The Swiss Family Robinson

edible worms-Return with sugar-canes to Falconhurst-Candle-making-How to make butter without a churn-Plant trees and adorn Tentholm-Last visit to the wreck-The first ducklings on the island-Falconhurs

in our absence-Fritz's pet-Sago manufacture-Meet with o

s to return to the Calabash Wood, to fetch the sle

with their mother, intending to explore beyond the chain of roc

whit the worse for the fright we had given her the previous day-in fact, she appeared more friendly di

ents, until Fritz fired and shot a beautiful bluejay and a couple

ears, and put us instantly on the alert, because it appeared like the dull thump

d with green. He was ruffling his wings, erecting his tail and neck feathers, strutting and wheeling about in a most strange and stately fashion. After maneuvering for some time in this manner, greatly to the edification of a party of birds resembling him, but without any ruff, who, assembled round the stump, were enjoying his performances, he spread out his tail like a fan, stiffen

play was at an end; my over-hasty son had changed the pretty comedy into a sad and needless tragedy. T

itz for firing without my leave. I felt sure the bird was the ruffed grouse, and a very fine s

to explore, as I had intended, a line of cliff and rocky hills, which, at more or less

netrate the interior of the country, or to ascertain positively

anioc, potatoes, and many plants unknown to us; pleasant streamlets wat

and straining these berries, we might easily succeed in making candles, and afford very great satisfaction to the mother, who did not at all approve of having to lay her work aside and retire to rest the moment the sun set. The greenish wax to be obtai

f grass, straws, and fibers covered them all, and sheltered the community from rain and the heat of the sun. There were numbers of openings into the irregular sides of the group of dwellings, the nests resembling different apartments in a house common to all; twigs and small branches emerged here and there from the walls, and served as perches fo

isement he little expected; for, reaching far back into the nest, his finger was seized and sharply bitten by a very strong beak, so that with a cry he withdrew his hand, and shook it vigorously to lessen the pain. Recovering from the surprise, he again and more resolutely seized the unkind bi

, but a very pretty small green parrot, with which he was greatly pleased, and which he at once dete

on our way; their cheerful, sociable habits, and the instinct which prompted

and live together in a very remarkable way. Among insects, bees, wasps, and ants are well known as social architects

"it is most amusing to see how they carry on th

?" inquired I, to see how far he understood the process; "carry

va which is produced from an egg. I know they are called

hing the little ants of your native country, how delighted and astonished you woul

at they defy equally sunshine and rain. They are, within, divided into regular streets, galleries, vaults, and nurser

ays of King Solomon as a model of indust

r insects, and even four-footed beasts prey upon them. Chief among the latter is the ant-bear, or tamanoir, of South America, a large creature six or seven feet in length, covered with long coarse hair, drooping like a heavy plume over the hind quarters. The head is wonderfully elongated and very narrow; it is destitute of teeth, and the tongue resembles somewhat a great red ea

inches in length, has a shorter and more natural looki

is subject, as it interested my boy amazingly; and occu

road thick leaves, we paused to examine them; they bore a round,

so that he must needs stop to scrape off as much as he could. He rejoined me presently, attempting to soften what he had collected in his hands; but findi

gum is quite elastic! Can i

able discovery that would be, indeed; a

her?" inquired Fritz. "I have only see

ed coatings of the gum when just fresh from the trees, and when hardened and sufficiently thick, they broke the mold, shook out the fragments, and hung the bottles in the smoke, when they became firmer and of a dark color. While moist, the savages were in the habit of drawing rude figures and lines on the resin by way of ornament; these marks you may have observe

saw the bay extending before us, and the great promontory we called

, I had not previously noticed. One of these had been broken by the wind, and I saw that the pith

ollected that I had heard of them before as feeding on the sa

kindling a fire, and placing some half-dozen, sprinkled

d; and, putting one like a pat of butter on a baked potato, I boldly swallowed it and liked it so much that several others followed i

pting to penetrate it, and made our way toward the sugar brake near Cape Disappointment. This we could not pass wi

d, everything placed on the sledge, and our patient beast began cal

e was as warm as usual-all we had to tell listened to with the greatest interest, all we had t

er; then, ascending to our tree-castle, and drawing up the ladder after us, we beto

the word candle on their lips. When they were thoroughly roused they continued to talk candles; all breakfast-time, candles were

d I; "let us be

at work. We first picked off the berries and threw them into a large shallow iron vessel placed on the fire. The green, sweet-scented wax was rapidly melted, rising to the surface of the juice yielded by the berries. This we skimmed off and placed in a separate pot by the fire, ready for use; repeating the operation several times, until we had collected sufficient liquid wax for our purpose. I then took the wicks my wife had prepared, and dipped them one after the other in

ed with the success

w to make butter. Day after day I have the annoyance of seeing a large supply of good cream go ba

"not that I can claim the honor of the invention of my plan; that is due to th

small hole at one end and well hollowed out and cleaned; this I

e operation, while I turn carpenter and ma

them fastened a square piece of sailcloth by four cords attached to the corners. In this cradle they place

k, "open the gourd and take the conten

s were delighted with the sight of

icle it was, but strong enough for any purpose to which we might put

the arched roots of our great mangrove, and the rest of the trees in suitable spots; some near Falconhurst, and others away over Jackal River, to adorn Tentholm. Tentholm had been the subject of serious thoughts to me for some time past, and I now turned all my attention thither. It was not my ambition to make it beautiful, but to form of it a safe place of refuge in a case of emergency. My firs

ength, and this I encouraged by making them practise running, leaping, climbing, and swimming; I also saw, however, that it was having a less satisfactory effect upon their clothes, which, though a short time before remarkably neat, were now, in spite of the busy mother's mending and patching, most untidy and disreputab

e slightest value must be left on board; rum

enches, window shutters, bolts and locks, barrels of pitch, all were soon in a heap on the deck. We loaded the pinna

e will be the end of the brave ship which carried us from Switzerland.

might save. I made fast to it a couple of empty casks, that when the ship went up

of the wreck. Darkness came on. Suddenly a vivid pillar of fire rose from the black wate

for the best; and yet that night we went to bed with a feeling o

casks; this I got on shore, and hauling it up among the rocks, stored under it the powder casks we had landed the day before. Collecting all these valuables gave us some little trouble, and while we were thus engaged my wife brought us good

fford duck and green peas some day soon, an

our family at Falconhurst, and I annou

intment and the surrounding country, my wife and the younger boys begged hard to be allowed to accompany me. I consented; and next morning we started, bringing with us the cart, drawn by the cow and ass, and laden with everything necessary for an expedition of several days-a tent, provisions, a large supply of ammunitions, an

f the berries that we might renew our stock of candles. The berries were soon plucked; and

busily engaged in stabbing the bark and placing vessels beneath to catch the sap. We again moved forward; and, crossing the palm wood, entered upon a delightful plain bound

h our tent here and stay here always instead

out on us at night. No, no, thank you, I much prefer our nest in the tree, or our impregnable position at Tentholm. We must make this our headq

and some to collect sugar-cane. We then returned; and, as supper was still not ready and the boys were hungry, they decided to obtain some cocoan

said Fritz, "up

ly they struggled upward, but to no purpose; before they had accomplished one

epared, and which I now bound on to their legs. Thus equipped they again attempted the ascent, and with a loop of rope passed round their body and the trunk of t

them. "Give me a cocoanut shell," said he. I gave him one, and he put it in his pocket. He ran to a tree, and, with an agility which surprised us all, quickly reached the top. No sooner had he done so than Fritz and Jack burst into a roar of laughter. He had swarmed a tree whi

o your father; that is only half my contributi

leaves at its summit is greatly prized by the South Americ

racter; come down and receive the thanks of th

he second half of my contribution; I hope it

nd, advancing to his mother, presented her

ich the greatest connoisseur w

and sparkling. My wife tasted it. "Excellent, excellent

turn, and Ernest receive

ud bray, and, without the least apparent cause, pricked up his ears, threw up his heels, and galloped off into the thicket of bamboos. We followed

udden flight. I knew not whether he was aware, by instinct, of the approach of some fierce wild beast. I said nothing of thi

sign of him was to be seen. As we could not afford to lose so valuable a beast, I determined to leave no attempt untried to regain him. We hurriedly breakfasted, and, as I required

this guide failed us altogether, for the donkey seemed to have joined in with a herd of some larger animals, with whose hoof-prints his had mingled. I now almost turned back in despair

mboo marsh, and get as near as possible to the animals without disturbing them. The bamboos were huge, many of them over thirty feet in height; and, as we made our way through them, I remembered an account of the giant cane of South America, which is greatly prized by the Indians on account of its extreme usefulness; the reeds themselves make masts for their canoes, while each joint will form a cask or box. I was delighted, for I had little doubt that the bamboos we were

my feet. His fall checked the advance of the rest. They halted, snuffed the air, turned tail, and galloped off across the plain. They were gone, but the dogs still held gallantly to the calf. They dragged and tussled with him, but with their utmost efforts they could not bring him to the ground. How to assist them without shooting the poor beast I knew not; and this I was unwilling to do, for I hoped that, if we could but capture him alive, we might in time manage to tame him, and use hi

ooked at the poor beast, lying panting on

to fasten his forelegs together, a

cking them in salt in my wallet, abandoned the rest to the dogs. They fell upon it greedily, and we retired under the shade to enjoy a meal after our hard work. The dogs, however, were not to have undisputed possession of the carcass; vultures, crows, and other birds of prey, with that marvelous instinct which always leads them to a dead body, quickly filled the air, and, with discordant cries, swooped down upon the buffalo. An amusing contest ensued; the dogs again and again drove off the intruders, and they, as often, returned re-enforced by others who swarmed to the spot. Jack, with his usual impetuosity, wished to sen

cquisition. As we repassed the rocky bed of a stream we had crossed in the morning, Juno dashed ahead, and was about to rush into a cleft between the rocks, when the appearance of a large jackal suddenly checked her further progress. Both dogs

ls, and that he was quite sure the old one was not there. He then crept in, followed closely by the dogs, and presently emerged, bearing in his arms a handsome cub of a beautiful golden yellow and about the size of a small cat. He was the only one of the brood he had managed to save, for Turk and Juno, without

dwarf-palm, whose long, sharp leaves form an excellent barrier if it is planted as a hedge. I determined to return and get some young pl

answer a host of questions concerning their capture, and to give a minute account of the affray with the buffaloes. This he did, with graphic power

ich Jack and I were heartily thankful, my wife and her

. While they had been thus variously employed, a troop of apes had visited the tent, and when they returned, they found the place ransacked and turned upside down. The provisions were eaten and gnawed, the potatoes thrown about, the milk drunk and spilt; every box had been peeped into, every pot and pan had been

ointment, had discovered a young eaglet which Ernest declared to be a Malabar or Indian eagle; he was much p

g to have your mother troubled with the care of them all; each must look after his own, and if

prepared the buffalo meat I had brought. I lit a large fire of green wood, and in the smoke of this thoroughly dried both the tongue

t, and began to prepare fo

wn, and I have been thinking too, that, if we could but split the tree, we might make a couple of long useful tro

abandon such a valuable prize as a sago palm. I would pu

ished, our task was less difficult, for with a heavy mallet we forced the wedge in further and further, until at length the trunk was split in twain. From one half of the trunk we then r

e other half of the trunk, "off with your coats and turn

loaded the cart with the sago, a store of cocoanuts, and our other possessions, that we might be ready to start early on the following morning. As the sun rose above the horizon, we packed up our tent and set forth, a goodly caravan. I thought it unfair to the cow to make her drag such a load as we now had alone, and determined if possible to make the young buffalo take the place of our lost donkey

nd a grassy glade, and I as nearly as possible followed their example, for in the center, surrounded by a promising litter, lay our old sow, whose squeals, previously so alarming, were now subsiding into comfortable grunts of recognition. I did not join my boys in their triumphal dance, but I was nevertheless very much pleased at the sight of

his pet should at present do no harm, secured him by the leg to a root of a fig tree and uncovered his eyes. In a moment the aspect of the bird was changed; with his sight returned all his savage instincts, he flapped his wings, raised his

eature, he is but following his natural inst

ally to kill the bird, but I can't give him up; tell

mark of your gratitude. Take a pipe and tobacco, and send the smoke all around his head, so that he

he consented to make the attempt. He soon seated himself beneath the bird, who still struggled furiously, and puffed cloud after cloud upward,

he hooded the bird, "capita