CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
DOMESTIC EMBARRASSMENTS.
A DESERT ISLAND BREAKFAST--PERSUASIVE REASONING--ROMANCE AND REALITY--THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS.
"Now my co-mates, and brothers in exile, Hath not long custom made this life more sweet Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods More free from peril than the envious court? Here feel we but the penalty of Adam, The seasons' difference; as the icy fang And churlish chiding of the winter's wind."
The next morning "the Islanders," or some of them, at least, werestirring early; and the first thing that attracted my attention, onopening my eyes, was a busy group, consisting of Max, Eiulo, and Johnny,gathered round a fire at a little distance, and engaged in someapparently very interesting operation. A savoury smell at the same timesaluted my olfactory organs, and on approaching the scene of action, toinvestigate the matter more closely, I found my finny prize of thepreceding evening undergoing a somewhat primitive style of cookery, ofwhich Max appeared to be the chief director and superintendent. Anumber of large oysters were also roasting in the embers; and from theselast proceeded the grateful and appetising odour referred to.
"Good morning!" cried Max; "you see we have breakfast nearly ready; anda breakfast, too, that will be a positive luxury, after so long a courseof cocoa-nut diet; how Browne will exult at the sight of it; how hiseyes will open--to say nothing of his mouth! And don't we deserve avote of thanks for our early labours for the general good?"
Morton and Browne at this moment emerged from their respective heaps ofleaves, and, after rather more than the usual amount of yawning andstretching of limbs, came towards the fire.
"Fee, faw, fo, fum!" cried Morton, snuffing the agreeable smell of thecookery in progress, "I trust we're not too late for breakfast, and thatthere is something more than the savour of good victuals left."
"You are in good time," said Johnny, bustling about the fire with an airof official dignity, "the first bell hasn't rung yet."
"But why has Shakespeare such a long face?" said Max; "has camping outcaused a reminiscence of rheumatism!"
"Bad dreams, horrible dreams!" answered Browne, shaking his headsolemnly, "which came of lying staring at the moon last night, until Ifell asleep:"--then throwing himself into an attitude, he commenceddeclaiming with a tragic air--
"`O, I have passed a miserable night, So full of fearful dreams, of ugly sights, That as I am a Christian, faithful man, I would not pass another such a night Though 'twere to buy a world of happy days, So full of dismal terror was the time.'"
"Bravo!" cried Max, applauding furiously, "I like to see that; it's whatI call coming out strong under discouraging circumstances. Here are we,six forlorn castaways, on a desert island, somewhere, (no one knowswhere), in the Pacific Ocean; and, instead of moping, and sulking, andbemoaning our hard fate, we wake up of a fine morning, quite bright andcheerful, and one of the six, (or seven, more correctly speaking), goesto work spouting Shakespeare, carrying us back to old times, and makingus feel, (as Morton would say), like `happy schoolboys again.'"
"What's all this?" cried Arthur, coming forward with a puzzled air,"what is Max making a speech about? has he taken the stump as acandidate for the presidency of the island?"
"He needn't do that," said Browne, "we're not going to have anypresidents, or other republican trumpery here; I have formally takenpossession of the island in the name of Victoria; and it is therefore acolony of Great Britain; I shall apply, at the first convenientopportunity, for letters patent, making me colonial governor."
"Tory, monarchist!" cried Max, "recant at once, or you sha'n't taste amouthful of my breakfast."
"Do you think I'll sell my loyalty for a mess of pottage! No, I'm for awell-regulated monarchy: hurrah for Victoria!"
"Down with the Britisher!" cried Johnny, entering into the spirit of thescene, and tugging at Browne's coat-tails; "make him hurrah for thestars and stripes, or else don't give him any of our oysters!"
"You're surely not going back to the principles of the dark ages--youwon't attack the right of private judgement, and persecute for opinion'ssake."
"The right of private judgment, indeed!" answered Max, with greatcontempt. "I hold that no person can have a right, on any pretencewhatever, to entertain erroneous opinions on important subjects,affecting the welfare of mankind. If a man does entertain suchopinions, it is the duty of those who know better to convince him of theerror by the most effectual arguments at their command. It is,therefore, my duty to open your eyes to the blessings of liberalinstitutions. I have here, (pointing towards the incipient breakfast),the most powerful means to assist and quicken your perception of thetruth. Shall I not use those means?"
"The line of argument which you indicate is exceedingly forcible, (howdelightfully those oysters smell!) I really think I begin to perceivesome of the advantages of republicanism already."
"With the right of private judgment, properly understood," resumed Max,"I should be reluctant to interfere. You will, I presume, enjoy theexercise of so precious a privilege, even with a cocoa-nut breakfast,which you can probably obtain, by requesting Prince Eiulo to scale oneof yonder tufted trees."
"How clear the matter becomes with a little reflection," observed Browne"(this camping out in the open air gives one a famous appetite). Infact your reasoning is almost irresistible, (that fish looksparticularly nice), and really I begin to think I can safely professmyself a good republican--until after breakfast at any rate."
Max's culinary operations being at last completed, Johnny placed a hugeshell to his lips, and sounded a long blast by way of announcement thatbreakfast was ready. The fish was served up in a fresh palm-leaf, andJohnny declared with much complacency, that not all the crockery-storesin New York, could furnish a platter of such royal dimensions. Theleaves of the hibiscus, served admirably for plates; for knives andforks, we used the strong stalks, or central fibres, of cocoa-nutleaflet; which, with fingers in reserve for an emergency, answered atleast as well as the chopsticks of the Chinese. Upon the whole, itcannot be denied that our table-service, simple as it was, has itsadvantages: it involved no necessity for any washing of dishes, noanxiety on the score of broken crockery, and we could indulge in theextravagance of a new dinner set every day, or even at every meal, forthat matter, if so disposed.
The fish proved most excellent, resembling the striped bass in flavourand appearance: as to the oysters, they were unanimously voted equal toShrewsburys.
"Ah!" sighed Max, "if we had now but a cup of coffee and a hot roll,those inestimable blessings of civilisation, we could almost forget thatwe are on a desert island."
"Wait until the bread-fruit ripens," said Arthur, "and we shall have atolerably fair substitute for your `hot rolls.' Eiulo will show us themost approved mode of preparing it, and we shall find it nearly equal tothe wheaten loaf."
"All that Max seems to think about, is the eating," said Browne,swallowing the last remaining oyster, "but I begin to feel troubledabout another matter: see, I am getting fairly out at the elbows, andneither `coffee and rolls,' nor roast-beef and plum-pudding inindefinite quantities, would afford me any satisfaction, compared to thepossession of a supply of clothing, or even a few changes of linen--infact, comrades, what are we to do? There is danger that we shall allbecome savages: I begin to feel a loss of self-respect already."
"We shall have to go into the manufacturing business, I suppose," saidArthur. "I have often watched the whole process of making tappa, ornative cloth, from the bark of the paper-mulberry; it is quite simple,and I have no doubt we can succeed in it; I have talked with Eiulo onthe subject and find that he understands the process thoroughly."
"But are there any paper-mulberries on the island!" inquired Morton.
"I have not seen any," answered Arthur. "If there are none, the bark ofthe bread-fruit tree will answer nearly as well: the cloth made from itis as strong and durable, though not so fine."
"For the present, and before we go into home manufactur
es," said Max, "Iadvise Shakespeare, in order to avoid the loss of his remainingself-respect in consequence of wearing foul linen, to betake himself tothe beach, wash his garments, and take a bath until they dry in the sun,which is the course I intend to pursue myself."
"And what are we going to do for shoes, I wonder!" said Johnny, "mineare badly cracked and torn, and nearly worn out: we shall all have to gobarefoot!" and he looked aghast at the thought.
"We must kill a shark by-and-bye," said Arthur, "when we have nothingmore pressing to do; and we can make leggins, or moccasins, from theskin."
"How these things kill the romance and poetry of desert island life!"said Max, "there's no romance about being out at the elbows, or beingobliged to wear dirty linen--"
"Or in doing one's own washing in salt-water, and sitting naked whileone's clothes are drying," interposed Browne, pathetically.
"Or in having your toes poke out at the end of your boots," addedMorton, advancing his right foot in illustration.
"No! these are all stern realities," said Max, "cases not provided forin the story-books; how is it, Johnny, are there any precedents going toshow how desert islanders do their washing and mending?"
"I think they generally saved heaps of clothes from the wreck," answeredJohnny, gravely. "Robinson Crusoe brought off several chests,containing ever so many sailors' clothes of all sorts; whether therewere any shoes or not, I don't remember: the Swiss family Robinson alsoobtained an abundance of such things from the wreck of their ship beforeit sunk; Philip Quarll made garments for himself from the skins ofanimals."
"But what are we to do? we havn't any wreck from which to supplyourselves with chests of clothing, with arms and ammunition, and storesof ship-biscuit and salt provisions. We're worse off it seems, than anyof our predecessors. And since we are not supplied with the requisitecapital and stock-in-trade for desert islanders, it is reasonable toinfer that we are not destined to a Robinson Crusoe life, so that we mayconfidently expect to be taken off by some ship, in a short time."
As we were finishing our breakfast, a couple of tiny, fairy-like tern,came flying round us. They were very tame, and hovered smoothly overour heads, at the distance of sometimes but a few feet. Their plumagewas snowy-white, and as they glided quietly around, peering curiouslyinto our faces, you could almost fancy that there was the gleam ofintelligence in their large eyes.
"O, what beautiful little birds!" cried Johnny, in great delight: "Iwish I had some crumbs of bread for them."
"Who knows, Johnny," suggested Max, "but these strange little birds, asthey seem to be, are no birds, after all, but an unfortunate prince andprincess, who having incurred the resentment of some potent enchanter,have been transformed by his magical arts into their present shape, andbanished to this desert island; and have now come to us for sympathy andassistance--see what a mournful expression there is in their mild darkeyes!" Johnny was pleased with the conceit, and the little tern werealways afterwards known as the prince and princess. They frequentlycame hovering around us in the most friendly and fearless manner, whenwe were in that part of the island.
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