CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
TAKING AN INVENTORY.
The westerly wind being, of course, fair for the _Pilot's Bride_ in herrun back to Tristan d'Acunha, she soon disappeared in the distance--thesnow-capped cone of the larger island being presently the only object tobe seen on the horizon, looking in the distance like a faint white cloudagainst the sky. The evening haze shut out everything else from theirgaze: the lower outlines of the land they had so recently left: thevessel that had conveyed them to their solitary home.
Nothing was to be seen but the rolling tumid sea that stretched aroundthem everywhere, as far as the eye could reach, heaving and swelling andwith the breeze flecking off the tops of the billows into foam as itsresistless impetus impelled them onwards, away, away!
"Well," exclaimed Eric, after a long pause, during which neither of thebrothers had spoken, both being anxiously watching the _Pilot's Bride_--until, first, her hull and then her gleaming sails, lit up for awhile bythe rays of the setting sun, had sunk out of sight--"well, here we areat last!"
"Yes, here we are," said Fritz, "and we've now got to make the best ofour little kingdom with only our own companionship."
"We won't quarrel, at all events, brother," replied Eric, laughing inhis old fashion at the possibility of such a thing. The lad was quiteoverwrought with emotion at parting with the old skipper as well as hislate companions in the ship; and, tears and mirth being closely allied,he would have felt inclined to laugh at anything then--just because hecouldn't cry!
"I don't suppose we will," said the other--"that is, not intentionally.But, brother, we will have to guard our tempers with a strong hand; for,when two persons are thrown together in such close association as weshall be during the next ensuing months--with no one else to speak toand no authority to control us, save our own consciences and theknowledge of the all-seeing Eye above, weighing and considering ouractions--it will require a good deal of mutual forbearance and kindlyfeeling on the part of one towards the other to prevent us from fallingout sometimes, if only for a short while. Even brothers like us, Eric,who love each other dearly, may possibly fall out under such tryingcircumstances!"
"Aye, but we mustn't," said Eric. "Instead of falling out, we'll fallinto each other's arms whenever we agree to differ, as old nurseLorischen would have said!" and he gave his brother an enthusiastic hugas he spoke, putting his words into action with a suddenness that almostthrew Fritz off his feet.
"Hullo!" exclaimed the latter good-humouredly, smiling as he disengagedhimself from Eric's bear-like embrace. "Gently lad. Your affectionateplan, I'm afraid, would sometimes interfere with the progress of ourwork; but talking of that, as the vessel has now disappeared, there's nouse in our standing here any longer looking at the sea. Suppose webegin to make ourselves at home and arrange our things in the snuglittle cottage which our good friends have built for us?"
"Right you are!" responded Eric, starting off towards the cliff, underthe lee of which the Tristaner had directed the hut to be built, so thatit might be sheltered from the strong winds of the winter, which wouldsoon have blown it down had it been erected in a more exposed situation.
Fritz followed more leisurely to the level plateau by the waterfall,where stood their cottage.
Here, arresting his footsteps, he remained a moment surveying the littledomain before joining his brother, who had already rushed within thebuilding.
That boy was all impulse: always eager to be doing something!
The territory of the young crusoes was of limited dimensions. Extendingabout a mile laterally, it was bounded on either side by lofty headlandsthat projected into the sea, enclosing the narrow strip of beach thatlay between in their twin arms. The depth of the valley inwards waseven more confined by a steep cliff, down whose abrupt face slipped andhopped through a gorge, or gully, a little rivulet. This stream, on itsprogress being arrested by a shelf in front of the rocky escarpment,tumbled over the obstacle in a sheet of cloud-like spray, being thusconverted into a typical "waterfall" that resembled somewhat that ofStaubbach, as the brothers had noticed when making their firstobservations from the ship. The rivulet, collecting its scatteredfragments below, made its way to the beach in a meandering course,passing by in its passage the slight hollow in the plateau at the baseof the furthermost crag, close by where the cottage was situated.
The "location," as Captain Brown would have termed the sloping groundbetween the cliff and the sea, was certainly not an extensive one; for,in the event of their wishing to expand their little settlement, in thefashion of squatters out West, by "borrowing" land from adjacent lots,the inexorable wall of volcanic rock to the rear of the plateau and onits right and left flank forbade the carrying out of any such scheme;still, the place was big enough for their house, besides affording roomfor a tidy-sized garden--that is, when the two had time to dig up thesoil and plant the potatoes and other seed which the skipper hadprovided them with, so that they might have a supply of vegetables anon.
At first sight, there did not appear to be any means of exit from thislittle valley; for, the steep cliffs that hedged in its sides and backlifted themselves skywards to the height of nearly a thousand feet,while their fronts were generally so smooth and perpendicular that itwould have been impossible even for a monkey to have climbed them--muchless human beings, albeit one was a sailor and pretty well accustomed tosaltatory feats! But, on their inspecting the apparently insurmountablebreastwork a little closer, Fritz noticed, as the young Tristaner hadpointed out to them, that, by the side of the gorge through which thewaterfall made its erratic descent to the lower level, the face of thecliff was more strongly indented; so that, by using the tussock-grass,which grew there in great abundance, as a sort of scaling ladder, andtaking advantage of the niches in the rock to step upon where thisfailed, the summit could be thus easily gained. The top, however, wasso far away from the beach and the foothold so insecure that the work ofascending the crag would be a most hazardous proceeding at the best oftimes, to the elder brother at all events.
While Fritz was thus cogitating, and diligently studying the features ofthe scene around, Eric was waiting for him impatiently at the door ofthe rough-looking hut which the sailors had built for them under thesuperintendence of Captain Brown and the Tristaner.
The young sailor was too restless to remain quiet very long.
"Do come along, brother!" he called out after a while. "What a time youare, to be sure; we'll never be able to unpack our things before it'sdark, unless you look sharp!"
"All right, I'm coming," replied the other; and he was soon by the sideof Eric, who had already begun to overhaul the various articles that hadbeen brought up from the boat by the sailors and piled up in a corner ofthe hut.
"What a lot of things!" exclaimed the lad. "Why, there are ever so manymore parcels than I thought there were!"
"Yes," said his brother; "it is all that good Captain Brown's doing, Isuppose. When we were parting, he told me that he had left me a few`notions,' besides our own traps."
"He has too, brother. Just look here at this barrel of beef; you didn'tpay him for that, eh?"
"No," said Fritz; "I only bought some pork and ship's biscuits, besidesflour and a few groceries."
"Then he has thought of much that we forgot," remarked Eric withconsiderable satisfaction. "I don't think our groceries includedpreserved peaches and tinned oysters, Fritz; yet, here they are!"
"You don't say so--the kind old fellow!" exclaimed Fritz; and then he,too, set to work examining the stores as eagerly as his brother.
Before leaving Providence, the two had purchased a couple of spades andshovels, an American axe, a pick, a rake, a wheelbarrow, and a hoe foragricultural purposes--the skipper having told them that the soil wouldbe fertile enough in the summer at Inaccessible Island for them to plantmost sorts of kitchen produce, which they would find of great help ineking out the salted provisions they took from the ship, besides beingbetter for their health; while, to give emphasis to his advice
, hepresented them with a plentiful stock of potatoes to put into theground, besides garden seed.
For cooking, the brothers were provided with a large kettle and fryingpan, a couple of saucepans, several knives and forks, some crockery,and, in addition, a large iron cauldron for melting down seal blubber;for hunting purposes, to complete the list of their gear, they had twoharpoons, a supply of fishing hooks and a grapnel, two Remingtonrifles--besides Fritz's needle-gun which he had used in the first partof the Franco-German war, before he became an officer and was entitledto carry a sword--a supply of cartridges, five pounds of loose powder,lead for making bullets, and a mould.
Among their weapons, also, was an old muzzle-loading fowling piece forwhich shot had been taken, Fritz thinking that it might come in handyfor shooting birds--although, as he subsequently found out, all of thefeathered tribe they saw were penguins, and these did not require anyexpenditure of powder and shot on their behalf, being easily knockeddown with a stick.
Nor did they forget to bring with them three or four strong sheathknives, for skinning the seals and any other use for which they wereapplicable; and, to add to their stock of cutlery implements, theskipper had presented Fritz with a serviceable bowie knife, whose broaddouble-dagger-like blade was powerful enough to cut down a tree on anemergency or make mince-meat of an enemy!
Fritz had likewise purchased in Rhode Island a good stock of winterclothing for himself and Eric, a couple of thick blanket rugs, and twoempty bed-tick covers--to be afterwards filled with the down they shouldprocure from the sea birds. He bought, too, a strong lamp, with asupply of paraffin oil, and several dozen boxes of matches; so that heand Eric should not have to adopt the tinder and flint business, or beobliged to rub two pieces of dry stick together, in the primitivefashion of the Australian aborigines, when they wanted a light.
So much for their equipment.
For their internal use, Fritz had selected from the ship's stores abarrel of salt pork, two hundred-weight of rice, one hundred pounds ofhard biscuit, two hundred-weight of flour, twenty pounds of tea andthirty of coffee, and a barrel of sugar; besides which, in the way ofcondiments and luxuries, their stores included three pounds of tablesalt, some pepper, a gallon of vinegar, a jar of pickles, a bottle ofbrandy and some Epsom salts in the view of possible medicalcontingencies. The skipper also advised their taking a barrel of coarsesalt to cure their sealskins with, as well as empty casks to containwhat oil they managed to boil down.
These were their own stores; but, imagine the surprise of Fritz and hisbrother, when they found that Captain Brown had added to their stock thewelcome present of a barrel of salt beef and a couple of hams, a good-sized cheese, and some boxes of sardines, besides the preserved fruitsand pickled oysters which Eric had already discovered.
Nor did the skipper's kindness stop here. He had packed up with theirthings a couple of extra blankets, which they subsequently found ofgreat comfort in the cold weather, in addition to their rugs; a widepiece of tarpaulin to cover their hut with; a few short spars and sparetimber; and, lastly, a clock--not to speak of the valuable whale-boatwhich he had thought of just as he was going away and had presented tothem all standing, with oars, mast and sails in complete trim.
"I declare," said Fritz, "he has been better than a father to us allthrough. I never heard of such good nature in my life!"
"Nor I," responded Eric, equally full of gratitude. "Celia, too, beforeI left Providence, gave me a nice little housewife, wherewith I shallmend all our things when they want repairing, besides which, she made maa present of quite a little library of books."
"And I've brought all mine as well," said Fritz, unrolling a largepackage as he spoke.
"We'll not be hard up for reading, at any rate," remarked Eric, laughingjoyously. "Food for the mind as well as food for the body, eh?"
"Yes," said Fritz; "plenty of both."
"But, how on earth shall we ever be able to get through all this lot ofgrub?"
"Ah, we won't find it a bit too much," said Fritz.
"What, for only us two, brother?" exclaimed Eric in astonishment.
"You forget it has got to last us more than a year, for certain; while,should the _Pilot's Bride_ not visit us again next autumn, it will beall we may have to depend on for twice that length of time."
"Oh, I forgot that."
"If you could see the pile of rations which one regiment alone of menmanages to consume in a week, the same as I have, Eric, you would notwonder so much at the amount of our supplies."
"But think, brother, a regiment is very different to two fellows likeus!"
"Just calculate, laddie," answered the other, "the food so many menwould require for only one day; and then for us two, say, for sevenhundred days--where's the difference?"
"Ah, I see," said Eric, reflecting for a moment. "Perhaps there won'tbe too much, after all, eh?"
"Wait till this time next year, and see what we shall have left then,laddie!"
"But, remember the goats and pigs on the top of the mountain which theTristaner spoke to us about. We'll have those for food as well, won'twe?"
"Wait till we catch them," remarked Fritz dryly; adding shortlyafterwards, "We'd better stop talking now, however, and see aboutgetting our bed things ready for turning in for the night. Recollect,we'll have a busy day of it to-morrow."
"Ah, I shall go up and explore the mountain top, brother, the firstthing in the morning," said Eric impulsively. "I'm dying to see whatit's like!"
"We have more important things to do, before satisfying our curiosity,"observed the other. "Don't you recollect the garden?"
"I declare I forgot it, brother, for the moment, although there's noneed for us to hurry about that."
"The sooner we plant the seed, the sooner it will grow up," said Fritzgravely. "Remember, old fellow, it is late in the spring now here; and,unless the things are put into the ground without further delay, CaptainBrown said we need not hope to have any return from them this year."
"All right, Fritz," replied Eric cheerfully, the name of the skipperhaving the talismanic effect of making him curb his own wishes anent theimmediate exploration of the island, which he had planned out for thenext day's programme. "We'll do the garden first, brother, if youlike."
"I think that will be wisest," said Fritz. "But now let us arrange ourbunks and have a bit of something to eat from the little basket thesteward put up for us before coming ashore. After that, we must go toroost like the penguins outside, for it is nearly dark."
"Aye, aye, sir," responded Eric, touching his cap with mock deference.
"You just do that again!" said Fritz, threatening him in a joking way.
"Or, what?" asked the other, jumping out of his reach in make-believeterror.
"I'll eat your share of this nice supper as well as mine."
"Oh, a truce then," cried Eric, laughing and coming back to hisbrother's side; when the two, sitting down in the hut, whose interiornow looked very comfortable with the lamp lit, they proceeded todemolish the roast fowl and piece of salt pork which Captain Brown haddirected the steward to put into a basket for them, so that they shouldbe saved the trouble of cooking for themselves the first day of theirsojourn on the island, as well as enjoy a savoury little repast in theirearly experience of solitude.
"I say," remarked Eric, with his mouth full. "This is jolly, ain't it!"
"Yes, pretty well for a first start at our new life," replied Fritz,eating away with equal gusto. "I only hope that we'll get on asfavourably later on."
"I hope so, too, brother," responded the other. "There's no harm inwishing that, is there?"
"No," said Fritz. "But, remember, the garden to-morrow."
"I shan't forget again, old fellow, with you to jog my memory!"
"Ah, I'll not omit my part of it, then," retorted Fritz, joining inEric's laughter. Then, the brothers, having finished their meal, turnedout their lamp; and, throwing themselves down on a heap of rugs andblankets which they had piled together
in a corner of the hut, they weresoon asleep, completely tired out with all the fatigues and exertions ofthe eventful day.