CHAPTER XXVII.

_The Malabar eagle, and sago manufactory._

My wife the next morning began the conversation. She told me

the children had been good and diligent, that all of them had

ascended Cape Disappointment together, that they had gathered

wood and made some torches for the night; and, what I could scarcely

think possible, they had ventured to fell an immense palm-tree,

to the top of which Ernest had again climbed for amusement; and

afterwards they undertook the laborious and perilous work of

bringing it down, which they also happily executed. This monarch

of the forests lay prostrate on the ground, and covered a space

of at least seventy feet in length. To effect their purpose,

Ernest had got up the tree a second time, with a long rope which

he fastened tight to the top of it. As soon as he had come down

again, he and Fritz worked with the axe and saw, to cut it through.

When it was nearly divided, they cautiously managed its fall

with the rope, and in this manner they succeeded. But during

their excursion and labours, a somewhat unfortunate visit took

place. A numerous group of monkeys had found their way to the hut:

every drop of the palm-wine we had preserved in our gourd-shells,

these intrusive gentry contrived to swallow; they had upset and

thrown about all the potatoes, stolen the cocoa-nuts, and disturbed,

nay even almost wholly demolished, the order of the branches

and other contrivances we had recourse to for our hut; so that

my children on their return were employed a full hour in repairing

the damage effected by those mischievous creatures. Fritz was

in high spirits with the luck he had met with and secured; he

brought me on his wrist a young bird of prey, of the most beauteous

plumage; he had taken it from a nest in one of the rocks near

the hill at Cape Disappointment. Very young as the bird was,

it had already all its feathers, though they had not yet received

their full colouring; but it was evidently not an European eagle,

and I supposed it to be the beautiful eagle of Malabar[16]. I

viewed it with the admiration it was entitled to:—meeting with

one of these birds is thought a lucky omen; and as this species

of eagle is neither large nor expensive in its food, I was desirous

to train it like a falcon to pursue smaller birds. Fritz had

already covered its eyes and fastened the foot with packthread;

I advised him to hold it often, and for a length of time, on

his hand, and to tame it with hunger as falconers do.

When we had all finished our narratives, my wife began her usual

lamentations upon the subject of so many living and devouring

animals being brought to her, and which she said must in no long

time, from the food they required, become burthensome to us.

I consoled her with some difficulty, by observing that the buffalo

would be a good substitute for the ass; and I established as

an invariable law, that he who wished to have a useful animal

in his service, should also have the care of keeping it. It is

a cruelty, said I, to deprive a feeling creature of its liberty,

for a transient pleasure or amusement to ourselves, and to make

it suffer; we ought, on the contrary, to recompense it for the

privation it would have to endure, by kind treatment and feeding

it well. I declare then, that he who neglects the animals committed

to his charge shall no longer be thought worthy of having so

important a care intrusted to him. This warning intimidated my

hearers; for man is a creature so formed for society, and so

dependent upon it for his comforts and content, that, when by

accidents deprived of intercourse with his own species, he attaches

himself to the brute creation with even warm affection. This

satisfied the kind temper of my wife; and as she was herself

very partial to animals, she promised her sons to take the charge

of one and all of the animals upon herself whenever their absence

from home should render this necessary. We communicated to each

other our hopes that such attentions would form them to more

active, regular, and constant habits of affection and mildness

towards us. I have said, I frequently noticed that treating animals

with kindness tends to produce the benign effects I have been

speaking of.

I next ordered a fire to be lighted and a quantity of green wood

to be put on it, for the purpose of raising a thick smoke, over

which I meant to hang the buffalo meat I had salted, to dry and

preserve it for our future use; and this was done accordingly.

We fixed pieces of it on long forked poles. I cut away what appeared

not quite fresh, and saw our little eagle feast upon it voraciously.

The young buffalo was beginning to browse, but the cow’s milk

was still given it; and Jack succeeded in making his little jackal

drink some occasionally, likewise. We added to the buffalo’s

meal, whose appetite we found to be enormous, a heap of sliced

potatoes, the whole of which he greedily devoured; and this led

us to conclude that the pain from the wound in his nose was subsided,

and that he would soon become tame.

Supper-time was now arrived, and we did not fail to acquit ourselves

at it, as well, to say the least, as our cattle, seasoning our

repast with lively anecdotes and affectionate conversation. The

combat with the buffalos excited much raillery; but we saw that

it was no less intended for compliment also, nor was our design

to make boots and shoes of their hoofs passed over in silence;

the candle-moulds too came in for a share in these their playful

attacks upon what they called the wonderful feats we had performed.

Jack persisted in defending himself, and this he did so cleverly

as to point the laughter at the adversary. The arrangements for

this night were much the same as for the preceding. We left our

meat suspended over the smoke of our fires during our sleep;

we tied the young buffalo by the side of the cow, and were pleased

to see them agree and bid fair to live in peace together. The

dogs were set upon the watch. Fritz resolved to go to bed with

his eaglet fastened on his wrist, and its eyes still bound: it

remained in this state throughout the night without disturbing

its master. The time of repose elapsed so calmly that none of

us awoke to keep in the torchlights, which now for the first

time the industry of the boys had supplied us with, and we did

not get up till after sun-rise. Directly after a moderate breakfast

I chaunted the accustomed summons for our setting out; but my

young ones had some projects in their heads, and neither they

nor their mother were just then in the humour to obey me.

Let us reflect a little first, said my wife: as we had so much

difficulty in felling the palm-tree, would it not be a pity to

lose our labour by leaving it in this place? It is the one from

which Ernest cut out the famous cabbage: as it was thus deprived

of future growth and bearing fruit, we wished to reap benefit

from it in another way; Ernest assures me it is a sago-tree;

if so, the pith would be an excellent ingredient for our soups.

I request you will examine it, and let us see if in any way we

can turn it to account.

I found she was in the right: but in that case it was necessary

to employ a day in the business, since to open from one end to

the other the trunk of a tree sixty feet long was not a trivial

task. I assented however with some readiness, as, independent

of the use of the farinaceous pith, I could, by emptying it,

obtain two handsome and large troughs for the conveyance of water

from Jackal’s river to my wife’s kitchen garden at Tent House,

and thence to my new plantations of trees.

_Fritz._—One of the halves, father, will answer that purpose,

and the other will serve as a conduit for our little stream from

Falcon’s Nest into my pretty bason lined with tortoise-shell;

we then shall be constantly regaled with the agreeable view of

a fountain close to our dwelling:—I fancy it now before my eyes

and that I see its course. And I, for my part, said Ernest, long

for a sight of the sago formed into small grains as I have seen it

in Europe. Can you, father, make it up into that sort of composition?

With your help I think I could. Come, let us set up a famous

manufactory of vermicelli and macaroni! and what other delicacy

shall I say?

_Francis._—Oh! yes, papa, I intreat you, macaroni! it is so nice,

I will assist in making that.

Little glutton! answered I, you would, I imagine, rather assist

in eating up all we can make. I do not however promise that our

manufactory will produce such good and well made articles as

those of Genoa and Naples; but let us first make the sago-paste,

and afterwards work it up for such purposes of magnificence as

in our profound wisdom we may afterwards be led to desire. Have

we not one of our manioc graters here at hand?

Yes certainly, replied Ernest. We were even thinking of making

some of them here for our amusement, but we found we were not

likely to want employment: and he accordingly scampered away

to fetch it me, while the rest crowded round me. Patience, children,

patience, exclaimed I; we are not yet in readiness to use it,

many other matters are previously requisite: in the first place

you must assist me to raise this palm-tree from the ground, and

it must be done by fixing at each end two small cross pieces

or props to support it; to split it open as it lies, would be

a work of too much labour: this done, I shall want several wooden

wedges to keep the cleft open while I am sawing it, and afterwards

a sufficient quantity of water. There is the difficulty, said

my wife; our Falcon’s Stream is too far off, and we have not

yet discovered any spring in the neighbourhood of this place.

_Ernest._—That is of no consequence, mother; I have seen hereabouts

so great an abundance of the plants which contain water, that

we need not be at a loss; for they will fully supply us, if I

could only contrive to get vessels enough to hold it.

We now produced the enormous reeds we had brought home, which

being hollow would answer the purpose of vessels: and as some

time was required to draw off the water from such small tubes,

he and Francis at once set to work; they cut a number of the

plants, which they placed slantingly over the brim of a vessel,

and whilst that was filling they were preparing another. The

rest of us got round the tree, and with our united strength we

soon succeeded in raising the heavy trunk, and the top of it

was then sawed off. We next began to split it through the whole

length, and this the softness of the wood enabled us to effect

with little trouble. We soon reached the pith or marrow that

fills up the middle of the trunk the whole of its length. When

divided, we laid one half on the ground, and we pressed the pith

together with our hands so as to make temporary room for the

pith of the other half of the trunk, which rested still on the

props. We wished to empty it entirely, that we might employ it

as a kneading-trough, leaving merely enough of the pith at both

ends to prevent a running out, and then we proceeded to form

our paste. We had fastened the grater at one end, for the purpose

of squeezing the paste through the small holes as soon as it

was made.

My young manufacturers with stripped arms joyfully fell to work,

and really surpassed my expectation; they brought water in succession

and poured it gradually into the trough, whilst we mixed it with

the flour. In a short time the paste appeared sufficiently fermented;

I then made an aperture at the bottom of the grater on its outside,

and pressed the paste strongly with my hand; the farinaceous

parts passed with ease through the small holes of the grater,

and the ligneous parts blended with particles of wood, which did

not pass, were thrown aside in a heap, in the hope that mushrooms,

&c. might spring from them. My boys were in readiness to receive

in the reed vessels, what fell from the grater, and conveyed

it directly to their mother, whose business was to spread out

the small grains in the sun upon sail cloth for the purpose of

drying them. The subsequent process was the making of vermicelli,

by working up the paste into a thicker consistence and pressing

it more forcibly against the perforations of the grater; they

passed through in slender rolls of different lengths, which were

quickly dried by means of a gentle fire. To remunerate our toil my

wife promised to dress us an excellent dish of this new manufacture,

with some Dutch cheese, similar to Italian macaroni. Thus we

procured a good supply of a wholesome and pleasant food; and

should have had a larger stock of it, had we not been restricted

as to time; but the privilege of renewing the process at pleasure,

by felling a sago-tree, added to some impatience to take home

our two pretty conduits and employ them as proposed, prompted

us to expedite the business. The paste which remained was thrown

upon the mushroom-bed, and watered well to promote a fermentation.

We employed ourselves the remainder of the evening in loading

the cart with our tools and the two halves of the tree. Night

coming on, we retired to our hut, where we enjoyed our usual

repose, and early next morning were ready to return to Falcon’s

Stream. Our buffalo now commenced his service, yoked with the

cow; he supplied the want of the ass, and was very tractable:

it is true I led him by the cord which passed through his nose,

and thus I restrained him within the bounds of his duty whenever

he was disposed to deviate.

We returned the same way as we came, in order to load the cart

with a provision of berries, wax, and elastic gum. I gave up

looking for eggs this day, as I was very desirous to get back

as soon as possible to Falcon’s Stream, to look after the beasts

we had left there. I sent forward Fritz and Jack as a van-guard,

with one of the dogs; they were to cut a commodious and secure

road through the bushes for our cart. The two water conductors,

which were very long, produced numerous difficulties and somewhat

impeded our progress. My sons well performed their task, and

we reached with tolerable speed and without any accident the

wax and gum trees, where we halted to place our sacks filled

with berries in the cart. The elastic gum had not yielded as

much as I expected, from the too rapid thickening caused by an

ardent sun, and an incrustation formed over the incision: we

obtained however about a quart, which sufficed for the experiment

of the impenetrable boots I had so long desired.

We set out again, still preceded by our pioneers, who cleared

the way for us through the little wood of guavas. Suddenly we

heard a dreadful noise which came from our van-guard, and beheld

Fritz and Jack hastening towards us. I began now to fear a tiger

or panther was near at hand, or had perhaps attacked them. Turk

began to bark so frightfully, and Ponto running up to him joined

in so hideous a yell, that I prepared myself, not without terror,

for a bloody conflict. I advanced at the head of my troop, who

expressed their determination to follow me to the assistance

of those I thought in danger, and my high-mettled dogs ran furiously

up to a thicket, where they stopped, and with their noses to

the ground and almost breathless strove to enter it: I had no

doubt some terrible animal was lurking there; and Fritz, who

had seen it through the leaves, confirmed my suspicion; he said

it was about the size of the young buffalo, and that its hair

was black and shaggy. I was going to fire at it promiscuously

in the thicket, when Jack, who had thrown himself on his face

on the ground to have a better view of the animal, got up in

a fit of laughter—It is only, exclaimed he, dame pig, that has

played us another trick—our old sow, who is never tired of playing

off her tricks upon us. He had hardly spoken, when the grunting

of the concealed monster justified the assertion made by Jack.

Half vexed, half laughing, we broke into the midst of the thicket,

where in reality we found our sow stretched supinely on the earth,

but by no means in a state of dreary solitude; the good matron

had round her seven little creatures, which had been littered

a few days, and were sprawling about contending with each other

for the best place near their mother for a hearty meal. This

discovery gave us considerable satisfaction, and we all greeted

the corpulent creature, who seemed to recollect and welcome us

with a sociable kind of grunting, while she licked her young

without any ceremony or show of fear. We rewarded her docility

with potatoes, sweet acorns, and manioc bread; for the boys one and

all readily consented to go without themselves for her accommodation:

they felt obliged to her for the new family she had given them,

and anticipated ideally the pleasure of beholding a nice crisp

suckling pig before the fire. But their mother censured their

greedy impatience and cruelty, in already thinking about roasting

the poor animals on their very entrance into life. A general

consultation took place—should this swinish family be left where

we found it, or conveyed to Falcon’s Stream? Fritz voted for

their being all left to run at large like the wild boars in Europe,

that he might have the sport of hunting them. My wife, like a

good housewife, proposed that two of them at least should be

domesticated for breeding; and as to the old sow, as she was

always running away, it would be better to kill her when done

suckling, and she would afford a large provision of salt meat;—and

her opinion was adopted. For the moment they were suffered to

keep quiet possession of their retreat; we resolved to rear three

of them, and allow the other four to take to the woods, where

they might be hunted if they injured our plantations.

We then, so many adventures ended, pursued our road to Falcon’s

Stream, and arrived there in safety and content;—so true it is,

that home is always dear and sacred to the heart, and anticipated

with delight. All was in due order, and our domestic animals

welcomed our return in their own jargon and manner, but which

did not fail to be expressive of their satisfaction in seeing

us again. We threw them some of the food we knew them to be the

most partial to, which they greedily accepted, and then voluntarily

went back to their usual stand. It was necessary to practise

a measure dictated by prudence, which was to tie up again the

buffalo and jackal, to inure them by degrees to confinement;

and the handsome Malabar eagle shared the same fate: Fritz deemed

himself remarkably clever in placing it near the parrot on the

root of a tree; he fastened it with a piece of packthread of

sufficient length to allow it free motion, and uncovered its

eyes: till then the bird had been tolerably quiet; but the instant

it was restored to light, it fell into a species of rage that

surprised us; it proudly raised its head; its feathers became

ruffled, and its eye-balls seemed to whirl in their orbits and

dart out vivid lightnings. All the poultry was terrified and

fled; but the poor luckless parrot was too near the sanguinary

creature to escape. Before we were aware of the danger, it was

seized and mangled by the formidable hooked beak of the eagle

in an almost inconceivably short space of time. Fritz vented

his anger in loud, severe, and passionate reproaches: he would

have killed the murderer on the spot, had not Ernest run up and

entreated him to spare its life: Parrots, said he, we shall find

in plenty, but never perhaps so beauteous, so magnificent a bird

as this eagle, which, as father observes, we may train for hawking.

You may too blame only yourself, continued Ernest, for the parrot’s

death;—why did you uncover the eagle’s eyes? If you had consulted

me, I could have told you that falconers keep them covered six

weeks, till they are completely tamed. But now, brother, let

me for a certain time have the care of him, let me manage the

unruly fellow; he shall soon, in consequence of the methods I

shall use, be as tractable and submissive as a new-born puppy;

say then that you consent, I will pledge myself you shall not

be disappointed.

Yes, forsooth, said Fritz, but I shall not give you my eagle

neither; it is mine, and I will not part with it to anyone; I

can bring it up myself, only tell me how; it will be very unkind

not to teach me the way—Father, is not Ernest very ungenerous

to keep his management of eagles a secret, and wanting to bring

it up himself?—Ernest, by the by, had signified his refusal by

a shake of the head.

Gently, gently, children, said I: Fritz, listen to a little moral

fable. “A dog placed himself on a truss of straw, which he considered

as his property. An ass and an ox extremely hungry entreated

permission to eat some of it, as it could not serve him for food;

but the surly selfish cur would not even suffer them to approach

it. Envious animal, said the ox, _eat thy straw, or permit it

to be eaten by another;_ but the dog was deaf to their entreaties,

and dismissed them with snarling selfishness.” Now tell me, boy,

is not your conduct on this occasion similar to the selfish dog’s?

You know not how to tame your eagle, you a few minutes ago would

even have inflicted death upon it, and now you refuse to give

it to Ernest, who promises to bring it up, because you are envious

of his knowing more than you do: as he has reflected more than

you on what he has read, it is but just he should wish to derive

some advantage from his reading and knowledge; you cannot do

less than make him a civil offer of something for his secret,

if you persist in not resigning your eagle. Should Ernest after

this, have the generosity to impart it without the reward, the

greater will be his merit, and I shall be pleased with you both.

Right, father, replied Fritz briskly; well, I will give him my

monkey if he chooses to have it.—An eagle is a more noble and

heroical animal; as I found it, I mean to keep it; but you will

teach me to tame it? What say you, Ernest? Do you accept my offer?

_Ernest._—With all my heart; but I value the heroism you talk

of, very little: I for my part prefer being learned; you shall be

knight of the eagle if you think proper, and I your historiographer

and poet. I will write a grand epic poem to record the splendid

deeds of the knight and his eagle.

_Fritz._—Poor jeering this, master Ernest! but, no matter; take

the monkey, and teach me to tame my eagle: How shall I render

it more docile and quiet?

_Ernest._—I have read somewhere that the Caribs puff tobacco-smoke

into the nostrils of the birds of prey and of the parrots they

catch, until they are giddy and almost senseless;—this stupefaction

over, they are no longer wild and untractable.

_Fritz._—And this is the great witchcraft! Tobacco-smoke! it

was worth puffing off to be sure! Your secret is not equivalent

to the property of my monkey, is it, Father?

Why not? If the bargain is fair, as I think it is, it should

by all means hold good; if not, Ernest will not require any thing

for useless counsel; but I have reason to think well of the method,

and therefore approve of it. Bees may be stupefied in the same

manner, so as to take them without resistance, or how could the

honey-comb be obtained? The notion I assure you, boys, is far

from bad.

_Francis._—Oh! then there is a way to hinder the naughty bees

from stinging poor little boys who want just to taste their honey?

Good papa, pray go and smoke awhile opposite that hole in the

tree, and make these stinging gentry sleep long enough for us

to take away at least half of their honey without being devoured

by them.

Fritz having consented to the experiment, took some tobacco and

a pipe, of which we had found plenty in the sailors’ chests,

and began to smoke, at the same time gradually approaching the

unruly bird. As soon as it was somewhat composed, he replaced

the fillet over the eyes, and smoked close to its beak and nostrils

so effectually, that it became motionless on the spot, and had

the exact air of a stuffed bird. Fritz thought it dead, and was

inclined to be angry with his brother; but I told him it would

not hold on the perch if it were lifeless, and that its head

alone was affected,—and so it proved. The favourite came to itself

by degrees, and made no noise when its eyes were unbound; it

looked at us with an air of surprise, but void of fury, and grew

tamer and calmer every day. The monkey was adjudged unanimously

to Ernest, who took possession of it the same evening, and made

it lie down near him. We all passed an excellent night in our

green castle, and in our good beds, which we returned to with

abundant satisfaction.