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264 THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON |
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value to us. We will pay a visit to this rich bay as soon as possible.'
Fritz did not appear much excited ; jewels and money did not seem to him to be so valuable as he would once have thought them. He continued his story:
' As I was leaving the bay I saw on all sides, popping up out of the water, the heads of marine animals, which appeared about the size of a calf, and they plunged and frisked about in such a manner that I was afraid they would upset my cajack. So I secured it to a projecting rock, and, taking my eagle in my hand, I stood ready to attack the first that came near me. I then cast off my eagle, who soon seized on the largest and best, and blinded him. I jumped on the rock, and, catching hold of the animal with my boat-hook, drew it to the shore. All the others fled. Numbers of sea-birds clustered around me; gulls, sea-swallows, frigates, and half a dozen other kinds. They came up so close that I whirled my staff around to keep them off, and in doing so knocked down a very large bird, an albatross, I think. I fastened my sea-otter to the stern of my boat, and, taking a sackful of oysters, returned home again.'
When he had finished, after talking a little of |
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