Chapter 5 A Strange Meal.
The next morning we woke and the boys jumped up excited about what our next adventure might be.
What shall we do now, Father? they asked.
Rest, I answered.
It is Sunday.
With that, we all decided to simply have a day of fun and relaxation.
After breakfast, I built bows and arrows for the boys, even a little set for Franz.
The boys quickly learned how to use them.
No sooner did they finish practicing than I heard the sound of two birds falling from the branches shot by Ernest.
He was thrilled to have caught our dinner.
Well, said Ernest, with the bridge in place, it's feeling like a home, isn't it?
Yes, answered Jack.
But what shall we call all of these places?
We need to name them ourselves, suggested Fritz, to make them our own.
Fritz suggested calling our landing spot Safety Bay.
We all liked this name and carried on with our game.
After that, we decided to call the spot where we built our first camp on the island Tent Home.
We named our island Shark Island and our swamp Flamingo Marsh.
We agreed to call our new treehouse Falconhurst and the land in which we lived New Switzerland.
The next day, I suggested we head to Tentholm by a different route so we could explore more.
We all trekked back in a line, looking quite a sight with our monkey riding our dog.
Suddenly, I heard Ernest shout out happily, and we all ran ahead.
Look, he shouted, potatoes, lots and lots of potatoes.
Sure enough, he had discovered an entire field of potatoes, which meant we would never starve.
We all got down and started to dig up our new find.
Our funny little monkey followed our lead.
Loaded down, we continued on our new route.
We made so many discoveries as we walked.
Palms, flowers, cactus, jasmine, vanilla, peas, and pineapples all lay in our path.
I was happy to recognize some carotid plants, which were perfect for making rope and string.
I also showed my wife and sons how to use the pit of the plant to make fire by hitting the pit with a rock.
Sure enough, it sparked, and they were thrilled to learn how to do it.
Jack tried to pick some Indian figs.
He found the prickles hard work but finally managed to pierce one with a stick.
We broke it open to get to the fruit inside and ate it happily for a snack.
Soon, they were asking me questions about every plant that we passed, until finally I told them to stop boys, I admitted.
The truth is that I don't actually know everything about all these plants and animals, but together we will learn much more about our island.
Finally, we were at tent home.
We began to collect the rest of our important things and set about catching the ducks and yeast which Ernest baited with cheese.
Once back at our new tree home, we feasted on potatoes, butter, and cow's milk.
With Falkenhurst stocked, we turned in for the night.
The next day, Ernest and I decided to look on the beach for driftwood.
A driftwood sled would come in handy for carrying supplies back and forth between the two places.
We took our donkey, loaded the wood onto it, and went back to the camp to make our sled.
When we arrived, the other boys were catching more birds.
My wife had suggested that the boys build traps to capture but not kill the birds.
She explained that we could be here for a while, so we needed to make sure we planned our food for the future.
As they worked on this idea, we built our sled.
Everyone was happy and busy.
Franz, being youngest, wanted to help too.
He suggested that we should plant gunpowder in the ground.
That way we could grow something really more useful than vegetables.
The boys all laughed at poor Franz as I explained to him how gunpowder was made.
As soon as the sled was finished, Ernest and I set back off to tent home.
Once there, we again gathered supplies.
Just as we were about to leave, with all that we could fit on the sled, we noticed the animals were nowhere in sight.
Ernest searched for them as I went to cut more sugarcane.
Returning, however, I found Ernest asleep.
'Ernest' I said, waking him.
'if the animals have made their way off the beach by crossing the bridge, we may have lost them for good, and we will be very sorry for that'.
"'But look, father,' he said, "'I have pulled up one of the beams of the bridge, and the animals can't cross until we put it back.'
I laughed at his idea and was sorry for scolding him."
While I replaced the bridge beam and checked the loaded sled, Ernest decided to try fishing in the river with a branch for a pole, some string and one of the hooks Franz had found on the ship.
He called me loudly almost right away, and I came running to see that he had caught himself a giant of a fish.
As he lay in the grass trying to pull it from the river, I noticed that it was a salmon, almost fifteen pounds.
I hugged him with joy as we made our way back to the sled.
I was proud of my son and relieved to know that he could take on a lot of family responsibility.
On our way back to the treehouse, we suddenly spotted a giant beast leaping through the woods.
Ernest shot at it and knocked it down.
As we ran to get a closer look at the animal, we saw that it was as big as a sheep, with a head like a mouse, a tiger's tail and ears like a rabbit.
We looked at it for a long time, amazed by its appearance, until I suddenly clapped my hands.
It must be a kangaroo, and you are the first to have found one in New Switzerland.
We somehow got our new prize onto our over-lidded sled and made our way to Falconhurst to show the other boys what we had found.
We came back to discover them dressed in clothes they had found from the wreck, each looking like a little pirate.
Fritz alone seemed upset that his little brother Ernest had such luck hunting.
I took Fritz aside to tell him how important his work taking care of the family was to me, but he made me promise to take him along next time.
That night the whole family and the dogs had a delicious and strange meal that I never would have imagined in our home in Switzerland.
Potatoes, salmon, and kangaroos.
