Swiss Family Robinson(fiscle part-3 of 2), Johann David Wyss [acx book reading .TXT] 📗

Was Right,  And My Fears Were Once

More Dispelled; All Was Neatness And Regularity On Board; The Spotless

Decks,  The Burnished steel And Brass,  And The Air Of Perfect Order

Which Pervaded both Ship And Camp,  Betokened that Authority And

Discipline There Reigned.

 

For Some Minutes Longer We Continued our Examination Of The Scene,  And

Then Satisfied by The Appearance Of The Camp On Shore,  That There Was

No Chance Of The Brig Quitting the Coast For Several Days,  We Resolved

To Return Without Betraying our Presence,  For I Was Unwilling to Appear

Before These Strangers Until We Could Do So In better Form,  And In a

Manner More In accordance With Our Actual Resources.

 

We Again Landed at Rockburg,  Where Our Family Awaited our Arrival In

Eager Expectation,  And As Fully As Possible We Told Them Of All We Had

Seen. They Thoroughly Approved of Our Caution,  And Even Jenny,  Whose

Hopes Had Been Excited to The Highest Pitch By Our Description Of The

English Vessel,  And Who Longed to Meet Her Countrymen Once More,  Agreed

To Postpone The Visit Until The Following day,  When,  Having put Our

Yacht Into Good Order,  We Might Pay Our Respects To The Captain,  Not As

Poor Shipwrecked creatures Begging assistance,  But As Lords And Masters

Of The Land,  Seeking to Know For What Purpose Strangers Were Visiting

The Coast.

 

The Rest Of The Day Was Occupied in making our Preparations. Our

Dainty Little Craft Was Made To Look Her Very Best; Her Decks Were

Scrubbed,  Her Brass Guns Burnished,  All Lumber* Removed and Put Ashore,

And The Flag Of England Hoisted to Her Peak.

 

   * Junk,  Things Stored but Not In use.

 

My Wife Overhauled our Wardrobes,  And The Neatest Uniforms Were Put

Ready For The Boys And Me,  For Though Neither My Wife Nor Jenny Had

Ever Dreamed of Appearing otherwise Than They Would Have Done,  Had They

Been At Home Amongst Civilized people In europe,  Yet We,  Accustomed

Daily To Rough And Often Even Dirty Work,  Had Adopted just That Costume

Which Best Suited our Comfort And Inclination. We Should Indeed have

Surprised the Smart Man-O'-War'S Men,  Had We Appeared in our Great

Shapeless Wide-Brimmed hats,  Our Linen Coats And Trousers,  Our Broad

Leathern Belts And Hairy Buskins; So We Next Day Readily Donned the

More Becoming costumes.

 

At The Break Of That Eventful Morn,  When We Were Destined once More To

Set Our Eyes Upon Our Fellow Men,  And To Hear News Of The Outer World,

From Which For So Many Years We Had Been Exiled,  We Assembled in our

Little Breakfast-Room. The Meal Was Eaten Hurriedly And Almost In

Silence,  For Our Hearts Were Too Full,  And Our Minds Too Busily

Occupied,  To Allow Of Any Outward Display Of Excitement. Fritz And Jack

Then Slipped quietly Out,  And Presently Returned from The Garden With

Baskets Of The Choicest Fruits In fresh And Fragrant Profusion,  And

With These,  As Presents For The Strangers,  We Went On Board Our Yacht.

 

The Anchor Was Weighed,  The Sails Set,  And With The Canoe In tow The

Little Vessel,  As Though Partaking of Our Hopes And Joyous

Part 3 Chapter 10 Pg 145

Expectation,  Bounded merrily Over The Waters Of Safety Bay,  Gave A Wide

Berth To The Reef,  Against Whose Frowning rocks The Sea Still Lashed

Itself To Foam,  And Kept Away For The Cove,  Where The English Ship

Unconsciously Awaited us. The Pug-Nosed cape Was Reached,  And To The

Surprise And Utter Amazement Of The Strangers,  We Rounded the Point And

Brought Up Within Hail.

 

Every Eye On Board And On Shore Was Turned towards Us,  Every Glass Was

Produced and Fixed upon Our Motions; For Of All The Strange Sights

Which The Gallant Crew May Have Looked for,  Such An Anomaly As A

Pleasure Yacht,  Manned by Such A Party As Ours,  And Cruising upon This

Strange And Inhospitable Shore,  Was The Furthest From Their Thoughts.

 

Fritz And I Stepped into Our Boat,  And Pulled for The Brig. In another

Minute We Were Upon Her Deck. The Captain,  With The Simple Frankness Of

A British Seaman,  Welcomed us Cordially,  And Having led us Into His

Cabin,  Begged us To Explain To What Good Fortune He Owed a Visit From

Residents Upon A Coast Generally Deemed uninhabited,  Or The Abode Of

The Fiercest Savages.

 

I Gave Him An Outline Of The History Of The Wreck,  And Of Our Sojourn

Upon These Shores,  And Spoke To Him,  Too,  Of Miss Montrose,  And Of The

Providential Way In which We Had Been The Means Of Rescuing her From

Her Lonely Position.

 

`Then,' Said The Gallant Officer,  Rising and Grasping fritz By The

Hand,  `Let Me Heartily Thank You In my Own Name,  And In that Of Colonel

Montrose; For It Was The Hope Of Finding some Trace Of That Brave Girl

That Led me To These Shores. The Disappearance Of The Dorcas Has Been A

Terrible Blow To The Colonel,  And Yet,  Though For Three Years No Word

Of Her Or Of Any Of Those Who Sailed in her Has Reached england,  He Has

Never Entirely Abandoned all Hope Of Again Hearing of His Daughter. I

Knew This,  And A Few Weeks Ago,  When I Was About To Leave Sydney For

The Cape,  I Found Three Men Who Declared themselves Survivors Of The

Dorcas,  And Said That Their Boat,  Of Four Which Left The Wreck,  Was The

Only One Which,  To Their Knowledge,  Reached land In safety.

 

`From Them I Learned all Particulars,  And Applying for Permission To

Cruise In these Latitudes,  I Sailed in the Hopes Of Finding further

Traces Of The Unfortunate Crew. My Efforts Have Been Rewarded by

Unlooked-For Success.'

 

Fritz Replied most Modestly To The Praises Which He Received,  And Then

The Captain Begged to Be Introduced to My Wife And Miss Montrose.

 

`And,' He Continued,  `If It Be Not Contrary To Your Rules Of

Discipline,  For The Whole Ship'S Company To Be Absent At Once,  I Will

Now Send A Boat For The Remainder Of Your Party.'

 

One Of The Officers Was Accordingly Dispatched to The Yacht With A

Polite Message,  And The Mother,  Jenny,  And The Three Boys Were

Presently On Board.

Part 3 Chapter 10 Pg 146

 

Our Kind Host Greeted them Most Warmly,  And He And His Officers Vied

With One Another In doing us Honour. They Proved,  Indeed,  Most Pleasant

Entertainers,  And The Time Passed rapidly Away.

 

At Luncheon The Captain Told Us That There Had Sailed with Him From

Sydney An Invalid Gentleman,  Mr. Wolston,  His Wife,  And Two Daughters;

But That Though The Sea Voyage Had Been Recommended on Account Of His

Health,  Yet It Had Not Done Mr. Wolston So Much Good As Had Been

Anticipated,  And He Had Suffered so Greatly From The Effects Of The

Storm Which Had Driven The Unicorn Into The Bay For Repairs,  That He

Had Been Eager To Rest For A Short Time On Land.

 

We Were Anxious To Meet The Family,  And In the Afternoon It Was

Decided that We Should Pay Them A Visit. Tents Had Been Pitched for

Their Accommodation Under The Shady Trees,  And When We Landed we Found

Mr. Wolston Seated by One Of Them,  Enjoying the Cool Sea-Breeze. He And

His Family Were Delighted to See Us,  And So Much Did We Enjoy Their

Society,  That Evening found Us Still Upon The Shore. It Was Too Late

Then To Return To Rockburg,  And The Captain Kindly Offered tents For

The Accommodation Of Those Who Could Not Find Room In the Yacht. The

Boys Spent The Night On Land.

 

That Night I Had A Long And Serious Consultation With My Wife,  As To

Whether Or Not We Really Had Any Well-Grounded reason For Wishing to

Return To Europe. It Would Be Childish To Undertake A Voyage Thither

Simply Because An Opportunity Offered for Doing so.

 

Neither Knew To What Decision The Feelings Of The Other Inclined; Each

Was Afraid Of Expressing what Might Run Counter To Those Feelings; But

Gradually It Began To Appear That Neither Entertained any Strong Wish

To Leave The Peaceful Island; And Finally We Discovered that The Real

Wish Which Lay At The Bottom Of Both Our Hearts Was To Adopt New

Switzerland As Thenceforward Our Home.

 

What Can Be More Delightful Than To Find Harmony Of Opinion In those We

Love,  When A Great And Momentous Decision Has To Be Taken?

 

My Dear Wife Assured me That She Desired nothing more Earnestly Than To

Spend The Rest Of Her Days In a Place To Which She Had Become So Much

Attached,  Provided i,  And At Least Two Of Her Sons,  Also Wished to

Remain.

 

From The Other Two She Would Willingly Part,  If They Chose To Return To

Europe,  With The Understanding that They Must Endeavour To Send Out

Emigrants Of A Good Class To Join Us,  And Form A Prosperous Colony,

Adding that She Thought The Island Ought To Continue To Bear The Name

Of Our Native Country,  Even If Inhabited in future Time By Colonists

From England,  As Well As From Switzerland.

 

I Heartily Approved of This Excellent Idea,  And We Agreed to Mention

It,  While Consulting with Captain Littlestone On The Subject Of Placing

The Island Under The Protection Of Great Britain.

 

Part 3 Chapter 10 Pg 147

Then Came The Question As To Which Of Our Sons Were Best Suited to

Remain With Us,  And Which To Go Away.

 

This Point We Left Undecided,  Thinking that In the Course Of A Few

Days,  They Would Probably Make A Choice Of Their Own Accord,  Which They

Did,  Even Sooner Than We Anticipated. After Breakfast,  It Was Proposed

That Captain Littlestone Should Bring his Ship Round To Safety Bay,

That We Might Receive A Visit From Him And His Party,  At

Rockburg--Where We Invited the Invalid,  Mr. Wolston,  And His Family,  In

Hopes That His Health Might Benefit By A Comfortable Residence On

Shore.

 

No Sooner Was This Plan Adopted,  Than Fritz And Jack Hurried off In the

Canoe To Prepare For Their Reception,  Being followed in more Leisurely

Style By The Brig And Our Yacht.

 

But What Words Can Express The Amazement Of Our Guests,  When,  Rounding

The Rocky Cape At The Entrance,  Safety Bay,  And The Beautiful Domain Of

Rockburg,  Lay Before Them.

 

Still Greater Was Their Astonishment,  As A Salute Of Eleven Guns

Boomed from The Battery On Shark Island,  Where The Royal Standard Of

England Was Displayed and Floated majestically On The Morning breeze.

 

A Glow Of Surprise And Pleasure Beamed on Every Countenance,  And Poor

Wolston'S Spirits Appeared to Revive With The Very Idea Of The Peace

And Happiness To Be