Volume 1807
Georges Dodds'
The Ape-Man: his Kith and Kin
A collection of texts which prepared the advent of Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Presents
http://www.erbzine.com/mag18/ambrose.htm
A boy and a girl are shipwrecked on an island with a sailor who soon dies. They are found by a shipwrecked captain and taught to speak and read and write. After many adventures, including the defeat of a pirate city-state, they are reunited with their relatives. However, circumstances lead the group to have to leave Europe, and form a group of colonists to exploit the island of their former residence.
A clear sky, and prosperous gales, announced a happy voyage to the vessel in which Colonel Carlton had embarked for England; it was returning from Jamaica, leaving on the left the Isle of Cuba, and on the right the superb forests of the ancient Bayti. (1) The pilot steered towards the Bermuda Isles; and the Colonel in a few weeks hoped to embrace a wife and child, endeared to him by an absence of twelve months; but these delightful prospects soon vanished; the rolling of the vessel increased, a tremendous water-spout approached, and threatened instant destruction. This being, by the advice of the pilot, broken by a discharge of cannon, all that remained to be done was to lower the sails, shut the hatches, and abandon the vessel to the mercy of the waves. The Heavens were soon filled with flashes of lightning; thick darkness succeeded day; the thunder rolled, and the vessel, the sport of all the various revolutions of the boisterous waves, presented only to the unfortunate passengers shipwreck and death; this soon followed, for the point of a rock forcing an entrance into the vessel, in a few minutes, precipitated it into the bosom of the vast ocean. In this moment of danger, the Colonel, ever calm and collected, seized a plank, upon which he committed himself to the waves: his example was followed by a few others, and by his faithful domestic, Peter.
Having long floated at random, and contended with the fury of the waves, the Colonel found himself near land; but such was the violence of the sea, that at the moment his hopes were strongest, he was frequently carried by an overwhelming wave to the greatest distance: at length, after various efforts, he gained a coast covered with rocks, over which he with difficulty climbed to an extensive plain, where he suck down, wholly deprived of sensation. In this state he remained nearly two hours, when his senses by degrees returning, he discovered two children, half-naked, on their knees, at his side, who, by their innocent gestures, expressed the most lively interest in his situation. One of them perceiving that he breathed, exclaimed in a jargon he could just distinguish to be English, "He is not dead, sister; he is come to take us home -- are you not father!"
His first questions were, "Where am I? What country do you inhabit?" But finding that he was not clearly understood, he looked round for some person to whom he might address himself. Not seeing any one, he attempted to rise; but exhausted with fatigue, sunk down, uttering involuntary sighs and groans, forced from him by the weakness of his condition.
"He is hungry, brother," said one of the children, "I will go and fetch him some food;" and immediately she fled across the plain.
"Who do you belong to?" said the Colonel, recovering himself, "have you no friends? no father, no mother?"
"Are not you our father?" asked the boy.
"I! my child," said the Colonel, "I do not know you."
"Yes; but are you alone?"
"O yes," returned he, "we are all alone; nobody but Eleanor and Ambrose; we see only the great beasts, and they frighten us very much."
"And who brought you into this country, Ambrose?" said the Colonel.
"A great house," replied the child, "that went upon the water."
"And have you never seen one like it touch here?"
"O never," said the child; "there are only great men, all black, that come sometimes in little boats. When we see them we hide ourselves for fear they would eat us."
"Well!" said the Colonel with a sigh, "I am then lost without resource! I must end my days here, far from my wife, my friends, my country."
"You will stay with us, will you not?" said the boy.
"Alas, my child! I have no choice."
"Oh," returned he, "we will love and caress you, as we used to do Derley."
"Derley! who was he?"
"Our good friend," answered the child; "but he is dead; we have wept a great deal for him." As he said this his sister returned with some tortoise and colibri eggs; she brought also some dates and a large shell filled with liquor, which to the taste seemed that which flows from the palm tree. This simple repast proved very salutary to the Colonel; his strength returned, he thanked his little hosts for their solicitude, and reflecting a-new upon his adventure was astonished to conceive it possible for two children, so young and so delicate, should provide for all their wants at an age when others scarcely know how to walk or think: he wished to discover by what means it had been effected, but they expressed their ideas very imperfectly; he could only guess at their little jargon, and judge from it that they were English. He resolved, nevertheless, while he awaited the return of day, to interrogate them, that he might, from their answers, form some conjectures upon their condition, and the cause of their being deserted at so early an age. "How old are you?" said he. "We do not understand you," replied Ambrose; but when he repeated, "I ask how many times have you seen the cold and the hot seasons?" Eleanor said, "We cannot tell; but since the time our good friend died, we have at every sun made a mark with a stone on that great tree you see there.
The Colonel admired the ingenious expedient the children had employed, and going towards the tree, by the light of the moon added all the marks, and counted 1528, which made four years two months and eight days since they had lost Derley.
"But," said he, "did he die as soon as you came here?"
"O yes," replied the children, "his blood flowed like the spring at which we drink."
"He was wounded then?" said the Colonel.
"Very much," they replied.
"But," said the Colonel, "who brought you hither in the wooden house?"
"Mama, with a great many men; one of them was a very bad man; he beat Derley, and gave him a great many cuts with a knife, and then put him with us into a little boat that brought us here."
"And do you," said the Colonel, "recollect where you lived before you went into this ship? (for the wooden house you speak for is called a ship.)"
"Yes, in great houses, where there were many fine things; then we used to see our dear father sometimes, and he used to kiss and love us."
"And was your father in the ship?" said the Colonel.
"No; before we went into it, he and mama cried very much; and then we saw him no more?"
"In what place," said the Colonel, "was the great house in which you lived?"
"In a place where there was a great many others," replied Ambrose. "Do you remember, sister, that a woman used to carry us often into a fine garden, where there was a great river, and rows of trees, where fine women and men used to walk, while we played upon the grass with little girls and boys?"
"Yes," said Eleanor, "I remember it very well."
From these answers the Colonel could draw little information; all that he conjectured was that his little hosts were the victims of some sort of treachery, and that Derley was their friend; and he thought it was possible that the fine garden of which they spoke might be St. James's Park; but all this was not sufficiently clear; he hoped that time, by strengthening their reason, would afford him a more satisfactory explanation.
No sooner had the morning sun inflamed the horizon, that he arose, and taking the young pupils of Nature, who were henceforth to be his own, by the hand, set out to take a view of the land which providence had destined, for some time at least, to be his abode. He discovered that it was an island, surrounded by steep rocks, and accessible only on one side to vessels; it was not very extensive, but was covered with mountains, woods, little hills, and cool and fragrant valleys; here an embowering forest invited the traveller to taste in its religious enclosure the sweets of solitude: there a mountain slowly rising covered with fern, discovered from its top an extensive ocean, strewed with an infinity of little islands, which appeared only like the points of so many rocks. Farther on a spring of water escaped trembling from the hollow of a cave, and ran meandering over beds of reeds to water a smiling plain, enamelled with all the various beauties of vegetation. A thousand succulent vegetables and blooming flowers, as thousand fruits and odoriferous trees, contended for the shade and land; the cocoa, the cafia, the palm and banana tree, the leaves of which were, according to the Indians, the vestments of our first parents; the fig, the white cotton tree, in a word, all the most curious and useful productions of America. No traces of men were, however, visible, but those of different animals, such as otters, stags, goats, and the anta, a small animal which resembles the elephant, though much smaller, and is common in Peru. Among the birds was the fou, a little inoffensive fowl, which has the habit of clinging to the masts of vessels; the edolio, so called from its repeating, without ceasing, in a low melancholy tone, edolio; and the foken, a bird of an exquisite flavour.
"Well," said Ambrose, having led the Colonel over the island, "do you find all this so frightful? Eleanor and I sleep when it is no longer light, and when the sun shines, we run into the woods to seek food. We throw stones at the high trees, and the fruits fall, and we eat them."
"But you had not always the strength to do so," said the Colonel.
"No," replied Eleanor, "it is only since the dry weather that Ambrose thought of it. O me! before we were not tall enough, and we only eat the fruits that the trees let fall, or some eggs that the great fish brought to the side of the water: but we are near our cabin; come in father, you shall see it; take care you do not hurt your head." It was a kind of subterraneous cave, at which they arrived through a deep valley, overgrown with palm-trees. The Colonel readily entered; but was instantly alarmed by a fœtid smell, that nearly stifled him: he advanced to discover the cause; but what was his horror and astonishment, when, at the further part of the cave, he saw a disfigured corpse! it was partly dry, and putrefied, and was covered with different aromatic leaves: "Do not be frightened," said Eleanor, observing the impression it made upon the Colonel, "it is he!"
"He! my child, who!" "Poor Derley," she replied, "who fell dead in this corner." -- "And have you, my children," said the Colonel, "inhabited a cavern where --" "Oh, we never left it," interrupted Eleanor, "that we might be always with him." "Yes," said Ambrose, "we look at him every sun, and cover him with fresh leaves." "Good creatures!" exclaimed the Colonel; "but, my little friends, he can no longer hear you." "Oh, we know very well," said Ambrose, "that he cannot hear us; for if he could, he would speak to us, but we would not part with him for all that." "But, my dear children," said the Colonel, "you expose yourself to the danger of becoming sick, and dying likewise."
"Ah," said Ambrose, having remained thoughtful a moment, "once as we were looking at Derley, Eleanor's face turned quite white, and she fell upon the ground. I thought she was going to die; for I called, and she did not answer me; 'Eleanor' I said, 'My dear Eleanor, will you leave Ambrose all alone?' but she did not speak. Then I turned to the Sun, and begged he would give me back Eleanor, or burn me with his fire. He heard me, for she got up and walked."
"Not the Sun, my child," said the Colonel, "but God heard you."
"God? Who is God?" "That Great Being, my child," said the Colonel, "who has placed you upon the Earth; who watches over you, who has miraculously preserved your life: but I shall explain this hereafter, at present we must think of taking hence this inanimate corpse."
"Oh, no," exclaimed the children at the same instant. "Suffer me to remove it," said the Colonel, "I know where God would have it put."
"Pray, pray," said Eleanor, holding her little hands towards him, "do not take it away, we shall die if we do not see poor Derley."
By dint of argument and entreaty, the Colonel, however, at length prevailed; he drew from them a reluctant consent, and drawing the corpse of the unfortunate Derley from the cavern, he began to examine it, hoping to form from it some conclusions relative to the fate of the two little strangers. Disfigured as it was, it appeared to be that of a man about thirty years of age, tall and well made: his clothes, upon being touched, fell into rags; but the Colonel picked up a watch, set with diamonds, and a gold snuff box, in the inside of which was set the portrait of a woman: the damp had almost wholly defaced it, but it was easy to distinguish that the principal features were handsome. The box, he observed also, had a double bottom, in which he found a letter, which he opened precipitately, but it was so macerated, that among others entirely defaced, he could only distinguish the following words --
| LONDON. |
"I have only ---- to depart ---- your children ---- of Derley ---- Dep
---- four years that ---- union, this ---- the first ---- God ----
—— in Piccadilly, at twelve --
Finding nothing more upon the corpse, excepting some guineas, a knife, scissors, and a pocket-book absolutely in ashes, he resolved to inter it. "But," said he to the children, who, with eyes bathed in tears, and fixed upon Derley, seemed buried in the most profound apathy, "how was it that you did not touch the jewels your unfortunate friend possessed?" "Oh," they replied, "we loved him too much to take anything from him, and then we did not know he had all these pretty things."
"You have never then searched him?" said the Colonel."
"Never," said Ambrose, "we only looked at him, and then wept."
"What respectful tenderness!" exclaimed the Colonel. His thoughts then reverted to the interment of the corpse. He had observed in an adjacent vale, a little mount which rose covered with myrrh trees, and overshaded by four palms. To this spot he immediately repaired, and having with a branch of the Bischalo, the hard wood of which the negroes use for the construction of their cabins, dug a grave he deposited in it the remains of the unfortunate Derley, which his two little friends beheld the mournful ceremony bathed in tears.
He then stuck fire from a neighbouring rock, a wonder which much surprised the children, and burnt upon the grave the clothes of the deceased, adding a quantity of mint, cloves, and other fragrant herbs that grew near, to purify the air. Ambrose and Eleanor could not depart without casting many a lingering glance towards a spot which contained in their eyes an inestimable treasure. They walked -- stopped -- walked -- and would again retrace the same steps to bid an eternal adieu to their good friend.
In the mean while the sun inclined toward the West, and the sea, as they ascended the valley, reflecting his crimson rays, appeared a vast plain of fire. Arriving on the shore, the Colonel stopped to admire the glories of the scene, and the children, forgetting their grief, walked hand in hand toward the rocks, and amused themselves with collecting shells and sea-weeds. For some minutes the Colonel lost sight of them, but Eleanor soon returned out of breath, to tell him that her brother and she had discovered a great thing which they believed to be a fish. "Come and see it father," said she; "it is dead, so do not be afraid." Saying this, she led him among the rocks, where they found Ambrose attentively examining something which the Colonel soon discovered to be a large bundle of hammocks which the returning tide had driven on shore. This suggesting to him the idea of recovering from the wreck some articles that might soften the severity of his misfortune, an idea which had not till this moment occurred to him: he began to search diligently among the rocks, and with inexpressible joy, discovered two large chests, three small casks of brandy, and some tubs of salt provision, besides several copper utensils and other articles. These treasures he by degrees conveyed from the rocks, and deposited in a subterraneous cave which the children pointed out. The Colonel then impatient to examine the contents of the chests, forced one of them open, and found in it several suits of clothes, a quantity of shirts, stockings, handkerchiefs, and some gold and jewels. The other which was the carpenter's chest, contained a variety of different tools, and was considered by the Colonel as a greater treasure than all the rest.
The fatigues of the day at length rendering rest and refreshment necessary, he kindled a fire, and roasted some pieces of salt meat. Then seating himself with his young companions on the sea beech, he shared with them a meal of which hunger made the chief dainty: and he was not a little diverted to see them, with sparkling eyes, palate the flavour of meats, the relish of which they had long lost, and tenderly incite each other to partake of a feast which to them appeared delicious.
"You do not eat, brother," said Eleanor; "nor you, sister," returned Ambrose; and then they both fell greedily upon their meats, which presently disappeared. Their good friend smiled; and congratulated himself upon the power of contributing to their happiness. The repast being ended, they all three repaired to the cavern, where Ambrose and Eleanor soon fell asleep. It was not so with their friend: a thousand painful reflections kept him long from tasting the same refreshment. He could not forbear contrasting his situation and prospects the preceding day with those of the present moment. What a change had a few hours wrought! Flushed with hopes he was returning to his country to enjoy with a wife and child, whom he tenderly loved, all the conveniences and the elegancies of life. He now saw himself the solitary inhabitant of an unfrequented tract, obliged to renounce his wife, his friends, all he held dear. These reflections, in spite of his fortitude, bedewed his cheek with tears; but when he called to mind the dangers from which he had escaped, that his life, among numbers the waves had swallowed, had been preserved, he acknowledged the goodness of the Being who had protected, and with cheerfulness and resignation committed his fate into his hands. His thoughts then turned upon his little companions in whose fate it was impossible not to be interested, abandoned to themselves on an uninhabited island, at the early age of three years and a half; for the marks upon the great tree forming four years two months and eight days. Their preservation, he thought, could have been effected by little less than a miracle, and viewing them as the objects shipwreck, he resolved henceforth to be to them a father, guide, and friend.
The rising sun awoke him from a short repose, and he looked round to salute his fellow-citizens; but he was surprised to find that they had left the cave: at first he concluded they would soon return; but an hour nearly elapsing, he grew alarmed and having sought them without success in the utmost anxiety, calling them repeatedly by name. He knew not what to think, and began to form a thousand horrid conjectures concerning wild beasts, that for anything he knew to the contrary, might inhabit the island, when the idea occurred to him that they might be at the place where Derley was interred. To this spot their affectionate hearts had in truth conducted them; he met them returning through the wood, their eyes still wet with the tears they had shed upon the grave of their friend. The Colonel chid them gently for the alarm they caused him, and taking them by the hand, "I am pleased my little friends," said he, "at the gratitude and affection you discover towards your unfortunate good friend; it convinces me that your hearts are good; nevertheless you must cease to regret him; God has, I doubt not taken him from you to bestow on him a happiness that noting can interrupt."
"How is that father?" said the children, "we do not understand you."
"I will explain it to you my little friends," said the Colonel, "I ought to do so, but necessity engages me at present to defer this duty. We cannot inhabit the gloomy cave we now occupy; we must endeavour to construct a more agreeable retreat; a cabin that will shelter us from the injuries of the air, and serve us as an asylum against all alarms. The children were delighted; they jumpt round their good friend, exclaiming in an ecstasy, "We will help you father! we will help you!" He resolved, however, before he began his operations, to visit the rocks, judging that the influx of the tide might, during the night, have brought other articles from the wreck on shore. Nor was he deceived; he found a cask of oil, a second tub of salt provisions, and a chest containing, besides linen, a variety of books, among which were some of the best Latin and English authors. It contained also a cafe of mathematical instruments, and a small mariner’s compass. The books ere damaged by the wet, but he hoped soon to dry and render them fit for use. Besides, these he found several other articles scattered along the shore.
Having secured these new treasures, he turned his thoughts upon the grand work of constructing a cabin. Between two hills that rose near the sea coast, was a cool valley, in the midst of which a spring of water gushing from a rock, formed a basin, bordered with a thousand odoriferous flowers. This valley was shaded by palm-trees, and exposed to the rising sun, was a stranger to the burning heats of noon. It offered an agreeable retreat to the philosopher, and was on one side bounded by the whole extent of the ocean, and on the other by an embowering forest. Here, at the entrance of the forest, the colonel resolved to erect his new habitation, and with this design collecting the precious instruments he had taken from the wreck, hewed two of those trees called Bischalos, and shaped four stakes fifteen inches thick, and eight long; these he drove into the earth at the distance of twenty feet from each other, planting between each six smaller: this done, he filled the intermediate space with flints, cementing the whole with a whitish sort of earth, very much resembling that in Europe called marne, and which mixed with water formed a cement to which the rays of the fun soon gave a hardness equal to stone. He did not forget previously to leave in this little edifice a door narrow, that he and his companions might the better defend themselves, in cafe of an attack, against the wild beasts. A large chimney was also formed, and two windows to establish a current of air necessary in so confined a place occupied by three persons. The lateral parts thus finished, a covering was next to be thought of, and this did not a little puzzle our architect, who having neither tiles nor the tools necessary to saw planks, was embarrassed how to defend his house against the rain and hail, the size of which is prodigious in North America. At length calling to mind the manner in which the Africans roof their dwellings, he placed seven or eight joists horizontally upon the building, and then having raised others into a point, he formed the whole into a carcass, with tenons and mortices, and covered it with the leaves of the palm-tree interwoven into a sort of mat, in the manner of the negroes on the gold coast; he next made a partition, which separated the interior of the cabin into two parts, and formed for Eleanor a little chamber, about eight feet square, the entrance of which communicated with that which he designed for himself and Ambrose. Three stools and a billet, serving for a table, were next produced; also some plates, spoons, and drinking cups, made with the leaves of a tree called the Balizeir, which are used by the natives of Madagascar for the covering of their houses, and which, if well dried, will remain. It is impossible to describe the zeal and activity of the Colonel; alternately carpenter, mason, tiler and joiner, he pursued his operations with a degree of vigour and perseverance that removed every obstacle. Ambrose and Eleanor, on the other hand, assisted him as much as their strength would permit; they went in search of the earth of which their cement was formed, moistened it, presented the tools, carried away the chips, gathered the palm leaves (for they climbed the highest trees with the greatest agility) joined them together under the conduct of their friend; in a word, united all their endeavours to alleviate his fatigue, and accomplish a work of which they felt, as they did, all the utility. At the end of a month, the little edifice was completed, and all that he had gained from the wreck, chests, tools, linen, clothes, &c. conveyed into it: as for beds, he made three very commodious of some hammocks, spread with mats composed of palm leaves dried in the sun. The chimney concealed his kitchen utensils, which were hung on hooks, driven into the wall for that purpose; in short, everything was complete, and the Colonel and his little friends took possession of their new habitation. The children knew not how to express their joy; they ran, wept, laughed, examined all, and leaping by turns on the neck of their friend, called him repeatedly their father, their dear Carlton, for he had taught them to express his name: then, suddenly quitting him, they re-examined all, seated themselves twenty times upon the benches, touched, and removed all the furniture, and then returning, again threw themselves into his arms. The Colonel made them, at length, sit down, recommended silence, and spoke to them in these terms. "It is time, my children that I think of the great work to which God has appointed me; that of your education: the forming of your hearts will not I think, cost me much trouble; they are good and susceptible: with respect to your intellects, I believe them to be sound and comprehensive; but I shall form a better judgment when I am more particularly acquainted with the manner in which you have conducted yourselves since your residence in this island: it is necessary, therefore, Ambrose, before I detail to you my plans, that you recount to me in the most exact manner that your memory will permit, what you did upon first coming out of the ship that brought you hither, and acquaint me with the means you have employed since that time to preserve your existence, and to provide for all your wants; arrange your ideas, my child, as well as you are able, and do not omit the most trivial circumstances: the detail will be more interesting to me than you may suppose."
The Colonel ceased, and Ambrose, who during a month had learned to reflect a little, and to express his ideas in a more intelligent manner, was silent a few minutes to recollect himself, and then gave without interruption, the following recital.
"We lived, as we told you, father, in a wooden house that went upon the water: we had slept in it a great many times, and every morning Derley used to come and take us up, and carry us to mama, who used to kiss us and cry, this made us cry too. Once as she was kissing us and crying, a man came into the cabin, and talked a great deal to her; it was that naughty man I told you of: mama cried very much, and would have taken us in her arms, but he took us away from her and threw us upon the ground. Then Derley was very angry, and seized that naughty man by the throat, but he drew a very long great knife, and run it into his belly. Then several ugly men came in, and put us and Derley into a little boat, that went upon the water much faster than the wooden house. Derley groaned very much, and we were all covered with his blood; but the men in the boat laughed, and set us all three upon this land, father. Then Derley fell down, and lay a long time upon the ground: at last he got up very softly, and took us by the hand, and walked to the cave, where you know we lived, father, till you came; but as soon as he got in he fell down again, and dragged us upon him. We cried, and spoke to him, but he did not answer, he only groaned. He groaned all night, and we cried, and when the sun came again, he breathed no more. We took him by the hands, but they were quite cold; then we spoke to him again, but finding he did not answer, we went out of the cave crying, and running about upon the sea-shore. Eleanor soon fell down; I ran to her, and fell too, for I felt as if I was going to fall asleep. While we were sitting, a goat passed by with a young one sucking: at that moment it came into my mind to drive away the young one, and suck some of the milk; so drawing myself under the goat, the good creature let me drink as much as I would, without going away or hurting me. This gave me strength; I got up, and led her to Eleanor, who sucked some of her milk, smiled, held out her hand to me, and got up; but the goat was going away, and we were afraid she would not come back to us. 'What shall we do?' said I to Eleanor, 'Let us lead her to Derley,' she replied: so we took her by the horn, and led her to the cave, the young one following all the way. Still Derley did not speak, so we began again to cry, and call him: 'Derley!' we said, 'Derley, speak to us, are you angry? We will do so no more. Answer us, Derley, it is Ambrose, it is Eleanor; do you not love us?' Our uneasiness encreased [sic] every instant, we were so happy with mama! And now we were in a frightful cave, all dark! This made us of a sudden thoughtful; we ceased crying, and looked at each other, without speaking or stirring at all. In this time we forgot our goat, till seeing she was gone, we run out of the cave to seek her. In our way something fell from a high tree as we passed it, and frightened us very much: we ran away as fast as we could, but at least venturing to look back, and seeing nothing to alarm us, we returned on tip toe, to see what had fallen from the tree, and found a fruit shaped like a very large green pear: I was so hungry, that I could not help tasting it, and found that it was very good: so I gave it to Eleanor, who eat half, and left me the rest. We then went again in search of the goat, but seeing as we passed, a great tree that water came out of it, being very dry, I put my mouth to the tree, and sucked some. Eleanor did the same, and we both thought it was much better than the water we had before drunk. At last, thinking we should not find the gentle beast which had given us her milk, we went back to the cave, which we were a long time in finding. The sight of our good friend made us again cry very much till no longer seeing any light, we fell upon the ground, and slept until a new sun. When we awoke, we kissed Derley, and being very hungry, ran to the tree at the foot of which we had found the great pear; but there were no pears; so we run to the sea shore, crying, and repeating the prayers mama used to make us say morning and night. -- O, Eleanor, do you remember how frightened we were! -- There was a great beast upon the sands, just like a spider; Eleanor, who saw it first, screamed out, and taking me by the hand, ran to our cave where we hid ourselves; for we thought the great beast was coming after us. We staid there till the heat of the day, crying and screaming dreadfully; but finding it did not follow us, we grew calm, and I began to think of the great pear which had frightened us, and afterwards proved so good; so I said to Eleanor, 'Let us go and see if the great beast is there.' 'Ah!' she replied, 'it will eat us.' 'No,' said I, 'if it wants to eat us, I will throw a great stone, and kill it.' -- Eleanor consented, and we went softly to the place where we had seen it, and in its room found several yellow eggs. We did not much like the look of them, but I was so hungry, that I soon took courage to break one. Eleanor and I swallowed them one after another, and found them nicer than the eggs we had eaten with mama. It was very lucky, father, that we found them, for we felt as if we should fall and die for want of food; but after we had eaten the eggs we grew strong again, and began to speak of what had happened to us. Still we called upon Derley, hoping in time to awake him, and at least got so weary and sick, that we lay ourselves down to sleep till another sun. This two we spent in crying, and seeking food. A very pretty little bird, with a long beak, and black and blue feathers, let its nest fall from a tree, and we found in it some eggs, whole and broken, but much smaller, and more yellow than those which the great beast had left on the sands. We divided them, and at the same time, I saw lying on the ground two of the same large apples which had before fallen from the tree. 'Here sister,' said I, 'is one for you and one for me.' We ate them, and then went to the tree which gave water, and sucked till we were no longer dry. In this manner, father, we lived for several suns, and were only sorrowful when we entered the cave where poor Derley continued to sleep without speaking: still we hoped he would awake, and a thought one sun came into my head, as we stood on the sea-shore, looking at the great fire which shines in the heavens. 'What shall we do sister?' said I, 'to count the suns Derley shall have slept, that we may tell him when he awakes?" We both thought a good while; but at last, Eleanor took a flint and said, 'Let us make a stroke upon this great tree every time the sun comes back to us; Derley knows how to read, and he will tell when he awakes.' Since that time we have not passed one sun without making a stroke on the tree; you have read them, father, and know how many there be."
Here the Colonel could no longer retain his admiration: he embraced his two little friends, addressed some exclamations to Heaven, and desired Ambrose to continue his recital, which he did in these words. --
"We every day found food, and began to forget our griefs, when I thought to myself, if these trees should not let fall any more apples, nor these birds their nests; if those great beasts should not bring us any more eggs, what must we do? We must try to get something to eat, if all this should happen. Then I took some stones, and threw them with all my strength at the trees, and a great many apples and nests fell at our feet. Eleanor and I gathered them up, and carried them to the cave, where we hid them under some leaves of the same trees, which are very large. We did this every sun, and were never in want of food; but sometimes we were very much frightened indeed! for those great beasts you have seen, father, in the woods, would come by night almost into our cave; but we always hid ourselves behind Derley, and they went away without biting us. One night there came a horse that had a long neck, and a great lump upon its back; the sight of it frightened us so much, that we fled out of the cave, and ran screaming violently, till coming to a tree, I set my feet and hands against it, and grasping it very close, climbed quite to the top, calling to my sister to do the same. She followed my example, and the crooked horse finding he could not get at us, went away directly, and when he was a good way off, we came down. Ah, father, we should have been very glad, if we had known the secret you have shown us, of getting fire out of the stones, for we were sometimes cold. Our clothes got torn, and when they were very bad, we threw them away, and for some suns remained quite naked; but at last, we found the skin of a beast, which we divided between us: here it is still; what do you call it?"
"It is the skin of an otter," replied the Colonel. "Well, then," continued Ambrose, "this country is full of these otters. We will try to get a skin for you when your coat is worn out."
"Is this all that has happened, Ambrose?" said the Colonel. "Yes," said Ambrose, "all." -- "But," returned the Colonel, "you have not yet spoken of the large black man you saw." "Oh," said Ambrose, "I forgot: in truth, we must take care of them." "Well," said the Colonel, "but how came you to see them?" "Why," said Ambrose, "one day when it was very bad weather, I left Eleanor in the cave, and went out to seek food, and when I came back, she came running to me quite frightened, crying, 'we shall be eaten, -- we shall be eaten -- I have seen --' I asked her what? 'Great ugly black men,' said she, 'there -- look -- do you not see them?' ---- While she was speaking, I saw afar off a great many black men, running one after the other. I directly let fall all that I had brought, and taking my sister by the hand, we both ran to a dark cave that is under ground: if you stand where I do, father, you may see it: there, on that side where the sun appears: we hid ourselves at the bottom of it, very much terrified: but not hearing any thing, came out from time to time, to see if the black men were still there; at last we did not see them at all, and running to the side from whence they came, we saw them a great way off, in a little boat that went very fast upon the water. They have been here since, but we saw no more of them than we did at first; they never come this way, it is only in the great gardens which you call woods, that we see them; when they are gone, we find large animals there skinned, trees quite destroyed, and the feathers of birds, which make us think that these black me come here to kill the beasts, and to take the birds and apples. This, father, is all I can recollect: we have lived, as I have told you, from the time you see the marks upon the tree, without doubt through the goodness of the God whom you tell us of: till now we have said the prayers mama taught us to the sun, who walks in the heavens, thinking he was God; but if you have another, we will pray to him, and be very good, that he may love us."
Ambrose ceased speaking, and the Colonel was silent for a few minutes, to admire the hand of Providence in the preservation of these innocents! The green pears of which they spoke, he found no difficulty in judging to be Carasols, a fruit common to North America; the great beast on the shore a tortoise, the eggs of which are delicious, and commonly deposited by this creature in the sands: the bird with the black and blue feathers, he determined to be the colibri, and the water which flowed from the great tree, the sap of the palm; but more especially did he acknowledge an over-ruling Providence in the succour they had received from the goat: he had read of bears, and even lionesses, having suckled infants, but till now had justly considered such stories as fabulous. At length, taking Ambrose by the hand, "The desire you express, my son," said he, "of knowing that powerful and beneficent Being, who has miraculously preserved you amidst these deserts, shall be gratified: too great to render himself visible to his weak creatures, know, my child, that, from the heights of Heaven, he watches over the conduct of all men: nothing escapes him, he knows all, sees all, hears all, and with a glance of his eye, comprehends the whole Earth." "The Earth!" interrupted Ambrose, "do you mean the country where we live?" "The Earth, my children, I need not tell you," said the Colonel, "is the ground on which we tread, but it consists not only of this island, it extends beyond the seas, and contains four great countries, which are called EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA, and AMERICA, which last is the part of the world we are now in."
"Then this island," said Ambrose, "is America?"
"No," replied the Colonel, "but it makes a part of it."
"We do not," said the children, "understand you." "When you are further instructed," said the Colonel, "when I shall have taught you to read and write, you will perfectly comprehend all this: at present it will be sufficient to acquaint you that this great Being, who is called God, created all things: the Sun, which has hitherto been the object of your adoration, and which communicates light and heat to all nature, was formed by his word; he has furnished the Earth with thousands of beautiful plants and animals: we can behold nothing that does not speak his praise and almighty power: to him, my children, you owe your being: his word called you into existence, and his mercy renders that existence a blessing: you must look up to him as the author of all good, and to please him, be humble, meek, and endeavour to imitate his perfections, by diffusing happiness to every creature around you."
Ambrose and Eleanor listened to this discourse with an attention from which their friend drew the happiest presage: the day passed insensibly away; they supped in the new cabin, and afterwards prepared to occupy their hammocks. Eleanor busied herself for some time about her chamber: she walked in it a great while, and did not go to sleep till she had twenty times examined and changed the place of the little furniture it contained. The Colonel and Ambrose, neighbours to each other, discoursed for some time: then resigning themselves to the powers of sleep, they enjoyed an uninterrupted repose. The rising sun at length enlightened the cabin, when the Colonel, finding that his pupils were still buried in a profound sleep, took them gently by the hand, and with pleasure saw them open their eyes, stretch first one arm, then the other, raise their heads and smile on him with an inexpressible grace, "You should give an example to your sister, Ambrose," said he, "and be before hand with the Sun." "Forgive me, dear father," said Ambrose, but we have slept in such a good bed!"
"It is enough, my son," replied the Colonel, "but to morrow, and every future day, you must at day-break repair both of you to the sea shore, and offer your thanks and prayers to the Being who has preserved you during the night." This the children assured him they would not fail of doing.
Having erected and furnished his little dwelling, the Colonel was resolved to visit the interior part of the island, that he might more particularly examine its vegetable productions, and execute the projects he had formed: he accordingly set out, and had not advanced far before he discovered plants covered with rice and maize, and manioc. These were the principal objects of his pursuit: with the assistance of the children, about two bushels of maize was gathered, and conveyed in hammocks to the cabin. Some handfuls of this was spread upon the turf, and exposed to the scorching heat of noon, which soon dried it sufficiently to grind. The Colonel then made, in a rock, a hole in the form of a mortar, and with a pestle of wood broke the grains, and reduced them to powder. It was then necessary to winnow it, that the chaff might be separated from the grain, and this he performed by shaking it violently in a cloth, which Ambrose and Eleanor held extended: afterwards it was ground into flour between two stones, and diluted with water. A little brandy being mixed with this paste, by way of leaven, it was put to bake upon flints strongly heated by the fire, and thus a bread, very light and agreeable to the palate, was made. While the children watched the bread, the Colonel returned to make fresh discoveries: he found, as he proceeded into the island, a great deal of millet, but different from that of Europe, and fine potatoes, which he knew would afford them excellent nourishment; he discovered also some green figs, and a variety of wholesome and delicious fruits common to America; but for these it was necessary to go far into the island, which became an inconvenience: to remedy it, therefore, with the assistance of his little pupils, he dug up and sowed a piece of land, near the cabin, which extended from the sea shore to the forest, which served as its boundary. This sort of orchard in the end, furnished them with maize, rice, millet, potatoes, and all the most useful and delicious productions of the soil.
The Reader having now seen our islanders furnished with the first necessities of life, will not, perhaps be displeased to learn in what manner they employed their time. In the morning the Colonel took Ambrose into the woods with him to hunt, having for this necessary purpose fabricated a bow about three feet and a half long, the string of which was a gut twisted, and the arrows a stick furnished with two feathers, and terminated by a flint sharpened: with these they killed the different animals that inhabited the woods, such as stags, goats, does, and among the birds, the duck and the foken, which furnished them with excellent food. During this time Eleanor was employed in baking the bread, or in other little offices of domestic economy. On returning, they busied themselves in collecting the eggs which were deposited by different fish upon the sea beach, but especially by the tortoise and alligator: the last mentioned is so singular that a short description of it may be deserving the attention of the Reader. The alligator is a sort of crocodile common to America: its head is large, and its jaws furnished with strong teeth, two of which especially are extremely long; it has four legs, which are very short, and terminate by large feet, and its back from the head to the tail is covered with strong scales, as also two large lumps which are over the eyes; its stomach is furnished with four glands and its tail always drags on the ground. This animal lives indifferently on land or water, and is not mischievous but when provoked: its eggs are esteemed a great dainty. The cultivation of their field next engaged the attention of the Colonel and his pupils, after which they dined, and spent the afternoon in study or in gardening.
Nothing could exceed the attention of Ambrose and Eleanor to the lessons of their friend, who had found the means of teaching them, not only to read, but to write. He had discovered in the woods a tree much resembling the simpi of the Isle of Madagascar: its bark, after being exposed to the sun, became as white as paper, and though it smelt a little of musk, this was easily weakened by exposing it to the fumes of aromatic herbs: at the foot of this flowed a sort of gum, much like that of the Indian fig-tree, the sap of which is used by the Indians to colour their vessels black. Being thus furnished with paper and ink, he soon added pens; he shaped them with his knife, and put them into the hands of his young pupils, who were soon able to write and read, and consequently to feel the value of those books (for among them were some of the best authors) which had been taken from the wreck. "Pray, father," said Ambrose one day, laying down a book, "explain to me why they have kings in the countries I read of." "Men living in society, my son," said the Colonel, "in which there are good and bad, it is necessary to establish rulers, that order and peace may be maintained."
"I do not understand you," said Ambrose. -- "I will endeavour," replied his friend, "to explain myself more clearly; suppose, now, for example, there were in this island a great many men and women who lived together in common, can you not conceive that one would wish for the field of his neighbour, that another would cut the throat of his enemy without pity; that this man would enter our cabin to seize upon our food, and that drive us from it to establish his own residence in it?"
"How!" exclaimed the children with astonishment, "are men capable of this?"
"I am ashamed, my children," said the Colonel, "to reply that they are; and that unfortunately, the number of the wicked surpass that of the good." "Ah, Eleanor," exclaimed Ambrose, "let us stay in our isle!"
"Hear me to an end," interrupted the Colonel; "what I have said granted, you will see that it is a necessity to establish laws to render our habitations and property secure, and also to invest certain individuals with a power to enforce those laws: this power is not, however, always invested in one man, but sometimes in a certain number chosen by the body of the people; this form of government is called a republic; the other, where a king governs, a monarchy."
"I comprehend very well what you say, father," said Ambrose, "but is it not strange that men should be so wicked as to render these laws necessary?"
"It is a melancholy proof, my son," replied the Colonel, "of the depravity of human nature: from pride, envy, ambition, and avarice, vices, which are the most dangerous in community, as opportunities of calling them forth more frequently occur, spring all the various evils and miseries of life."
"Pray, father," said Ambrose, "what is avarice?"
"An inordinate desire of possessing more than we can enjoy," said the Colonel: "you will scarcely believe, my child, that there are beings who possess great wealth, and bury, without employing it."
"In what then," said Ambrose, "consists the riches of your country, Father?"
"Alas, my son!" returned the Colonel, it is those miserable pieces of gold and silver which constitute all the happiness and misery of life."
"What! those!" exclaimed the children, "that you found upon Derley?"
"The same," replied the Colonel; "those pieces stamped with the image of the ruling power, are divided into small and great coin, each of a proportionate value, and with these are procured all the commodities of life."
"What," said Eleanor, "do men agree to pay one another for things that belong alike to everyone? I do not understand --"
"Oh, I understand very well," interrupted Ambrose, "and I could willingly pardon them for selling the works of art; if one man is wiser, or more skilful than another, he deserves a recompense: but to assume a right over grain, wood, and all the common productions of the earth, that is indeed unreasonable."
"You do not reflect, Ambrose," said the Colonel, "that all these productions of the earth require culture, conveyance, and a thousand little cares, which equally deserve reward: is the man who tills a field, sows it, and watches the vegetation of its produce, who gathers and carries it afterwards into cities, obliged to take upon himself this trouble? No, surely: if he considers gold an equivalent, has he not a right to receive it? These are the people, my child, who deserve payment, and not those who by their multiplied depredations ruin and oppress their country."
"Your observation, my dear father," said Ambrose, "is very just; I did not consider,"
In this matter the Colonel endeavoured to inform the minds, and rectify the judgment of his young pupils: towards sunset, they were at liberty to run, jump, and take the exercise necessary to strengthen their constitutions, and render their nerves supple: but in the evening, rational and attentive, they listened, on the sea-shore, to the lessons of their good friend on morality, physic, or religion. One evening when the sky was clear, and strewed with stars, Eleanor observed that phenomenon which we generally express under the name of a falling star. "What is that father?" said she, "I have many times forgotten to ask you why we see the stars fall so often?" "That, Eleanor," said the Colonel, "which appears to you a star, is not one; it is a spark of elementary, or rather electrical fire, which shines in the ethereal region, and evaporates by the shock of a current of air."
"I do not," said Eleanor, "understand what you mean by electricity."
"Be attentive then," said the Colonel. "Electricity is a matter of fire invisible to our eyes, but which nevertheless exists; penetrates all bodies; gives to one vegetation, to another trepidation, to another impulsion, &c."
"Explain this more clearly, dear father," said Eleanor.
"Electricity," continued the Colonel, "causes the vegetables to grow, agitates the air we breathe, drives the wind with more or less violence, penetrates our bodies, and gives them strength, nay, health; fortifies, and even preserves in us the vital principle; it render our blood active and warm, quickens, and is perhaps, the cause of its circulation."
"I understand this very well," said Eleanor.
"Well then," said the Colonel, "this electrical matter, the element of every thing that exists, opposed by a current of air, kindles itself, and produces the appearance you have observed: (2) from this cause also proceeds those spontaneous fires which we often see on the banks of morasses or lakes."
"I comprehend this very well," said Eleanor: "so then all those stars that we see in the heavens are sparks of electrical fire."
"No, Eleanor," replied the Colonel, "those stars are bodies of surprising magnitude; they are globes like the Earth we inhabit, but much larger; it is their distance only that makes them appear less. Among an infinity of others, there are six called planets; which revolve, without ceasing, round the wonderful body of light, the Sun, which is computed to be upwards of a million of times as large as the Earth. The distance of these globes from the Sun, which dispenses light and heat to them all, is so immense, that numbers can scarcely convey an idea of it, and their velocity is no less amazing. Mercury, which is the planet nearest to the Sun, is about thirty-seven million of miles distant from it, and moves at the rate of a hundred and five thousand miles every hour, completing his course round the Sun in less than three months. Venus, which is the next planet above Mercury, is sixty-eight millions of miles from the Sun, and by moving seventy-six thousand miles every hour, performs its revolution in twenty-three days and twenty-two hours. The next planet above Venus is the Earth upon which we live: its distance from the Sun is ninety-five millions of miles, and by travelling at the rate of fifty-eight thousand miles every hour --"
"How!" interrupted the children, "does the Earth move?"
"Yes," said the Colonel, "it turns once in twenty-four hours quite round; and by this motion occasions the apparent motion of the Sun and all the heavenly bodies, from east to west, in the same time; its revolution round the Sun is completed in three hundred and sixty-five days, and something less than six hours, or the space of a year, which causes the variation of the seasons: but I shall explain this more fully hereafter.
"Above the Earth's orb is Mars, whose distance from the Sun is a hundred and forty-four millions of miles; it travels at the rate of fifty-five thousand miles an hour, and goes round the Sun in something less than two of our years.
"Jupiter, the largest of the planets, is still further removed from the Sun; it is twenty times the size of our Earth, and travels at the rate of twenty-nine thousand miles an hour, completing its journey in something less than twelve years. Still higher in the system, about nine millions of miles from the Sun, is Saturn, who, by travelling at the rate of twenty-two thousand miles an hour, finishes his course in about twenty-nine of our years and a half.
"Besides these which are called Primary Planets, there are in our system others, called secondary planets, which move round the planets in the same manner as their primaries do round the Sun. The first of these is the Moon, which accompanies the Earth in its annual progress around the Sun, completing its circuit round the Earth in the space of twenty-nine days and twelve hours. As the moon receives its light from the Sun, and presents only one side to us, in the course of its monthly journey, we see more or less of its enlightened side, according to its different position with respect to that part of the Earth we inhabit, and hence arises the different appearances which we express under the name of a new and full moon, &c. Four of these satellites or moons attend Jupiter, and five (3) Saturn; besides these five moons, a broad flat luminous circle called his ring, encircles without touching the body of Saturn at a distance nearly equal to the breadth of the ring, which is about twenty-one thousand miles. Some astronomers have thought, that this ring is composed of a vast number of moons or satellites, which being seen at such an immense distance, may, by means of their blended light, give the whole the appearance of one continued body; upon this an eminent astronomer, whose works I lament not being able to put into your hands, says, 'when we consider the remote situation of Saturn, and consequently how much the Sun's light must be weakened before it can reach him, such a glorious assemblage of moons does not appear an unnecessary appendage to this planet."
In this manner the Colonel began his astronomical lectures. The two children looked up astonished at the prodigious magnitude of those globes he had been describing, and were desirous of travelling into the planets, especially into Saturn, whose ring and five moons astonished them; but when in due time their worthy instructor spoke to them of the fixed stars, each of which he told them was a Sun supposed to enlighten other systems of worlds, they were lost in the stupendous contemplation, and could only in silence adore the great Being who formed and animated the whole. The Colonel was delighted to see their young minds gradually expand, and was studious to render even the most trifling incidents subservient to their improvement. One day as Eleanor entered the cabin, she exclaimed in an ecstasy, "Oh father! if you had but seen what I have!"
"What was it, Eleanor?" said her friend, smiling. "As I was gathering vegetables," she replied, "upon the great rock, I saw two of those little creatures you, I believe, call lizards, crawl to a hole in the rock, each bearing a small stalk full of seeds. They laid down their provision at the entrance, and went in, but directly came out accompanied by an old lizard, much larger than they were; he began to eat the seeds, and the two little ones looked at him without stirring; but the noise I made frightening them all three, the old one, in attempting to get away, fell down. I took it up, and was surprised to see it was blind. While I was examining it, I observed that the two little ones were searching for it with the greatest uneasiness, so I put it on the edge of the hole, and directly they all three went in, as if they were rejoiced to have escaped so great a danger. The little lizards must certainly have been the children of the great one."
"Perhaps they were," said the Colonel.
"I was quite delighted," said Eleanor, "to see them carry food to their poor blind Father, who could no longer seek it for himself."
"You see, Eleanor," said the Colonel, "that the pure sentiment of filial tenderness is given alike to animals and to men."
"Animals have then a soul?" said Eleanor.
"Why do you presume that they have?" returned the Colonel.
"They have, at least, reflection," said Eleanor.
"Upon what do you found your conclusion?" said the Colonel.
"Why," said Eleanor, "is it not evident that the lizards must have reflection? They, without doubt, say to themselves, our father is blind and old, he cannot seek food for himself; it is, therefore, our part to carry it to him, that he may live the longer."
"I am pleased with your argument, Eleanor," said the Colonel, "as it springs from the goodness and simplicity of your heart; but I will teach you to account more rationally for what you have seen; many celebrated naturalists have given examples equally striking of the seeming rationality of animals. The intellectual faculties may be divided into two kinds, soul and instinct. The soul is that portion of us, which reflects, foresees, examines and compares. Instinct is that natural sentiment which leads us to preserve our being, to tremble at the sight of a wound, and to compassionate an unfortunate being. Some philosophers have given to this last faculty the name of Sympathy. Whatever it be, it is that alone which animates animals, and dissolves with their machines. Instinct serves them instead of reflection. The lizards do not, as you imagine, say, 'Let us comfort our father.' They do not know him under that character: they are ignorant that they owe their life to him, but they love and comfort him because nature prompts them to it. Do you think, my child, that ferocious animals reflect when they fall upon you? No; neither, by the same rule, would those that are gentle, should you treat them ill, resolve to retaliate. They have passions, but they owe them only to the organization of their machine, and to the nature of their instinct. Had they reflection, they would feel grief, inquietude, and melancholy sensations, which they experience only when sick or wounded. Sufferance is the only sentiment they prove, and this alone can affect their spirits or their faculties. So you see, Eleanor, that animals have no soul; but they have an instinct so acute, so subtle, that it is easy mistaken. There are, my children, three sorts of existence. The first passive and insensible; the second active and sensible; and the third, active, sensible, and rational. A celebrated naturalist said formerly, (4), "That stones grew, vegetables grew and lived, and that animals grew, lived, and felt."
"How!" exclaimed Eleanor, "have trees life?"
"Undoubtedly," replied the Colonel, "the sap is their blood, and the elementary or electrical fire, the principle of their life."
"They must then," said Eleanor, "feel pain when we cut them."
"No," said the Colonel, "their life is only passive; they have neither passions nor affections; but in other respects, they are subject to the same vicissitudes that animals are; they exist, they grow, they decrease, and are subject to sicknesses, as we are."
"It is very singular," said Eleanor.
"The more you study nature, my child," said the Colonel, "the more will it exalt your ideas of that great Being, who with a single word created so many wonders."
"We will never," said the children, "cease to adore him, we will love, obey, and pray to him that our soul, which you have taught us is immortal, may live with him for ever, when our bodies are like poor Derley's."
This conversation led to digressions on morality and metaphysics, which furnished discourse for more than eight days.
During four years which the Colonel had now resided in the island, he had had time to make observations on its soil and temperature. By the help of his compass, and knowledge of physics, he discovered that it was situate near the 22d degree, 30 min. north latitude, and about 304 degrees W. longitude. The air was extremely mild, ice and snow being equally unknown. During summer, which began about November, and continued till April, neither clouds, vapours, nor exhalations were to be seen. The atmosphere was so clear, that not only the rising and setting of the sun, but the increase and wane of the moon might be seen even in full days. As this season the drought was so great that the leaves fell from the trees, every plant drooped, and even the animals withdrew into the woods or the hollows of rocks to seek the coolness necessary to their preservation; but when the sun approached the tropic of Cancer, the vapours it exhaled from the sea and marshes, condensed into thick clouds, from whence issued lightning and thunders, accompanied with torrents of rain, which continued during eight or ten days: these rains which cooled the air, induced the Colonel to distinguish this season by the appellation of Winter: though very different from the Winters of Europe it produced in Nature the most favourable change. Scarcely does the month of May diffuse her salutary coolness through the air, when the trees recover their former verdure. The forests exhale a thousand odours; the animals, more agile descend from the mountains or issue from the holes of rocks; the birds seem to revive to a new being, and renew their concerts; testaceous animals change their shells; reptiles their skins; and the fish, quitting the open sea, enter the rivers, and seem to present themselves an easy prey to the fishermen.
There was in the island a sort of tree from which flowed a whitish gum so ductile that it might be drawn out into threads: of this Eleanor made nets, with which they caught the most delicious fish, such as thornback, mullet, doree, &c. Tortoises of all kinds were so abundant during Winter, that they furnished our islanders with food for the Summer, a season when these amphibious animals do not appear, on account of the aridity that reigns. In the course of May, large yellow and red serpents, eight or ten feet long, were found in the morasses: the heads of these creatures were in the form of a triangle, and their jaws furnished with long sharp teeth; but they were not dangerous. About this time also, large grey snakes, tufted, and spotted with black, descended with a great noise from the mountains; their heads were about the size of one's hand, flat, and armed with eight teeth about an inch long. These reptiles were perfectly inoffensive, and having no sort of venom, made war only upon the ants, which surprising their enemies when asleep, came in battalions to prey upon their eyes.
The Colonel, who was formed equally for the pleasures of a contemplative as he was for the active scenes of a military life, spent the Winter in studying nature, and the summer, when the heat was intense, in philosophical reflections; but these could not banish from his remembrance a wife and child, who possessed his fondest affections, and to whom he had now lost all hope of returning; their image was present in every pursuit; and in spite of his fortitude, he was at times melancholy and dejected. On these occasions Ambrose and Eleanor endeavoured, by their innocent caresses, and a thousand little tender cares, to dissipate his sorrows and restore him to cheerfulness: their affection called forth on his part an equal return: with delight he saw their susceptible hearts expand with every virtue: then calling to mind the hopeless state in which he had first discovered them, and beholding himself in the hand of Providence, an instrument of their happiness he lost, in the pleasing contemplation, the remembrance of his sorrows: nay, hope itself once more revived, and flattered him with one day restoring them to society, and being himself reunited to all he held dear. He was one day indulging these pleasing reflections, when the children, who had been in the wood amusing themselves with a thousand little games, returned to him, pale, trembling, and scarce able to speak.
"What is the matter Ambrose?" said he: "Speak, Eleanor; what has happened?"
"They are come!" faltered the children; "they are in the island!"
"Whom do you mean?" said the Colonel.
"The great naked men," they replied.
"Well" said their friend; do not alarm yourselves; we must retreat to some place of safety."
"They will not come on this side," said the children.
"No matter," said the Colonel, "it is necessary that we conceal ourselves:" saying this, he began to strip the cabin, and assisted by Ambrose and Eleanor, carried the most precious movables to a subterranean cave, the entrance of which was accessible only to those acquainted with its windings. Here they remained some time, when the Colonel, not hearing anything, and wishing to see the extremity of the danger which threatened them, as also whether the savages bent their steps towards his beloved cabin, went out, accompanied by his little friends, who refused to be left behind, and lying flat on his stomach, on the summit of a mount that overlooked the isle, beheld the savages, to the number of about forty or fifty, quit their canoes and advance into the island. Their skins were painted of such a deep red, that being almost naked, in the sun they more nearly resembled boiled lobsters than men; and to add to their grotesque appearance, round their bodies on all sides, hung plates of metal, the form of which the Colonel, however, could not perfectly determine. The women, distinguishable by their children, which they carried on their backs, wore a pagne or camisa round their waist, closer than that of the men, and about two or three inches deep. Having taken from their canoes, hammocks, arms, and different utensils, they penetrated further into the isle, entered the forest, and began to hunt. This exercise continued the whole day and part of the night, during which the Colonel and his pupils, not daring to descend from the mount, were witnesses to all that passed. They saw them towards morning issue from the wood, carrying with them the beasts they had slain, goats, otters, antas, and a great number of parrots and other birds. Immediately the quadrupeds were skinned, the flesh cut up, and the bones separated. A fire was then kindled, in the manner of the negroes, by rubbing two pieces of wood violently together, and they set about dressing their meats. A large vessel, containing a quantity of crabs, was then brought, and smaller ones of palm wine, brandy, camphire, &c. after which they began their repast. It was a sight truly comic, to see all these coloured savages squatted like so many monkeys, in a circle, devouring with an excessive appetite, and picking with as much agility as eagerness, even the smallest claws of the crabs, which are considered among them as a great dainty. Having drank repeated draughts of palm wine and brandy, they began to shout, sing, and burst into fits of excessive laughter, opening an enormous mouth, and discovering the whitest and most elegant teeth in the world: but soon growing intoxicated, they rose, leaped, gambolled, and committed a thousand extravagancies; till this noisy feast being ended, they on a sudden overturned their utensils, carried them away, and ran half mad to their canoes, which, swift as am arrow, conveyed them from the island. When they were at some distance, the Colonel and his two pupils descended from their mountain, and replaced in their cabin the movables they had for safety deposited in the subterranean cave, exhausted with fatigue and hunger, they did not that night go to reconnoitre the place where the savages had been feasting, but the next morning early they set out, and arrived at the field of action. They found there baskets, knives, and wooden cups, which the savages, in their haste and intoxication, had left behind them, besides plenty of good cheer. They took from among the utensils such as appeared to them the most useful and curious, and having rested and refreshed themselves, again set out for their cabin. Their way ran through a wood, which they had hitherto little frequented, and they stopped to admire a grot upon which nature seemed to have lavished all her beauties. Concealed by cotton shrubs, and bananas, the shade of which gave a religious aspect to the place, they gained the entrance by a path hollowed out of the rock, and bordered by a thousand aromatic plants. The entrance, arched and ruinated, was enlightened only by a reflection which the light threw on a rivulet that issued from the grot; the banks of this stream being more elevated, formed a natural footway through the grot, at the bottom of which our travellers observed a faint light, which appeared to shine through the chinks of the rock. This induced them to enter, but scarcely had they advanced many paces, when deep groans seemed to proceed from the further part of the grot. The Colonel stopped: -- and the children alarmed, in vain endeavoured to articulate sounds which fear froze upon their lips. They advanced a few paces farther; the groans, became more distinct, and in a few minutes they heard these words repeated in a melancholy voice: -- "Oh Death, when wilt thou come to my succour." -- "Heavens!" cried the Colonel, "what prodigy is this? The accents are English!"
"Whosoever thou art!" returned the voice, "in pity --"
"Where are you!" interrupted the Colonel, still advancing; "who are you?"
"An unfortunate dying man," returned the voice.
The Colonel still proceeded: the voice seemed familiar to his ear, but he could see nothing. At length, his eyes becoming more accustomed to the gloom, he discerned on the ground a body almost naked, which, on closer view, he found to be wounded. Shocked at the sight of so much horror, he knelt down, and taking the hand of the stranger, "Unhappy man," said he, "what barbarian has treated you thus inhumanly?" -- He was continuing, when the stranger grasping his hand to raise himself a little, on a sudden exclaimed, "Merciful Heaven! do I deceive myself -- that voice -- my honoured master -- Colonel Carlton ----"
"What do I hear?" cried the Colonel. "Peter! Is it possible, can it be?"
"Thank Heaven!" said the dying man, "I die content: my dear master lives! --"
"Talk not of dying, my faithful Peter," said the Colonel, raising him, and endeavouring to staunch the blood with his handkerchief, "Providence has not restored you to take you from me so soon. Eleanor, Ambrose, run to the cabin, refreshment is necessary." -- The children disappeared in an instant, and presently returned with some goat’s milk, tortoise eggs, and palm wine. The stranger took a little of this nourishment, and was much revived; but the Colonel found that he was not in a state to be removed: he conveyed therefore to the grot, hammocks, mats, and such things as were necessary to render it commodious, and attended him there, till finding in the course of a few days, that his patient had gained a little strength, he determined to remove him to the cabin. It was an interesting sight, to see this worthy man bearing his old domestic upon his shoulders, Eleanor and Ambrose holding each of them a leg, to ease the sick man, and lighten the burden of their protector. The cabin was at some distance from the grot, but at last, they arrived at it, and Peter, being laid in a hammock, enjoyed soon after a comfortable repose. The Colonel, during his abode in the island, had had sufficient time for the study of botany, to know thoroughly the properties of the different samples it produced: this knowledge he applied so successfully, that in less than eight days Peter was out of danger, and at the end of the month was perfectly restored to health.
The reader will conclude that the Colonel, during this time, had put many questions to him concerning his misfortunes, the particulars of which he now wished to hear in the order as they had occurred: Peter, one day, therefore, gave his master the following recital.
"At the instant Sir," said he, "that the vessel foundered, I followed your example: seized a piece of wood to assist me in swimming, and threw myself into the sea. I struggled long against the violence of the waves, but at length my strength failed me: I swooned, I believe, and let go the friendly oar that supported me, for I remember no more till I found myself stretched in a canoe, and surrounded by five or six naked men of the most frightful colour. My ideas were confused: I knew not what to think: I cast my eyes on the vast plain of waters, enlightened by the moon: then I looked round for you, my dear master, but not seeing you, and recollecting the fatal events that had happened, my heart sunk, and persuaded that you were swallowed in the waves, an involuntary cry of horror and grief burst from me; this terrified the savages who surrounded me, so much, that they would have thrown me in the sea, had I not, seeing their design, softened them by my prayers and tears. One of them at length addressed me in a jargon, composed of English, Dutch, and French, of which I comprehended, 'From whence come you, White?'"
'A vessel,' I replied, 'in which I sailed has been wrecked, and I should without doubt have perished, had you not preserved me.'
'What is your name, White?'
'Peter --'
'Have you any knives or scissors about you, Peter?'
'I have only a knife.'
'Give it me, White.'
'There it is,' said I, giving it to him.
'Come,' returned he, 'I will love thee: thou shalt be slave to the Grand Cacique.'
'Oh Heaven!' I exclaimed, 'where do you mean to take me?'
'To Friz,' answered the negro, 'and you will be very happy.'
"I now felt the full extent of my misfortune; I was condemned, I saw, to serve the negroes, who, from their ferocious aspect, I doubted not were cannibals; but lamentations were vain! Our canoe rapidly cut the waves, and at break of day we arrived at the port of our destination. My guides showed me in triumph to an innumerable tribe of inhabitants, who bursting into fits of laughter, presently surrounded me, and increased my distress by their importunities. One cut my coat, another tore my waistcoat; in short, they divided my clothes among them, and in a few minutes I was naked as my hand. In this situation I was conducted to the Grand Cacique, who is Governor of the Island. He was seated with great state upon a hammock, in a cabin raised above the rest, and having, as I found, heard my story, received me with much kindness. 'White,' said he, 'thou shalt be my slave; serve me faithfully, and the soul that is in thy heart (5) will enjoy in Heaven all the happiness that awaits those who have done well; I forbid thee to do three things, White; to drink my brandy, to rob me, and especially to see my wives. If thou dost any of these I shall kill thee, and they great soul will float upon the ocean, and mix with the spirits who diffuse evil upon the earth.'"
"The Cacique ceased, and I, surprised at this singular harangue, could only bow in sign of submission, shedding abundance of tears. His greatness then took me by the hand, and ordered one of his attendants to fill me a cup of brandy to dispel my sorrow."
"The next day I began my labour, which was to turn up the savannas, to plant, weed, clear, and cultivate them: these, and a thousand other services which were added, I performed without intermission during four years that I remained with these barbarians, known in Europe by the name of Carribes, or Cannibals."
"How?" interrupted the Colonel, "are these the Carribes, inhabitants of the Antilles?"
"The same, Sir," said Peter, "I was myself ignorant of their name during a year, but I learnt it after from a French slave who lost his life in their service. The isle we now inhabit, Sir, is no other than one of the Antilles, which apparently has not yet been discovered."
"Ah my good Peter," said the Colonel, what do you tell me? Am I so near Cuba, St. Jago, St. Domingo, Porto Rico?"
"You undoubtedly are, Sir," said Peter, "but you must observe that the islands of which you speak form the Great Antilles, whereas this we now inhabit is in the Little Antilles. There are also other countries of the Carribes; but that I have left is so savage and barbarous, and so little commercial, that it is to be presumed it has little connexion with the Europeans established in the Great Antilles."
"Your observation is just, Peter," said the Colonel; "but gracious Heaven! a possibility remains -- Hope once more revives -- I shall again see England! Yes, my children, I shall conduct you to the abodes of men -- to the bosom of my country." ---- Such was the flattering prospect with which the vicinity of cities inhabited by civilized men, furnished Colonel Carlton; he did not reflect that he was, nevertheless, separated from them, and that during four years which he had resided in the island, he had never seen a human being except the Carribes land upon it. The transports to which these hopes gave birth, being at length, somewhat calmed, Peter, at the request of his master continued his narrative.
"The Carribes with whom I lived, Sir, have very little commerce with the Europeans; they put to sea every year, and come into this island to kill buffaloes, otters, birds, &c. after which they go to the coasts inhabited by Europeans, and barter the skins of these animals, baskets, lizards, and different sorts of eggs, for knives, scissors, hatchets, arms, European linen, and especially brandy. The day fixed upon for their last voyage, my mastered ordered me to bring into the canoe his hammocks, arms, and household utensils: then having, according to the custom of these idolaters, made libations to the good spirits, we embarked to the number of fifty, as many women as men, and at the end of two days arrived at this island. As it was the first time during four years, my master had made me the companion of his voyage, I drew from it the happy presage of soon seeing an end to my captivity: for I doubted not meeting, on some of the coasts at which we should touch, Europeans whom I should find means to soften in my favour, and prevail on to assist me in my escape. Alas! I foresaw not the issue of that unhappy day. At the end of their brutal repast, my master, intoxicated with brandy ordered me to fill him another glass: I imprudently ventured to represent to him mildly the injury he would do himself; but instead of taking this as a mark of my good-will, he seized me by the throat; 'Ah, dog of a white,' said he in a rage, 'thou hast without doubt robbed me -- Die, and may thy thousand souls go to the seas, to increase the storms, and form the fires of Heaven!' Saying this he gave me several stabs with a knife; but none of them were unhappily directed to the heart. I had sufficient strength to retreat: and notwithstanding the effusion of blood, gained a cave, in which I sink down exhausted, and must have perished, had not Heaven in mercy conducted you, my dear master, to the spot."
Eleanor and Ambrose, who had listened very attentively to Peter's narrative, were highly incensed against the Cacique, and expressed their indignation in very forcible terms; but Peter endeavoured to moderate it, by observing that the Carribes, though capricious and cruel, were only so when contradicted. "They cannot," said he, "bear to be dictated to; their pride upon this point is inconceivable: but they are humane, and have great compassion for women and children."
This led the Colonel to make some enquiries concerning the laws and manners of the Carribes, and, especially, whether they were as sanguinary and fond of feeding upon human flesh, as they were represented by Europeans,
"Nothing, Sir," said Peter, "can be more false; they are certainly anthropophagi, or man eaters, but it is from accident, not national taste; if they devour their enemies, it is the transport of fury, in the heat of conquest, and even upon the field of battle. They do not like to be called savages; -- this name, they say, belongs to the beasts of prey: they equally detest that of a cannibal, which is with them equivalent to man eater; but they are very fond of the title of Carribes, because this in their primitive language, this word signifies a good warrior, a courageous man. The Carribes are in general tall and well proportioned; they have agreeable features, except the forehead, which is flat and much sunk, a defect which gives them a ferocious air, and arises from a custom they have of pressing the heads of their infants with a little board, tied fast behind, and left there till the forehead has taken the form they wish, and is become so flat, that without raising the head they can see almost perpendicularly above them."
"This custom," said the Colonel, "is not peculiar to the Carribes; it is common to the savages in other parts of America, and it is said to render the skull so hard, as frequently to have broken the swords of Europeans when they made the conquest of Peru."
"The Carribes, Sir," said Peter, "dye their skins red, not only for ornament, but to preserve them from being injured by the intense heat of the sun, and also, to defend them from the mosquitoes and other insects, which have an antipathy to the smell of the oils, and different mixtures they use. The women, who are shorter than the men, and have a more sprightly air, decorate themselves with bracelets, earrings and necklaces of glass beads and blue stones; from the age of twelve they wear also a sort of cotton buskins, which reach about five or six inches above the ankle bone, and are wrought so closely to the leg that it is impossible to take them off. -- The ornaments of the men are feathers and small plates of a metal they call caracoli; these they wear at their ears, noses, and under lip. The houses of the Carribes are called carbets, and like those of the Indians of Guiana, are of a singular form; the lateral parts are of reeds, and the covering of palm leaves: the roof descending to the rafters, gives to the whole the form of a hive. At the distance of ten paces is another carbet, half as large, separated into two parts by a palisade of reeds. The larger carbet serves to lodge the chief of the family, and the small one as a kitchen, and for the accommodation of the women and children, who never enter the great carbet but when the master wishes to receive them. The furniture of the woman's carbet is baskets and hammocks; of the men's, bows, arrows, zagayes, tied to the rafters, and hammocks; near which is generally a coffer, musket, sabre, pistol, and cartouche, effects which they exchange with the Europeans for the productions of their country. The women are very dextrous in a sort of wicker work, of which they make their hammocks, and very curious caskets. In these caskets, which are so neatly wrought that no water can enter, they enclose their jewels and attire, and when they go to sea, fasten them to the edge of their canoes, that they may not lose any thing should they turn over, which very frequently happens. The Carribes, who took me out to sea, had encountered, as we had, all the violence of the tempest, but without any alarm, tied like their caskets to their canoes, they follow the revolutions of the waves, turn with them, and continue their rout[e] until the danger is past. They have among them a sort of religion; the sun and moon have all their adoration, but they have neither temple nor form of worship. Some of their laws announce very good sense; such, for example, as the not electing a grand Cacique, till he has distinguished himself in war, and is chosen by a plurality of voices; he must also have borne away the prize in swimming, strength, and fortitude. Surely, Sir, such a people ought not to be compared to savage beasts."
The Colonel, agreed with Peter, that such a comparison was by no means just; and then added; "It has often surprised me that the children should, upon their arrival in the island, have found otter skins, nay, I myself," said he, "found some very fine ones when I made my researches the day after the Carribes had been feasting."
"Do not the Carribeans," said he, "carry them away, or is it an act of forgetfulness?"
"The latter, Sir," said Peter, "appears to be the reason. A minutia would divert a Carribe from the most important occupation: they frequently take a deal of trouble to accomplish an enterprise, and if they are attracted by another object, abandon the former, often at the moment in which they are on the point of succeeding."
Peter had nearly completed three-score years, but he was still active and vigorous; his health being perfectly re-established, he assisted at the tillage, grinding of corn, and at the most laborious occupations. He was extremely attached to the Colonel, in whose and his father's service he had passed his youth; he was therefore treated by him rather as a faithful friend, than a domestic, especially now that one common misfortune united them. Peter soon became attached to Eleanor and Ambrose: he would sometimes take them upon his knee, and give them lessons of morality which experience alone had taught him; and sometimes he would play with them like a little child; sing them Carribe songs, and gambol in the manner of the savages. In the mean while, under their indefatigable preceptor, they made a considerable progress in history, geography, the mathematics, poetry, and even music. The description which Peter had given them of a musical instrument called the balafo, used by the Carribes, had excited their industry: they had invented and executed under the direction of their friend, one less complexed and barbarous: upon this they accompanied songs, of which they had composed both the words and music themselves. The subjects were either their gratitude to the Supreme Being, their affection to each other, or the beauties of their island, and the happiness they enjoyed in it with their dear Carlton and honest Peter.
Three years had revolved since the arrival of Peter, and seven since his shipwreck, when the Colonel was one night alarmed by confused cries or rather shouts near his cabin. He started from his hammock, opened the door softly, and went out, but the night being extremely dark, he could not see any thing. The shouts still continued, but seemed at a much greater distance: he knew not what to think; but unwilling, till urged by necessity to alarm Peter or the children, who were all three buried in sleep, he ascended a hill that bounded his enclosure to the north, and looking down, perceived an enormous cloud of smoke through which flames of every colour soon found a passage. The forest that bounds his enclosure is on fire! "Oh heavens!" exclaimed he, seeing the sparks, carried towards his cabin, "my children -- Peter -- " and suddenly darting from the hill he awakened Peter, took Eleanor in one hand, Ambrose in the other, and flew with them to the sea shore, while Peter, informed of all by the flames and smoke he saw in the sky, carried a few of the most valuable effects of the cabin. He would have returned for what remained, but the wind blowing from the north, carried so many lighted brands upon the little dwelling, that wholly dried by the Sun, it became in a few minutes a prey to the flames. It is impossible to form a just idea of the grief and consternation of the Colonel and his three companions: the children ran -- screamed -- and seemed ready to throw themselves into the flames to preserve their precious abode, while the Colonel and Peter beheld the final catastrophe buried in a stupid dejection. The Colonel, however, at length recovering his usual firmness, bent his steps, followed by his little friends and Peter, toward the summit of a neighbouring rock, from whence, casting his eyes round, he endeavoured to divine the cause of the conflagration so fatal and unexpected. On one side they beheld only a vast plain of fire, but looking towards the sea, they saw a crowd of Carribes carrying off their effects, and embarking precipitately in their canoes. The flames threw a reddish reflection upon the savages, and rendered them visible at the distance of half a league on the sea, their arms extended, and their eyes fixed upon the burning forest. Little doubt remained but that the disaster originated with them, and Peter, somewhat recovered from his terror, suggested a very probable cause. "It is evident, Sir," said he, "that the Carribes have, as usual, landed to hunt in the forest, and it appears to me very probable that this accident may have happened through the stratagem they make use of to catch the parrots, which, among other things, they barter with the Europeans."
"Why," said the Colonel, "do they use fire?"
"Yes, Sir," said Peter, "they observe in the evening the trees upon which these birds perch, and when it is dark, tie to some of the lower branches an earthen pot in which they put lighted wood, and upon it gum and pimento; the thick smoke which rises, renders the parrots so giddy, that they fall down intoxicated, and become an easy prey to their pursuers, who immediately seize them, tie their feet and wings, and recover, them by simply throwing water upon their heads."
The mystery was now unravelled; it was no longer difficult to account for an accident which had proved so fatal to our islanders; but alas! the discovery of the cause did not diminish the calamity.
At break of day they descended from the rock, and returned to the spot where once their beloved habitation had stood. Instead of it they beheld a heap of smoking ashes! no furniture! no book! no shelter! they must forego all.
In the mean while the fire raged with violence in the forest; at the end of the twelve days it was not extinguished, and would undoubtedly have consumed the whole island, had the forest been adjacent to others; but it was absolutely alone, forming a sort of thicket in the midst of an immense plain: besides, the wind blowing from the north, carried the flakes of fire upon the cabin only, and consequently towards the sea.
During these twelve days, the Colonel was resolving in his mind different plans, and was undetermined which to pursue. He saw plainly that he must build another habitation if he remained in the island: but he did not stop here: the idea of making his escape from it had long been the favourite subject of his meditations; he had conceived a project which he believed to be practicable though hazardous, and nothing had prevented his putting it into execution, but his affection for Eleanor and Ambrose, whose extreme youth had hitherto rendered them less able to encounter the dangers and fatigues that must unavoidably attend the enterprise; but now that he was stripped of all, that he found himself once more on the island without habitation, without furniture, without any thing to render his abode in it desirable, he began to revolve his favourite project. "If it were possible," said he to himself, "to construct a canoe. My tools cannot be consumed, I shall find them among the ashes. If, I say, it were possible in this canoe to gain the islands inhabited by Europeans! The Antilles form a half circle, so that if we missed one we should unavoidably arrive at another; Cuba, St. Domingo, Jamaica, any of those islands would facilitate our return to England. What a delightful reflection! But, may we not," said he recollecting himself, "fall into the hands of the Carribes, by whom we are to all appearances surrounded? My own life I have a right to risk, but ought I to expose to slavery, to the dangers of shipwreck, two unfortunate children, for whom Heaven has rendered me responsible?" The Colonel rested some time on this idea; but the hope of seeing England, and of restoring to society two beings whose hearts and manners he had formed, in the end prevailed, and he resolved to hazard all rather than give up an enterprise that flattered him with such pleasing prospects.
His plan was well digested, he communicated it to Peter; but this wary domestic, far from approving, remonstrated with his master upon the danger of the enterprise. "Ah Sir," said he, "reflect, consider, I beseech you, what will be the consequence, should we again expose ourselves to the fury of an element, that has already proved so fatal to us."
"But, Peter," said the Colonel, "you have seen the construction of a canoe; you have even guided one?"
"I agree, Sir," said Peter, "that I have; I know very well how to work a canoe; I hope I should not sink you: nay, I could perhaps shun the rocks -- but still it is necessary to know where to steer to."
"Do not be alarmed about that, Peter," said the Colonel: "we can steer towards St. Domingo, or should we miss that, we shall find other of the Antilles inhabited by Europeans."
"But the Carribes, Sir," said Peter, "think, should we fall into their hands!"
"True, Peter," said the Colonel, "but you know the Isle of Friz: we can avoid that."
"But, Sir," said Peter, "we are undoubtedly surrounded by the Carribes."
"Heaven," interrupted the Colonel, "will protect us; deprived of all that has hitherto rendered our abode in this island tolerable, we have only a melancholy alternative." More he said to this purpose, till Peter, overcome at length by arguments and importunities, consented to embark in an enterprise of which he clearly foresaw all the dangers; -- more perhaps than really existed, for being himself ignorant of geography or navigation, he beheld the success of the voyage as much more uncertain than the Colonel.
The children leaped for joy; the pleasure of going on the sea, of seeing strange countries, rendered them blind to the perils they were to encounter; they saw only the end of the voyage, without bestowing a thought on the accidents that might interrupt it.
The enterprise being resolved upon, they began to remove the ashes, and seek for their tools, which they happily found in a state fit to make use of, excepting that it was necessary to whet them, and to make new handles, which was the business of three days. The next object was to fix on a tree calculated for the purpose of constructing a canoe; and after much deliberation, the cocoa-tree, of all the island produced, was preferred; not only on account of its enormous size, but the nature of its wood, which is soft, porous and easy to work. One of those trees was without loss of time rooted up, the trunk cut to about the length of fifteen feet, and the bark stripped off. It was then put on the stocks, and with the help of fire and hatchet hollowed, a work that was long and laborious. The bottom remained flat, and the sides four feet high and fifteen inches thick, inclined rather inward. The two extremities, lengthened to a point, turned up a little, that the vessel might the more easily tack about. Our workmen then scraped the surface with flints, and thus completed their canoe, which when finished was fifteen feet long, six wide, and four deep. A mast and rigging was next to be added, but this was not the most difficult part of the work: a strong branch was the mizzen mast; rushes woven into a mat made sails, and the leaves of the palm tree twisted became strong and solid cordage. As our carpenters had neither iron nor nails, the whole was joined with tenons and mortises, and fixed with wooden pegs. Peter did not forget to remind his master that the negroes fasten to the sides of their canoes strong cables, that they may be stretched horizontally in case of need. "To these, Sir," said he, "as I have before told you, they tie themselves, that when the tempest agitates the canoe, or causes it to turn over, they may follow the revolution of their barks. The Colonel took the same precaution, and at the end of a month the little bark was finished, and nothing remained but to launch it: a work which was performed with great ease: for the Colonel, having taken care to fix rollers under his stocks, by means of a capstan the whole was gradually moved to the sea, where the rollers were lost and the bark swam.
Destitute of tools necessary for the undertaking, our reader must judge of the activity that was employed to root up, cut, shape, hollow, and polish a tree of an immense size. The possibility of effecting it might even be doubted, were it not known that diligence and resolution are great masters which surmount obstacles, smooth difficulties, and render every thing possible to the man who is enterprising and persevering.
Their departure was fixed for the 8th day of the month of May. On the evening that preceded it, the Colonel made the two children sit down at his side, and spoke to them in these terms.
"To-morrow, my dear pupils, we shall leave our island: to-morrow we shall resign ourselves to a capricious element in the pursuit of man: alas! you may, perhaps, one day regret the peaceful country in which you have till now lived so happy. You may one day reproach me with having caused you to forsake it. No matter: I do my duty, if, as I trust, my confidence in this enterprise is a secret counsel of that benign Being who has hitherto watched over you. Man, my children, is not formed to live alone; he must carry his imperfections into society, that he may feel them, and learn that humility which can alone arise from a sense of his weakness. Excluded from the world, we are apt to ascribe to ourselves a perfection which does not belong to human nature, and forget that we are called upon by the great Author of our being to combat and to conquer passions, of the influence of which we are alone insensible, because strangers to the objects that would excite them. Can we, for example, assure ourselves that we are exempt from the sordid passion of avarice, when no object is present to excite our cupidity? Can we ascertain the conquest we have gained over ourselves, our progress in patience and forbearance before we are contradicted? No, my children; it is in society alone that we can form a just estimate of ourselves: self-love may indeed delude us, but a cool and impartial examination of our actions, and the motives from whence they spring, will secure us from yielding implicitly to its dictates. In society, my children, you will meet with contradictions, anxieties, and a variety of cares from which a life of solitude would exempt you; but you must not be discouraged: you will experience equivalent pleasures: your hearts will dilate in the thought that you do not exist for yourselves alone: they will expand in love to all around you, and in proportion as your opportunities of communicating happiness increase, your own sources of enjoyment will multiply: but let me not, while I draw this inviting picture, forget to remind you, that the success of our purposed voyage is uncertain: we are on the point of committing ourselves to the caprice of the ocean, in a bark, the work of our unskilful hands: -- our rout[e] is by no means certain. The Antilles, 'tis true, are numerous: if we miss one, I trust we shall arrive at another: but many of them are inhabited by the Carribes, and I need not repeat the consequence, should we fall into their hands. I do not make these observations, my children, to discourage you: no, my own hopes are strong: they are besides founded upon rational and solid grounds: but I would recall to your young minds, too soon elated with the prospect of success, the necessary reflection, that our enterprise is in the hands of God, to whose decrees, whether they tend to prosper or frustrate it, 'tis our duty to submit with pious and cheerful resignation."
Ambrose and Eleanor listened with attention to the discourse of their friend, and in silence lifted up their hearts to the Supreme Being, and implored his protection. They then with renewed vigour set about conveying on board their little bark, the few articles that had been preserved from the conflagration. Among these were the tools, and a Carribe casket, containing some jewels, and the letter and articles found upon Derley. These last the Colonel had so much to heart, from the hope that they might one day lead to a discovery of Ambrose and Eleanor's parents, that he secured them about his own person, in case of shipwreck or other accident. They laid in also a store of rush matting and cordage made of palm leaves, and thus having completed their little cargo, retired to rest in expectation of the next day, which was to be that of their departure. The Colonel could not close his eyes all night; the success of his approaching voyage, which at a distance hope had represented nearly as a certainty, now appeared doubtful; he feared, not for himself, but for those who were to accompany him, especially for the children; "they," said he, "have scarcely entered the morning of life, and I presume to expose them to the caprices of the waves! to the dangers of shipwreck! Gracious God," said he, looking with fervour towards Heaven, "protect them! but if they must perish, suffer me to perish with them; let me share the punishment of a crime of which I alone shall be guilty." These reflections were nevertheless counterpoised by others more pleasing: he still flattered himself with arriving at a port of safety, and the thought of returning to England, once more lulled him in a pleasing delusion. From this he was, at length roused, by the return of light: the Sun gilt the tops of the mountains, and he arose in haste; but the children and Peter had been beforehand with him and were amusing themselves with carrying into the vessel different sorts of grain, salted fish, and other provisions that were previously prepared, and, undoubtedly, very needful to undertake a voyage, the term of which was uncertain. One thing, however, which had till now escaped their recollection, caused some embarrassment: this was equally necessary as the other part of their stores. The difficulty was, however, soon surmounted by Peter, who presently formed with planks, in the bottom of the vessel, a reservoir for the purpose. To prevent the filtrations, he stopped the joints with leaves dipped in a sort of resinous gum, which had the property of being impenetrable to the water, and when filled, closed it very exactly, to defend it against the motion of the bark, which he feared might drive out the water.
In two hours all was ready, and nothing was thought on but setting sail, when on a sudden, Ambrose seeing to recollect himself, entreated the Colonel for a few minutes to delay their departure.
"With all my heart. Ambrose, " said the Colonel; "but tell me do you leave your island with regret?"
"No, father," said Ambrose, "we have nothing to regret, since we take you with us; but we have forgotten -- Eleanor, you know what I mean -- come with me -- quick, quick." Saying this, he took her hand, and without further explanation, set off across the plain, and was out of sight in an instant. If the Reader is desirous of knowing wither Eleanor and her brother were running with so much precipitation, he need only ask his heart, and he will strongly suspect it was to the tomb of their good friend Derley. "Oh yes," said Eleanor, as they ran across the plain, "indeed, we forgot; it was very ungrateful in us not to think of taking a last farewell of him." They presently arrived at the grave, upon which, as a small memorial, they had placed large stones something in the form of tomb. Here, with full hearts, they prostrated themselves, hand in hand, and began several phrases which they could not finish. "Farewell, farewell, Derley," said they. "Poor Derley! we shall never see you more, but we will always think of you. Poor Derley! There he lies, sister." -- "Yes, brother, he will be always there" -- "Farewell, Derley, farewell, we will always remember you." -- "Yes, Eleanor and Ambrose will keep you always in their hearts!"
Having thus given free course to their gratitude, they arose to return to the sea shore, when on a sudden they started back, struck with a noise entirely new to them, they looked at each other; the noise was repeated: "It is only a clap of thunder, brother," said Eleanor. "No," returned he, "it is not thunder." The noise was repeated a third time; their knees bent under them, and Eleanor sunk without sense or motion on the turf. While Ambrose was supporting her, and endeavouring to recall her senses, confused sounds of distant voices caught his ear, "Ambrose, Eleanor," was repeated more than once: he knew not what to do: he would have run from the spot, but affection to his sister withheld him. "Rise, rise, my dear Eleanor," said he, "we are called, it is the voice of our father;" but some time elapsed before her senses returned. At length, supporting her as well as he could, he ran precipitately to the sea shore; but instead of going to that side from whence the voice proceeded, by a natural impulse he took a path that led to that part of the shore where they had left the Colonel and Peter. They arrived at the spot, but they were not there; their vessel was still on the waves, but no other trace of their friends remained. Ambrose and Eleanor were too much alarmed to form any settled ideas; they ran here and there, repeatedly calling "Father! Peter!" and invoking Heaven to hear and pity their anxiety. A cluster of rocks at length set some bound to their despair. "Brother," said Eleanor, "it strikes me that we shall find them among these rocks." "Heaven grant that we may," said Ambrose. The path they took winding, by degrees brought them to an eminence, from whence their view comprehending a larger extent of the ocean, they discerned a small vessel sailing from the island with the greatest rapidly. This sight increased their grief: they doubted not but that their friends were in the vessel, and that the Carribes, or other enemies, had forced them from the island. Immoveable with grief, their eyes swimming with tears, they remained upon the rock till the bark had totally disappeared, and then bursting a new into a flood of sorrows, descended with heavy steps by a winding path, which brought them imperceptibly to a part of the shore at some distance from that where they had ascended; but what a spectacle of horror struck their sight! a disfigured corpse, covered with blood, lay on the sands! the upper jaw and skull had been carried away; but the height and clothes corresponding, they doubted not but their generous protector lay extended before them. Eleanor shrieked, and again fell senseless on the ground, and Ambrose reduced almost to the same state, had scarcely strength or courage to search for proofs to destroy or confirm their dreadful suspicions. His heart revived, upon observing that the hands of the unfortunate victim were small and soft, whereas those of his friend were hard, and much sun burnt; the Colonel wore no stockings, the deceased did; and upon close examination, he found that their clothes in many particulars differed. As for honest Peter, he had no fears on his account, as besides being much smaller, he was habited in skins. Convinced that it was neither the Colonel nor Peter, he flew to Eleanor, who began to revive, and communicated they joyful intelligence: but the idea of its being their friend, had so strongly impressed her mind, that it was not till after she had repeatedly questioned her brother, and examined the proofs, that she could be persuaded her suspicions were unfounded. For further satisfaction, Ambrose searched the pockets of the deceased, and found in them a pocket-book, knife, pipe and other articles, which they well knew their friend did not possess. This removed every doubt: tears of joy mingled in those of woe, were shed on both sides: it was not their friend -- the dreadful certainty of his being no more was removed: and hope, if it did not speak peace to their hearts, at least suspended the violence of their grief. They began to discourse with more calmness on what had happened, and attempted to form some conjectures on the cause of their misfortune. At the side of the deceased they found a weapon, which, by the description they had heard, they judged to be a pistol. This they concluded had deprived him of life, but all beyond was a mystery they could not penetrate. Tired with conjecture, they were turning from the melancholy spot, when Ambrose observed to his sister, that it was necessary, in some way or other, to dispose of the unfortunate man before them. Whether he were a friend or an enemy. "Eleanor," said he, "we owe him the duties of humanity: this was a lesson taught us by our dear father, and shall we neglect to practice it?" He then went in pursuit of a wooden spade, and presently returning, dug a hole in the sand, in which, assisted by Eleanor, he with infinite toil and difficulty deposited the corpse. They then, hand in hand, took their way along the shore: the sight of their little bark, at length, recalled the remembrance of their friend, and renewed the violence of their grief; they stopped to give vent to their tears, and then sitting down on the point of a rock, they for some minutes were lost in melancholy reflections: at length Eleanor broke silence: "I am persuaded," said she, "that the Carribes have forced them from the island." "There is more reason," returned Ambrose, "to think that it was other enemies; the man whom we have just buried is not a Carribe; he is dressed like our father."
"True," said Eleanor, "but a thought has struck me; perhaps, like Peter, he has been made prisoner by the Carribes; it is very possible that he may have lost his life in the defence of our dear father."
Ambrose paused for a moment, upon this idea. "What you suggest, sister," said he, "is certainly possible: the unfortunate man we have seen may have lost his life in defence of our father; but the vessel we saw was certainly very different from the canoes of the Carribes." "It certainly," said Eleanor, "appeared very different: but the distance was great, our eyes might deceive us; for my part, I scarcely knew what I felt or what I saw."
"That is true," said Ambrose; "but yet I am satisfied, from the description I have heard from my father that what we saw was a European vessel."
"But the Carribes," said Eleanor, "are so accustomed to land upon this island" --
"Well," interrupted Ambrose, "Carribes or Europeans, would to Heaven they had taken us with them! For my part, I would rather have endured slavery, nay, death itself, than what I now feel."
"And so would I," said Eleanor. "Oh, Ambrose, our dear father! can we ever forget him! Peter too ----"
A burst of sorrow concluded. The day was spent in lamentations and vain conjectures, and at night they returned with slow and heavy steps to the cave, which, since the conflagration had served them as an abode. Here every object reminded them of their loss, and renewed the violence of their grief; here their dear protector had discoursed with them; here they had partaken with him the last meal; they wept, the recollected a thousands instances of his kindness, which did but aggravate their sorrow. At length, nature exhausted, called for repose; Eleanor sunk into an uneasy slumber: Ambrose did the same, but presently started from it, and began again to ponder upon the dreadful events of the preceding day: his thoughts hurried from one thing to another, till an idea occurred which fixed effectually his attention, and revived his hopes. He impatiently waited for the return of day, that he might communicate it to his sister, who no sooner awaked than he addressed her in these words: "What can it avail us, sister, to remain in an island where every object reminds us of the happiness we have lots? Our bark is, you know, ready, it is rigged, stored, every thing is complete. What hinders us from putting to sea? If we remain here, we must for ever give up hope of seeing our dear father again; whereas, if we venture to sea, it is possible we may arrive at some island, where we may hear tidings of him."
"But," said Eleanor, starting at so daring an enterprise, "we do not know how to guide a canoe -- and then the Carribes ----"
"As to the guiding of a canoe," said Ambrose, "I have heard Peter describe it so often, that I have no fears upon that head; and as to the Carribes, we must avoid them; we, as well as my father, know the islands that are inhabited by the Europeans, and can easily steer toward them."
"Yes," said Eleanor, "we know them very well upon the map, but when one is upon the great ocean" ----
"Well, sister," said Ambrose, I do not desire to force you, but for my part, as I have told you before, I would rather endure slavery, or even death, that this dreadful uncertainty upon our dear Carlton's fate."
"I would risk every thing," said Eleanor. "were there a hope of discovering him; but our success is very uncertain; we may never reach the islands inhabited by Europeans, and if we do, may not ----"
"Well," interrupted Ambrose, provoked at the obstacles his sister raised to a project upon which his imagination, already began to be much heated, "I see that you are averse to what I propose."
"You cannot surely think, brother," said Eleanor, "that I am averse to any thing that can afford a reasonable hope of seeing again our dear father. But we incur certain danger in this enterprise, and after all, our success is very uncertain; if we escape the Carribes, and the dangers of the sea, we may not gain the information we wish. ----"
"I agree, my dear sister," said Ambrose, "that it is possible our enquiries may not prove successful: but on the other hand, there is rational grounds to suppose they may. The vessel which conveyed our friends from the island, was undoubtedly European; it is therefore highly probable, that among Europeans we may find them. Cuba, St. Domingo, Porto Rico, and the other islands inhabited by Europeans, lie near to, and without doubt, have a communication with each other; if we reach one, we shall easily extend our enquiries to others, and it will be hard indeed if we do not somewhere gain the intelligence we seek. Courage and perseverance, sister, are necessary to every enterprise; without these, our dear father has often told us, nothing can be effected, and with them, that few things are impossible. ----"
"And do you really think, brother," said Eleanor, half persuaded to listen to a project, which though it at first alarmed her, held out the soothing hope of recovering their lost friends, "do you really think we may reach the islands you speak of?"
"I am persuaded that we may," said Ambrose, "I do not pretend to suppose that we are not to encounter dangers and difficulties: but, my dear sister, had circumstances been reversed, had my father's fate been ours, and he left to lament our loss, do you think dangers or difficulties would have retarded his pursuit? No, be assured his affection would have surmounted every obstacle; and shall we, who owe all to his goodness, fear to encounter the perils of the sea, or, perhaps, slavery, (for this is the worst that can happen) when the delightful hope, however distant, is afforded of seeing him and sharing, if we cannot alleviate, his misfortune? Recollect, my dear sister, with what tenderness he has watched over our infancy, how studious he has seen to cultivate our minds, and train our hearts to virtue! Reflect upon the many ----"
"Say no more, brother," interrupted Eleanor, upon whose feelings this last argument operated more powerfully than all the rest. I am ashamed of my fears, and will from this moment be wholly guided by your advice. God will, I trust, grant us his protection, and guide us to our dear father, our best, our only friend."
Such was the discourse of Eleanor and Ambrose before they left the cave. They then fell upon their knees, implored the protection of the Supreme Being, and walked towards the sea shore, discoursing upon their project. The Sun was by this time risen, and the sea calm, and reflecting, in its various undulations, the purple colours of the firmament, seemed to invite their confidence, and engage them to embark. They stopped a few minutes; entered the vessel, and cut the cable that fastened it to the shore. In an instant it shot away like an arrow. Eleanor, seeing the shore fly from her, shrieked, and would have returned to the island; but Ambrose, affecting the greatest fortitude, employed all his eloquence to encourage his sister, and at last succeeded. A wind presently arising from land, drove them into the open sea, and their beloved isle soon vanished from their view. The sun, in the mean while, had run more than half his course, and the weather, which had till now been favourable, on a sudden changed: thick clouds obscured the air, the sea ran high, and some drops of rain threatened an approaching storm; all nature seemed to prepare for a great revolution. Ambrose, though alarmed, endeavoured by every argument he could suggest, to encourage and persuade his sister there was no danger, but the horror, which, in spite of his efforts to appear serene, was impressed on his countenance, and the gulf which from time to time opened and threatened to swallow them, spoke too forcibly not to be understood. Eleanor, nevertheless, encouraged by the example of her brother, summoned all the resolution she was mistress of, and resolved if it were the will of God that they should perish, to meet death with fortitude. The weather, however, which continued foul till the middle of the night, at length cleared, and gave place to the moon, which reflecting her silver disk upon the waves, somewhat reanimated the courage of our poor voyagers, more embarrassed on the liquid element, than were, heretofore, the first navigators. But on a sudden a new object excited their terrors. On top of their mast shone a light, which to their troubled imagination, seemed fire descending from heaven to consume their vessel. This though an appearance familiar to mariners, and the natural consequence of a heated and damp atmosphere, struck them with inconceivable horror. They clasped each other closely, and fixing their eyes upon the electric flame, had neither power to weep nor to speak. Nor was this all; the sea ran high. Sometimes their little bark rose upon the billows, and then again seemed to sink, never to rise into the depth of the vast ocean. Death every instant presented itself to their view, and they could only wonder that they had not already met it in the waves.
Thirty hours they remained in this anxiety, scarcely daring to stir, and only from necessity taking a little of the nourishment their vessel afforded. At length, near the close of the day, the wind changing carried them towards a coast, which, on the first view, appeared to be desert; but on approaching it they distinguished men running on the sands to examine their bark. Their hearts rebounded at the sight of land; they perceived by the dress and colour of the islanders, that they were not Carribes, and far from being alarmed, were inspired with the greatest confidence. They rejoiced at the prospect of being once more safe upon land, and hoped soon to hear news of the Colonel and Peter, as if, (such was their simplicity) all the world was obliged to know them.
When they were near land, a little boat took them on board, and carried them on shore; but the astonishment of the islanders upon finding two children habited in skins, alone, in a bark ingeniously constructed and furnished with different sorts of provisions, is not easy to be described; a thousand questions were in an instant put to them, to which they answered in English, "have you see Colonel Carlton or Peter? Where are they? In pity tell us, we are seeking them, &c."
The islanders, who were Spaniards, understood nothing of all this: but one among them, who knew English, acted as interpreter, and answered by assuring them that they knew nothing of the persons of whom they spoke.
The noise of their arrival, and the singular circumstances that attended it, soon reached the ears of the Governor, to whose palace they were conducted amidst a crowd of people, whom curiosity had drawn together.
The Governor viewed them with surprise, put several questions to them, and seemed to be much pleased with their youth and simplicity. Ambrose and Eleanor, giddy with all they saw and heard, answered only in monosyllables, or by something in which the Colonel or Peter always made a part. The Governor, who spoke English, in vain assured them he did not know their friends: solely occupied with the idea, they would absolutely insist upon his knowing them, and giving them the information they wished. At length, after repeated questions, the Governor made them sit down, and addressed them to this effect. "My children, you appear to me to be amiable and wise: I am a sovereign of this island which is called St. Verado, one of the Lucaye isles: I made a discovery of it twelve years since, and have established in it a colony, of which I am chief. You shall remain at my Court, and shall have no reason to regret the country you have left. As for this Colonel, who seems to interest you so much, I will cause him to be sought? Do not make yourselves uneasy, you shall have news of him shortly. Poor children! how old are you? Do you know?"
Ambrose replied, "We are almost fifteen."
"And what is your name?" said the Governor.
"I am called Ambrose."
"And you?"
"Eleanor."
"Well, Eleanor," said the Governor, "come near me: are you afraid? have I an ill look?"
"No," said Eleanor. "Well then," continued he, "draw near: y