Swiss Family Robinson Read online

  CONTENTS

  1. SHIPWRECKED AND ALONE

  2. THE TREE HOUSE

  3. ISLAND LIFE

  4. FALCONHURST

  5. THANKSGIVING

  6. TROUBLE VISITS US

  7. BEARS AND OSTRICHES

  8. AFTER TEN YEARS

  9. THE STRANGER

  10. THE MYSTERIOUS GUNS

  11. THREE CHEERS FOR NEW SWITZERLAND!

  To my own bold Jack

  —D.A.

  For Lynn

  —R.H.

  For many days our ship had been tossed at sea. The storm raged and raged. Above us, the seamen yelled frantically to each other.

  My heart sank as I looked around the cabin at my family. My brave wife was trying to calm the children. Our four sons were filled with terror.

  Suddenly I heard a cry. At the same time, the ship struck something! Water poured in on all sides.

  “Lower the boats!” the captain shouted.

  I rushed on deck. The last lifeboat was already pushing off! I begged the sailors to wait for us. But it was too late.

  After a moment, however, I saw that our position wasn’t as bad as I had thought. The stern, or back of the ship, was jammed between two rocks. The rocks kept the ship from sinking. And through the rain, I could see land!

  I returned to my family. “Courage, dear ones!” I said. “Our ship is secure and there is land nearby. We should be able to go ashore tomorrow!”

  By morning, the storm had passed. I woke the boys. My wife and our youngest son, Franz, fed the animals on board. The rest of us gathered supplies we would need onshore.

  We found guns, bullets, tools, and fishhooks. My wife told us there were also some chickens, ducks, geese, and pigeons, and a cow, a donkey, two goats, six sheep, a ram, and a pig on board. And Jack had discovered two friendly dogs!

  “Excellent,” I said. “But how will we get everything to shore?”

  “Why can’t we each get into a tub and float there?” asked Jack. “That’s what I do on our pond at home.”

  “Capital idea!” I cried.

  We sawed four large barrels in half. I nailed them together into a makeshift boat and added poles to give it balance. The boys brought oars.

  We stowed everything that we would need in the tubs. Then we set the ship’s ducks, geese, and pigeons free. We would come back for the rest of the animals later.

  My wife sat in the first tub. Franz, who was almost eight years old, sat next to her. Fifteen-year-old Fritz rode behind them. The cargo was in the middle. Then came Jack, eleven, and our second son, Ernest, age thirteen. I stood in the stern.

  We cast off and glided into the open sea. We had left the two dogs, Turk and Juno, on board. But when they saw us leave, they jumped overboard and swam behind us.

  Soon we could see rocky cliffs and palm trees. The geese and ducks swam toward a small bay. I steered after them.

  When we landed, we fell to our knees and gave thanks for our escape. We had no idea what we would find on this island. But we were all alive and on dry land, and for now that was enough.

  I selected a large rock to set up camp on. We made a tent from a sailcloth. That night, we drank soup we’d brought from the wreck, using oyster shells as spoons. It was our first meal on our new island home.

  Our rooster woke me at daybreak. After morning prayers, Fritz and I went to explore. We searched for signs of sailors from our ship, but found none.

  Our hearts were lifted, though, by the peaceful beauty of our new home. A smooth stream flowed from the sea through rocky cliffs on either side. Beyond the cliffs were green grass and tall palms.

  We followed the stream past a waterfall and continued on through a grove of calabash trees. We collected several gourds from the trees. The gourds could be carved out to make bowls, spoons, and bottles.

  We pushed forward and climbed a rocky summit. We could see far and wide. And we saw that there was no trace of other survivors from the wreck. We were completely alone. A feeling of utter sadness washed over us.

  “Cheer up, son,” I said after a moment. “Let us remember how lucky we really are.”

  Fritz agreed and we decided that we would make the best of our situation. On the way down, I cut a reed to use as a weapon if need be. We hadn’t gone far when I noticed juice dripping out of it. I tasted it and found it very sweet. It was sugarcane!

  We passed the sugarcane and reached a cluster of palms. A group of monkeys chattered from the treetops. Fritz raised his gun. “No!” I cried. “Never take the life of any animal needlessly. A live monkey is of more use than a dozen dead ones. Watch.”

  I gathered a handful of small stones and threw them at the monkeys. A monkey’s instinct is to copy. So they grabbed all the coconuts they could reach from the treetops and threw them right at us!

  We picked some up and pierced holes in them. We drank the milk through the holes. Then I split them open and we ate the cream that lined their shells. After this delicious meal, we took a couple of the nuts and started home. Things were beginning to look up.

  Suddenly Turk darted after one of the monkeys. We found a tiny baby monkey hiding in the grass, trembling. When he saw us, he jumped on Fritz’s shoulder and held tight to his hair.

  “What a jolly little fellow!” exclaimed Fritz. “Do let me try to care for it.”

  I agreed. Fritz called Turk and seated the monkey on the dog’s back. The monkey rode along perfectly at ease.

  At the end of the day, we neared the camp and our dear ones came running to greet us. A tempting meal awaited. Several fish and a bird were roasting over the fire. The gravy dripped into a large shell placed beneath them.

  We sat down to dinner and used our gourds for the first time. We ate coconuts for dessert. And Fritz fed coconut milk to the little monkey, whom we named Mr. Knips. With my family around me and my stomach full, I began to feel content in our new home.

  The next day, I decided to return to the wreck with Fritz to rescue the animals left there. I also wanted to bring back many of the items on board.

  The ship had carried supplies for a new colony. So it had everything we might need. To my great joy, we found guns and knives, kitchen utensils, wine, meat, seeds, nails, matches, and more tools.

  We spent the night on board the wreck. In the morning, we made swimming belts for the animals. I caught a sheep. Then I tied a piece of cloth around its belly and hooked some empty tins to it. This done, Fritz and I flung the animal overboard. Our plan worked, and the sheep bobbed in the water! We did the same for all the animals. Each animal had a cord around its neck. We held on to the other ends and rowed for shore, drawing the herd after us.

  The sea was calm and my spirits were high. With the supplies and the animals, we could live comfortably for as long as we might be on the island.

  Suddenly Fritz yelled and drew his gun. A huge shark was swimming straight for one of our sheep! Fritz fired. The bullet found its mark and the shark sank into the water. The lucky sheep escaped what would surely have been a grisly end.

  “Well done, Fritz!” I cried, and steered us safely home.

  We were greeted on land with shouts of joy. My wife told us that she and the boys had found a beautiful grove of giant trees. The trunks were lifted high off the ground by great arching roots. The leafy branches offered cool shade. And the ground itself was carpeted in soft green leaves.

  “If we could build a house in one of those trees, I should feel perfectly happy” she said.

  I considered her plan. “Suppose we build your nest in the trees,” I suggested, “but keep this rocky place as a fortress.”

  Everyone was excited about living in the treetops. Before we left, we built a bridge across a nearby stream to make our journey ea
sier.

  We packed our bags and placed the bundles on the cow’s back. The donkey was also put to work carrying bundles and bags.

  We crossed the bridge and were making good progress when the dogs suddenly dashed off. We heard a furious barking, followed by a howling. I had no doubt a dangerous animal had attacked them!

  “Father! Come quickly!” cried Jack. “A huge porcupine!”

  Sure enough, the dogs had tried to seize the creature and had been wounded by its quills. They would learn to stay away from porcupines in the future!

  We marched on until we reached our new home. The site was just as my wife had described.

  We unloaded the animals. Then we sat down to rest among the soft leaves on the ground.

  Ernest studied the tree closest to us. “What sort of tree is this?” he asked.

  “I think these must be wild figs,” I replied. Their sweet fruit would be as welcome as their shade.

  After a good dinner, we slung hammocks from the arched roots of the tree. We covered the arches with the sailcloth to form a tent.

  Fritz, Ernest, and I went to the beach to gather wood and bamboo. Then we set to work on a rope ladder to reach what would become our tree house—thirty feet above the ground.

  When the ladder was finished, Jack climbed up, quick as a monkey. “What a grand home we will have here!” he exclaimed. Fritz was soon by his side. I followed with an ax and took a survey of the tree. It was perfect! The branches were strong and close. We could simply lay some planks across them to make floors. We worked until after dark, and rose early the next morning to set to work again.

  Fritz and I climbed the ladder. We chopped off the extra branches from the tree so they wouldn’t be in our way. We left a few branches to hang the hammocks on and some higher ones to support the sailcloth roof.

  My wife tied the wood we had brought to a rope, and Fritz and I hauled it up. We laid it down on the bottom branches to form a smooth, solid floor. Around this platform we built a wall of planks. Then we threw the sailcloth over the higher branches for a roof. We drew it down and firmly nailed it in place.

  Our house was enclosed on three sides by the walls and the great trunk. We left the front open to let in the sea breeze. We then hauled up our hammocks and hung them. It wasn’t dark yet, so we cleared the floor of leaves and twigs. We used the rest of the wood to build a table and a few benches.

  After working so hard, we flung ourselves on the grass below. My wife set supper out on the table we had made. “Come and taste flamingo stew,” she said.

  That night, we lit our watch fires and left the dogs on guard. Then we climbed the ladder. I went last, with Franz on my back. I pulled the ladder up behind us. I felt safer than I had since we landed.

  “What shall we do today?” the children asked the next morning.

  “On the seventh day thou shall rest,” I replied.

  “Is it really Sunday?” asked Jack. “But what shall we do? We can’t go to church here.”

  “The leafy shade of this tree is more beautiful than any church,” I said. “We will worship here.”

  After our simple service, I let the children spend the day as they wished. Jack and I made a little bow and some arrows for Franz to shoot with.

  Suddenly we heard a shot over our heads. Two small birds fell at our feet. We looked up and saw Ernest in the branches.

  He slipped down the ladder and brought the birds to me. The birds had come to eat the figs from our tree. Since the figs were just now becoming ripe, there would probably soon be large flocks of birds in our trees.

  The tropics are known to have a rainy season every year. I had been worried about how we would find food when the rains came. I knew that if we could catch the birds, we could store them for later.

  I was still thinking on this when we were called to dinner. During the meal, I suggested we name the different spots on the island. “Let us begin by naming the bay in which we landed.”

  “I think,” said my wife, “that, as thanks for our escape, we shall call it Safety Bay.”

  This idea was met with approval. We then named our first campsite Tentholm. The islet in the bay we called Shark Island. Our tree house Falconhurst. The first hill we climbed Prospect Hill. The stream by our landing place Jackal River, because we’d seen jackals there. And the rocky heights from which we saw we were alone Cape Disappointment.

  The next day, we took a hike to Tentholm. The boys roamed ahead. Presently, we heard a joyful shout. Ernest raced toward me, holding a plant. “Potatoes!” he gasped with sparkling eyes.

  “Yes,” cried Jack. “Acres and acres!”

  “With potatoes, we shall never starve,” said I. My heart was easier about the rainy season now. We hurried to the spot. We were so excited that we did not stop digging until every bag, pouch, and pocket was filled.

  At Tentholm we collected some of the supplies we had left there. Then we returned home. And after a hardy supper of potatoes and milk, we climbed our tree for the night.

  The next morning, Fritz and I took the tub boat to the wreck. Once we were there, we made a raft out of water casks to carry back items too large for the tub boat.

  We spent the night on board the wreck. When the sun rose, we carried off everything from our own cabins. We claimed the furniture and window and door frames from the captain’s room. We took the officers’ chests. One was filled with gold and silver watches, rings, and other jewelry.

  I was delighted to discover a number of carefully packed young fruit trees. We also found more tools, sacks of oats and peas, and a harpoon. We loaded the boat and the raft and pushed off.

  On our way back to shore, Fritz saw a turtle floating in the distance. I steered closer to have a better look. Suddenly I felt a shock. The boat was being pulled through the water!

  To my amazement, I saw that Fritz had struck the turtle with the harpoon. A rope was tied to it, and the creature was running away with us!

  “Fritz, what have you done?” cried I. “You will sink us!”

  “Oh, Father, I have him!” Fritz shouted with excitement. “Do let us catch this turtle if we can!”

  The turtle pulled us to the beach. It was very tired. And no wonder. It had been dragging two heavy boats at full speed! I leapt into the water and pulled out my ax to kill it.

  The family soon appeared in the distance with a cart that Ernest and I had made some days before. It required all of our effort to hoist the heavy turtle on board. We added the fruit trees and headed home.

  When we got there, I turned the turtle on its back. I cut some meat for our supper.

  “What a handsome shell!” cried Fritz. “I should like to make a water trough of that, to stand near the brook and be kept full of clear water.”

  “That is a capital idea!” I replied.

  Ernest then showed me some roots he had found that day in the woods.

  My heart leapt with joy. The boy had made a brilliant discovery! “I believe these to be manioc root,” I exclaimed. “Cakes called cassava bread are made from it. With these, we will always have plenty to eat!”

  The boys and I set to work. Each took a tobacco grater we had taken from the wrecked ship and began grating a manioc root. No one was tempted to taste the flour it made—it looked like wet sawdust!

  The next step was to press it to take out the sap. We put the damp powder into bags my wife had made. We laid the sacks on smooth planks. We placed another plank on top of them. We weighted this with everything heavy we could find. The sap flowed to the ground.

  I took out handfuls of dry flour and mixed it with water and salt. I kneaded it, forming a cake. I laid it on an iron plate over the fire. Presently, it turned golden brown. I wanted to be certain it was safe, so I gave the cake to two hens and the monkey to eat.

  In the morning, we were all very happy to see the hens and monkey in good health.

  No time was lost. We began baking bread. Soon we had a pile of tempting cakes. We breakfasted royally.

  My tho
ughts turned back to the wreck. I took Fritz, Ernest, and Jack back to collect more items. Fritz made a wonderful discovery. He found a light sailing ship, called a pinnace. It was carefully packed away in pieces.

  I was determined to possess the pinnace!

  We loaded the boat and the raft with butter and flour and other items. Then we studied the pinnace. The problem was, it was stowed in a very narrow space. We had no room to put the parts together there. But the parts were too heavy to move.

  Our days were now spent on the wreck. We went to work with axes, breaking down the compartment to clear space. First we cleared an open area around the pinnace. Then we put the parts together.

  At length, the pinnace was ready to be launched. But it was imprisoned within the wreck!

  I was almost in despair when I had an idea. I found a large cannon and filled it with gunpowder. I placed it so that when it exploded, it would blow out the side of the wreck.

  I told the boys to get in the boat. Then I lit the match and hurried after them. We were already ashore when it came. A flash! A roar! A burst of smoke!

  We sprang back into the boat and rowed for the wreck. When we rounded the far side, a marvelous sight awaited us. The compartment where the pinnace rested was torn open.

  “Hurrah!” I shouted. “She is ours!”

  The boys followed me into the opening. I placed rollers beneath the pinnace. And with some effort, she slipped into the water.

  We were ready to surprise my wife. We spread the sail, and the pinnace glided swiftly through the water. When we entered the bay, the boys fired a salute.

  “What a charming boat!” exclaimed my wife.

  I saw all this hard work was making the boys very strong. But it was having another effect upon their clothes. I decided to visit the wreck one last time to see if we could find new clothes.

  The three older boys and I found the wreck as we had last seen her. We rummaged through all that was left on her. Sailors’ chests, cloth, tables, benches, window shutters. We made several trips back and forth, and soon everything was ashore.