CHAPTER VII

Second Journey of Discovery Performed by the Mother of the Family

“You pretend,” said my wife, with a little malicious smile, “to be curious about my history, yet you have not let me speak a single word in all this time: but the longer a torrent is pent up, the longer it flows when once let loose. Now, then, that you are in the humour to listen, I shall give vent to a certain little movement of vanity which is fluttering at my heart. Not, however, to intrude too long upon your patience, we will skip the first day of your absence, in the course of which nothing new took place. But this morning, when I was made happy by the sight of your signal, and had set up mine in return, I looked about, before the boys were up, in hopes to find a shady place where we might now and then retire from the heat of the sun; but I found not a single tree. This made me reflect a little seriously on our situation. It will be impossible, said I to myself, to remain in this place with no shelter but a miserable tent, under which the heat is even more excessive than without. Courage, then! pursued I; my husband and my eldest son are at this moment employed for the general good; why should not I be active and enterprising also? why not undertake, with my youngest sons, to do something that shall add some one comfort to our existence? I will pass over with them to the other side of the river, and with my own eyes examine the country respecting which my husband and Fritz have related such wonders. I will try to find out some well shaded agreeable spot, in which we may all be settled.

“I assembled the boys round me, and informed them of my plans for an excursion; and you may believe I heard nothing like a dissenting voice. They lost not a moment in preparing themselves; they examined their arms, their game-bags, looked out the best clasp-knives, and cheerfully undertook to carry the provision-bags; while I, for my share, was loaded with a large flask of water and a hatchet, for which I thought it likely we might find a use. I also took the light gun which belongs to Ernest, and gave him in return a carbine, which might be loaded with several balls at once. We took some refreshment, and then sallied forth, attended by the two dogs for our escort. We arrived at the place at which you had crossed the river, and succeeded in passing over, though not without difficulty. After having filled my flask with river water, we proceeded on our way till we had reached to the top of the hill which you described to us as so enchanting, and where I partook of the pleasure you had experienced.

“In casting my eyes over the vast extent before me, I had observed a small wood of the most inviting aspect. I had so long sighed for a little shade, that I resolved to bend our course towards it; for this, however, it was necessary to go a long way through a strong kind of grass, which reached above the heads of the little boys; an obstacle which, on trial, we found too difficult to overcome. We therefore resolved to walk along the river, and turn at last upon the wood. We found traces of your footsteps, and took care to follow them till we had come to a place which seemed to lead directly to it; but here again we were interrupted by the height and thickness of the grass, which nothing but the most exhausting endeavours could have enabled us to get through.

“On a sudden we perceived a large bird rising from the thickest part of the grass, and mounting in the air. Each of the boys prepared to fire, but before they could be ready, the bird was out of the reach of shot. Ernest was bitterly disappointed, and instantly exchanged the gun for the carbine I had given him, crying, ‘What a pity! If I had but had the lightest gun! if the bird had not got away so fast, I would lay any wager I should have killed him.’

“‘The mischief was, no doubt, that you did not let him know beforehand that it was your pleasure he should wait till you could be quite ready,’ observed I, laughing.

“‘But, mother, how could I possibly suppose that the bird could fly away in less than the twinkling of an eye? Ah, if one would but come at this very moment!’

“‘A good sportsman, Ernest, always holds himself in readiness, this being, as I understand, one of his great arts; but as the opportunity is gone, let us look for the place in the grass from which he mounted; we may judge at least of his size by the mark he will have left there.’ The boys all scampered away to the place, when suddenly a second bird, exactly like the first, except that he was a little larger, rushed out with a great noise and mounted above their heads.

“The boys remained stupid with astonishment, following him with their eyes and open mouths without speaking a word, while for my own part I could not help laughing heartily. ‘Oh! such fine sportsmen as we have here!’ cried I: ‘they will never let us be in want of game, I plainly perceive.’ Ah! if one would but come at this very moment!” We now minutely examined the place from which the birds had mounted, and found a kind of large nest formed of dry plants, of clumsy workmanship; the nest was empty, with the exception of some broken shells of eggs. I inferred from this that their young had lately been hatched; and observing at this moment a rustling motion among some plants of shorter growth, at some distance from the spot on which we stood, I concluded that the young covey were scampering away in that direction; but as the motion soon ceased, we had no longer a guide to conduct us to their retreat.

“We next reached a little wood. A prodigious quantity of unknown birds were skipping and warbling on the branches of the trees, without betraying the least alarm at our vicinity. The boys wanted to fire on them; but this I absolutely forbade, and with the less scruple, as the trees were of so enormous a height as to be out of gun-shot reach. No, my dear husband, you cannot possibly form an idea of the trees we now beheld! You must somehow have missed this wood; or so extraordinary a sight could not have escaped your observation. What appeared to us at a distance to be a wood was only a group of about fourteen of them, the trunks of which seemed to be supported in their upright position by arches on each side, these arches being formed by the roots of the tree.

“Jack climbed with considerable trouble upon one of these arch-formed roots, and with a pack-thread in his hand measured the actual circumference of the tree itself. He found that it measured more than fifteen braches. I made thirty-two steps in going round one of those giant productions at the roots; and its height from the ground to the place where the branches begin to shoot may be about thirty-six braches. The twigs of the tree are strong and thick; its leaves moderately large in size, and bearing some resemblance to the hazel tree of Europe; but I was unable to discover that it bore any fruit. The large breadth of shade which presented itself seemed to invite us to make this spot the place of our repose: and my predilection for it grew so strong that I resolved to go no further, but to enjoy its delicious coolness till it should be time to return. I sat down in this verdant elysium with my three sons around me. We took out our provision-bags: a charming stream, formed to increase the coolness and beauty of the scene, flowed at our feet, and supplied us with a fresh and salutary beverage. It occurred to me, that if we could but contrive a kind of tent that could be fixed in one of the trees, we might safely come and make our abode here. I had found nothing in any other direction that suited us so well in every respect; and I resolved to look no further. When we had shared our dinner among us, and well rested from our fatigue, we set out on our return, again keeping close to the river, half expecting to see along the shore some of the pieces or other vestiges of the vessel, which the waves might have washed up.

“As I expected, we found there pieces of timber, poles, large and small chests, and other articles, which I knew had come from the vessel. None of us, however, were strong enough to bring them away; we therefore contented ourselves with dragging all we could reach to the dry sands, beyond the reach of the waves at high water.

“We now suddenly cast our eyes on Flora, whom we perceived employed in turning over a round substance she had found in the sands, some pieces of which she swallowed from time to time. Ernest also perceived her motions, and did us the favour, with his usual composure, to pronounce just these words:—‘They are turtles’ eggs.’ We found it difficult to make Flora leave the eggs, to which she had taken a great fancy. At length, however, we succeeded in collecting near two dozen of them, which we secured in our provision-bags. When we had concluded this affair, we by accident cast our eyes upon the sea, and to our astonishment perceived a sail, which seemed to be joyfully approaching towards the land. I knew not what to imagine; but Ernest exclaimed that it was you and Fritz; and we soon had the happiness of being convinced that it was indeed our well-beloved! We ran eagerly towards the river, and soon arrived at the place of your landing, when we had nothing further to do but to throw ourselves into your arms!”

FOOTNOTE:

The brache is equal to twenty-two inches and a half.