CHAPTER VIII.

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.