CHAPTER XV.

CHAPTER XV.

_The imaginary bear—The sledge—A lesson in natural philosophy._

I had remarked the evening before, on our return to the sea-shore,

a quantity of wood, of which I thought I could make a kind of

conveyance for our cask of butter and other provisions from Tent

House to Falcon’s Stream. I had secretly determined to go early

the next morning, before my family should be awake, to the spot.

I had fixed upon Ernest for my assistant, thinking that his indolent

temper required to be stimulated to exertion. I made him feel

as a great favour the preference I gave him, and he promised

to be ready at a very early hour. I was also desirous to leave

Fritz with the family, as, being the tallest and strongest, he

was more able to protect the rest.

As soon as I perceived the first dawn of morning, I quietly awoke

Ernest. He raised himself, stretching and gaping in his hammock.

We descended the ladder without being perceived by the rest of

the family, who continued to sleep soundly. The first thing we

had to do, was to awake the ass, who was to be of our party;

and that he might not go without a load, I made him draw a very

large branch of a tree, which I wanted for my undertaking. As

we walked along, I asked Ernest if he was not a little out of

humour at being obliged to get up so early, to set about a laborious

occupation, instead of remaining with his brothers, to shoot

at the thrushes and the pigeons on the fig tree?

_Ernest._—Not in the least, father: now I am once up and dressed,

I do not mind it at all; I like being with you, and assisting

you, very much. My brothers will leave plenty of birds for me

to shoot; for I will lay any wager, that their first fire at

least will miss.

What makes you think so, my boy?

Because they will all forget to take the balls out of the guns,

and to put in shot in their place: besides, I am sure that they

will all fire from under the tree, and it is so high, that their

shot cannot possibly reach it. I, for my part, have always fired

from Tree Castle, which was the only way to succeed.

You may be right in your suspicions, answered I, but I have two

remarks to make. The first is, that it would have been kinder and

more generous in you, to have told your brothers these particulars,

than to triumph in their ignorance; thus exposing them to spend

their powder, which is so valuable an article, to no effect.

The second is, that though it gives me pleasure to see you act

with coolness and reflection, yet I am somewhat apprehensive

of your falling into the habit of a certain slowness of decision,

which may frequently prove injurious; there are occasions which

require instant resolution, and cannot admit of a moment for

reflection. He who, in a moment of alarm, of danger, or distress,

preserves his presence of mind and decides instantly, has a great

advantage over him who waits to calculate every possibility before

he begins to act. This presence of mind, joined to great wisdom,

is a quality of inestimable value, and it may be acquired by

cultivating a habit of cool reflection and inquiry, as to how

we should act under such or such a circumstance. If we do not

acquire this habit, we suffer ourselves to be under the dominion

of fear at the time of danger, and are consequently defeated.

Let us see, for example, what you would do if we were suddenly

surprised by a bear.

_Ernest._—I almost believe I should run away as fast as I could.

_Father._—And I believe so too; at least, you frankly assure

me that it would be so. But if you were to reflect, you would

conclude, that the bear having four legs and you only two, he

would run much faster and for a much longer time than you, and

would therefore soon overtake you.

_Ernest._—Then I would fire upon him, if I had my gun; and now

that I reflect upon it, I will not go out any more without it.

_Father._—This would still be acting without reflection; for

your gun might easily miss fire, or you might only slightly wound

the animal, and then you would have every thing to fear from

his rage.

_Ernest._—Well, then, I would wait with coolness till he should

be only three steps from me; I would then fire my gun at his

head, which would for ever cure him of the inclination to attack

me.

_Father._—It would cure either you or him, to a certainty; for

you would run the risk of your gun’s missing fire, and it would

then be too late to try any other expedient; for you would be

torn to pieces in a moment.

_Ernest._—Well, then, I would try another way. I would lie down

on the ground, hold my breath, and make believe I was dead, and

the bear would turn me over and over; for it is said they will

not touch a dead body.

_Father._—This is a great mistake; I would advise you not to

trust to it. Bears are often known to devour dead animals, and

that they are even a powerful attraction to them.

_Ernest._—Oh, but I would be prepared with my clasp knife, with

which I would settle him in a trice, or I would knock him on

the head with the end of my gun.

_Father._—All ineffectual means, I assure you. Do you think you

would have strength enough to destroy so formidable a creature?

or that you could penetrate so thick a hide with your clasp knife?

Nor would you have the resource of climbing up a tree, for bears

climb also. The only means you could use, and I confess it would

be most cruel, would be to give up the ass to him, by keeping

him before you in readiness. When the bear should begin the attack,

you might try to shoot him with your pistol, or to plunge your

knife into his throat. But I trust we shall have no such animal

to encounter; for I should be sorry to sacrifice our poor ass,

even in defence of our own lives.

_Ernest._—And I too, father; but if there were no other means?

_Father._—In such a case it is permitted to use the remedy, inhuman

as it seems; while at the same time we should form a hope that

it might be possible to save the ass also.

In this kind of conversation we reached the sea-shore, well content

to have met with no bear, and at finding pieces of wood in great

abundance, and to obtain which was the object of our walk. I

determined to cut such pieces as I wanted, of the proper length,

and to lay them cross-ways on the branches which the ass had

drawn to the place, and by this means to make them serve as a

kind of sledge. We lost no time in setting to work, and we added

to the load a little chest, which we found half buried in the

sands, quite close to the waves. We also provided ourselves with

some poles which lay there, that we might use them as rollers,

should we stand in need of them for passing difficult places,

and then we set out on our return to Falcon’s Stream. When we

were within a certain distance of our abode, we heard a loud

firing, which informed us that the attack upon the ortolans was

in good train; but on seeing us approach, the cries of joy which

were uttered, resounded in every direction, and all ran eagerly

to meet us. The chest we had brought was soon opened by a strong

hatchet, for all were eager to see what was within. It contained

only some sailor’s dresses and some linen, which was quite wet

with the sea.

I had to account to my wife for having absented myself with one

of the boys, without giving her notice, or bidding her adieu.

She had been uneasy, and I confessed I had been to blame. In

such a situation as ours, so many unforeseen and painful events

might happen! She had discovered, however, that we had taken

the ass with us, and this circumstance had consoled her. The

sight of so many useful pieces of wood, and the promise of a

sledge for better security in conveying her provisions for the

table, soon appeased her discontent, and we sat down tranquilly

to breakfast.

I next inspected the booty of the three sportsmen, who had shot,

in all, no less than fifty ortolans and thrushes. As Ernest had

foretold, their first fire missed; afterwards they had had various

luck, now missing and now hitting, and had used so large a quantity

of powder and shot, that when, by their brother’s advice, they

were about to get up the tree and fire from thence, my wife and

I stopped them, recommending a more frugal use of those materials,

as they were our only means of defence, or of procuring food

in future, or at least till we could make another visit to the

vessel. I taught them how to make some snares to be suspended

from the branches of the fig-tree, and advised them to use the

thread of the karata, which is as strong as horse-hair, for the

purpose. What is new always amuses young persons, and the boys

accordingly took a great fancy to this mode of sporting. Jack

succeeded in his very first attempt; I left Francis to assist

him, and took Fritz and Ernest to help me in making the sledge.

As we were all hard at work, for my wife had joined the youngest

boys, we suddenly heard a prodigious clatter among the fowls;

the cock crowed louder than all the rest together, and the hens

ran to and fro, as if they were pursued by a fox. I wonder what

is the matter with the creatures, said my wife, rising; every

day I hear the hens clucking as if they had been laying eggs.

At this moment Ernest happened to look at the monkey, and remarked

that he fixed his piercing eyes on the hens; and when he saw

my wife approaching, driving the hens before her, he jumped quickly

into a hollow place, under one of the roots of the tree, and

hid himself. Ernest ran to the place as soon as he, and was fortunate

enough to seize him, seeing that he held a new-laid egg in his

paw, which he was going to conceal in this place for a future

regale. The monkey sprang immediately to such another hole, and

Ernest followed; here also he found some eggs, and brought them

in his hat to his mother, who received them with great pleasure.

The monkey was so greedy of this food, that he was sure to seize

the eggs as soon as the hens had laid them. We inflicted no other

punishment upon him for this little piece of knavery, than that

of tying him up when the hens were about to lay. By this means,

my wife soon collected a considerable number of eggs, and we

waited with impatience for the time when the hens would sit,

in the hope of seeing their species multiplied.

In the mean while, Jack had got up into the tree, and had suspended

some of the snares to the branches, to catch the little devourers of

our figs; he came down again to bring us the acceptable intelligence,

that our pigeons, which we brought from the vessel, had made

a sort of nest there of some dry grass, and that it already contained

several eggs. I therefore forbade the boys from firing any more

in the tree, for fear of alarming or wounding these gentle creatures.

I also directed, that the snares should be frequently examined,

to see that the pigeons were not caught in them, as they might

be strangled in their efforts to get loose. I should now even

have forbidden the use of the snares, if I had not myself made

them known to the boys, and that so very lately. It is imprudent

at all times, for a tutor to contradict himself, and thus prove

to his pupils that he was wrong in issuing such or such a command;

a single word revoked on the part of the tutor, will occasion

ten to be revoked by the pupil. We should always duly reflect

before we lay a command on a child; but when once the word is

pronounced, it should never be recalled, whether from caprice,

from a disposition to indulge the child, or even from conviction.

My sons had all murmured at my prohibition, in regard to the

gunpowder; and little Francis with his innocent face came running

to tell me, that we need only to sow some of it, and that he

and his brothers were ready to bestow any labour, to have a large

quantity of it at their own disposal. We all laughed heartily

at the idea, and Professor Ernest did not overlook the advantage

of the occasion, to display his science. My little sprig of wisdom,

cried he, we may judge how much you know of what you are talking

about; your field of gunpowder indeed! Do you think then, that

gunpowder comes from seeds, like oats?

_Father._—How else, then, is it produced, Mr. Professor? At least,

you might be so good as to inform your little brother what you

yourself know of its nature, since you laugh at his great ignorance

on the subject.

_Ernest._—I know that it is produced by art, but of the manner

in which it is made, I confess I am myself ignorant. I imagine

that it is prepared from charcoal, since it is so black, and

that sulphur, of which it smells so strong, is mixed with it.

_Father._—Add some saltpetre, and your answer will not be amiss;

the saltpetre is in reality the principal ingredient; mixed with

charcoal, it easily takes fire, and rarefies or expands the air

that is mixed with it, by means of its elastic force. Touched

with a spark of fire, it acts with extraordinary vehemence, and

drives forward with astonishing force, whatever resists its action.

So that balls or shot, impelled by this irresistible force, strike

the object against which they impinge, so as to take away life:

as you and I, and Fritz and Jack, see happen to us every day

in letting off our guns.

The boys now had a thousand questions to propose, which brought

on a sort of lesson in natural philosophy, as well as I could

make it such, with the degree of information I possessed, and

without instruments for experiments. The eldest boys understood

the lesson pretty well, having previously some notion of the

subjects; but little Francis, on hearing me say that the heat

contained in bodies was brought out by motion or friction, asked,

ludicrously enough, whether, in running very fast, he should

not be in danger of being set on fire and burnt?

Your ideas run too fast, my little fellow, said I; but this I

can tell you, that when a young boy like you, uses violent exercise,

he runs at least the risk of inflaming his blood, and getting

into a fever, or some other dangerous disease; and there results

something like the burning you talk of, that may prove no less

dangerous. But my remark is almost equally applicable to a person

who takes too little exercise, and abandons himself to idleness;

for such habits tend to vitiate the humours, and to corrupt the

blood. Thus, my dear children, in this, as in every thing else,

it is advisable to observe a just medium.

During this conversation, I was busily employed upon my sledge,

which was soon completed; and I found that necessity had converted

a preacher of moderate talents into a tolerably good carpenter.

Two bent pieces of wood, the segments of a circle, formed the

outline of my machine, which I fixed in their places, by a straight

piece of wood, placed across, and firmly fixed to the bent pieces

in the middle, and at the rear. I then fastened two ropes to

the front of my work, and my sledge was finished. As I had not

raised my eyes from my work, I did not know what my wife and

the two youngest boys had been about. On looking up, I perceived

that they had been stripping off the feathers from a quantity

of birds, which the boys had killed, and that they afterwards

spitted them on an officer’s sword, which my wife had turned

into this useful kitchen utensil. I approved of the idea; but

I blamed her profusion of dressing more birds at once than we

could eat. She reminded me, that I had myself advised her to half

roast the birds before putting into the butter, to be preserved for

future use. She was in hopes, she said, that as I had now a sledge,

I should not fail of going to Tent House after dinner, to fetch

the cask of butter, and in the mean while, she was endeavouring to

be ready with the birds. I had no objection to this, and immediately

determined on going to Tent House the same day, and requested

my wife to hasten the dinner for that purpose. She replied that

this was already her intention, as she also had a little project

in her head, which I should be informed of, at my return. I,

for my part, had one too, which was to take a bathe in the sea,

and thus refresh myself from the heat and fatigue of my laborious

occupations. I wished that Ernest, who was to accompany me, should

bathe also; while Fritz was to remain at home for the protection

of the family.