CHAPTER XXV.

CHAPTER XXV.

My wife began by saying they had not been idle in my absence. They had
collected wood, and made torches for the night. Fritz and Ernest had
even cut down an immense sago-palm, seventy feet high, intending to
extract its precious pith; but this they had been unable to accomplish
alone, and waited for my assistance. But while they were engaged in this
employment, a troop of monkeys had broken into the tent and pillaged and
destroyed everything; they had drunk or overturned the milk, and carried
off or spoiled all our provisions; and even so much injured the palisade
I had erected round the tent, that it took them an hour, after they
returned, to repair the damage. Fritz had made also a beautiful capture,
in a nest he had discovered in the rocks at Cape Disappointment. It was
a superb bird, and, though very young, quite feathered. Ernest had
pronounced it to be the eagle of Malabar, and I confirmed his assertion;
and as this species of eagle is not large, and does not require much
food, I advised him to train it as a falcon, to chase other birds. I
took this opportunity to announce that henceforward every one must
attend to his own live stock, or they should be set at liberty, mamma
having sufficient to manage in her own charge.

We then made a fire of green wood, in the smoke of which we placed the
buffalo-meat we had brought home, leaving it during the night, that it
might be perfectly cured. We had had some for supper, and thought it
excellent. The young buffalo was beginning to graze, and we gave him a
little milk to-night, as well as to the jackal. Fritz had taken the
precaution to cover the eyes of his eagle, and tying it fast by the leg
to a branch, it rested very tranquilly. We then retired to our mossy
beds, to recruit our strength for the labours of another day.

At break of day we rose, made a light breakfast, and I was about to give
the signal of departure, when my wife communicated to me the difficulty
they had had in cutting down the palm-tree, and the valuable provision
that might be obtained from it with a little trouble. I thought she was
right, and decided to remain here another day; for it was no trifling
undertaking to split up a tree seventy feet long. I consented the more
readily, as I thought I might, after removing the useful pith from the
trunk, obtain two large spouts or channels to conduct the water from
Jackal River to the kitchen garden.

Such tools as we had we carried to the place where the tree lay. We
first sawed off the head; then, with the hatchet making an opening at
each end, we took wedges and mallets, and the wood being tolerably soft,
after four hours' labour, we succeeded in splitting it completely. When
parted, we pressed the pith with our hands, to get the whole into one
division of the trunk, and began to make our paste. At one end of the
spout we nailed one of the graters, through which we intended to force
the paste, to form the round seeds. My little bakers set vigorously to
work, some pouring water on the pith, while the rest mixed it into
paste. When sufficiently worked, I pressed it strongly with my hand
against the grater; the farinaceous parts passed easily through the
holes, while the _ligneous_ part, consisting of splinters of wood, &c,
was left behind. This we threw into a heap, hoping mushrooms might
spring from it. My wife now carefully spread the grains on sailcloth, in
the sun, to dry them. I also formed some vermicelli, by giving more
consistence to the paste, and forcing it through the holes in little
pipes. My wife promised with this, and the Dutch cheese, to make us a
dish equal to Naples maccaroni. We were now contented; we could at any
time obtain more sago by cutting down a tree, and we were anxious to get
home to try our water-pipes. We spent the rest of the day in loading the
cart with our utensils and the halves of the tree. We retired to our hut
at sunset, and slept in peace.

The next morning the whole caravan began to move at an early hour. The
buffalo, harnessed to the cart, by the side of his nurse, the cow, took
the place of our lost ass, and began his apprenticeship as a beast of
draught. We took the same road on our return, that we might carry away
the candle-berries and the vessels of India-rubber. The vanguard was
composed of Fritz and Jack, who pioneered our way, by cutting down the
underwood to make a road for the cart. Our water-pipes, being very long,
somewhat impeded our progress; but we happily reached the candle-berry
trees without accident, and placed our sacks on the cart. We did not
find more than a quart of the caoutchouc gum; but it would be
sufficient for our first experiment, and I carried it off.

In crossing the little wood of guavas, we suddenly heard our dogs, who
were before us with Fritz and Jack, uttering the most frightful
howlings. I was struck with terror lest they should have encountered a
tiger, and rushed forward ready to fire. The dogs were endeavouring to
enter a thicket, in the midst of which Fritz declared he had caught a
glimpse of an animal larger than the buffalo, with a black, bristly
skin. I was just about to discharge my gun into the thicket, when Jack,
who had lain down on the ground, to look under the bushes, burst into a
loud laugh. "It is another trick of that vexatious animal, our old sow!
she is always making fools of us," cried he. Half merry and half angry,
we made an opening into the thicket, and there discovered the lady
lying, surrounded by seven little pigs, only a few days old. We were
very glad to see our old friend so attended, and stroked her. She seemed
to recognize us, and grunted amicably. We supplied her with some
potatoes, sweet acorns, and cassava bread; intending, in return, to eat
her young ones, when they were ready for the spit, though my dear wife
cried out against the cruelty of the idea. At present we left them with
her, but proposed afterwards to take away two, to be brought up at home,
and leave the rest to support themselves on acorns in the woods, where
they would become game for us. At length we arrived at Falcon's Nest,
which we regarded with all the attachment of home. Our domestic animals
crowded round us, and noisily welcomed us. We tied up the buffalo and
jackal, as they were not yet domesticated. Fritz fastened his eagle to
a branch by a chain long enough to allow it to move freely, and then
imprudently uncovered its eyes; it immediately raised its head, erected
its feathers, and struck on all sides with its beak and claws; our fowls
took to flight, but the poor parrot fell in his way, and was torn to
pieces before we could assist it. Fritz was very angry, and would have
executed the murderer; but Ernest begged he would not be so rash, as
parrots were more plentiful than eagles, and it was his own fault for
uncovering his eyes; the falconers always keeping their young birds
hooded six weeks, till they are quite tamed. He offered to train it, if
Fritz would part with it; but this Fritz indignantly refused. I told
them the fable of the dog in the manger, which abashed Fritz; and he
then besought his brother to teach him the means of training this noble
bird, and promised to present him with his monkey.

Ernest then told him that the Caribs subdue the largest birds by making
them inhale tobacco smoke. Fritz laughed at this; but Ernest brought a
pipe and some tobacco he had found in the ship, and began to smoke
gravely under the branch where the bird was perched. It was soon calm,
and on his continuing to smoke it became quite motionless. Fritz then
easily replaced the bandage, and thanked his brother for his
good service.

The next morning we set out early to our young plantation of
fruit-trees, to fix props to support the weaker plants. We loaded the
cart with the thick bamboo canes and our tools, and harnessed the cow to
it, leaving the buffalo in the stable, as I wished the wound in his
nostrils to be perfectly healed before I put him to any hard work. I
left Francis with his mother, to prepare our dinner, begging them not to
forget the maccaroni.

We began at the entrance of the avenue to Falcon's Nest, where all the
trees were much bent by the wind. We raised them gently by a crowbar; I
made a hole in the earth, in which one of my sons placed the bamboo
props, driving them firmly down with a mallet, and we proceeded to
another, while Ernest and Jack tied the trees to them with a long,
tough, pliant plant, which I suspected was a species of _llana_. As we
were working, Fritz inquired if these fruit-trees were wild.

"A pretty question!" cried Jack. "Do you think that trees are tamed like
eagles or buffaloes? You perhaps could teach them to bow politely, so
that we might gather the fruit!"

"You fancy you are a wit," said I, "but you speak like a dunce. We
cannot make trees bow at our pleasure; but we can make a tree, which by
nature bears sour and uneatable fruit, produce what is sweet and
wholesome. This is effected by grafting into a wild tree a small branch,
or even a bud, of the sort you wish. I will show you this method
practically at some future time, for by these means we can procure all
sorts of fruit; only we must remember, that we can only graft a tree
with one of the same natural family; thus, we could not graft an apple
on a cherry-tree, for one belongs to the apple tribe, and the other to
the plum tribe."

"Do we know the origin of all these European fruits?" asked the
inquiring Ernest.

"All our shell fruits," answered I, "such as the nut, the almond, and
the chesnut, are natives of the East; the peach, of Persia; the orange
and apricot, of Armenia; the cherry, which was unknown in Europe sixty
years before Christ, was brought by the proconsul Lucullus from the
southern shores of the Euxine; the olives come from Palestine. The first
olive-trees were planted on Mount Olympus, and from thence were spread
through the rest of Europe; the fig is from Lydia; the plums, your
favourite fruit, with the exception of some natural sorts that are
natives of our forests, are from Syria, and the town of Damascus has
given its name to one sort, the _Damascene_, or Damson. The pear is a
fruit of Greece; the ancients called it the fruit of Peloponnesus; the
mulberry is from Asia; and the quince from the island of Crete."

Our work progressed as we talked thus, and we had soon propped all our
valuable plants. It was now noon, and we returned to Falcon's Nest very
hungry, and found an excellent dinner prepared, of smoked beef, and the
tender bud of the cabbage-palm, the most delicious of vegetables.

After dinner, we began to discuss a plan I had long had in my head; but
the execution of it presented many difficulties. It was, to substitute a
firm and solid staircase for the ladder of ropes, which was a source of
continual fear to my wife. It is true, that we only had to ascend it to
go to bed; but bad weather might compel us to remain in our apartment;
we should then have frequently to ascend and descend, and the ladder was
very unsafe. But the immense height of the tree, and the impossibility
of procuring beams to sustain a staircase round it, threw me into
despair. However, looking at the monstrous trunk of the tree, I
thought, if we cannot succeed outside, could we not contrive to mount
within?

"Have you not said there was a swarm of bees in the trunk of the tree?"
I inquired of my wife. "Yes," said little Francis, "they stung my face
dreadfully the other day, when I was on the ladder. I was pushing a
stick into the hole they came out of, to try how deep it was."

"Now, then," cried I, "I see through my difficulties. Let us find out
how far the tree is hollow; we can increase the size of the tunnel, and
I have already planned the sort of staircase I can construct." I had
hardly spoken, when the boys leaped like squirrels, some upon the arched
roots, some on the steps of the ladder, and began to strike with sticks
and mallets to sound the tree. This rash proceeding had nearly been
fatal to Jack, who, having placed himself just before the opening, and
striking violently, the whole swarm, alarmed at an attack, which
probably shook their palace of wax, issued forth, and revenged
themselves amply on all the assailants. Nothing was heard but cries and
stamping of feet. My wife hastened to cover the stings with moist earth,
which rather relieved them; but it was some hours before they could open
their eyes. They begged me to get them the honey from their foes, and I
prepared a hive, which I had long thought of--a large gourd, which I
placed on a board nailed upon a branch of our tree, and covered with
straw to shelter it from the sun and wind. But it was now bedtime, and
we deferred our attack on the fortress till next day.

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