Selkirk and Starboard | Project Gutenberg

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Life and Adventures of Alexander Selkirk, the Real Robinson Crusoe, by John Howell

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SELKIRK
AND
STARBOARD.

Alexander Selkirk was born in the year 1676, and was the seventh son of John Selkirk, shoemaker and tanner, in Largo, Scotland. His mother looked upon him as one that would pass through some great events, and she resolved to have him push his fortune at sea, where he went in his nineteenth year, to escape the rebuke of his unruly conduct. He was from home six years; and again being guilty of very bad behavior, and having beaten a young infirm brother, and raised a riot in his father’s house, he was publicly reprimanded: upon this, he left home, and being a skilful seaman, was appointed[Pg 8] Sailing Master, in a vessel called the Cinque Ports—a small sailor which went in company with captain Dampier to the South Sea.

Having quarrelled with his captain, and having had a dream that his ship would be wrecked, he resolved to quit it, and was set on shore at the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez. He had scarcely left the boat, when he sorely repented, and he “never heard a sound more dismal than their parting oars.”

From the beginning to the end of September, the vessel remained undergoing repairs. The disagreement, instead of being made up, became greater every day, and strengthened the resolution which Selkirk had made to leave the vessel. This was accordingly concluded on, and just before getting under way, he was landed with all his effects; and he leaped on shore with a faint sensation of freedom and joy. He shook hands with his comrades, and bade them adieu in a hearty manner, while the officer sat in the boat urging their return to the ship, which order they instantly obeyed; but no sooner did the sound of their oars, as they left the beach, fall on his ears, than the horrors of being left alone, cut off from all human society, perhaps forever, rushed [Pg 13]upon his mind. His heart sunk within him, and all his resolution failed. He rushed into the water, and implored them to return and take him on board with them. To all his entreaties his comrades turned a deaf ear, and even mocked his despair; denouncing the choice he had made of remaining upon the island, as rank mutiny, and describing his present situation as the most proper state for such a fellow, where his example would not affect others.

For many days after being left alone, Selkirk was under such great dejection of mind, that he never tasted food until urged by extreme hunger; nor did he go to sleep until he could watch no longer; but sat with his eyes fixed in the direction where he had seen his shipmates depart, fondly hoping that they would return and free him from his misery. Thus he remained seated upon his chest, until darkness shut out every object from his sight. Then did he close his weary eyes, but not in sleep; for morning found him still anxiously hoping the return of the vessel.

When urged by hunger, he fed upon seals and such shell-fish as he could pick up along the shore. The reason of this was the aversion he felt to leave the beach,[Pg 14] and the care he took to save his powder. Though seals, and shell-fish were but sorry fare, his greatest cross was the want of salt and bread, which made him loathe his food until he got used to it.

It was in the beginning of October (1704,) which in those southern latitudes is the middle of spring, when nature appears in a thousand varieties of form and fragrance, quite unknown in northern climates; but the agitation of his mind, and the forlorn situation in which he was now placed, caused all its charms to be unregarded.

It was in this trying situation, when his mind, deprived of all outward occupation, was turned back upon itself, that the whole advantages of that great blessing, a religious education in his youth, was felt in its consoling influences, when every other hope and comfort had fled.

This circumstance ought to lead young people to prize their social and religious privileges, as they know not but that some day, like Selkirk, their lot may be cast far from home, and from pious family opportunities, the absence of which were then so much regretted by this lonely man.

By slow degrees he became easy to his fate; and as winter approached, he saw the necessity of procuring some kind of shelter from the weather; for even in that temperate climate, frost is common during the night, and snow is sometimes found upon the ground in the morning.

The building of a hut was the first thing that roused him to exertion; and his necessary absence from the shore gradually weaned his heart from that aim which had alone filled all his thoughts and proved a help of his obtaining that peace of mind he afterwards enjoyed; but it was eighteen months before he became fully composed, or could be one whole day absent from the beach, and from his usual hopeless watch for some vessel to relieve him from his melancholy situation.

During his stay, he built himself two huts with the wood of the pimento tree, and thatched them with a species of grass, that grows to the height of seven or eight feet upon the plains and smaller hills, and produces straw resembling that of oats. The one was much larger than the other, and situated near a spacious wood.

This he made his sleeping room, spreading the bed clothes he had brought on shore with him upon a frame[Pg 16] of his own construction; and as those wore out, or were used for other purposes, he supplied their places with goat skins. His pimento bed-room he used also as his chapel; for here he kept up that simple but beautiful form of family worship which he had been accustomed to in his father’s house. To distinguish the Sabbath, he kept an exact account of the days of every week and month, during the time he remained upon the island.

The smaller hut, which Selkirk had erected at some distance from the other, was used by him as a kitchen in which he dressed his victuals. The furniture was very scanty; but consisted of every convenience his island could afford. His most valuable article was the pot or kettle he had brought from the ship, to boil his meat in; the spit was his own handiwork, made of such wood as grew upon the island; the rest was suitable to his rudely built house. Around his dwelling browsed a parcel of goats remarkably tame, which he had taken when young, and lamed, but so as not to injure their health, while he kept down their speed. These he kept as a store, in the event of a sickness or any accident befalling him, that might prevent him from catching others; his sole method of doing which, was running them down by [Pg 19]speed of foot. The pimento wood, which burns very bright and clear served him both for fuel and candle. It gives out an agreeable perfume while burning.

He obtained fire after the Indian method, by rubbing two pieces of pimento wood together until they caught fire. This he did, as being ill able to spare any of his linen for tinder, time being of no value to him, and the labour rather an amusement. Having recovered his peace of mind, he began likewise to enjoy greater variety in his food, and was continually adding some new thing to his store. The craw-fish, many of which weighed eight or nine pounds, he broiled or boiled as his fancy led, seasoning it with pimento, (Jamaica pepper) and at length came to relish his food without salt.

As a substitute for bread, he used the cabbage-palm, which was plenty on the island; turnips, or their tops, and likewise a species of parsnip, of good taste and flavor. He had also Sicilian radishes and watercresses, which he found in the neighboring brooks, as well as many other vegetables found on the island, which he ate with his fish or goat’s flesh.

Having food in abundance, and the climate being healthy and pleasant, in about eighteen months he became[Pg 20] easy in his situation. The time hung no longer heavy upon his hands. His devotions and frequent study of the Scriptures, soothed and elevated his mind: and this, coupled with the vigor of his health, and a constant serene sky, and temperate air, rendered his life one continual feast. His feelings were now as joyful as they had before been sorrowful. He took delight in every thing around him; fixed up the hut in which he lay, with fragrant branches, cut from a spacious wood, on the side of which it was situated, and thereby formed a pleasant bower, fanned with continual breezes, soft and balmy as poets describe, which made his repose, after the fatigues of the chase, very gratifying.

Yet happy and contented as he became, there were cares that broke in upon his pleasing thoughts, as it were to place his situation on a level with that of other human beings; for it is the lot of man to care while he dwells on earth. During the early part of his residence, he was much annoyed by multitudes of rats, which gnawed his feet and other parts of his body, as he slept during the night. To remedy this evil, he caught and tamed after much exertion and patient toil, some of the cats that ran wild on the island. These new friends [Pg 23]soon put the rats to flight, and became themselves the companions of his leisure hours. He amused himself by teaching them to dance, and do a number of antic feats. They multiplied so fast too, under his fostering hand, that they lay upon his bed, and upon the floor in great numbers: and although freed from his former troublesome visitors, yet, so strangely are we formed, that when one care is removed, another takes its place.

These very protectors became a source of great uneasiness to him: for the idea haunted his mind, and made him at times melancholy, that, after his death there would be no one to bury his remains, or to supply the cats with food, his body must be devoured by the very animals which he at present nourished for his convenience.

The island abounds in goats, which he shot while his powder lasted, and afterwards caught by speed of foot. At first he could only overtake kids: but latterly, so much did his frugal life, joined to air and exercise, improve his strength and habits of body, that he could run down the strongest goat on the island in a few minutes, and tossing it over his shoulders, carry it with ease to his hut. All the by-ways and easy parts of the[Pg 24] mountains became familiar to him. He could bound from crag to crag, and slip down the precipices with confidence.

With these helps, hunting soon became his chief amusement. It was his custom, after running down the animals, to slit their ears, and then allow them to escape. The young he carried to the green lawn beside his hut, and employed his leisure hours in taming them. They in time supplied him with milk, and even with amusement, as he taught them as well as the cats to dance; and he often afterwards declared, that he never danced with a lighter heart, or greater spirit, any where, to the best of music, than he did to the sound of his own voice, with his dumb companions.

As the northern part of the island where Alexander lived, is composed of high craggy precipices, many of which are almost too hilly to climb, though generally covered with wood, the soil is loose and shallow, so that on the hills the largest trees soon perish for want of nourishment, and are then very easily overturned. This was the cause of the death of a seaman belonging to the Dutchess, who being on the high ground in search of goats, caught hold of a tree to aid his ascent, [Pg 27]when it gave way and he rolled down the hill. In his fall he grasped another of considerable bulk, which likewise failed him, and he was thrown amongst the rocks and dashed to pieces. Mr. Butt also met with an accident, merely by leaning his back to a tree nearly as thick as himself, which stood upon a slope, almost without any hold of the soil.

Our adventurer, himself nearly lost his life from a similar cause. When pursuing a goat, he made a snatch at it on the brink of a precipice, of which he was not aware, as some bushes concealed it from them; the animal suddenly stopped; upon which he stretched forward his hand to seize it, when the branches gave way, and they both fell from a great height. Selkirk was so stunned and bruised by the fall, that he lay deprived of sensation and almost of life. Upon his recovery, he found the goat lying dead beneath him. This happened about a mile from his hut. Scarcely was he able to crawl to it when restored to his senses; and dreadful were his sufferings during the first two or three of the ten days that he was confined by the injury. This was the only disagreeable accident that befel him during his long residence on the island.

W. Rogers says that Selkirk lay above the goat deprived of sensation, for 24 hours; Sir R. Steele mentions three days. Selkirk, computed the length of time by the moon’s growth from the last observation which he had made on the evening before his fall.

He occasionally amused himself by cutting upon the trees his name, and the date when he was left on the island, and at times added to the first the period of his continuance; so averse is man to be utterly forgotten by his fellow-man. Perishable as the material was upon which he wrought, still the idea was pleasing to his lonely mind, that when he should have ended his lonely life, some future navigator would learn from these rude memorials, Alexander Selkirk had lived and died upon the island. He had no materials for writing wherewith to trace a more ample record. Upon Lord Anson’s arrival, however at Juan Fernandez, in the year 1741, there was not, so far as he observed, one of these names or dates to be discovered upon any of the trees.

Abbe Raynal is not correct, when he says that Selkirk lost his speech while upon the island. All that Cook asserts is, that, at his first coming on board, he[Pg 29] spoke his words as it were by halves, from want of practice; while he states distinctly, that he carried on conversation from the first and that his hesitating manner gradually wore off.

As to his clothing it was very rude. Shoes he had none, as they were soon worn out. This gave him very little concern, and he never troubled himself in contriving any thing to supply their place. As his other clothes decayed, he dried the skins of the goats he had killed, to make into garments, sewing them with slender thongs of leather, which he cut for the purpose, and using a sharp nail for a needle. In this way he made for himself a cap, jacket, and short breeches. The hair being left upon the skin, gave him a very strange appearance; but in this dress he ran through the underwood, and received as little injury as the animal he pursued. Having linen cloth with him, he made it into shirts, sewing them by means of his nail, and the thread of his worsted stockings, which he untwisted for that purpose. Thus rudely equipped, he thought his wants sufficiently supplied, fashion having no longer any rule over him. His goats and cats being his sole companions, he was at least neighbor-like, and[Pg 30] looked as wild as they; his beard was of great length, as it had been untouched since he left the ship. Still his mind was at ease, and he danced and sang amongst his dumb companions, for hours together; perhaps as happy a man, nay happier, than the gayest ball-room could have presented, in the most civilized country upon earth.

One day, in his ramble along the beach, he found a few iron hoops, which had been left by some vessel, as unworthy to be taken away. This was to him a discovery that imparted more joy than if he had found a treasure of gold or silver; for with them he made knives when his own was worn out, and bad as they were, they stood him in great stead. One of them, which he had used as a chopper, was about two feet in length, and was long kept as a curiosity, at the Golden Head Coffee-house, near Buckingham Gate, in England. It had been changed from its original simple form, having when last seen, a buck’s horn handle with some verses upon it.

Alexander Selkirk, at different times during his stay, saw vessels pass the island; but only two ever came to an anchor. At these times he concealed himself; but, [Pg 33]being anxious on one occasion to learn whether the ship was French or Spanish, he approached too near, and was perceived. A pursuit immediately commenced, and several shots were fired in the direction in which he fled; but fortunately none of them took effect, and he got up into a tree unobserved. His pursuers stopped near it, and killed several of his goats, but the vessel soon left the island. Cook says, “The prize being so inconsiderable, it is likely they thought it not worth while to be at great trouble to find it.” Had they been French, Alexander would have given himself up to them; but, being Spaniards, he chose rather to stay upon the island, and run the risk of dying alone, and even of being devoured by his own cats, than fall into their hands, as they would, as he supposed, either have murdered him in cold blood, or caused him to linger out a life of misery in the mines of Peru or Mexico, unless he chose to profess himself a Roman Catholic, and even then he would have been compelled to pass his weary days in one of their coasting vessels in the Pacific Ocean; for as we have already mentioned, it was one of their maxims never to allow an Englishman to return to Europe, who had gained any knowledge of the South Seas.

This adventure made him resolve to use more caution in future; never a day passed but he anxiously looked out for some sail over the vast expanse of ocean that lay before him; for, even in all his tranquillity and peace of mind, the wish to leave the island never entirely ceased to occupy his thoughts, and he would still have hailed the arrival of an English ship with rapture.

On the 31st of January, 1709, behold! two English ships did heave in sight of Alexander Selkirk’s dominions who was as usual, anxiously watching the watery waste. Slowly the vessels rose into view, and he could scarcely believe the sight real; for often had he been deceived before. They gradually approached the island, and he at length ascertained them to be English. Great was the tumult of passion that rose in his mind; but the love of home overpowered them all. It was late in the afternoon when they first came in sight, and lest they should sail again without knowing that there was a person on the island, he prepared a quantity of wood to burn as soon as it was dark. He kept his eyes fixed upon them until night fall, and then kindled his fire, and kept it up till morning dawned. His hopes and fears having banished all desire for sleep, he employed [Pg 39]himself in killing several goats, and in preparing an entertainment for his expected guests, knowing how acceptable it would be to them after their long run, with nothing but salt provision to live upon.

When the day at length opened, he still saw them, but at a distance from the shore. His fire had caused great wonder on board, for they knew the island to be uninhabited, and supposed the light to have proceeded from some French ships at anchor, with which nation, England was then at war. In this conclusion they prepared for action, as they must either fight or want water and other refreshments, and stood to their quarters all night ready to engage; but, not perceiving any vessel, they next day, about noon, sent a boat on shore, with Capt. Dover, Mr. Fry, and six men, all armed, to ascertain the cause of the fire, and to see that all was safe.

Alexander saw the boat leave the Duke, and pull for the beach. He ran down joyfully to meet his countrymen, and to hear once more the human voice. He took in his hand a piece of linen tied upon a small pole as a flag, which he waved as they drew near, to attract their attention. At length he heard them call to him, inquiring for a good place to land, which he pointed out,[Pg 40] and flying as swift as a deer towards it, arrived first, where he stood ready to receive them as they stepped on shore. He embraced them by turns; but his joy was too great for utterance, while their astonishment at his strange appearance, struck them dumb. He had at this time his last shirt upon his back: his feet and legs were bare, his thighs and body covered with the skins of wild animals. His beard, which had not been shaved for four years and four months, was of a great length, while a rough goat’s-skin cap covered his head. He appeared to them as wild as the first owners of the skins which he wore. At length they began to converse, and he invited them to his hut: but its access was so very intricate, that only Captain Fry went with him over the rocks which led to it. When Alexander had entertained him in the best manner he could, they returned to the boat, our hero bearing a quantity of his roasted goat’s-flesh, for the refreshment of the crew. During their repast, he gave them an account of his adventures and stay upon the island, at which they were much surprised. Captains Dover and Fry invited him to come on board; but he declined their invitation, until they had satisfied him that Dampier had no command [Pg 43]in this expedition; after which he gave a reluctant consent.

So great was his aversion to Dampier as a commander after the experience he had of him, that he would rather have remained upon his island, its lonely possessor, now that he was reconciled to his fate, than have endured the hardships and trials he had before experienced under that navigator. This feeling must have arisen, not from any quarrel or personal dislike to Dampier, but from a knowledge of his former misconduct in his adventures, arising from his want of constancy in carrying through any object which he professed to have in view.

When he came on board the Duke, Dampier gave him an excellent character, telling Captain Rogers that Selkirk had been the best man on board the Cinque Ports. Upon this recommendation, he was immediately engaged on board the Duke. In the afternoon, the ships were cleared, the sails bent and taken on shore to be mended, and to make tents for the sick men. Selkirk’s strength and vigor were of great service to them. He caught two goats in the afternoon. They sent along with him their swiftest runners and a bull-dog; but these he[Pg 44] soon left far behind, and tired out. He himself, to the astonishment of the whole crew, brought the two goats upon his back to the tents.

The two captains remained at the island until the 12th of the month, busy refitting their ships, and getting on board what stores they could obtain. During these ten days, Alexander was their huntsman, and procured them fresh meat. At length all being ready, they set sail, when a new series of difficulties of another kind, annoyed Selkirk, similar to those he had felt at his arrival upon the island. The salt food he could not relish for a long time, having so long discontinued the use of it; for which reason he lived upon biscuit and water. Spirits he did not like from the same cause; and besides he was afraid of falling into intemperance, for his religious impressions were as yet strong. From the confirmed habit of living alone, he kept very much to himself, and said little. This frame of mind, and a serious countenance, continued longer than could have been expected. Even for some time after his return to England, these qualities were remarkable, and drew the notice of those to whose company he was introduced. Shoes gave him great uneasiness when he first came on[Pg 45] board. He had been so long without them, that they made his feet swell, and crippled his movements; but this wore off by degrees, and he became once more reconciled to their use. In other respects he gradually resumed his old habits as a seaman, but without the vices which sometimes attach to the profession. He rigidly abstained from profane oaths, and was much respected by both captains, as well on account of his singular adventure, as of his skill and good conduct; for, having had his books with him, he had improved himself much in navigation during his solitude.

The articles he took on shore from the Cinque Ports, were the following: His chest, containing his clothes and a quantity of linen, now all spent, his musket, which he brought home with him; a pound of powder, and balls in proportion; a hatchet and some tools; a knife; a pewter kettle; his flip-can which he conveyed to Scotland, (at present in the possession of John Selcraig, his great-grand-nephew;) a few pounds of tobacco; the Holy Bible; some devotional pieces, and one or two books on navigation, with his mathematical instruments.

In the capacity of mate, he cruised about for a time,[Pg 46] during which several prizes were taken, and on his return to London, after an absence of eight years, one month and three days, he found himself in possession of £800 sterling. As soon as this sum was realized, he set out for Largo, and arrived in the spring of 1712, at his native village.

It was in the forenoon of a Sabbath day, when all were at church, that he knocked at the door of his paternal dwelling, but found not those whom his heart yearned to see, and his soul longed to embrace. He set out for church, prompted by his piety and his love for his parents; for great was the change that had taken place in his feelings since he had last been within its walls. As soon as he entered and sat down, all eyes were upon him, for such a personage, perhaps, had seldom been seen within the church at Largo. He was elegantly dressed in gold laced clothes; besides, he was a stranger, which in a country church, is matter of attention to the hearers at all times. But his manner and appearance would have attracted the notice of more observing spectators.—After remaining some time engaged in devotion, his eyes were ever turning to where his parents and brothers sat, while theirs as often met his gaze; still they [Pg 49]did not know him. At length his mother, whose thoughts perhaps at this time wandered to her long lost son, knew him, and uttering a cry of joy, could contain herself no longer. Even in the Meeting House, she rushed to his arms, unconscious of the impropriety of her conduct, and the interruption of the service. Alexander and his friends immediately retired to his father’s house, to give free scope to their joy and congratulations.

A few days passed away happily in the society of his parents and friends; but from long habits, he soon felt averse to mixing in society, and was happiest when alone. Returning, therefore, frequently to Keil’s Den, a secluded and lonely valley in the neighborhood, he spent most of his time in solitary wandering and meditation; till a new object began to engross much of his attention. In his musing by the burnside, he often met a young girl, tending a single cow, the property of her parents.

Her lonely occupation and innocent looks, made a deep impression upon him. He watched her for hours unseen, as she amused herself with the wild flowers she gathered, or chaunted her rural lays. At each meeting the impression became stronger, and he felt more interested[Pg 50] in this modest female. At length he addressed himself to her, and they joined in conversation; he had no aversion to commune with her for hours together, and began to imagine that he could live and be happy with a companion such as she. His fishing expeditions were now neglected. Even his cave became not so sweet a retreat. His mind led him to Keil’s Den, and the amiable Sophia. He never mentioned this adventure and attachment to his friends; for he felt ashamed, after his discourses to them, and the profession he had made of dislike to human society, to acknowledge that he was upon the point of marrying, and thereby plunging into the midst of worldly cares. But he was determined to marry Sophia, though as firmly resolved not to remain at home to be the subject of their jest. This resolution being formed, he soon persuaded the object of his choice, to elope with him, and bid adieu to the romantic glen.

After this elopement, nothing was heard of him for some years. At length, however, a gay widow, of the name of Frances Candis, or Candia, came to Largo, to claim the property left to him by his father, and produced documents to prove her right, from which it appeared[Pg 51] that Sophia Bruce lived but a very few years after her marriage. He himself, after attaining the rank of Lieutenant, died on board his Majesty’s ship Weymouth, some time in the year 1723.

POSTSCRIPT.

The chest and cup which Selkirk had with him on the island, are in the possession of a family in Nether Largo, in Fifeshire, who reside in the house in which he was born. The former is in excellent preservation although at least 123 years old. It is made of cedar, strongly built, and very massy. The initials A. S. are rudely carved on the lid. The cup is the shell of some kind of nut which probably grew on the island. The late Mr. Constable, of Edinburgh, caused it to be much adorned and beautified, by giving it a new pendicle, and having its edge surmounted with silver.—Imperial Magazine.

Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk, during his solitary
abode in the Island of Juan Fernandez.

I herewith give my young readers extracts from a little work under this title, which I think they will find entertaining. Mr. Starboard is one of those redoubted travellers, who are generally the heroes of their best stories, and his adventures are no less varied than wonderful. But we will let him speak for himself:

“I was two years and a few days wandering over South America. I travelled about one thousand eight hundred miles; but I did not walk all the way; oh no! I frequently went with the Indians up their rivers; and for about five hundred miles I rode on mules, or wild horses, which I caught by stratagem.

“At night I would find a tree, and lace a rope in and out of two boughs, so as to form a kind of cradle; thus supported, I slept in peace, excepting that sometimes the vampire bat would annoy me by sucking my blood; he did it though so quietly, that I suffered no pain; and perhaps it was serviceable to me to lose a little blood; it is not improbable that these flying surgeons kept me in health by their gentle bleedings. The vampire bat does not subsist entirely by sucking the blood of living animals; it feeds also on insects and young fruits.

“One morning, I remember, when I awoke, and was coming down from my cradle, I found that a rattle snake had coiled itself round the stem of the tree, and then I really thought it would be all over with me; but my presence of mind did not forsake me even in this case; for, as the reptile reared his flat, wide, terrible head, I took such good aim, and was so near to it that I blew it to atoms. Once I caught a poisonous serpent, called a labarri snake, that I might look for, and examine the fangs, which contained its venom. I saw it asleep; and coming cautiously towards it, I sprang at its neck, which I grasped tightly with my hands; its mouth was thus forced open; then taking a small piece of stick, I pressed [Pg 61]it on the fang, (the point of which communicated with the root where the bag of poison is situated,) and I distinctly saw the venom ooze out: it was of a thick substance and of a yellow color; of course I killed the creature.”

One day, during my wanderings in South America, I came unawares upon a herd of wild horses that were grazing quietly on the borders of a forest. Well,—I had been walking a long way, and felt tired; so I thought I might as well try to catch one of these horses, and vary my mode of journeying, by riding. I had read of the manner in which the Guachos (or South American peasants) catch these animals with a lasso, or long rope, which has a loop at the end of it; and this they expertly throw over the head of the animal that they single out: their dexterity is surprising. I feared, however, to attempt such an exploit, lest I should fail, and thus frighten them all away: besides I had no rope that was long enough.

So I set my wits to work, and thus I tried my scheme. I observed among the trees that skirted the plain, a pool of water: to this pool I made my way; for,[Pg 62] thought I, they will surely come there, by and by, to drink; so I climbed up into a cinchona, or barktree.

Having fastened one end of my rope tightly round one of the lower branches, I made the other into a slip-knot or noose; and then I waited patiently for my expected prey. At last the whole herd of horses left their pasture in a body, and came neighing and gambling towards the water, with their tails sailing in the wind, and their long manes waving about with every graceful turn of their bodies. I assure you it was rather an appalling sight to see myself close over the heads of so many powerful animals, that made the ground echo with their spirited movements.

I sat still, however, enjoying myself with a calabash shell full of milk, which I had drawn from a cow-tree that grew on the rock near me.

“A cow-tree, Mr. Starboard!” methinks I hear my young readers exclaim; “A cow-tree! Surely you mean a cow grazing, Mr. Starboard. We know that travellers are privileged to tell pretty big stories, Mr. Starboard; but there is such a thing, Mr. Starboard; as overstepping too far the bounds of truth, Mr. Starboard.”

Upon my veracity, my dear young readers, I am in [Pg 65]earnest. It was a cow-tree, from which I drew the milk: and the great traveller, Humboldt, will prove what I have said.

The cow-tree is found on the most barren rocks, where rains rarely visit it, and it has large woody roots. When its trunk is pierced, a most delicious, white, thick juice exudes, (or flows out,) which is quite as pleasant and nourishing as the milk of our cows. The Indians always make use of it, and it is found in the greatest abundance about sunrise.

Well: I had just finished my bowl of vegetable milk, when a fine fellow of a horse came under my cinchona-tree, and stooped to drink; so I crept to the end of the branch; and as he raised his head, I slipped the noose over his neck, and drew it tight; the start he gave when he found himself confined, frightened his companions, and away they all scampered, leaving me and my prisoner alone.

Instead of striving to break the rope and escape, which he might have done with ease, his courage seemed weakened by this new kind of restraint. I had some struggles, it is true; but I quickly conquered him, and we were soon friends.

I have met, in the course of my life with a variety of other adventures, which I will narrate to my young readers, if they will give their attention. I am an old man now and have plenty of leisure; but the greater portion of my life has been passed in unceasing activity and has been full of incident:—

Here our friend Tom Starboard in his sailor style, gives an account of a remarkable shipwreck. But there is nothing better than to let him tell the story himself. The account is natural, though it may be a fiction.

“We did not go through the Straits of Magellan, as the passage is dangerous; but we passed them and doubled Cape Horn. We went merrily on, touching land, occasionally, to take in water, fruit, and live stock, now and then speaking a vessel, or finding some new kind of fish, or wonderful bird, till we neared the island of Juan Fernandez. Here the weather changed, and such a storm came down upon us as I never saw before or since.

“Before it reached its height, and while we were all in good spirits, a gust of wind blew my hat off, when Ned, to make me laugh, called out, ‘Tom, your hair[Pg 68] will be blown off too, if you don’t hold it on; my shoestrings have been whisked out this half-hour.’

“But the fury of the storm so increased, as to put all laughing and joking out of our thoughts. Night came on so rapidly that it seemed as if a mighty black cloud had fallen suddenly over us. The gallant vessel which had weathered so many storms, struck on a sunken rock, and went to pieces, as if she had been made of glass! I got entangled in some loose rigging, which had been snapped and unravelled like twine, and this circumstance, which I expected would be the cause of my death, saved my life. Part of the topmast was attached to the ropes which the furious blast twisted round me, as it swept off my shipmates in crowds, into the fierce waters: and away I went also, at the same moment, with my brave captain!—I never more saw a soul from the vessel, nor an atom of her stout planks.

“How long I floated in my net work of ropes, I cannot tell. I remember the wrath of the panting billows, as they were urged onwards by the furious hurricane. On they dashed over my defenceless head, throwing the shattered mast against my wounded limbs, and straining the cords till they cut into my flesh. I remember, [Pg 73]too, that the storm seemed to subside as quickly as it had arisen. Then a noise as if a vessel toiling through the waves came over me, and a mixed feeling of fear and hope passed through my confused brain;—then a shout and a grappling with my coiling ropes;—then a sensation of the soft air, and of my mounting through it;—and then a buzz of voices, as I lay in quietness on a solid floor.

“Alas! how wretched I felt, when I found that all the voices were strange, the language foreign, and the faces dark and unknown to me. A Portuguese merchant vessel, bound for the city and port of Guayaquil, had picked me up.

“I cannot describe to you the forlorn state of my feelings, after the terrible wreck. My own situation, however, and the altered mode of my existence, I did not consider till I was made to feel it severely, by the coarse treatment I met with from those who saved my life. I was made to work my way—that I expected, and could not complain of—but I felt sadly the difference in the manners of the captain and his crew, compared with those of the “Speedwell.”

“I thanked the captain for saving my life, and told[Pg 74] him I intended to leave the ship. This, to my surprise, he said I should not do. I replied that he had no control over me; that I was an Englishman, and could not be compelled to serve in a foreign vessel. Then, said he, pay me for your passage from Juan Fernandez, and you may leave the ship. I told him this was impossible, as I had lost every thing in the fatal wreck. At this he only laughed in my face, and said; ‘That is not my look out; you shall pay me or stay where you are;’ and with an oath, turned on his heel, and left me to my own sad feelings.”

Tom determined, at once, to embrace the first opportunity to escape. But they had dropped anchor two or three miles from the shore, and how could he effect it? Besides he was closely watched. But the vessel was soon to sail on a long voyage, and being called to take his turn, one night in the watch, with two or three others, he determined to make the attempt.

“This night, or never—said I to myself, as I took my station. While I was walking the deck, one of my shipmates at the mast-head, and the other astern, the ship suddenly quivered, as if she were in an ague fit!—down slipped the fellow from on high, and fell flat on[Pg 75] his face; the other rushed forward, and kneeled beside him, both crossing themselves and saying prayers to their saints. I lost no time, but seizing a board, I hastily lashed it to my back with a rope (that when I became fatigued with swimming, I might turn and float,) and slipping astern, let myself down into the water. The noise of the splash I feared would betray me, and I gave up all for lost, though the next minute, I found they were all praying, and took courage and quietly struck off. I made but little headway, however, owing to the board on my back.

“As I continued my toilsome passage towards the shore, I heard the loud bellowing of the troubled earth, and felt the water jar me, as if it had been a solid substance. Suddenly a towering volcano, which I took to be Cotopaxi, at above one hundred miles distance, appeared illuminated like an immense light-house; the thundering increased, and shrieks and other fearful noises were borne to me over the water. At last, when nearly exhausted, I was thrown ashore, where I lay to recover breath and strength, but oh, the distress and confusion that then took place! Many of the inhabitants came crowding down to the water’s edge, for[Pg 76] safety; houses had been destroyed; the earth was rocking and heaving like an angry ocean; streams of water had gushed out of the ground where no water had ever been seen before; suffocating fumes of sulphur burst up under the feet of the terrified and flying sufferers; and when the morning dawned, the face of the country seemed changed. Still the town itself (Guayaquil) had sustained but little damage, and the inhabitants began to return to their dwellings and their business. They are so much accustomed to earthquakes all over Peru, that it is not surprising they should so soon lose their terrors.

“In the general distress, I met with but little compassion or assistance, which I then thought strange, but I had not yet learned that affliction often hardens the heart. No one relieved my hunger; so I ventured to steal a handful of nuts from a heap that had fallen out of a basket which had been thrown down during the night. These I beat between two stones, and mixed with a little water; and this was my food for that day.

“As I wandered about among the shipping, looking in vain for a vessel bound to Europe, I recollected that the bay of Guayaquil is famous for a small shell fish,[Pg 77] about the size of a nut. It is called turbine, and produces a purple dye, reckoned the best in the world. So I boldly seized a small boat that was lying at anchor, and pushing out into the bay, I caught a few of these valuable little fish, and returned to shore again, before the owner of the boat had missed it. I was now sure of a resource against starving, provided any one would buy my turbines. I was soon fortunate enough to find a purchaser, so I pursued the plan for several days, always taking the same boat, which no one appeared to claim. Perhaps the owner, poor fellow, had been destroyed by the earthquake.

“I slept every night in a hut close to the sea; and on the fifth morning, I found a French vessel in the harbor, which was proceeding on her voyage to Bonaventura and to Acapulco, in Mexico. I immediately went to the captain, and offered to work my way to the port of Bonaventura, if he would give me my passage. And after telling him my story, he kindly granted my request; and in due time we reached the port, where with feelings of very great gratitude to the captain, I left the vessel.”

I had formed the strange resolution of crossing over the continent of South America alone, and on foot! I had read Humbolt’s Personal Narrative, and I longed to see the wonders which he speaks of. Some excuse may be made for me perhaps, when it is considered that I had a natural fondness for a wandering life and for the wonders of nature; besides, I could meet with no ship on this western side of the continent, bound for my native country. The French captain, with whom I came from Guayaquil, thought me a little deranged; still I believe the good man was glad to get rid of me. He gave me thirty francs; a gun, and some gunpowder, saying with a shrug of his shoulder, as he bade me farewell, “You are very courageous; but remember you must eat; and this gun will be of great use to you.”

I provided myself with a wallet, in which to put my shoes, stockings, gloves and a shirt; then inquiring the road to Zita, I set out before sunrise, towards the Andes. I was five months in crossing the desolate northern extremities of those giants of the earth. I bought—nay, I did not buy, I found a mule that was browsing on some prickly shrub, (I forget its name,) in a wild pass of the mountains. She was saddled and bridled, and had evidently lost her master. I looked in vain for some hours, but could find no trace of any traveller, so I felt justified in taking possession of her; and it was well I did, for the sure-footed beast took me safely over dangerous passes that I never could have crossed without her assistance. Many times has the creature, with a sagacity that was astonishing, stood on the summit of a peak like a sugar loaf, looking from side to side; then slowly taking aim, has slid down with me on her back, for thirty, forty, or fifty feet![1]

One night, however, she played truant, and slipped her bridle, which I always wound round my arm while[Pg 82] I slept, and disappeared, leaving me on the borders of a trackless forest.

At one time, I crossed a mighty torrent that was boiling along, at the depth of a hundred feet below me, through, a narrow ravine;—and what sort of a bridge do you think I ventured upon? Two large fragments of rocks, one from each side, had fallen together, as I supposed, during some earthquake, and had formed a natural bridge, quite firm and safe over which I crossed.

Another time I passed a chasm of prodigious depth, near an ancient village, the ingenious inhabitants of which had constructed a bridge of rushes, in the following manner. Two strong posts were fixed in the rock on each side, and to these were fastened ropes of rushes; the path upon them being made of the same material, platted together. On each side was also a rope for the passenger to steady himself by.

These bridges, in fact, are the origin of our chain or suspension bridges, but the elastic and light nature of the rushes makes the motion of the bridge very unpleasant. Indeed when I had one day gone about half way across one of them, my head began to swim, and I was obliged to sit down to recover myself; for I really[Pg 83] thought I should never reach the opposite side. I sat there for some time, swinging in a most perilous yet ridiculous situation I assure you.

I wished much to see the interior of one of the mines, but they were too far off. The quicksilver mines of Huancavelica is particularly curious, having a complete town and its cathedral deep in the bowels of the earth.

I shall not attempt to tell you half the dangers, difficulties, and troubles I have met with. I made the sun my guide by day, and the stars by night. I roosted in trees, like the birds, and ate fruit and herbs like the beast. I explored mountain torrents, which no human beings, probably, had never seen before; found diamonds in their beds, which had been dried up; collected gold from the mud of the rivers, and a great many curiosities, which I was obliged to throw away, for want of convenience to carry them. I met with tribes of Indians who had never heard of the name of England, or seen an Englishman.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This part of the story may seem a little unnatural, but many travellers make similar statements.

One evening, during my journey, having refreshed myself with some of the fruit that grew near me—for I always found food enough in South America, even in the forests—I took a fancy to explore a cavern that I saw in the rock, near which a cascade tumbled. Resolving to be well prepared for any enemy I might meet with, I took my gun with me.

I ought to tell you, by the way, that after I lost my mule, I was obliged for some time to content myself with a horse. I left him grazing at the foot of a bark tree. You have heard of the Peruvian bark, which is used so much in medicine, I dare say. I tied my horse, then, to a tree, which produces this sort of bark.

Well, all things prepared, I set out on my expedition. As I drew near the lofty cavern, I was astonished at the[Pg 85] deafening noise of innumerable wings, and looking up in the uncertain twilight, I saw hundreds—I think I might say thousands—of birds flying about, preparing to leave their home, in search of food. They were the guacharos. I had read of them in Humboldt’s narrative, but to use the sailor phrase, I had never before ‘run foul’ of any of them. They are night birds, that somewhat resemble our owls, but instead of roosting on trees, these creatures build in caverns. A sight of them is well worth the trouble and danger of exploring one of these dark and gloomy mansions. Their noise is prodigious!

In fact, one of the most wonderful things a traveller meets with in South America, is the different and strange sounds at night. The howling monkeys, the night-birds, the sharp cries of the jaguars, the roar of the pumas, the flapping of wings, the rustling of branches, and other noises, are astonishing!

How different from the lone solitude of our woods in New England, where the only sound, perhaps, that disturbs the silence of the night, is the distant hooting of the owl, or the howling of some dog. Indeed, the greater part of the time, every creature is so silent that you would scarcely know that any living thing was waking.

Well, I stayed so long in the bird cavern, that it was quite dark when I got back to my horse, and I had not yet made up my nightly fire. So I groped round in the dark and collected, as well as I could, some leaves and sticks, and began to kindle my fire. But just as I was kneeling down to blow at the heap of fuel I had lighted, my horse suddenly started, drew back to the full length of his cord, rolled his eyes, enlarged his nostrils, threw his ears forward, erected his main and tail, and stood there the very picture of terror. “There is danger now,” thought I; but I was resolved to meet it. So I jumped up instantly, and looking into the gloom, in the direction which my horse’s eyes took, I saw a dark mass of something moving slowly along among the bushes.

I was up the tree instantly, I assure you, taking with me my gun, which I had rested against its trunk. For a minute or two all was quiet. Soon, however, the dark body approached a little nearer, but so quietly, that I should have thought very little more of it, had not my horse shown symptoms of so much alarm. I levelled my piece and fired, and, as I suppose, wounded the animal; for he bounded up, and darted off into the thicket.

Just at this moment the fire burst into a bright blaze, which kept the wild animals away for the rest of that night. I did not rest or sleep very well, however, for I had used the rope that I commonly tied myself with, to fasten my horse. One thing, however, you may easily suppose, I did not forget to do; which was to give thanks to my great Preserver, who ‘guides the helm’, as we sailors say, by land, as well as by sea.

I came at last to the dreary plains of South America, called Steppes, and here my troubles were unusually severe. All kinds of stinging insects, serpents, and loathesome reptiles annoyed me; besides I could hardly get food and drink. Sometimes, though rarely, I was so fortunate as to find a plant resembling the aloe, containing a quantity of pure water in its stem; but when I could not get this, I was obliged to drink the horrible water of the rivers, swarming with animalculæ (little creatures almost too small to be seen by the naked eye) to such a degree that I seemed to swallow about as much solid matter as liquid. As to food, I was contented, often, to swallow little balls of earth, as the natives do; for though it would be disgusting now, it served then, to keep the breath of life in me. It is a very fat, buttery kind of earth, and is prepared for food by baking it[Pg 89] slightly in the fire. You are aware, I suppose, that the natives of Japan, Siberia, Africa, and other parts of the world, also sometimes eat clay.

After travelling a long time, I came unexpectedly upon a wandering tribe of Indians, consisting of only three or four families; and, entering one of their wretched huts, built of clay and leaves, I asked them for food.

At first they did not understand me, but with the help of signs, I soon made them comprehend that I was hungry; upon which one of them took down a bag containing a kind of greasy, spotted, whitish paste, gave me some of it, pointed to the fire, and went and lay down in his hammock, which with fourteen others was slung from some beams above.

I was so tired and wet, for it was now the rainy season, and so glad to find something to eat better than clay, that I was going to cram it down, when I saw unexpectedly that the black spots on it were large ants. I threw it down instantly; but soon recollecting that a paste mixed with ants, is represented by Humboldt as a very common food among some of these tribes of Indians, and feeling impelled by hunger to eat something, I at last eat a small quantity of it.

These were the laziest sort of people I ever met with. They seemed to have no wants, beyond mere eating and drinking;[2] they have no clothes to mend, or domestic cares to attend to; no fishing, no hunting to prepare for.

I quitted them as soon as I could, I assure you, for they were almost too lazy to furnish me with food; besides, I was not without fears, from the accounts given by other travellers, that they would master energy enough to kill me for food, as a treat!

Before I left them, however, I was greatly rejoiced, one day, to hear the word “Orinoco;” for, on inquiry, I found by signs that this long wished for river was only a little way to the south.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] I know we have some just such people as this in every country, at least in every one that I have seen; but here they were all stupid. There were no active and industrious persons among them.

One day, about noon, as I came to a pleasant looking pond or lake, beautifully over-shadowed with trees, the thought struck me that I would take a bath. But I had[Pg 92] scarcely entered the water, before I felt a shock like that of an electrical machine, and a very severe one, too.

“An earthquake?” you will perhaps say. By no means. The shock was given by an electrical eel. However, it instantly took away all my strength, and nearly all my senses, too; and I believe, in my heart, I should never have been here, but for help. It was close to a Missionary village, and an Indian woman happening to come down to the pond to dip up water, just at that moment, and guessing my situation, lost no time in dragging me out before the animal had an opportunity of repeating his shocks.

I had now reached a better country. The mornings, especially, were uncommonly beautiful. Birds of every color greeted my ears with their songs; and among the rest, I particularly noticed the companion or bell-bird. Perched on the top of a lofty mora tree, this bird used to awaken me by his clear ringing note that sounds exactly like a fine toned bell, and may be heard two or three miles. He is white, with a black spire on his head, and about three inches in length.

Among other creatures that arrested my attention, was the harmless, but misrepresented and slandered sloth. I[Pg 93] used often to see him looking down in my face from the lofty trees, where he feels most at home and most happy.

It is true that after he has been caught and put on the ground, he is a dull lazy animal; for he is out of his element, almost as much as a fish out of water, or a human being in it.

But I will give you a few more particulars of this animal. He is formed to live on trees, and is never found any where else, unless by force or accident. While the weather is calm, he remains suspended or hanging from the branches; but during a high wind, when the boughs of the closely growing trees are shaken and laced together, as it were, he passes from one to the other with ease and quickness. He never moves upon, but under the branches; he hangs there to rest, to eat, and to sleep. The color of his fur is so nearly that of the moss on the bark, that it is not easy to discover him, except when he is moving. In short, instead of being an object of disgust, or even of pity, I do not know a creature that appears more happy, as long as man and other animals will let him alone. It is man, by his “meddling” that makes a great many of the woes that his fellow animals feel. It is guns and snares, and traps, and aviaries, and cages, that make birds and beasts most unhappy.

I had now been so long or in the forests and among the Indians, that I began to be in want of some of those things that are only to be found in the abodes of civilized men. My shoes, in particular, began to fail me; and I dreaded the idea of going barefooted day after day.

But as good luck would have it, or rather, perhaps I ought to say, as a kind Providence designed it, I fell in with an India rubber tree, into which somebody had made incisions, and from which the gum was now flowing. So I let it flow upon my shoes, in order to form a new sole. In this undertaking, however, I was not quite so successful as in making a new hat to supply the place of my old one. I found a species of aloe, from the tough thick leaves of which, by splitting them I made me a very good hat, especially for the dry season. In the rainy season, it would not have been quite so comfortable, I suppose.

One night, as I had taken up my quarters on the verge of a forest, and had got seated in my cradle, which you know was among the thick branches of some huge tree, I saw a light glancing among the trees. I came down from my roosting place, almost in an instant, and went towards it, hoping there was a village near; for I was sadly in want of a better rope to fasten myself with; and the Indians of these villages make some very ingenious ones, by twisting together the long fibres of the leaves of the cocoa-tree.

Well, as I said, I followed the light, but where, do you think? Why out of the forest, to be sure, but into something worse than a forest. I found myself, ere I was aware of the nature of my guide, up to my knees in a quagmire: and what was more mortifying still, I was not much nearer the light than when I set out.

I began now to suspect what it was. It was evidently one of those things to which they give the name of ignis fatuus, or will-o’-the-wisp. They are seen, as you know, (and as I might have known had my wits been about me) in low swampy places, peeping and dodging about. They are supposed to be gaseous; but perhaps you do not all of you know what gaseous means; and I am hardly philosopher or chemist enough to tell you.

The atmosphere or air which we breathe is composed of two ingredients, or gases, as the chemists call them. One is oxygen. This is the supporter of life and flame, for if it could be taken out of the air we could not breathe again, and every candle and lamp would be extinguished in a moment. The other is nitrogen or azote, which destroys life.

I told you the air we breathe was made up of these two airs or gases; and it is. But many other gases sometimes float in it. One of these is hydrogen. It is produced in various ways, and is one of the most inflammable substances in the world. Now electricity, (or lightning, for it is the same thing) which is a subtle or penetrating fluid, always exists in the atmosphere, and has at all times power to ignite (set on fire) a vapor so inflammable as hydrogen, if it happens to come in contact with it. Now, again, as this hydrogen gas is most readily produced by the decomposition of water, and combines or mixes with various other matters arising from decaying vegetation, putrifying animal substances, in low and marshy swamps, a tiny spark is sufficient to ignite these combined gases, and thus set off the Will-o’-the-Wisps.

Well, I extricated myself from the quagmire and returned,—though not without some difficulty, I had wandered so far, to my roosting place. The next morning as I was preparing to descend the tree, the sky being clear, and the sun shining, I was alarmed by a hissing noise in the air; and looking quickly around, I was just in time to see an immense mass of something, I could not tell what, falling from above, with a loud noise, and crushing in its fall, the branches of a lofty tamarind tree.

Hastening to the spot, I found, to my surprise, an enormous piece of metal, quite hot, which had fallen with such force that it lay half buried in the swampy ground.

I stood lost in wonder. When I was a boy, I had often picked up lumps of metal on the Wiltshire Downs,[Pg 97] in England, but though told they were aerolites, I did not at that time believe a word of it. “Can the thin pure air,” thought I then, “form such hard bodies? Or can there be great iron mountains, and forges, and blacksmiths, and every thing of that sort, up in the air?”

But now a huge mass lay at my feet. I had seen it fall. It was still hot. The boughs of the tamarind tree lay scattered about in every direction. How could I doubt any longer? Was it reasonable to deny facts, before my eyes, because I could not account for them?

Do you wish to know if I can account for them now? Not a whit better. The moon, some say, has volcanic mountains which throw them out. But I don’t believe it. Think what an immense force of pressure it must take to send up a huge stone from one of our volcanoes, quite beyond the sphere of the earth’s attraction, so as to be met by the attraction of the moon and be carried to it! Do you believe such a thing could ever happen?

Nearly all we know about it is briefly this. Heavy bodies, of every variety of size, from an ounce to 300 pound’s weight, have at different times fallen from the atmosphere. These heavy bodies are really composed of earth and metals. They all contain the same substances,[Pg 98] though sometimes varying a little in the proportions; viz. iron, nickel, manganese, silica or silex, sulphur, magnesia and lime.

Perhaps I ought to add that though I know nothing more about these wonderful phenomena, it is more generally believed that these substances are formed in the vast regions of the atmosphere, by causes unknown except to Him who created the atmosphere, “in whom we live, and move, and have our being.”

Soon after my last adventure I arrived at the Mission villages on the banks of the river Orinoco. Here I met with a Spanish gentleman of distinction, by the name of Don Calao. He was a merchant, and sold monkeys, mackaws, turtles’ eggs, &c., very odd things for a man to trade with, as I then thought. I have something to say about turtles’ eggs in my next letter.

You would wonder how there could be any turtles remaining in South America, if you were to see the thousands and thousands that are destroyed by the Indians every year, at the Harvest of Eggs, as they call it. I attended one of these hunts or harvests, one day, with Don Calao the merchant, and saw the whole process.

We all went in a boat, early one morning, to an Island in the river, where the sand was smooth, and which the tide had left bare. A person then took a long pole, and walked about, thrusting it into the sand, in every direction, and wherever it penetrated easily, he knew there was a nest of turtle’s eggs. So then they dug down, and when they found any, they put them in a basket which they brought for the purpose.

Numbers of Indians were there, from all the neighboring shores, and immense numbers of eggs were collected. They make a kind of oil of the yolk, which is used in cooking, as well as for burning in their houses.

It is supposed that not fewer than a million of turtles lay their eggs at the mouth of the great river Orinoco. More than three millions of eggs were taken the year I was there. Each turtle lays, on an average, seventy eggs. You may be surprised that out of seventy millions of eggs laid, only three millions were taken. But so many are broken, so many hunted out and devoured by the jaguars and other animals that feed upon them, that the wonder is, rather, that we find the vast number that we do. Many escape and are hatched however, for I saw in one instance, the whole shore of the Orinoco,[Pg 101] swarming with little turtles, just hatched, and scrambling towards the water to escape from the Indian children who were catching them.

The turtles lay their eggs during the night, in large holes, which they scratch in the sand. They then cover them up, and leave them to be warmed into life by the sun. The eggs are larger than pigeons’ eggs, and when well preserved, by slightly boiling or by drying in the sun, are very pleasant food.

We saw some large shells of turtles which the jaguars had emptied as neatly as if the flesh had been cut away with a sharp knife. Those animals hunt the poor creatures, catch them, turn them on their backs—you know they cannot turn back again—and then devour them at their leisure.

The same day that we went to the egg harvest, as we were sailing along on the river, we saw a jaguar feasting on a chiquire or water hog, and a large flock of vultures hovering round him, as if they grudged him every mouthful he swallowed. Finally they troubled him so much, that he took up his prey and carried it off into the adjacent forest.

But I found creatures in South America, more terrible than serpents, jaguars, or crocodiles. You will wonder, perhaps, what they could be. Then I’ll tell you. They were musquetoes, white flies, and ants.

Musquetoes are indeed troublesome every where; but nowhere that I have been—and I have been in all parts of the world—so much so as in South America. Why, we seemed to breathe them, almost, instead of air. We were never free from them except at midnight; and then other insects, huge bats, and jaguars, kept us in continual alarm.

Sleeping rooms there, are sometimes built on poles, or scaffolding, higher than these cruel insects ever fly, which is found to be about twelve feet from the level of the rivers; and in these apartments we were able to obtain a little breathing comfort. Vast regions of the country are rendered uninhabitable by the different species of tormenting animals which infest it. When two persons meet in the morning, the first question often is, “How are you to-day for the musquetoes?” I have had both my legs swelled to a most enormous size, by the bites of these animals.

In some parts of the country the Indians bury themselves,[Pg 104] all but their heads, in the sand while they sleep; in others, they assemble all the cows in the village, and pass their nights among them, for it is found that they are not so troublesome in the neighborhood of cattle.

Sometimes they build a kind of oven, without doors or windows, having only a little hole, through which they creep on their hands and knees. They then light a fire in it of wet brushwood, which makes a great smoke and drives off the insects; then closing the door of the oven, they go to sleep. But I could not endure the smoke as well as I could the musquetoes.

As to the white flies, they are so very small, that if you were to use musquetoe curtains, they would have to be wetted to prevent these tiny creatures from making their way through the threads. Their sting is exceedingly painful.

The termites are a sort of ant that eats paper, pasteboard, parchment, &c, so that there are no ancient records of the countries in which they are found. But there is another species of ant which devours juicy green leaves, such as salads; so that when the inhabitants wish for a few dishes of pleasant cooling herbs, they make a garden in the air.

You will smile, but I assure you that I state nothing but what I have seen. They procure an old boat, or some frame of that description, raise it on dry poles, then fill it with earth, and sow their seeds. The destructive ants, travelling as they do in bands, not knowing there is any thing growing above, pass by these bare poles or supporters, and the plants are saved.

By this time I fear you will begin to think that there is nothing to be found in all South America, but dangerous passes, savage men, ferocious beasts, venomous serpents and reptiles, and troublesome insects. But you[Pg 107] are mistaken. Humboldt would tell you so. Woodbridge, too, in his geography says that “the finest fruits, the most beautiful vegetables, and the largest and loftiest trees, are found in the Torrid Zone,” and much of South America lies, you know, in this zone. He says also,—and he says right,—that it produces not only the fiercest and most dangerous animals, and the largest and most venomous serpents and insects, but some animals which are among the “most beautiful” in the world.

I think one or two of the monkey race which I saw, are among the most beautiful of the animal kingdom. One species, called the Titi, pleased me particularly. It is very small; its hair is of a beautiful golden color; and it is a more striking resemblance to a child than any thing I ever saw in my life. It is also very timid, and when any body alarms it, its large eyes fill with tears.[3]

The Titis are very fond of insects, particularly of spiders. It is said—but I cannot vouch for the truth of it—that when an engraving of an insect on which it feeds has been shone it, it would dart out its paw in hopes of[Pg 108] catching it; but that when pictures of those on which it does not feed are presented, it takes no notice of them.

The Titi Monkey is also very fond of warmth. If several of them are confined in a cage, and a cooling shower comes on, they crowd together, and twine their legs and tails round one another, to keep themselves warm! One that was tamed used to run after a person that wore large sleeves to get into them! The Indians say that they sometimes meet groups of ten or twelve of them in the forests, crying terribly, because those on the outside want to get in the middle to be warmer.

There is another beautiful animal of the same race called the Widow Monkey. Its hair is black, soft, and glossy; its face is of a whitish color; the neck has a band in front, about an inch broad, the hinder feet are black, and the fore feet white. In these white marks on the black monkey, the inhabitants imagine they discover the veil, the handkerchief, and the gloves of a widow in mourning.

But perhaps you are tired of my stories, and wish to come to the end of my journey. Well the rest is quickly told. Don Calao, the Spanish gentleman, very kindly assisted me in getting down the river, to the Island of[Pg 109] St. Thome, near its mouth, where I was so fortunate as to meet with a merchant vessel bound to my native country. I procured a passage, and after a long and rather boisterous voyage, reached home in safety.

FOOTNOTES:

[3] This is very remarkable, if true. Young naturalists, is our traveller correct?

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SELKIRK
AND
STARBOARD.

ADVENTURES
OF
ALEXANDER SELKIRK.

POSTSCRIPT.

STARBOARD.

HISTORY
OF
THE WANDERINGS
OF
TOM STARBOARD.

THE SHIPWRECK.

JOURNEY ACROSS THE ANDES.

FOOTNOTES:

VISIT TO A CAVERN.

TRAVELS AMONG THE INDIANS.

FOOTNOTES:

BIRDS AND BEASTS OF SOUTH AMERICA.

THE WILL-O’-THE-WISP.

THE AEROLITES.

THE HARVEST OF TURTLE’S EGGS.

THE ANIMALS.

BEAUTIFUL ANIMALS.

FOOTNOTES:

Transcriber’s Notes

SELKIRK AND STARBOARD.

ADVENTURES OF ALEXANDER SELKIRK.

POSTSCRIPT.

STARBOARD.

HISTORY OF THE WANDERINGS OF TOM STARBOARD.

THE SHIPWRECK.

JOURNEY ACROSS THE ANDES.

FOOTNOTES:

VISIT TO A CAVERN.

TRAVELS AMONG THE INDIANS.

FOOTNOTES:

BIRDS AND BEASTS OF SOUTH AMERICA.

THE WILL-O’-THE-WISP.

THE AEROLITES.

THE HARVEST OF TURTLE’S EGGS.

THE ANIMALS.

BEAUTIFUL ANIMALS.

FOOTNOTES:

Transcriber’s Notes

SELKIRK
AND
STARBOARD.

ADVENTURES
OF
ALEXANDER SELKIRK.

HISTORY
OF
THE WANDERINGS
OF
TOM STARBOARD.