The Swiss Family Robinson; or, Adventures on a Desert IslandWyss, Johann David
General
The Swiss Family Robinson; or, Adventures on a Desert Island
Wyss, Johann David
Family life -- Fiction; Islands -- Fiction; Survival -- Fiction
The Pug-nosed Cape was reached, and, to the surprise and utter amazement
of the strangers, we rounded the point and brought up within hail. Every
eye on board and on shore was turned toward us, every glass was produced
and fixed upon our motions; for of all the strange sights which the
gallant crew may have looked for, such an anomaly as a pleasure yacht,
manned by such a party as ours, and cruising upon this strange and
inhospitable shore, was the farthest from their thoughts.
Fritz and I stepped into our boat and pulled for the brig. In another
minute we were upon her deck. The captain, with the simple frankness of
a British seaman, welcomed us cordially, and having led us into his
cabin, begged us to explain to what good fortune he owed a visit from
residents upon a coast generally deemed uninhabited, or the abode of the
fiercest savages.
I gave him an outline of the history of the wreck, and of our sojourn
upon these shores, and spoke to him, too, of Miss Montrose, and of the
providential way in which we had been the means of rescuing her from her
lonely position.
"Then," said the gallant officer, rising and grasping Fritz by the hand,
"let me heartily thank you in my own name, and in that of Colonel
Montrose; for it was the hope of finding some trace of that brave girl
that led me to these shores. The disappearance of the Dorcas has been a
terrible blow to the colonel, and yet, though for three years no word of
her or of any of those who sailed in her has reached England, he has
never entirely abandoned all hope of again hearing of his daughter. I
knew this, and a few weeks ago, when I was about to leave Sydney for
the Cape, I found three men who declared themselves survivors of the
Dorcas and said that their boat, of four which left the wreck, was the
only one which, to their knowledge, reached land in safety. From them I
learned all particulars, and applying for permission to cruise in these
latitudes, I sailed in hopes of finding further traces of the
unfortunate crew. My efforts have been rewarded by unlooked-for
success."
Fritz replied most modestly to the praises which he received, and then
the captain begged to be introduced to my wife and Miss Montrose.
"And," he continued, "if it be not contrary to your rules of discipline
for the whole ship's company to be absent at once, I will now send a
boat for the remainder of your party."
One of the officers was accordingly dispatched to the yacht with a
polite message, and the mother, Jenny, and the boys were presently on
board.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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