CHAPTER XXXIV

Gourd Plantation—Monkey Root or Ginseng—Bird Snares

We all remembered the bountiful provision we had derived from the blackbirds and ortolans that had settled upon our giant tree at Falcon’s Nest the preceding year. The time had now arrived for their reappearance, and we resolved to leave the grotto, which had become our established residence, and remove nearer to the spot, where I intended to secure as many as possible of this delicious provision for the coming winter.

The provision of India-rubber which we had collected on our last excursion was exhausted; we had made waterproof boots of it, and, before I set out, I wished to give them a new coat of it. I sent Fritz and Jack to the wood of india-rubber trees, where I thought they would find, ready drawn, a sufficient quantity of the gum, as we had made large incisions in the trees, and placed calabashes under them to receive it; and as experience had taught us that the sun hardens it immediately, we had protected our calabashes from its rays, by surrounding them with green branches.

Our two messengers were lost to our view when my wife suddenly exclaimed, “Stupid woman that I am, I have forgotten to give the boys a calabash in which they might put the gum, for they cannot bring it home in the flat dishes we put there. I mean to go directly, and see whether my gourds are ripe.”

I tranquillized my good wife by assuring her that they would not be at a loss to find something; and then, returning to the last word she had spoken, asked her what she meant by saying “my gourds.”

She then informed me that she possessed a superb plantation of gourds, the seeds of which she had found among our European grains, and which she had planted in her kitchen-garden. She led the way there; and we found, among many other plants, a quantity of those bottle-shaped gourds that the peasants in our country carry to the field. Some were ripe, some just formed, and others in full bloom. We selected the ripest, and those the form of which could be useful to us, and we commenced to empty them out. We made bottles, and plates, and saucers, using alternately the knife and the saw. But Ernest, my aid and companion, had very little taste for such work, and he could scarcely contain his joy when he heard me say we had done enough.

We now anxiously expected our young messengers back, for the sun had already begun to decline. Ernest kept a good lookout on the side his brothers were expected from, and he soon perceived them rapidly approaching, the one mounted on the onagra, and the other on the buffalo.

“Well,” said I, “have you made out well?”

“Oh, yes, very well,” said Fritz, in a singular tone, as they leaped from their coursers, and showed us what they had brought, which consisted of a root of anise that Jack had brought in his buffalo-pouch; a root wrapped up in leaves, which they called “monkey root”; two calabashes of india-rubber, and another half full of turpentine; a sack full of wax berries, and a crane, which Fritz’s eagle had killed. But while they were exhibiting their treasures, they talked so fast and so rambling that I was obliged to make them preserve a little order in their recital.

Jack then commenced telling us how he had obtained the anise and the turpentine. Of these two things, one was, at least, superfluous; but the other might be of some advantage, as I could use it instead of oil in making my snares for the birds. I then asked them concerning the “monkey root” they had brought; Fritz answered as follows:—

“I do not know of what importance this root may be to us; but I can assure you that it far surpasses manioc, both in smell and savour. We discovered it close by the farmhouse, where a company of monkeys were regaling themselves on it. You would have laughed to see the manner in which the ugly animals pulled out the roots. They made use of a process which the labourers of Europe had no idea of—they pulled them up by turning somersets.”

“By turning somersets!” cried we; “why, how wonderful!”

“Yes, somersets,” replied Fritz. “Every monkey, after having buried his teeth as far as possible in the root, turns himself violently over, backward, and repeats the exercise until his reiterated efforts have drawn the precious root from the ground.”

The monkey root, or ginseng, made its appearance at supper, and was pronounced excellent; but as its aromatic nature made it more of a medicine than an article of food, I forbade its frequent use, while I enjoined my wife to plant a few roots in our garden.

The next morning I took a certain quantity of the liquid india-rubber, which I mixed with the turpentine, and placed the mixture over the fire; and, while the glue was thickening, I sent the boys into the copse to gather a quantity of little twigs which I needed. They soon brought me a large quantity, which I made them dip in the glue and fasten to the branches of the fig-trees, the fruit of which I observed was very much liked by the ortolans, thrushes, and beccafigoes, who frequented the place. I discovered that we had but seen the last of the season the preceding year, as at present the birds were so numerous that a blind man firing into the tree could not have failed to bring down a large number of them. The abundance of game suggested another idea to my mind; I thought that if the ortolans were so numerous during the day they would not be less so at night, and I resolved to try, an imitation of the Americans in Virginia, the experiment of a hunt with torches, persuaded that it would be more expeditious and successful than taking the birds by snares.

But my boys, while employed at making the snares, had been taken in their own trap. Hands, faces and clothes were all covered with glue, and one could not touch them without getting besmeared. They were all in great consternation, and their good mother also, for she had but very little clean linen to spare them. I calmed their fears by assuring them that some ashes and water would remedy all the disorder, and wash out all the stains.

I rallied them a little on their awkwardness. “I knew very well,” said I, “that my glue would trap the birds; but I had no idea it would catch little boys.”

I then taught them how to avoid the inconveniences of gluing their fingers, by plunging a packet of five or six twigs, by the aid of a pair of pincers, into the glue, instead of dipping them in singly. They adopted the plan, which succeeded perfectly. When I had made a sufficient quantity, Jack and Fritz climbed into the tree, and placed the branches of fig-trees, covered with the snares, among the limbs of the tree; and it was not long before we saw the unfortunate ortolans falling to the ground in numbers, their legs and wings stuck fast in the glue. But, although the fowling was so abundant, the labour was very fatiguing, for the branches to which Fritz and Jack had to climb were as much as sixty or seventy feet from the ground. I placed a great deal of confidence in my torches, and I arranged the materials for making them, in which turpentine was a powerful auxiliary.

While I was thus occupied, Jack brought me a beautiful bird, much larger than an ortolan, which had been taken in the snare.

“I am very certain,” said Ernest, who had approached, and who, with his observing eye, had already recognized the bird, “I am very sure that it is one of our European pigeons, one of the young ones from those who built their nests last year in the branches of the tree.”

I took the bird from Jack’s hands, and recognized with pleasure that Ernest’s conjecture was true. I rubbed the ends of his wings and his feet with ashes to clean them from the glue, and I put him in a cage with the intention of adding a dove-cot to our domestic property. We captured others, and at night we had in our possession two fine pairs of wood-pigeons.

But, notwithstanding our hard labour during the day, we were not able to fill more than one barrel. I enjoined my sons to take notice of the trees on which the ortolans roosted during the night. The bark of two or three of the fig-trees which were covered with the excrements of the birds decided the matter; and, after supper, and a few minutes of rest, I commenced my preparations. These were few in number, and consisted of two or three long bamboo canes, two bags, torches of resin, and some sugar-canes. Fritz, my grand huntsman, regarded me with a look of incredulity. He could not understand how, with these strange instruments, I could realize the prodigies I prophesied.

We set out; and the night—which succeeds immediately to the day in these climates—soon overshadowed the earth. Arrived at the foot of the trees that we had chosen, I lighted up my torches, and scarcely had the flame begun to burn, than a cloud of ortolans fell down around us, and began to fly wildly around the flickering flames.

“Well, gentlemen,” said I to my sons, “you see that my stratagem has proved not to be a bad idea. Now is your time; I have placed the game within your reach; you have but to extend your hand, and you are masters.”

I then armed each one with a bamboo cane, and set them an example by striking right and left among the mass of ortolans. They fell as thick and fast as rain, and we soon filled two large bags. Our flambeaux, however, would only last long enough to light us back to Falcon’s Nest; and as the sacks were too heavy for me alone to carry, we placed them crosswise on the bamboo poles, and thus carried them very easily.

We arrived safely at Falcon’s Nest, and, before we retired to rest, looked over our game, and terminated the sufferings of those poor birds that had not been killed by the blows. The next day, every one put his hand to the work of cleaning and preparing our game—a very disagreeable, although necessary, task. We filled two barrels with ortolans, half roasted, and packed down in butter.

FOOTNOTES:

Ortolan, not unlike the yellow-hammer.

Beccafigo, or Fig-eater, about the size of a linnet; both these birds feed on fruits and berries, and are much prized for the delicacy of their flesh; a very large trade is carried on from the island of Cyprus with the former.