The Swiss Family Robinson | Page 3

of the tubs. Some ducks and geese we let go, in the
hope that they would swim to the shore; and a pair of doves were set
free, as they could fly to the land.
There was a place in the raft for each of us. In the first tub sat my wife;
in the next Frank, who was eight years old; in the third Fritz, not quite
twice the age of Frank; in the fourth were the fowls, and some old sails
that would make us a tent; the fifth was full of good things in the way
of food; in the sixth stood Jack, a bold lad, ten years old; in the next
Ernest, twelve years of age, well taught, but too fond of self, and less
fond of work than the rest; while I sat in the eighth, to guide the raft

that was to save all that was dear to me in the world.
As soon as the dogs (Bill and Turk by name) saw us push off from the
ship they leaped in the sea, swam near the raft, and kept well up with
us.
The sea was calm; so that we felt quite safe. We made good use of the
oars, and the raft bore its freight straight to the land; but as we drew
near to the shore the sight of the bare rocks led us to think that we
might still be in need of food and drink when that which we had was
gone.
As we got near, the coast lost its bare look, and we were glad to see that
there was no lack of trees. We soon found a bay, to which the ducks
and geese had found their way, and here we saw a place where we
could land.
As soon as we had made the raft fast with a strong rope, we took out all
our wealth, and made a tent with the old sail cloth we had brought with
us, and stuck a pole in the ground to keep it up. This done, I sent the
boys to get some moss and dry grass to make our beds with. With the
flint and steel we soon set fire to some dry twigs, and my wife made a
pot of soup with what she had brought from the ship.
Fritz, who had charge of the guns, chose one, and took a stroll by the
side of a stream, while Jack went in search of shell fish, which he
thought he might find on the rocks. My share of the work was to save
two large casks which were near the shore. While I was up to my knees
in the sea I heard a shrill cry, which I knew to come from Jack. I got
out at once, took up an axe, and ran to his help. I found him with his
legs in a rock pool, where a large crab held him by his toes. It soon
made off as I came near; but I struck at it with the axe, and brought it
out of the pool. Jack then took it up, though it gave him a pinch or two
ere he found out how to hold it, and ran off in high glee to show what
he had caught.
When I got back to the tent, I found that Ernest had brought us news
that he had seen salt in the chinks of the rocks, and that shell fish were

not scarce.
"Well, my boy, if you are sure you saw them, I will ask you to go back
for some. We must each do some work for the good of all."
He went, and soon found the salt, left by the sea on the rocks, which the
sun had made quite dry. There was some sand with it, but my wife did
not take long to find a way to cure that. She had been to a fresh stream
with a large jug; from this I saw her pour some on the salt, strain it
through a cloth, and let it drip in a cup, so that all the sand was left on
the cloth.
When the soup was made hot we had each a taste, and all said that it
was good.
"Be not in too great haste," said my wife, "we must wait for Fritz; but if
he were here, I do not see how we are to take our soup, for we have no
plates nor spoons."
"If we had but some large nuts," said Ernest, "we might cut them in half,
and they would make good bowls."
"Quite true," said I; "but as there are none, we may as well wish for
delf bowls and real spoons at once."
"Now I