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52 THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON |
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the lambs as a trial, and found that after the firsl plunge into the water it floated very well.
I had taken the precaution of tying a string tc the lamb, with which I now drew it back to the ship.
We next got two small empty tubs, and nailed a large piece of sail-cloth across from one to the other, and added some leather straps. Then I fixed this contrivance on the donkey, so that a tub was on each side, the sail-cloth beneath him, and the straps passed over him to hold it in place. This seemed likely to do so well that I made the same kind of harness for the cow.
It was now the turn of the smaller animals: of these, the sow gave us the most trouble; we were first obliged to put a muzzle on her to prevent her biting, and then we tied a large piece of cork under her body. The sheep and goats were quieter, but we had much hard work before we had fitted them all with something which should support them in the water. When every one was equipped, we tied a cord to either the horns or the neck of each animal, and to the other end of the cord a piece of wood, so that we could take hold of the ropes and draw the animals to us if it should be necessary. We began our experiments with the donkey, by |
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