Soon after, while feeding the poultry with the fragments of the repast, I observed that the captive penguins were quite at ease among them and as tame as the geese and ducks; their bonds were therefore loosed, and they were left as free as the other fowls. CHAPTER VI HOW WE BUILT THE PINNACE Having now discovered how to provide bread for my family, my thoughts began to revert to the wreck and all the valuables yet contained within it. Above all, I was bent on acquiring possession of the beautiful pinnace, and aware that our united efforts would be required to do the necessary work, I began to coax and persuade the mother to let me go in force with all her boys except Franz. She very unwillingly gave her consent at last, but not until I had faithfully promised never to pass a night on board. I did so with reluctance, and we parted, neither feeling quite satisfied with the arrangement. The boys were delighted to go in so large a party, and merrily carried provision bags filled with cassava bread and potatoes. Reaching Safety Bay without adventure we first paid a visit to the geese and ducks which inhabited the marsh there, and having fed them and seen they were thriving well, we buckled on each his cork belt, stepped into the tub-boat, and, with the raft in tow, steered straight for the wreck. When we got on board, I desired the boys to collect whatever came first to hand, and load the raft to be ready for our return at night, and then we made a minute inspection of the pinnace. I came to the conclusion that difficulties, well nigh insuperable, lay between me and the safe possession of the beautiful little vessel. She lay in a most un-get-at-able position at the further end of the hold, stowed in so confined and narrow a space, that it was impossible to think of fitting the parts together there. At the same time these parts were so heavy, that removing them to a convenient place piece by piece was equally out of the question. I sent the boys away to amuse themselves by rummaging out anything they liked to carry away, and sat down quietly to consider the matter. As my eyes became used to the dim light which entered the compartment through a chink or crevice here and there, I perceived how carefully every part of the pinnace was arranged and marked with numbers, so that if only I could bestow sufficient time on the work, and contrive space in which to execute it, I might reasonably hope for success. "Room! room to work in, boys! that's what we need in the first place!" I cried, as my sons came to see what plan I had devised, for so great was their reliance on me that they never doubted the pinnace was to be ours. "Fetch axes, and let us break down the compartment and clear space all round."