Chapter 2.
A New World We soon glided away from the wreck and into the open sea.
We all looked for land, but we kept spinning around and around until I learned how to steer the boat properly.
We had left the dogs as we could not carry them, but as we sailed away, they jumped into the water and came after us, yelling and barking.
They made their way to the boat and rested their paws against it until we pulled them in, taking pity on them.
We were especially glad to see the happy face of our own dog, Turk, barking at us on board.
We rode until we came near the land.
Past some cliffs, we saw a green grassy patch among the palm trees.
I wish I'd thought to bring the telescope.
I said just as Jack pulled it from his pocket with a laugh and a twinkle in his eye.
I could see through the telescope that there was a small, flat beach we could land on.
As we reached the shore, everyone jumped out, but Franz, who was packed in a tub so tight he had to be pulled out by his mother.
The dogs ran ahead and flamingos and penguins and other birds on the beach began to shriek as they approached.
We quickly unloaded our boat, setting the chickens and rooster free to roam.
We all searched madly now for a place to spend the night.
Soon we found two fallen trees which we wedged into a frame.
We draped the sailcloth we had packed in the boat around the trees, fastened it with pegs and made ourselves a kind of tent with an entrance we could close.
Then we sent the boys to search for moss and grass to spread out for beds, while I made a fireplace near a river that ran next to the tent.
We lit it with twigs and dried seaweed, filled a pot with water and food from the ship and started to cook soup for our dinner.
Fritz loaded the guns and left one with me as he went out to explore the coast beyond the river.
Ernest and Jack went to look for shellfish in the shallow water along the shore.
As I worked, I suddenly heard Jack yell and ran to him with an axe in my hands.
I found that a huge lobster had clamped itself on his leg.
No matter how hard he kicked, he could not get it off.
I pulled it from him and Jack hit it with a stone.
Never hit in anger, Jack, I told him.
Still, I was glad that we had another piece for our meal.
When we cook it, said Jack, I want a claw all for myself.
I found oysters but I didn't want to get wet catching them, said Ernest, who had come running up to see what the noise was about.
"'Ernest,' I scowled at him, "'you go and get us some of those oysters for our next meal, "'and don't let me hear you complain again about getting your feet wet.
"'We all have to work now to survive.'
'I also found some salt in the rocks that had dried from the sea' 'said Ernest, trying to make good.
"'Nice work,' I answered.
"'Go bring us some.
That will be wonderful.'
He used a small stone to scrape some of the salt from the cracks in the rocks and brought it back in his hands, no longer worrying about getting his feet wet.
As the soup boiled, we suddenly realized we had no spoons to eat with.
We could use the oyster shells as spoons, offered Ernest.
A great idea, son.
You lead the boys to the oysters and clean a few out.
They went into the water and Jack and Ernest brought a carefully balanced stack of the oysters back.
With that, Fritz returned from his hunt, with his hands behind his back.
I didn't get anything, he said, frowning.
But his brothers had seen behind his back and were pointing and yelling.
Sure enough, Fritz pulled out a small pig he had caught and was hiding behind his back.
He told us what he had found on the other side of the river.
The lands there were quite beautiful, with a sloping shore and a field.
"'Best of all,' he said, "'it is filled with all sorts of things that we can use that have floated in from the wreck.
Tomorrow we will have to go and get them.
We should also go back to the ship and get the animals.
They can live on the other side of the river.'
Did you see any of our shipmates?
I asked.
No, he answered, but you should have seen the strange way this pig behaved.
There were lots of them, and they hopped instead of walking.
Meanwhile, Ernest had been looking at the pig closely.
This isn't a pig, he said.
It's called an agouti.
I learned about them in school.
Look, it has teeth like a squirrel.
Oh, scoffed Fritz, now you're going to prove that my pig isn't a pig.
He's right, I said, looking closely.
It is an agouti, which is a large rodent.
I have heard of them before.
While we had been talking, Jack had been prying open oysters and now handed them to us.
We all gulped and tried them and were left with the shells for spoons.
As we ate, we saw that the dogs had surrounded the agouti and were about to attack it.
Fritz leaped up in rage, hit one of the dogs hard, and then threw stones after them.
I quickly chased him and gave him a good talking to.
Fritz, I said, you have to watch your temper.
You have scared the dogs, and we need them to help us.
You must be calmer.
Fritz felt badly and said he was sorry.
By now it was getting dark and time for rest.
The birds we had brought were all nestled around the rocks.
We all settled in after a prayer.
The children were surprised at how suddenly the night closed in so near to the equator.
Quite quickly we were alone in total darkness, except for our campfire.
It was not quite the first night we had imagined, when we set out to be farmers in a new land as part of a new colony to be started in a new world.
But it was a night we would never forget in our new home.
