The Swiss Family Robinson; or, Adventures on a Desert IslandWyss, Johann David
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The Swiss Family Robinson; or, Adventures on a Desert Island
Wyss, Johann David
Family life -- Fiction; Islands -- Fiction; Survival -- Fiction
Our kind host greeted them most warmly, and he and his officers vied
with one another in doing us honor. They proved, indeed, most pleasant
entertainers, and the time passed rapidly away. At luncheon the captain
told us that there had sailed with him from Sydney an invalid gentleman,
Mr. Wolston, his wife, and two daughters; but that, though the sea
voyage had been recommended on account of his health, yet it had not
done Mr. Wolston so much good as had been anticipated, and he had
suffered so greatly from the effects of the storm, which had driven the
Unicorn into the bay for repairs, that he had been eager to rest for a
short time on land.
We were anxious to meet the family, and in the afternoon it was decided
that we should pay them a visit. Tents had been pitched for their
accommodation under the shady trees, and when we landed we found Mr.
Wolston seated by one of them, enjoying the cool sea breeze. He and his
family were delighted to see us, and so much did we enjoy their society,
that evening found us still upon the shore. It was too late then to
return to Rockburg, and the captain kindly offered tents for the
accommodation of those who would not find room in the yacht. The boys
spent the night on land.
That night I had a long and serious consultation with my wife, as to
whether or not we really had any well grounded reason for wishing to
return to Europe. It would be childish to undertake a voyage thither
simply because an opportunity offered for doing so.
Neither knew to what decision the feelings of the other inclined; each
was afraid of expressing what might run counter to those feelings; but
gradually it began to appear that neither entertained any strong wish to
leave the peaceful island; and finally we discovered that the real wish
which lay at the bottom of both our hearts was to adopt New Switzerland
as thenceforward our home.
What can be more delightful than to find harmony of opinion in those we
love, when a great and momentous decision has to be taken?
My dear wife assured me that she desired nothing more earnestly than to
spend the rest of her days in a place to which she had become so much
attached, provided I, and at least two of her sons, also wished to
remain.
From the other two she would willingly part, if they chose to return to
Europe, with the understanding that they must endeavor to send out
emigrants of a good class to join us, and form a prosperous colony,
adding that she thought the island ought to continue to bear the name of
our native country, even if inhabited in future time by colonists from
England, as well as from Switzerland.
I heartily approved of this excellent idea, and we agreed to mention it,
while consulting with Captain Littlestone on the subject of placing the
island under the protection of Great Britain.
Then came the question as to which of our sons were best suited to
remain with us, and which to go away.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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