CHAPTER XI.
SOME OF NED'S SCIENCE.
"How shall we cook our fish, Ned?" asked Charley, the next morning. Hehad already thrown wood upon the embers when Ned and Jack came out ofthe hut.
"We must roast them," said Ned, "now that we have no bacon to fry themwith. We can broil sometimes and roast sometimes, for variety. Withoutbutter broiled fish are rather dry. I'll be cook this morning, and showyou how to roast small fish."
With that he went to the beach and walked along the water's edge till hefound a bunch of clean, wet sea-weed. Returning to the fire, hecarefully wrapped the mullets in this, and placed them in the hot ashes,covering them with live coals to a depth of several inches. Half an hourlater he took them carefully out of their wrappings, and placed them onthe log that did duty for a table.
The fish were beautifully done, and looked as tempting as possible, but,upon tasting them, a look of consternation came over Jack's countenance.
"I never thought of that," said Jack, "but we are out of salt! Whatshall we do? We can't live altogether on shrimps and oysters; and fishwithout salt is a difficult dish to eat."
"We must make some salt," said Ned.
"Out of the sea-water?" asked Charley.
"Yes. It is slow work, and without clarifying materials we'll get arather black product, but it will be salt for all that."
"What will make it black?" asked Jack.
"Impurities. The sea-water is filled with various things--common salt,mostly, of course, but there are Glauber's salts, Epsom salts, magnesia,and many other things, including salts of silver and iron. In makingsalt out of sea-water, these impurities must be got rid of, or the saltwill be of a dirty brownish color. We can't clarify it, but we can useit very well for all our purposes. We'll have to put up with a poorbreakfast, but we'll do better by night. I'll start our salt-worksimmediately after breakfast, and then I'll leave Charley in charge ofthe business, because I have an idea of my own that I want to carry out.We must devote ourselves to-day exclusively to the business of gettingfood, I suppose."
"Yes, that is the first thing to be done. We are at the starvation pointand must get something to eat before we begin on the boat. What is theplan that you speak of?"
"I shan't tell you, because it may come to nothing, though I'm hopeful."
"All right, I hope it will turn out well. Meantime, I'll take the castnet and get some shrimps and possibly some fish, and then if I had anything to bait with, I would set some rabbit traps or something of thatsort. But I haven't, and so I can't. Charley can carry on the salt-workswhile you do whatever it is you mean to do."
The salt-works consisted of nothing more than the kettle. Filling thiswith clear sea-water, Ned set it to boil, saying:
"Now, Charley, as it boils down add more water, and toward night we canstop adding water and let the salt settle. It will begin to settlebefore that time, and when it does you can dip the wet salt up from thebottom and spread it out on a plank to dry."
"All right. I'll make a dipper out of a tin cup by fastening a stick toit for a handle. But what makes the salt settle?"
"Why, don't you see? You can only dissolve a certain amount of salt in acertain amount of water; if you put more in it sinks to the bottom,being heavier than water, and stays there. When a liquid has as much ofany thing dissolved in it as it can hold, it is said to be saturated; wecall it a saturated solution. Now when you boil sea-water it evaporates,and the quantity of water steadily decreases. After awhile so much ofthe water is evaporated that we have a saturated solution, and then ifyou evaporate half a pint more of it the salt that a half pint of watercan hold in solution must settle to the bottom. It is a curious factthat water which is saturated with one substance, so that it can nothold any more of it, is still capable of dissolving other substances andholding them in solution. Sometimes, in making salt, men take advantageof that fact."
"How?" asked Jack, who had become interested in Ned's explanation.
"Why, by washing out the impurities of the salt with salt water. Havinga quantity of impure salt they put it into a funnel-shaped vessel with asmall hole in the bottom; then they take clear water and pure salt andmake a saturated solution of that; this water cannot dissolve any moresalt, but it is still capable of dissolving the other substances whichconstitute impurities; so it is poured into the vessel that contains theimpure salt, and as it passes through it dissolves and carries off theimpurities, but doesn't dissolve any of the salt."
"Why can't we purify our salt in that way?" asked Charley.
"Because we have no pure salt with which to make the solution."
"That's so, but I didn't think of it. I wish I knew as much as you doabout such things."
"I don't know much," answered Ned. "I have always been curious to knowfacts of the sort, and my father has encouraged me to find them out. Iask questions and read what books I can on such subjects; but I learnmost by looking and thinking for myself. Still I know very little aboutscientific matters; really I do. But we're wasting time; I must be offand so must you, Jack. Keep the salt kettle boiling, Charley, and don'tforget to add water to it from time to time. When you pour cold water inyou can skim the scum off, and in that way you'll get rid of a good dealof impurity."
With that the boys separated. Jack went down along the shore, with thecast-net in his hand; while Ned struck off into the woods with thecoffee-pot, which, now that the boys had no coffee, was no longer in useat camp.
Jack returned about noon, bringing back a fine lot of shrimps, half adozen fish, a few crabs, and some oysters, together with the news thathe had discovered a large oyster bank which could be reached by wadingat low tide.
Charley greeted him with a smiling face on which there was a look oftriumph.
"Look here, Jack," he said, going to a plank upon which there were twoor three little white heaps; "Ned is out in his science this time; I'vegot beautifully white salt as you see, and not the dark, impure stuff hesaid I would get; but that isn't all; instead of settling to the bottomof the kettle, it rises to the top to be skimmed off."
"Yes, I could have told you that," said Ned, who had arrived unobserved."It's a way that it has. Taste your salt, Charley."
Charley did so, looked puzzled, and then turned to Ned.
"What is it, old fellow?" he asked.
"Why, beautifully white salt to be sure," answered Ned; "isn't that whatyou said it was?"
"Yes, I said that," answered Charley, "but now I know better. It istasteless."
"Magnesia usually is," said Ned.
"Is that magnesia?"
"Yes, in the main. It is mixed a little with other things perhaps, butit is mostly magnesia. That is why I told you to skim it off. We don'twant it in the salt."
"But I haven't any salt," said Charley, "I've filled the kettle up everyfifteen minutes but no salt has settled yet."
"Your solution isn't saturated yet," said Ned. "This water contains onlyabout two per cent of salt, or possibly in its impure state three percent. To make one kettleful of salt we must boil away from thirty tofifty kettlefuls of water. The kettle holds two gallons, and so, inorder to get a pint of salt we must boil away two or three kettlefuls ofwater. You have filled it up enough for to-day; now keep it boiling andwe'll get a pint or two of salt, before night, and meantime we can poura little of the boiled-down water on our fish for dinner, for I'mhungry."
"By the way, Ned," said Jack, "what luck have you had?"
"Good. I've brought back a coffee-pot half full, and have madearrangements for more to-morrow."
"Well, I like puzzles and riddles and things of that sort," said Jack,"but I hate to wait for 'our next month's number' for the answer. Whatis it you've got in the coffee-pot?"
"Bread," answered Ned, "or a substitute for it. I've been gathering theseeds of grasses and weeds."
"Seeds of grasses!" exclaimed Charley; "why, who ever heard of anybodyeating grass seeds?"
"You've turned sceptic, Charley, since your faith in your beautifulwhite salt re
ceived such a shock," said Ned; "but still I think somegrass seeds are occasionally eaten by men,--wheat, for example, andrice and corn."
"That's so," said Charley, abashed; "only I never thought of wheat andrice, etc., as grasses. But are wild grass seeds good to eat?"
"Yes, of course. All ordinary grass seeds are composed of substantiallythe same materials, and they are all nutritious. I have gathered about aquart, meaning to mash them up and make a sort of bread out of them; butthere isn't time for that now, so I mean to boil them for dinner. Theimportant thing is to have some kind of grain food to eat, and in thatway we'll get it somewhat as if we had rice."
"That's a capital idea, Ned," said Jack. "Is there plenty of seed to behad?"
"Yes, now that I know where it is, though it is very slow work gatheringsuch seed. I have only to gather it and winnow it. I can winnow a littlefaster next time, because I shall take something along to winnow upon,if it is only a clean handkerchief. I've thought of something else too."
"What is that?" asked Charley.
"Acorns and other nuts. They are rather green yet, but they arenutritious, and we can beat them into a palatable bread. Hogs grow faton them, and there is no reason why they should not prove nutritious tous. I'm going to find some edible roots, too, if I can."
"What a splendid provider you are, Ned," said Charley, "particularly aswe have the oysters, shrimps, etc., for a foundation to build upon."
"Well," replied Ned, "do you know I have been thinking that we shouldnot starve even if we hadn't the water for a source of supply?"
"How is that?"
"In casting about for a variety of things to eat, I have naturally triedto think of every thing that could support life, and have been surprisedto find how many things there are that can be eaten in extreme cases. Ifwe were in real danger of starving we could eat snails and earthwormsfor meat----"
"Ugh!" exclaimed Charley.
"Well, snails and earthworms are both regarded as delicacies by manypeople in France. They actually have snail farms, where the creaturesare fattened for market."
"As a business?"
"Yes, as a business. There is a demand for snails at high prices,because people who can pay well for them are fond of them. Then we couldkill a few snakes and lizards here, I suppose. In fact, I killed a snakethis afternoon, and if I hadn't been afraid of disgusting you fellows, Ishould have brought it home as a valuable contribution to our larder,for snakes are uncommonly good eating."
"Did you ever eat one?" asked Jack.
"Yes; or at least a part of one. There is no reason why snakes shouldnot be eaten, except a groundless prejudice. Their flesh is both goodand wholesome."
"Hurrah for our scientist!" said Jack. "I begin to see now, that oursupplies are a good deal greater than I supposed. For my part, I mean tohave a snake breakfast some of these mornings just for variety's sake.Why, we shall begin to live like princes presently."
"Will you really lay aside prejudice, Jack, and eat a well-cookedsnake?" asked Ned.
"Certainly I will," said Jack.
"And you, Charley?"
"I see no objection, now that I think of it," said Charley.
"Very well; then I'll go for my snake. It isn't a hundred yards away,and it will furnish us meat, which is much more strengthening than anexclusive diet of fish and such things can be."
The snake--a large one--was brought to camp, skinned, dressed, andbroiled to a crisp brown on a bed of coals. When done it was appetizingboth in appearance and in odor, and the boys, who, naturally, were veryhungry after their scanty breakfast and diligent work, ate it with keenrelish, eating with it some boiled grass seeds. The only complaint madeconcerning the grass seeds was that there was not half enough of them.
The salt kettle had been filled more frequently than Ned had supposed,and the yield for the day was more nearly a quart than a pint.
"Now we are beginning to know how to live," said Jack. "We have only toget a good start and keep a fair supply of food ahead. But we must layin a good stock of seeds to-morrow. I'll go with you, Ned, and we'llboth work at that, while Charley minds camp and makes salt."
"To-morrow will be Sunday," said Charley.
"No it won't; this is Friday," said Jack.
"Let's see," said Ned. "We got to Bluffton on Monday evening, didn't we?Well, the next day we went fishing; that was Tuesday. The next day wecame over here; that was Wednesday. The next day, Thursday, the wreck ofthe _Red Bird_ occurred. Friday we spent in getting food and bringingthe wreck around here to the camp. That was yesterday, and so to-day isSaturday. Lucky that Charley thought of it. We mustn't work to-morrow,and so we must catch a lot of shrimps and fish with the net to-night."
The boys worked with the net until nearly midnight, and slept late thenext morning. They observed Sunday as a day of rest, and rest was athing that they greatly needed just at that time. It was agreed that onMonday morning Jack and Ned should go after grass seed, while Charleyshould mind camp, make salt, and use the net.
The Wreck of the Red Bird: A Story of the Carolina Coast Page 12