Swiss Family Robinson(fiscle part-3 of 2) - Johann David Wyss (desktop ebook reader .TXT) 📗

And Other Inhabitants Of The Wilds. These

Melons,  However,  Do Not Constitute His Entire Diet; He Feeds Freely On

Grasses,  Dates And Hard Grain,  When He Can Obtain Them.'

 

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`Does The Ostrich Utter Any Cry?'

 

`The Voice Of The Ostrich Is A Deep Hollow Rumbling sound,  So Much

Resembling the Roar Of The Lion As To Be Occasionally Mistaken For It.

But What Does Jack Mean By Waving his Cap,  And Beckoning in that

Excited fashion? What Has The Boy Found,  I Wonder?'

 

He Ran A Little Way Towards Us,  Shouting: `Eggs,  Father! Ostriches'

Eggs! A Huge Nest-Full--Do Come Quickly!' We All Hastened to The Spot,

And In a Slight Hollow Of The Ground,  Beheld More Than Twenty Eggs,  As

Large As An Infant'S Head.

 

The Idea Of Carrying more Than Two Away With Us Was Preposterous,

Although The Boys,  Forgetting what The Weight Would Be,  Seriously

Contemplated clearing the Nest. They Were Satisfied when A Kind Of

Landmark Had Been Set Up,  So That If We Returned we Might Easily Find

The Nest.

 

As Each Egg Weighed about Three Pounds,  The Boys Soon Found The Burden

Considerable,  Even When Tied into A Handkerchief And Carried like A

Basket. To Relieve Them,  I Cut A Strong Elastic Heath Stick,  And

Suspending an Egg In its Sling at Each End,  Laid The Bent Stick Over

Jack'S Shoulder,  And Like A Dutch Dairy-Maid With Her Milkpails,  He

Stepped merrily Along Without Inconvenience.

 

We Presently Reached a Marshy Place Surrounding a Little Pool

Evidently Fed by The Stream Which Knips Had Discovered. The Soft

Ground Was Trodden And Marked by The Footsteps Of Many Different Sorts

Of Animals; We Saw Tracks Of Buffaloes,  Antelopes,  Onagers Or Quaggas,

But No Trace Whatever Of Any Kind Of Serpent: Hitherto Our Journey In

Search Of Monster Reptiles Had Been Signalized by Very Satisfactory

Failure.

 

By This Brook We Sat Down To Rest And Take Some Food; Fangs Presently

Disappeared,  And Jack Calling to His Pet Discovered him Gnawing at

Something which He Had Dug From The Marsh.

 

Taking it For A Root Of Some Sort,  Jack Brought It For My Inspection. I

Dipped it In water To Clear Off The Mud,  And To My Surprise Found A

Queer Little Living creature,  No Bigger Than Half An Apple,  In my Hand.

It Was A Small Tortoise.

 

`A Tortoise,  I Declare!' Cried fritz. `What A Long Way From The Sea.

How Came It Here,  I Wonder?'

 

`Perhaps There Has Been A Tortoise-Shower,' Remarked ernest. `One

Reads Of Frog-Showers In the Time Of The Ancient Romans.'

 

`Hollo,  Professor! You'Re Out For Once,' Said I. `This Is Nothing but A

Mud-Tortoise,  Which Lives In wet,  Marshy Ground And Fresh Water. They

Are Useful In gardens; For Although They Like A Few Lettuce Leaves Now

And Then,  They Will Destroy Numbers Of Snails,  Grubs,  And Worms.'

 

Resuming our Journey,  We Arrived at A Charming valley,  Verdant,

Part 3 Chapter 4 Pg 72

Fruitful,  And Shaded by Clumps Of Graceful Trees. It Afforded us The

Greatest Delight And Refreshment To Pass Along This Cool And Lovely

Vale,  Which We Agreed to Call Glen Verdant.

 

In The Distance We Could See Herds Of Antelopes Or Buffaloes Feeding;

But As Our Dogs Continually Ranged a Long Way Ahead Of Us,  They Were

Quickly Startled,  And Vanished up One Or Other Of The Narrow Gorges

Which Opened out Of The Valley.

 

Following the Imperceptible Windings Of The Vale,  We Were Surprised,  On

Quitting it For The More Open Ground,  To Find Ourselves In country We

Were Already Acquainted with,  And Not Far From The Jackal Cave,  As We

Called the Place Where Fangs Had Been Captured in cubhood.

 

On Recognizing the Spot,  Ernest,  Who Was In advance With One Of The

Dogs,  Hastened towards It. We Lost Sight Of Him For A Few Minutes,  And

Then Arose A Cry Of Terror,  Violent Barking and Deep,  Surly Growls.

 

As We Rushed forward,  Ernest Met Us,  Looking white As Ashes,  And

Calling out:

 

`A Bear,  A Bear,  Father! He Is Coming after Me!'

 

The Boy Clung To Me In mortal Fear. I Felt His Whole Frame Quivering.

 

`Courage,  My Son!' Cried i,  Disengaging myself From His Grasp. `We Must

Prepare For Instant Defence!'

 

The Dogs Dashed forward To Join The Fray,  Whatever It Was; And Not Long

Were We In doubt. To My No Small Consternation,  An Enormous Bear Made

His Appearance,  Quickly Followed by Another.

 

With Levelled guns,  My Brave Fritz And I Advanced slowly To Meet Them.

Jack Was Also Ready To Fire,  But The Shock Had So Unnerved ernest That

He Fairly Took To His Heels. We Fired together,  One At Each Bear; But

Though Hit,  The Monsters Were Unfortunately Only Wounded. We Found It

Most Difficult To Take Aim,  As The Dogs Beset Them On All Sides.

 

However,  They Were Much Disabled,  One Having the Lower Jaw Broken,  And

The Other,  With A Bullet In its Shoulder,  Was Effectually Lamed. The

Dogs,  Perceiving their Advantage,  Pressed more Closely Round Their

Foes,  Who Yet Defended themselves Furiously With Frightful Yells Of

Pain And Rage.

 

Such Was The Confusion And Perpetual Movement Of The Struggle,  That I

Dared not Fire Again,  Seeing that Even Slightly Wounding one Of Our

Gallant Hounds Would Instantly Place Him In the Power Of The Raging

Bears.

 

Watching our Opportunity,  We Suddenly Advanced with Loaded pistols To

Within A Very Few Paces Of The Animals,  And Firing,  Both Fell Dead,  One

Shot Through The Head,  The Other,  In the Act Of Rearing to Spring on

Fritz,  Received his Charge In its Heart.

Part 3 Chapter 4 Pg 73

 

`Thank Heaven!' Cried i,  As With Dull Groans The Brutes Sank To The

Ground. `We Have Escaped the Greatest Peril We Have Yet Encountered!'

 

The Dogs Continued to Tear And Worry The Fallen Foe,  As Though

Unwilling to Trust The Appearance Of Death. With Feelings Somewhat

Akin,  I Drew My Hunting-Knife,  And Made Assurance Doubly Sure.

 

Seeing all Safe,  Jack Raised a Shout Of Victory,  That Poor Ernest

Might Gain Courage To Approach The Scene Of Conflict,  Which At Last He

Did,  And Joined us In examining the Dangerous Animals,  As They Lay

Motionless Before Us.

 

Every Point Was Full Of Interest,  Their Wounds,  Their Sharp Teeth,

Their Mighty Claws,  The Extraordinary Strength Of Neck And Shoulder,

All Were Remarked and Commented on,  And Observing that The Shaded brown

Hair Was Tipped with Glossy White,  I Thought That These Might Be The

Silver Bears* Mentioned in captain Clarke'S Journey To The North-West

Coasts Of America.

 

   * Grizzlies,  Not Polar Bears

 

`Well,  My Lads,' Said I,  `If We Have Failed to Catch Sight Of

Serpents,  We Have At Least Made Good Riddance Of Some Other Bad

Rubbish! These Fellows Would One Day Have Worked us Woe,  Or I Am Much

Mistaken. What'S To Be Done Next?'

 

`Why,  Skin Them,  To Be Sure,' Said Fritz. `We Shall Have A Couple Of

Splendid Bear-Skin Rugs.'

 

As This Process Would Take Time And Evening drew On,  We Dragged the

Huge Carcases Into Their Den,  To Await Our Return,  Concealing them With

Boughs Of Trees And Fencing the Entrance As Well As We Could. The

Ostrich Eggs We Also Left Behind Us,  Hidden In a Sandy Hole.

 

By Sunset We Reached the Tent,  And Joyfully Rejoined my Wife And

Franz,  Right Glad To Find A Hearty Meal Prepared for Us,  As Well As A

Large Heap Of Brushwood For The Watch-Fire.

 

When A Full Account Of Our Adventures Had Been Given,  With A Minute And

Special Description Of The Bear-Fight,  My Wife Related what She Had

Done During our Absence. She And Franz Had Made Their Way Through The

Wood Up To The Rocks Behind It,  And Discovered a Bed of Pure White

Clay,  Which It Seemed to Her Might Be Used for Making porcelain. Then

She Had Contrived a Drinking-Trough For The Cattle Out Of A Split

Bamboo.

 

She Had Arranged a Hearth In a Sheltered place By Building up Large

Stones,  Cemented with The White Clay; And,  Finally,  She Had Cut A

Quantity Of Canes And Brought Them,  On The Cart,  To Be In readiness For

The Building we Had In hand.

 

I Praised the Thoughtful Diligence Which Had Effected so Much That Was

Of Real And Definite Use. In order To Try The Clay I Put Some Balls Of

Part 3 Chapter 4 Pg 74

It In the Fire Now Kindled to Burn During the Night,  And We Then Betook

Ourselves To Rest Under Shelter Of Our Tent.

 

I Awoke At Dawn And Aroused my Little Party. My First Idea Was To

Examine The Clay Balls,  Which I Found Baked hard And Finely Glazed,  But

Too Much Melted down By The Heat--A Fault Which,  Seeing the Excellent

Quality Of The Clay,  I Knew It Would Be Well Worthwhile To Remedy.

 

After Breakfast,  And Our Accustomed devotions,  We Harnessed the Cart,

And Took The Way To The Bears' Den. Fritz Headed the Party,  And,  Coming

In Sight Of The Entrance To The Cave,  Called out Softly:

 

`Make Haste And You Will See A Whole Crowd Of Wild Turkeys,  Who Seem To

Have Come To Attend The Funeral Obsequies Of Their Respected friend And

Neighbour,  Bruin,  Here. But There Appears To Be A Jealous Watcher Who

Is Unwilling to Admit The Visitors To The Bed of State!'

 

The Watcher,  As Fritz Called him,  Was An Immensely Large Bird,  With A

Sort Of Comb On His Head,  And A Loose Fleshy Skin Hanging from Beneath

The Beak. Part Of The Neck Was Bare,  Wrinkled and Purplish-Red,  While

Around It,  Resting on The Shoulders,  Was A Downy Collar Of Soft White

Feathers. The Plumage Was Greyish-Brown,  Marked here And There With

White Patches; The Feet Appeared to Be Armed with Strong Claws. This

Great Bird Guarded the Entrance To The Cave,  Occasionally Retiring