry that first discovered them.

_Jack._—Yes, father, it was Francis who saw them first; but it
was I who ran to tell mamma, and it was I who fetched the net
and put it to rights, and it was I who went up to my knees in
water to catch them.

_Father._—You make a charming story of it together, my boys;
but as it is an interesting subject, you may tell me as many
particulars as you please; it is indeed an event of some importance
for our kitchen, and I have great pleasure in looking forward
to partaking of a dish of your providing.

_Jack._—Well, papa, I will tell you. As soon as you were gone,
mamma sat down outside the tent and began to work, while Francis
and I took a little walk towards the river, to find out a proper
place for you to begin the bridge.

_Father._—Bravo! Mr. Architect, it is you then who will direct
the workmen; but joking apart, I am much gratified to find that
careless head of yours for once employed upon a useful subject.
Well then, did you find a proper place for me to begin the bridge?

_Jack._—Yes, father, yes. But listen, and you will know all.
We were advancing towards the river, and Francis was amusing
himself with taking up some parti-coloured stones, calling out
whenever he found one that seemed extraordinary: Jack, Jack,
look what a beautiful stone I have found, all yellow! I am sure
it must be gold, so I shall pound it, and make sand of it for
my writing. As we reached the river, he saw a stone of this kind
just upon the brink, and kneeling down with his head out over
to take it up, he all at once cried out: Jack, Jack, Fritz’s
jackall is covered all over with lobsters! Run as fast as you
can. I sprang to him in an instant, and I saw not only the jackall
covered with them, but legions more coming in with the stream.
I ran to tell mamma, who immediately got the net which you brought
from the vessel. Partly with this net, and partly with our hands,
we caught those you see in a very few minutes; and we should
have caught a much larger number if we had not heard you call,
for the river is quite full of them. You took quite enough for
once, my boy, said I: A little at a time is the maxim that suits
us best, and I should even advise your taking the smallest of
them back to the river, where they will grow larger; we shall
still have sufficient for several magnificent repasts. This then,
said I to myself, is a new source for our support: even here,
in these arid regions, we find means to procure, not only the
necessaries of life, but luxuries in abundance. May we never
cease to evince our gratitude to Providence, by the exercise
of a more than ordinary care and industry!

It was now our turn to relate the events of our voyage on the
water. Ernest gave an account of his seagulls, but it did not
inspire his mother with a desire for one of them for our next day’s
dinner. We now put our remaining lobsters into the handkerchiefs
and the net, and the boys took them to the place allotted for
keeping our provisions. My wife set about dressing some of them,
and in the mean time Fritz and I employed ourselves in untying
the raft of timbers and planks, and in taking them out of the
boat. I then imitated the example of the Laplanders, in harnessing
their rein-deer for drawing their sledges. Instead of traces,
halters, &c., I put a piece of rope with a running knot at the
end, round the neck of the ass, and passed the other end between
its legs, to which I tied the piece of wood which I wished to
be removed. The cow was harnessed in the same manner, and we
were thus enabled to carry our materials, piece by piece, to
the spot which our architect Jack had chosen at the river, as
the most eligible for our bridge; and to say the truth, I thought
his judgement excellent; it was a place where the shore on each
side was steep, and of equal height; there was even on our side,
an old trunk of a tree lying on the ground, on which I rested
my principal timber.

Now then, boys, said I, the first thing is to see if our timbers
are long enough to reach to the other side: by my eye I should
think they are; but if I had a surveyor’s plane, we might be
quite sure, instead of working at a venture.

But my mother has some balls of packthread with which she measured
the height of the giant tree, interrupted Ernest, and nothing
would be more easy than to tie a stone to the end of one of them,
and throw it to the other side of the river; then we could draw
it to the very brink, and thus obtain the exact length that would
be required for our timbers.

Your idea is excellent, cried I; nothing gives me more pleasure
than to see you exercise your invention; run quickly and fetch
the packthread. He returned without loss of time; the stone was
tied to its end, and thrown across as we had planned; we drew
it gently back to the river edge, marking the place where the
bridge was to rest; we next measured the string, and found that
the distance from one side to the other was eighteen feet. It
appeared to me necessary, that to give a sufficient solidity
to the timbers, I must allow three feet at each end of extra
length for fixing them, amounting therefore in all to twenty-four
feet; and I was fortunate enough to find that many of those we had
brought, did not fall short of this length. There now remained the
difficulty of conducting them across the stream; but we determined
to discuss this part of the subject while we ate our dinner,
which had been waiting for us more than an hour.

We all now proceeded homewards, and entering the kitchen, we
found our good steward had prepared a large dish of lobsters
for us; but before she would let us taste them, she insisted
we should see another useful labour she had been employed about;
she accordingly displayed two sacks intended for the ass, which
she had seamed with packthread; the work she assured us, had
with difficulty been accomplished, since for want of a needle
large enough to carry packthread, she had been obliged to make
a hole with a nail for every stitch: we might therefore judge
by her perseverance in such a task, or the ardour with which
she longed to see her plan of a removal executed. She received
on this occasion, as was well her due, abundance of compliments
and thanks from her companions, and also a little good-humoured
raillery. For this time, we hurried through our meal, all being
deeply interested in the work we were about to undertake, and
concerning which, each gave his advice without the least ceremony.
The impatience we all felt to begin, scarcely left us time to
strip the lobsters of their shells, each thinking only of the
part which might be assigned him towards the execution of the
_Nonpareil_; for this, for mutual encouragement, was the name
we gave our bridge, even before it was in existence.

Having consulted together as to the means of laying our timbers
across the river, the first thing I did, was to attach one of
them to the trunk of the tree of which I have already spoken,
by a strong cord, long enough to turn freely round the trunk;
I then fastened another cord to the other end of the beam; this
cord I fastened round a stone, and then threw the stone across
the river. I next passed the river as I had done before, furnished
with a pulley, which I secured to a tree; I passed my second
cord through the pulley, and recrossing the river with this cord
in my hand, I contrived to harness the ass and the cow to the
end of the cord. I next drove the animals from the bank of the
river; they resisted at first, but I made them go by force of
drawing. I first fixed one end of the beam firm to the trunk
of the tree, and then they drew along the other end, so as gradually
to advance over the river: presently, to my great joy, I saw
it touch the other side, and at length become fixt and firm by
its own weight. In a moment Fritz and Jack leaped upon the timber,
and, in spite of my paternal fears, crossed the stream with a
joyful step upon this narrow but effective bridge.

The first timber being thus laid, the difficulty of our undertaking
was considerably diminished; a second and a third were fixt in
succession, and with the greatest ease. Fritz and I, standing
on opposite sides of the river, placed them at such distances from
each other, as was necessary to form a broad and handsome bridge:
what now remained to be done, was to lay some short planks across
them quite close to each other, which we executed so expeditiously,
that our whole undertaking was completed in a much shorter time
than I should have imagined possible. The reader should have
seen our young workmen, to form the least conception of the delight
they felt: they jumped, and danced, and played a thousand antics,
and uttered a thousand joyful sounds upon their bridge. For my
own part, I could hardly restrain myself from joining in these
demonstrations of their perfect happiness; and my wife, who had
been the mover of all our operations, was as little disposed
to a silent calm enjoyment of our success, as any of the rest:
she ran to one, and then to another, embracing each in turn,
and was never tired of passing and repassing on our piece of
workmanship, which was every where safe and even, and at least
ten feet in breadth. I had not fastened the cross planks to each
other, for they appeared to be close and firm without it; and
besides, I recollected that in case of danger from any kind of
invasion, we could with the greater ease remove them, and thus
render the passage of the river more difficult. Our labour however
had occasioned us so much fatigue, that we found ourselves unable
for that day to enter upon new exertions; and the evening beginning
to set in, we returned to our home, where we partook heartily
of an excellent supper, and went to bed.