By skillful management we brought the pinnace near a projection of the bank, and Fritz assisted his mother to come on board, where, breathless with haste and excitement, she exclaimed, "You dear, horrid, wonderful people, shall I scold you or praise you? You have frightened me out of my wits! To see a beautiful little ship come sailing in was startling enough, for I could not conceive who might be on board, but the report of your guns made me tremble with fear--and had I not recognized your voices directly after, I should have run away with Franz--Heaven knows where! But have you really done all this work yourselves?" she continued, when we had been forgiven for terrifying her with our vainglorious salute. "What a charming little yacht! I should not be afraid to sail in this myself." After the pinnace had been shown off, and received the admiration she deserved, while our industry, skill, and perseverance met with boundless praise, "Now," said my wife, "you must come with me, and see how little Franz and I have improved our time every day of your absence." We all landed, and with great curiosity followed the mother up the river toward the cascade; where, to our astonishment, we found a garden neatly laid out in beds and walks; and she continued, "We don't frighten people by firing salutes in honor of our performances; although, by and by, I too shall want fire in a peaceable form. Look at my beds of lettuce and cabbages, my rows of beans and peas! Think what delicious dinners I shall be able to cook for you, and give me credit for my diligence." "My dear wife!" I exclaimed, "this is beautiful! You have done wonders! Did you not find the work too hard?" "The ground is light and easy to dig hereabouts," she replied. "I have planted potatoes and cassava roots; there is space for sugar canes and the young fruit trees, and I shall want you to contrive to irrigate them, by leading water from the cascades in hollow bamboos. Up by the sheltering rocks I mean to have pineapples and melons; they will look splendid when they spread there. To shelter the beds of European vegetables from the heat of the sun, I have planted seeds of maize round them. The shadow of the tall plants will afford protection from the burning rays. Do you think that is a good plan?" "I do, indeed; the whole arrangement is capital. Now, as sunset approaches, we must return to the tent for supper and rest, for both of which we are all quite ready."