CHAPTER XVIII.

CHAPTER XVIII.

_The tortoise harnessed._

The wind was in a humour favourable to our undertaking, and briskly

swelled our sail; the sea was calm, and we advanced without fear

at a considerable rate. Fritz had been looking steadfastly for

some time at something of a large size which was floating at

some distance on the water, and he now desired me to take the

glass and see what it could be. I soon perceived distinctly that

it was a tortoise, which, agreeably to the habits of its singular

species, had fallen asleep in the sun on the surface of the water,

and we observed that it did not in the least appear sensible

of our approach. No sooner had Fritz gained this information,

than he earnestly entreated me to steer softly within view of

so extraordinary a creature, that he might examine it at his

ease. I readily consented; but as his back was towards me, and

the sail was between us, I did not observe what he was about,

till a violent jerk of the boat, a sudden turning of the windlass,

and then a second jerk, accompanied by a rapid motion of the

boat, gave me the necessary explanation. For Heaven’s sake what

are you about, Fritz? exclaimed I. Have you a mind to destroy

us with your thoughtlessness, which has put it out of my power

to govern the boat?

——I have caught him,—I touched him, cried Fritz, without hearing

one word I had been saying.—The tortoise is ours, it cannot escape,

father! Is not this then a valuable prize, for it will furnish

dinners for us all for many weeks!

I soon admitted the idea that in reality the harpoon had secured

the animal, which, feeling itself wounded, thus agitated the

vessel in its endeavours to be disengaged, for the rope of the

harpoon was necessarily fastened at the other end to the windlass.

I quickly pulled down the sail, and seizing a hatchet, sprung

to the boat’s head to cut the rope, and let the harpoon and the

tortoise go; but Fritz caught hold of my arm, conjuring me to

wait a moment, there being no immediate cause for alarm, and

not so hastily bring upon him the mortification of losing, at

one stroke, the harpoon, the rope, and the tortoise; he proposed

watching himself, with the hatchet in his hand to cut the rope

suddenly should any sign of danger appear. I yielded to his

entreaties, after a due exhortation to him to take good care not

to upset the boat, or run her upon the rocks.

Thus then, drawn along by the tortoise, we proceeded with a hazardous

rapidity, and having no small difficulty to keep the rudder in

a straight direction, and so to steady the boat, as to prevent

her yielding to the irregular motions of so singular a conductor.

In a little time I observed that the creature was making for

the sea; I therefore again hoisted the sail; and as the wind

was to the land, and very brisk, the tortoise found resistance

of no avail: he accordingly fell into the track we desired to

take, and we soon gained the current which had always received

us in our visits to and from the wreck: he drew us straight towards

our usual place of landing, and by good fortune without striking

upon any of the rocks which so much abound in that spot. We,

however, did not disembark without encountering one difficult

adventure. I perceived that the state of the tide was such, that

we should be thrown upon one of the sand-banks, and this accordingly

took place: we were at this time within a gun-shot of the shore;

the boat, though driven with violence, remained perfectly upright

in the sand. I stepped into the water, which did not reach far

above my knees, for the purpose of conferring upon our conductor

his just reward for the alarm he had caused us, when he suddenly

gave a plunge, and I saw him no more; following the rope, I however

soon found the tortoise stretched at length at the bottom of

the water, where it was so shallow that I was not long in finding

means to put an end to his pain by cutting off his head with

the hatchet; when he soon bled to death. Being now near Tent-House,

Fritz gave a halloo, and fired a gun, to apprise our relatives

that we were not only arrived, but arrived in triumph. This soon

produced the desired effect: the good mother and her three young

ones soon appeared, running towards us; upon which Fritz jumped

out of the boat, placed the head of our sea-prize on the muzzle

of his gun, and walked to shore, which I reached at the same

moment; and all were once more received with the kindest salutations,

and such questions as kindness best knows how to propose.

After some gentle reproaches from my wife, for leaving her and

the boys for so long a time, the history of the tortoise was

related in due form, and excited due interest and much merriment

in our auditors. The tender-hearted mother, after heaving a sigh

for the hard fate of the creature, began to shudder at the thought

of the danger we had been exposed to, and the escape we had effected.

We all now fell to a new examination of the adventure, and were

struck with surprise that Fritz should so exactly have hit the

vulnerable part of the animal, at the first plunge of the harpoon:

next that the tortoise should have gone to sleep, and left this

very part exposed, contrary to his usual habit of drawing the

neck within his shell; and lastly, that with the harpoon stuck

in his flesh, and sunk still deeper by the act of drawing in

his head to save himself, he should yet have been able to pull

a heavy laden boat and a raft tied to it, along, with even an

alarming degree of rapidity.

Our conversation being ended, I requested my wife to go with

two of the younger boys to Falcon’s Stream, and fetch the sledge

and the beasts of burden, that we might not fail of seeing at

least a part of our booty from the ship put safely under shelter

the same evening. A tempest, or even the tide, might sweep away

the whole during the night! We took every precaution in our power

against the latter danger, by fixing the boat and the raft, now,

at the time of its reflux, as securely as we could without an

anchor. I rolled two prodigious masses of lead, with the assistance

of levers, from the raft upon the shore, and then tied a rope

to each, the other ends of which were fastened, one to the raft,

and the other to the boat, and thus satisfied myself that they

could not easily be forced away.

While we were employed on this scheme, the sledge arrived, and

we immediately placed the tortoise upon it, and also some other

articles of light weight, such as mattresses, pieces of linen,

&c.; for I reckoned that the animal itself weighed at least three

quintals, the strength of our whole party was found necessary

to move it from the raft to the sledge: we therefore all set

out together to unload it again at Falcon’s Stream. We pursued

our way thither with the utmost gaiety of heart, and found the

time pass both agreeably and quickly, in answering the numerous

questions with which the three youngest boys assailed us, as

to the nature and amount of the treasures we had brought from

the vessel. The chest containing the articles in silver, and

another filled with trinkets and utensils made of different kinds

of metals, the most powerfully excited their interest; for Fritz

had dropped a hint of what was in them, and nothing could exceed

the measure of their curiosity.—Are they left on the raft or

in the boat? asked Ernest. We will open them to-morrow, and I

shall have my watch.

_Jack._—I assure you, I shall not be content with only a watch;

I must have, since I hear there are so many, a snuff-box also.

_Francis._—And I shall ask for a pretty purse filled with louis.

_Father._—Vastly well imagined, my young ones.—Jack intends then,

I presume, to take now and then a pinch of the snuff he has not

got, and Francis perhaps means to sow his louis that they may

produce him a crop.

_Jack._—Now, father, you are for this once mistaken; I have no

liking for snuff, and know very well we have not any: what I

want the box for is, to preserve in it the seeds I mean to collect

from all the charming plants that we see around us, as, should

we ever return to Europe, I could then have them in our garden.

I have also found some chaffers, and different kinds of flies,

which I should also be glad to keep.

_Francis._—And I should keep my money to buy some of the nice

cakes mamma used to give us. If we stay here long, I dare say

there will be a fair; and then I will buy as many as will last

us all a very long time, for I like sweet cakes better than the

hard biscuits mamma gives us now.

_Father._—You will wait for a fair long enough to tire the patience

of a little boy like you, Francis; but if you are so fond of

sweet cakes, I should advise you to make them yourself, with

some of the honey you get so cleverly.—The poor child blushed

like scarlet; he, a few days before, had discovered a swarm of

bees and some fine honey-combs in a tree, and had attempted to

beat down a little of them with a stick:—the whole swarm rushed

out enraged, and lighted on him, so that his face and hands were

severely stung: he thus paid dear for his discovery, which might,

however, at some time or other, prove a useful acquisition to

us.

In this trifling kind of prate we beguiled the time, till we

reached the foot of our castle. Our first concern, now, was the

tortoise, which we immediately turned on his back, that we might

strip off the shell, and make use of some of the flesh while

it was fresh. My wife expressed her fear that we should fail

in our attempt; but taking my hatchet, I separated the upper

and under shell all round, which were joined together by cartilages.

The upper shell of the tortoise is extremely convex; the under,

on the contrary, is nearly flat. Having succeeded in dividing

them, I cut away as much of the flesh of the animal as was sufficient

for a meal, and then laid the remaining mass carefully and neatly

on the under shell, which served as a dish, recommending to my

wife to cook what I had cut off, on the other shell, with no

other seasoning than a little salt, and pledged myself that she

would by this means produce a most luxurious food.

My wife asked leave, however, to take away the _green_-coloured

part of the flesh, which she said she could not even look at

without distaste.—I answered that she was wrong in this; that

it was not unusual, for a thing that displeased the eye, to be

agreeable to the taste: I informed her that the green was the

fat of the animal, and would add to the fine flavour and general

moisture of the dish: but, added I, if you think it is too abundant,

you can take a part and preserve it, by melting, for future use. We

will then, said I, put what we mean to keep in salt, and distribute

the head, the entrails, and the feet to the dogs; for all, you

know, must live.

Oh dear papa, cried Francis, do give me the shell, it will be

such a pretty plaything!

No, no, bawled out another: and one and all contended for the

preference. I imposed silence, declaring that the right was entirely

in Fritz, since it was he who had harpooned the animal, who,

but for his dexterity and skill, would be at this moment existing

in the sea.—But, continued I, it may be well to ask what each

of you thought of doing with the shell, if he had obtained it?

_Ernest._—I should turn it into a shield to defend myself with,

if the savages should come upon us.

_Father._—Ah, there is my egotist again; this is as I expected;

but let us see in what way you would use it? You would fling

it across your shoulders no doubt, and take to your heels manfully.—I

fancy I have guessed right, my poor Ernest, have I not?—And you,

Jack, what have you to say?

_Jack._—I should make a nice little boat of it, which would help

to amuse us all. I was thinking how cleverly we could fill it

with potatoes, or the other things we want to take from Tent-House

to Falcon’s Nest; it would glide along so nicely with the stream,

and we should be saved all the fatigue we now have in carrying

them.

_Father._—Your scheme, I grant, is not ill-imagined; but a small

raft or an old chest would do just as well for your purpose.—And

now for my little Francis; I wonder what pretty plan he had thought

of?

_Francis._—I thought I should build a little house, papa, and

the shell would make such a nice roof to it!

_Father._—Vastly well, my lads, if we had only our amusement

or our ease to think of; but I want you all to form the habit

of thinking and acting for the general good, rather than of what

will most gratify or accommodate his single self.—Now, then,

let me ask to what use Fritz, the only rightful claimant to the

shell, had intended to apply it?

_Fritz._—I thought, father, of cleaning it thoroughly, and fixing

it by the side of our river, and keeping it always full of pure

water for my mother’s use, when she has to wash the linen or

cook our victuals.

_Father._—Excellent, excellent, my boy! all honour to the founder

of the _pure water-tub!_ This is what I call _thinking for the

general good._ And we will take care to execute the idea as soon

as we can prepare some clay, as a solid foundation for its bottom.

_Jack._—Hah, hah! Now then it is my turn; for I have got some

clay, which I have put by to keep for use, behind those old roots

yonder.

_Father._—And where did you get it, boy?

_Mother._—Oh, you may apply to me for this part of the information;

to my cost I know where the clay was got.—This morning early,

my young hero falls to digging and scrambling on the hill you

see to the right, and home he comes with the news that he has

found a bed of clay; but in so dirty a condition himself, that

we were obliged to think next of the washing-tub.

_Jack._—And if I had minded a little dirt, mother, I should not

have discovered this bed of clay, which you will see will be

of great use to us. As I was returning from looking for potatoes,

I thought I would take the high path along the river, just to

see how rapidly it runs and forms those nice cascades: by and

by I came to a large slope, watered by the river; it was so slippery

that I could not keep upon my legs: so I fell, and dirtied myself

all over: on looking, I saw that the ground was all of clay,

and almost liquid, so I made some of it into balls, and brought

them home.

_Mother._—And boasted of your discovery as if you had made it

in consequence of the most earnest desire to be of use, while

the benefit was the result of chance alone. But I will not put

you further to the blush, my boy; you at last confess the truth,

and for this deserve our praise.

_Ernest._—When the water-tub is complete, I will put the roots

I have found to soak a little in it, for they are now extremely

dry. I do not exactly know what they are; they look something

like the radish or horseradish, but the plant from which I took

them was almost the size of a bush: being ignorant, however,

of its name or nature, I have not yet ventured to taste the roots,

though I saw our sow eat heartily of them.

_Father._—It was quite right to be cautious my son: but let me

look at these roots. I am always glad to hear that you observe

and reflect upon all the objects which fall in your way. How

did you first discover them?

_Ernest._—I was rambling about, father, and met with the sow,

who with her snout was turning up the earth under the plant I

have been speaking of, and stopped only to chew and swallow greedily

something she seemed to find there. I drove her away; and on

looking into the place, I found a knot of roots, which I tore

out and brought home.

_Father._—If my suspicion is right, you have made a beneficial

discovery, which with the assistance of our potatoes may furnish

us the means of existence as long as we may remain in this island!

I am tolerably certain that these roots are _manioc_, of which

the natives of the West Indies make a sort of bread or cake which

they call _cassave_. But if we would make this use of it, we

must first carry it through a certain preparation, without which

these roots possess pernicious properties. If you are sure of

finding the same place, or we can collect enough in any other, we

will secure a sufficiently large quantity for our first experiment,

which I have great confidence will succeed.

By the time of ending this discourse, we had also finished unloading

the sledge, and I bade the three eldest boys accompany me to

fetch another load before it should be dark. We left Francis

and his mother busy in preparing what we indeed stood much in

need of after a day of such fatigue, a refreshing meal for supper,

the tortoise having presented itself most opportunely for this

effect. I promise you, cried my wife, as we were moving off,

you shall not at your return find reason to complain.

As we walked along, Fritz asked me if this handsome shell was

of the kind so much valued in Europe for making into boxes, combs,

&c.? and if it was not a pity to use it for a water-tub?

I replied, that in our deserted situation the utility of a thing

formed its greatest, and indeed only value. According to this way

of reasoning then, were your water-tub of diamonds, it would be of no

more worth to us than the rudest stone, if in such a form as to be

able to contain water. However, dear boy, I shall inform you, for

your consolation, that our tortoise, which makes such excellent food,

is not of the species, the shells of which are so much esteemed for

the uses you have mentioned. This latter kind, which is called

_caret_, does not furnish a wholesome food, its flesh being no less

remarkable for its bad and unpalatable properties, than those

of our tortoise for savouriness and nourishment. The shell of

the caret tortoise is prepared for use by the action of

heat, which separates the layer that from its colour and transparency

is so attractive, from the inferior and useless parts. It is

usual to preserve even the clippings of the real tortoise shell

and unite them by heat for making articles of small price; but

these are much more liable to break than the former, and of course

possess very little of their beauty.

We now reached the raft, and took from it as many effects as

the sledge could hold, or the animals draw along. The first object

of my attention was to secure two chests which contained the

clothes of my family, which I well knew would afford the highest

gratification to my exemplary wife, who had frequently lamented

that they were all compelled to wear clothes that were not their

own; reminding her at every moment, she said, how much they might

be wanted by their proper claimants. I reckoned also on finding

in one of the chests some books on interesting subjects, and

principally a large handsomely printed Bible. I added to these,

four cart-wheels and a hand-mill for grinding; which, now that

we had discovered the manioc, I considered of signal importance.

These and a few other articles completed our present load.

On our return to Falcon’s Nest, we found my wife looking anxiously

for our arrival, and ready with the welcome she had promised,

of an ample and agreeable repast; nor was her kind humour diminished

by the view of the acquisitions we now added to her store of

necessaries. Before she had well examined them, she drew me,

with one of her sweetest smiles, by the arm,—Step this way, said

she, and I too will produce something that will both refresh

and please you. And leading to the shade of a tree,—This, continued

she, is the work I performed in your absence, pointing to a cask

of tolerable size, half-sunk into the ground, and the rest covered

over with branches of trees. She then applied a small cork-screw

to the side, and filling the shell of a cocoa-nut with the contents,

presented it to me. I found the liquor equal to the best canary

I had ever tasted.—How then, said I, have you performed this

new miracle? I cannot believe the enchanted bag produced it.—Not

exactly, replied she; for this time it was an obliging white

wave which threw on shore the agreeable liquid with which I have

now the pleasure to regale you. I took a little ramble in your

absence yesterday, to see what I could find, and behold how well

my trouble was rewarded! The boys ran for the sledge, and had

but little difficulty in getting it to Falcon’s Stream, where

our next care was to dig a place in the earth, to receive and

keep it cool. We guessed it must contain some sort of wine; but

to be quite sure, Ernest and Jack bored a small hole in the side,

and inserting a hollow reed, they contrived to taste it, and

assured me the cask was filled with a most delicious beverage.

I now thought it was high time to forbid their proceeding any

further with the _tasting_, fearing for the effect on their poor

heads; and I closed up the hole with a small piece of wood. I

have nothing more to relate, but that the boys kept the secret,

as I desired them.

My wife and I agreed that we would now recompense them, by giving

each a small glass of the precious liquor; but the young creatures

took such a fancy to it, that they obtained again and again a

little more, till at last we perceived their spirits so much

raised, that we were obliged to refuse their further entreaties

with gravity and firmness; observing to them, that man is required

to restrain his appetite, and not to abuse, by excesses, the

good things a bountiful Providence allows us for the purpose

of rejoicing our hearts and strengthening our bodies when used

with moderation.

By means of this little lecture I succeeded in appeasing their

turbulence, and in drawing them from the dangerous vicinity of

the cask. For my own part, the generous character of the wine

had so invigorated me, that I found myself able to complete my

day’s work, by drawing up the mattresses we had brought from

the ship, to our chamber in the tree, by means of a pulley. When

I had laid them along to advantage, they looked so inviting,

that I could scarcely resist my desire of at once committing

myself to the kind relief they seemed to offer to my exhausted

strength.

But now the tortoise, through the voice of my wife, laid claim

to my attention. The savoury smell ascended to our castle; I

hastened down, and we all partook heartily of the luxurious treat.

We returned thanks to God, and speedily retired to taste the

blessing of sweet and sound repose upon our mattresses.