Swiss Family Robinson

found Juno holding on nobly by the wing she had seized, while the bird, which proved to be a magnificent bustard, struggled and fought fiercely. Watching my opportunity, I threw a large handkerchief over it, and with difficulty succeeded in binding its legs and wings. It was borne in triumph to the rest of our party, who meantime had been reclining on the sand.
    `What have you got?'
    `What has Fritz shot?' cried the boys, starting up at our approach.
    `A bustard! Oh, that is splendid!'
    `To be sure, it is the one we missed that day, don't you remember, mother? Ah, ha! Old fellow, you are done for this time!' said Jack.
    `I think this is a hen bustard, it is the mother bird,' said Ernest.
    `Ah, yes, poor thing!' exclaimed my wife, in a tone of concern. `It is most likely the same, and I know she had a brood of young birds, and now they will be left unprotected and miserable. Had we not better let her go?'
    `Why, my dear, kind-hearted wife, that was weeks and weeks ago! Those little birds are all strong and big by this time, and I daresay Mrs. Bustard here has forgotten all about them. Besides, she is badly wounded, and we must try to cure the hurt. If we succeed, she will be a valuable addition to our poultry-yard; if we cannot, you shall roast her for dinner.'
    Resuming our march, we next arrived at the Monkey Grove, which was the scene of the tragicomic adventure by which Fritz became the guardian of the orphan ape.
    While he amused us all by a lively and graphic description of the scene, Ernest was standing apart under a splendid cocoanut palm, gazing in fixed admiration at the grand height of the stem, and its beautiful graceful crown of leaves. The cluster of nuts beneath these evidently added interest to the spectacle, for, drawing quietly near him, I heard a long-drawn sigh, and the words:
    `It's awfully high! I wish one would fall down!' Scarcely had he uttered these words, than, as if by magic, down plumped a huge nut at his feet.
    The boy was quite startled, and sprang aside, looking timidly upwards, when, to my surprise, down came another.
    `Why, this is just like the fairy tale of the wishing-cap!' cried Ernest. `My wish is granted as soon as formed!'
    `I suspect the fairy in this instance is more anxious to pelt us and drive us away, than to bestow dainty gifts upon us,' said I. `I think there is most likely a cross-grained old ape sitting up among those shadowy leaves and branches.'
    We examined the nuts, thinking they were perhaps old ones, and had fallen, in consequence, naturally, but they were not even quite ripe.
    Anxious to discover what was in the tree, we all surrounded it, gaping and gazing upwards with curious eyes.
    ` Hollo ! I see him!' shouted Fritz presently. `Oh, a hideous creature! What can it be? Flat, round, as big as a plate, and with a pair of horrid claws! Here he comes! He is going to creep down the tree!'
    At this, little Franz slipped behind his mother, Ernest took a glance round to mark a place of retreat, Jack raised the butt-end of his gun, and every eye was fixed on the trunk of the tree, down which a large land-crab commenced a leisurely descent. As it approached within reach, Jack hit at it boldly, when it suddenly dropped the remaining distance, and opening its great claws, sidled after him with considerable rapidity, upon which he fairly turned tail and ran.
    We all burst into a roar of laughter, which soon made him face about, and then, to our infinite amusement, the little fellow prepared for a fresh onset; laying down all he was carrying, pulling off his jacket and spreading it wide out in both hands, he returned to the charge, suddenly threw his garment over the creature, wrapped it well round it, and then pummelled it with all the strength of his fists.
    For a few minutes I could do nothing but laugh, but then running to him with my hatchet, I struck several sharp blows on his bundle, which we opened carefully, and found within the land-crab perfectly dead.
    `Well, this is an ugly rascal!' cried Jack. `If he hadn't been so hideous, I should not have dealt so severely with him. I wasn't a bit afraid. What is the creature's name?'
    `This is a crab, a land-crab,' said I, `of which there are many varieties, and this, I think, is called a cocoanut crab, or at least it deserves the name, for it is evidently very fond of eating these nuts, since it takes the trouble to climb the trees for them; the difficulty of getting at the kernel, too, is considerable. You showed no