Swiss Family Robinson, Johann David Wyss [tools of titans ebook txt] 📗

if you have taken so much

interest in watching the little ants of your native country, how

delighted and astonished you would be to see the wonders performed by

the vast tribes of large ants in foreign lands.

 

`Some of these build heaps or nests, four or six feet high and

proportionately broad, which are so strong and firm that they defy

equally sunshine and rain. They are, within, divided into regular

streets, galleries, vaults, and nurseries. So firmly are these mounds

built, that with interior alterations, a deserted one might be used for

a baking-oven.

 

`The ant, although respected since the days of King Solomon as a model

of industry, is not in itself an attractive insect.

 

`It exudes a sticky moisture, its smell is unpleasant, and it destroys

and devours whatever eatable comes in its way. Although in our own

country it does little harm, the large ants of foreign lands are most

destructive and troublesome; it being very difficult to check their

depredations. Fortunately they have enemies by whose exertions their

numbers are kept down; birds, other insects, and even four-footed

beasts prey upon them.

 

`Chief among the latter is the ant-eater, 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 large great red earthworm.

It has immensely strong curved claws, with which it tears and breaks

down and scratches to pieces the hard walls of the ant-heaps; then,

protruding its sticky tongue, it coils and twists it about among the

terrified millions disturbed by its attack; they adhere to this

horrible invader, and are drawn irresistibly backward into the hungry,

toothless jaws awaiting them.

 

`The little ant-eater is not more than about twenty-one inches in

length, has a shorter and more natural looking head, and fine silky

fur. It usually lives in trees.’

 

I was pleased to find my memory served me so well on this subject, as

it interested my boy amazingly; and occupied us for a considerable time

while we traveled onward.

 

Arriving presently at a grove of tall trees, with very strong, broad,

thick leaves, we paused to examine them; they bore a round fig-like

fruit, full of little seeds and of a sour harsh taste.

 

Fritz saw some gummy resin exuding from cracks in the bark, and it

reminded him of the boyish delight afforded by collecting gum from

cherry-trees at home, 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 finding it would not work like gum, he was

about to fling it away, when he suddenly found that he could stretch

it, and that it sprang back to its original size.

 

`Oh father, only look! This gum is quite elastic! Can it possibly be

india-rubber?’

 

`What!’ cried I, `Let me see it! A valuable discovery that would be,

indeed; and I do believe you are perfectly right!’

 

`Why would it be so very valuable, father?’ inquired Fritz. `I have

only seen it used for rubbing out pencil marks.’

 

`India-rubber,’ I replied, `or, more properly, caoutchouc, is a milky

resinous juice which flows from certain trees in considerable

quantities when the stem is purposely tapped.

 

`These trees are indigenous to the South American countries of Brazil,

Guiana, and Cayenne. The natives, who first obtained it, used it to

form bottles by smearing earthen flasks with repeated 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 adornment; these marks you may have

observed, for the bottles obtained from the natives by the Spaniards

and Portuguese have for years been brought to Europe, and cut into

portions to be sold for use in drawing. Caoutchouc can be put to many

uses, and I am delighted to have it here, as we shall, I hope, be able

to make it into different forms; first and foremost, I shall try to

manufacture boots and shoes.’

 

Soon after making this discovery, we reached the cocoanut wood, and saw

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

Disappointment, which hitherto had always bounded our excursions. In

passing through the wood, I remarked a smaller sort of palm, which,

among its grand companions, I had not previously noticed. One of these

had been broken by the wind, and I saw that the pith had a peculiar

mealy appearance, and I felt convinced that this was the world-renowned

sago-palm.

 

In the pith I saw some fat worms or maggots, and suddenly recollected

that I had heard of them before as feeding on the sago, and that in the

West Indies they are eaten as a delicacy.

 

I felt inclined to try what they tasted like; so at once kindling a

fire, and placing some half dozen, sprinkled with salt, on a little

wooden spit, I set them to roast.

 

Very soon rich fat began to drop from them, and they smelt so

temptingly good, that all repugnance to the idea of eating worms

vanished; 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

in the same way. Fritz also summoned courage to partake of this novel

food; which was a savoury addition to our dinner of baked potatoes.

 

Being once more ready to start, we found so dense a thicket in the

direct route, that we turned aside without attempting to penetrate it,

and made our way towards the sugar-brake near Cape Disappointment. This

we could not pass without cutting a handsome bundle of sugarcanes, and

the donkey carried that, in addition to the bag of wax berries.

 

In time we reached the sledge in Calabash Wood: the ass was unloaded,

everything placed on the sledge, and our patient beast began calmly and

readily to drag the burden he had hitherto borne on his back.

 

No further adventure befell us, and we arrived in the evening at

Falconhurst, where our welcome was as warm as usual—all we had to

tell, listened to with the greatest interest, all we had to show, most

eagerly examined, the pretty green parakeet enchanting the boys most

particularly.

 

An excellent supper was ready for us, and with thankful hearts we

enjoyed it together; then, ascending to our tree-castle, and drawing up

the ladder after us, we betook ourselves to the repose well earned and

greatly needed after this fatiguing day.

 

The idea of candle-making seemed to have taken the fancy of all the

boys; and next morning they woke, one after the other, with the word

candle on their lips. When they were thoroughly roused they continued

to talk candles; all breakfast-time, candles were the subject of

conversation; and after breakfast they would hear of nothing else but

setting to work at once and making candles.

 

`So be it,’ said I, `let us become chandlers.’ I spoke confidently,

but, to tell the truth, I had in my own mind certain misgivings as to

the result of our experiment. In the first place, I knew that we lacked

a very important ingredient—animal fat, which is necessary to make

candles burn for any length of time with brilliancy. Besides this, I

rather doubted how far my memory would recall the various operations

necessary in the manufacture.

 

Of all this, however, I said nothing; and the boys, under my

direction, were soon 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 into the wax, handing them as I did so to Fritz,

who hung them up on a bush to dry.

 

The coating they thus obtained, was not very thick; but, by repeating

the operation several times, they at length assumed very fair

proportions, and became real sturdy candles. Our wax being at an end,

we hung these in a cool shady place to harden; and that same night we

sat up like civilized beings three whole hours after sunset, and

Falconhurst was for the first time brilliantly illuminated.

 

We were all delighted with the success of our experiment. `You are

indeed clever,’ said my wife, `I only wish that with your ingenuity you

would show me how to make butter. Day after day, I have the annoyance

of seeing a large supply of good cream go bad under my very eyes,

simply because I have no use to which to put it. Invent a plan, please

do.’

 

`I think that perhaps I can help you,’ I replied after a little

consideration, `not that I can claim the honour of the invention of my

plan, that is due to the Hottentots. I will see what I can do. Jack,

bring me one of our gourd bottles.’

 

I took the gourd, one of those I had previously prepared, with a small

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

filled with cream and then corked up the hole tightly.

 

`Here, boys,’ said I, `you can continue the operation while I turn

carpenter and make a cart to take the place of our sledge.’ I gave them

their directions, and then set about my own work.

 

They fixed four posts in the ground, and to them fastened a square

piece of sailcloth by four cords attached to the corners. In this

cradle they placed the gourd of cream, and each taking a side, rolled

it backwards and forwards continuously for half an hour.

 

`Now,’ I cried, looking up from my work, `open the gourd and take the

contents to your mother, with my compliments.’

 

They did so; and my good wife’s eyes were delighted with the sight of a

large lump of capital fresh butter.

 

With my son’s assistance the cart was in time completed; a clumsy

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

it, and, as it proved, of immense use to us in collecting the harvest.

 

We then turned our attention to our fruit trees, which we had planted

in a plot ready for transplanting. The walnut, cherry, and chestnut

trees we arranged in parallel rows so as to form a shady avenue from

Falconhurst to Family-bridge; and between them we laid down a tolerable

road, that we might have no difficulty in reaching Tentholm, be the

weather bad as it might.

 

We planted the vines round 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 first care, therefore, was to plant a thick prickly hedge, capable