Swiss Family Robinson Part 38

Jack carried in his hat about a dozen eggs; and Fritz had shot a couple of heath fowls, a c.o.c.k and hen.

We sat down to supper, Franz eager to partake of his capybara. Even he himself made a face at the peculiar flavour of the meat.

'It is the musk which you taste,' said I; and I described to them the various animals in which this strange liquid is found; the musk deer, musk ox, crocodile, muskrat of India (also called soudeli, which taints a corked bottle of wine, if it only runs across it) concluding with an account of the civet, also called civet-cat.

'The civet,' said I, 'is a handsome black and white animal, and the perfume obtained from it was formerly considered a valuable medicine; in the present day it is used chiefly as a scent. This odoriferous substance is secreted, i.e., formed, in a double glandular pouch near the tail, and the Dutch keep the creature in captivity, so that it shall afford them a continual supply.

'The method of removing the civet perfume is ingenious. The animal is very quick and elastic in its movements, and having sharp teeth it is not pleasant to handle. So it is put into a long, narrow cage in which it cannot turn around, a horn spoon is then introduced, and the perfume, a thick, oily stuff something like b.u.t.ter, is coolly sc.r.a.ped from the pouch, the plundered civet being then released from strait durance, until the supply is re-formed.'

Presently Jack ran for his game-bag, producing some fruit which he had forgotten. Several pale green apples, quite new to us, excited general attention.

'Why, what are those? Are they good?' I asked.

'I hope so,' said Jack, 'but Fritz and I were afraid of eating some awful poison or other, like the manchineel, so we brought them for the inspection of the learned Master Knips.'

I took one and cut it in two, remarking that it contained a circle of seeds or pips, instead of the stone of the manchineel.

At that moment Knips slyly came behind me, and s.n.a.t.c.hing up one half, began to munch it with the liveliest satisfaction, an example which the boys were so eager to follow that a general scramble ensued, and I had some trouble in securing a couple of the apples for myself and their mother.

I imagined this to be the cinnamon apple of the Antilles.

Everyone seeming wearied by the fatigues of the day, our mattresses and pillows were arranged, and the inmates of Woodlands betook themselves to repose.

With early light we commenced the next day's journey, directing our course to a point between the sugar-brake and the Gap, where we had once made a sort of arbour of the branches of trees; as this remained in pretty good condition, we spread a sailcloth over the top of it, instead of pitching the tent, and made it very comfortable quarters for the short time I proposed to stay there.

Our object being to search the neighbourhood for traces of the boa constrictor, or any of his kindred, Fritz, Jack, and Franz went with me to the sugar-cane brake, and we satisfied ourselves that our enemy had not been there. It was long since we had enjoyed the fresh juice of these canes, and we were refres.h.i.+ng ourselves therewith, when a loud barking of dogs and loud rustling and rattling through the thicket of canes disturbed our pleasant occupation, and, as we could see nothing a yard off where we stood, I hurried to the open ground, and with guns in readiness we awaited what was coming.

In a few minutes a herd of creatures like little pigs issued from the thicket, and made off in single file at a brisk trot; they were of a uniform grey colour, and showed short sharp tusks.

My trusty double-barrel speedily laid low two of the fugitives which I felt certain to be peccaries; the others continued to follow the leader in line, scarcely turning aside to pa.s.s the dead bodies of their comrades, and maintaining the same steady pace, although Fritz and Jack also fired and killed several.

I felt certain that these were peccaries, and recollected that an odoriferous gland in the back must be removed immediately, otherwise the meat will become tainted, and quite unfit to eat.

This operation, with the help of my boys, I accordingly performed at once.

Presently, hearing shots in the direction of the hut where we had left Ernest and his mother, I sent Jack to their a.s.sistance, desiring him to fetch the cart, that the booty might be conveyed to our encampment, employing the time of his absence in opening and cleaning the animals, thus reducing their weight.

Ernest came back with Jack and the cart, and told us that the procession of peccaries had pa.s.sed near the hut, and that he, with Juno's help, had secured three of them.

I was glad to hear this, as I had determined to cure a good supply of hams, and we made haste to load the cart; the boys adorned it with flowers and green boughs, and with songs of triumph which made the woods ring they conveyed the valuable supply of game to the hut, where their mother anxiously waited for us.

After dinner we set to work upon our pigs, singeing and scalding off the bristles; I cut out the hams, divided the flitches, bestowed considerable portions of the carcase on the dogs, and diligently cleansed and salted the meat, while the boys prepared a shed, where it was to be hung to be cured in the smoke of fires of green wood.

This unexpected business of course detained us in the place for some time. On the second day, when the smoking-shed was ready, the boys were anxious to cook the smallest porker in the Otaheitean fas.h.i.+on. For this purpose they dug a hole, in which they burnt a quant.i.ty of dry gra.s.s, sticks and weeds, heating stones, which were placed round the sides of the pit.

While the younger boys made ready the oven, Fritz singed and washed his peccary, stuffing it with potatoes, onions and herbs, and a good sprinkling of salt and pepper.

He then sewed up the opening, and enveloped the pig in large leaves to guard it from the ashes and dust of its cooking-place.

The fire no longer blazed, but the embers and stones were glowing hot; the pig was carefully placed in the hole, covered over with hot ashes, and the whole with earth, so that it looked like a big mole heap.

Dinner was looked forward to with curiosity, as well as appet.i.te; my wife, as usual, distrusting our experiments, was not sanguine of success, and made ready some plain food as a pis aller*.

* Last resort, backup, poor subst.i.tute.

She was well pleased with the curing-hut, which was roomy enough to hang all our hams and bacon. On a wide hearth in the middle we kindled a large fire, which was kept constantly smouldering by heaping it with damp gra.s.s and green wood. The hut being closed in above, the smoke filled it, and penetrated the meat thoroughly: this process it had to undergo for several days.

In a few hours Fritz gave notice that he was going to open his oven.

Great excitement prevailed as he removed the earth, turf, and stones, and a delicious appetizing odour arose from the opening. It was the smell of roast pork, certainly, but with a flavor of spices which surprised me, until I thought of the leaves in which the food had been wrapped up.

The peccary was carefully raised, and when a few cinders were picked off, it looked a remarkably well-cooked dish. Fritz was highly complimented on his success, even by his mother.

The scented leaves were, I thought, those of a tree which I knew to be found in Madagascar, called by the natives ravensara, or 'good leaf.'

It is said to combine the scent of the nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon. The fruit is a species of nut, possessing the scent of the leaves in a more delicate degree, and from it an oil or essence is distilled, which is highly valued in native cookery.

During the process of curing our large supply of hams and bacon, which occupied several days, we roamed about the neighbourhood in all directions, finding no trace of the serpent, but making many valuable acquisitions, among which were some gigantic bamboos from fifty to sixty feet in length, and of proportionate thickness. These, when cut across near the joints, formed capital casks, tubs, and pots; while the long sharp thorns, which begirt the stem at intervals, were as strong and useful as iron nails.

One day we made an excursion to the farm at Prospect Hill, and were grievously provoked to find that the vagabond apes had been there, and wrought terrible mischief, as before at Woodlands.

The animals and poultry were scattered, and everything in the cottage so torn and dirtied, that it was vain to think of setting things right that day. We therefore very unwillingly left the disorder as we found it, purposing to devote time to the work afterwards.

When all was in readiness for the prosecution of our journey, we closed and barricaded the hut, in which, for the present, we left the store of bacon; and arranging our march in the usual patriarchal style, we took our way to the Gap, the thorough defence of which defile was the main object we had in view.

Our last halting-place being much enclosed by shrubs, bamboos and brushwood, we had during our stay opened a path through the cane thicket in the direction we were about to travel; this we now found of the greatest a.s.sistance, and the loaded cart pa.s.sed on without impediment.

The ground was open and tolerably level beyond, so that in a few hours we arrived at the extreme limit of our coast territory.

We halted on the outskirts of a little wood behind which, to the right, rose the precipitous and frowning cliffs of the mountain gorge, while to the left flowed the torrent, leaving between it and the rocks the narrow pa.s.s we called the Gap, and pa.s.sing onward to mingle its waters with the sea.

The wood afforded us pleasant shelter and standing high, and within gunshot of the mouth of the rocky pa.s.s, I resolved to make it our camping-place. We therefore unpacked the cart, and made our usual arrangements for safety and comfort, not forgetting to examine the wood itself, so as to ascertain whether it harboured any dangerous animals.

Nothing worse than wild cats was discovered. We disturbed several of these creatures in their pursuit of birds and small game, but they fled at our approach.

By the time dinner was ready we felt much fatigued, and some hours of unusually sultry and oppressive heat compelled us to rest until towards evening, when returning coolness revived our strength. We pitched the tent, and then occupied ourselves with preparations for the next day, when it was my intention to penetrate the country beyond the defile, and make a longer excursion across the savannah, than had yet been undertaken.

All was ready for a start at an early hour; my brave wife consented to remain in camp with Franz as her companion, while the three elder boys, and all the dogs, except Juno, went with me.

We expected to find it somewhat difficult to make our way through the narrowest part of the pa.s.s, which had been so strongly barricaded and planted with th.o.r.n.y shrubs, but found on the contrary that the fences and walls were broken down and disarranged. It was thus very evident that the great snake, as well as the herd of peccaries, had made an entrance here.

This barricade was the first check that had been placed by hand of man upon the wild free will of nature in this lonely place. With one consent storms, floods, torrents, and the wild beasts of the forest, had set themselves to destroy it.

We resolved to make the defences doubly strong, being convinced that the position was capable of being barricaded and fortified so as to resist the invaders we dreaded.

The prospect which opened before us on emerging from the rocky pa.s.s was wide, and varied. Swelling hills and verdant wooded vales were seen on one hand, while a great plain stretched before us, extending from the banks of the river towards a chain of lofty mountains, whose summits were rendered indistinct in the haze of the distance.

We crossed the stream, which we named East River, filling our flasks with water, and it was well we did so, for in continuing our journey, we found the soil become more arid and parched than we had expected; in fact we soon appeared surrounded by a desert.

The boys were astonished at the altered appearance of the country, part of which had been explored when we met with the buffaloes. I reminded them of the difference of the season; that the expedition had been made directly after the rains, when vegetation had clothed with transient beauty this region, which, possessing no source of moisture in itself, had become scathed and bare during the blazing heat of summer.