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126 THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON
with us in one trip such a mass of things, and yet we could not bring ourselves to leave them in the ship.
With difficulty and hard labour we made our choice and finished our loading, having added a large fishing-net, quite new, and the ship's great compass. With the net, Fritz found two harpoons and a rope-windlass, such as they use in the whale-fishery. He asked me to let him place the harpoons, tied to the end of the rope, over the bow of our tub-boat, and I assented.
At last we stepped into the tub-boat, and with some difficulty we pushed out for the current, drawing our raft triumphantly after us with a stout rope, which we had fastened securely to its head.
The wind was favourable, and briskly swelled our sail. The sea was calm, and we advanced at a considerable rate. Fritz had for some time fixed his eyes on something of a large size which was floating on the water, and he now asked me to take the telescope and see what it could be. I soon discovered that it was a turtle, which had fallen asleep in the sun on the surface of the water. No sooner had Fritz learned this, than he begged me to steer softly to get near to it. I readily consented; but as his back was towards me, and the sail be- |
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