At the end of the winter we discovered that Tent House had blown down and many of our stores were ruined. Obviously we were going to need a safe, dry home for next winter. We searched for many miles along the coast, but we could not find a suitable cave. Then the boys suggested that we could dig a cave into the cliff.

I chose a delightful place overlooking Providence Bay, and we began digging at once. After two days we had not made a very big hole, but the rock was getting softer and easier to dig. A few days later Jack's crowbar went right through the rock: it was hollow! Quickly we made the hole bigger. Inside we discovered a most wonderful cave lined with crystals that glittered and reflected the light of our candles like a thousand diamonds.

This was to be our new winter home. We would live in Falcon's Nest during the summer and spend the winter in the cave. It was so big that we divided it into several rooms, cutting windows where we needed them to let in the light. Using wood from the wreck we worked for several months to make a very comfortable home.

While we were working on the cave, a great shoal of herring came to the bay. They were easy to catch, and we preserved some by pickling them in salt water. About a month later salmon began to swim up the river to spawn. They were too large for us to catch with lines and Jack tied a thin rope onto an arrow and caught some.

The first showers showed us that the rainy season was coming and we had not gathered in all the harvest. The next few weeks were very busy for us. By the time the rains came all the crops were stored away, the fields ploughed and the seeds planted for next year.

Our second winter was much more comfortable than the first. During the winter we made many improvements to the cave. I fixed the great ship's lantern to a pulley in the roof, and along the walls we made bookshelves for all the books from the wreck. Inside the unopened boxes we had brought from the ship we found mirrors, clocks and all kinds of furniture. Time soon slipped by in Rock House, as we called it.

Spring returned and we set about repairing the damage caused by the storms. One afternoon Fritz noticed something coming towards us. Whatever it was made a great cloud of dust. All our animals were in the stables. It was something very odd. I went to the cave to get my telescope and I saw that the creature had no legs and had a greenish coloured body. It was a serpent!

The creature was enormous. We rushed into Rock House and pushed our guns through the windows. We were very frightened and no one spoke. Then as the serpent came closer, Fritz and I took careful aim, and we both put bullets through its head. With a great leap it rose in the air, lashing its tail about, then fell dead.

We wondered whether the creature had a nest anywhere. If there were any young serpents we did not want them growing up and attacking us. We had to look for the nest.

Two days later we set out in a great expedition to search for the serpent's nest and to explore the rest of the island. We set off like an army, with enough food and supplies to last three weeks.

We found no trace of any serpents, but as we passed the sugar cane plantation, we heard a rustling noise. The dogs began to bark and we raised our guns. From the sugar canes came a family of wild pigs. I shot two of them, for the little pigs would make fine ham and bacon. After skinning and cleaning one of the animals, we left it in salt water for a while before hanging it over a smoky fire until it was cured.

Fritz cooked the other pig like the South Sea Islanders do. He and his brothers dug a deep, round, hole in which they lit a fire. When it was well ablaze the boys put in large stones which became hot. Fritz rubbed the pig in salt, stuffed it with potatoes, and wrapped it in large leaves. Then he laid it in the pit and covered it with more hot stones. He let it cook for two hours, and then served us with a most delicious meal.

The next day as we continued our search, we found the tracks of the serpent, on the edge of a vast plain.

We crossed the plain until it became desert. From the top of a small hill Fritz called to me, saying that he could see horsemen. Quickly I looked through my telescope. They were not horsemen, but ostriches running in a line towards us! I watched them go to their nests, and decided to catch one.

I knew that ostriches could run faster than any horse. Carefully we crept up on the birds. The dogs were muzzled and Fritz's eagle had its beak tied up. We did not want an injured ostrich! As soon as the birds saw us, they ran away. The dogs followed them, and Jack released his eagle. It flew round and round the ostrich, making him run in circles. Then with one blow of its great wing the eagle struck the ostrich. The stunned bird stopped, Jack lassooed its legs, and the bird was our prisoner. From the nest we collected some of the eggs to hatch out when we returned home.

Our search for the serpent's nest continued for a long time but without success.

At last we returned to the cave and started to train the ostrich. This took several months. At first he was wild and would kick or peck us if we got near him. Gradually he became tamer until I was able to get him to carry small weights upon his back. Then I made a saddle for him, and he was able to carry the boys about at high speed.

Winter came once more and we had to stay in the cave. The days seemed very long at first, until Fritz suggested that we should make a small boat. He wanted to build a kayak like the Eskimos use.

We set to work, making the frame out of whalebones we found on the beach. Onto the frame we wove rushes. Next we covered the frame with seal skins which we sewed together. We made the seams waterproof with resin from a tree. I fitted a small seat inside and made a double-bladed paddle from bamboo. When it was finished we had to wait until the storms had died down before we could try the boat out.

Since Fritz had been the one to suggest that we made the boat, he had to be the first to take it out onto the sea as soon as the good weather came. When at last the sun shone once more, he was delighted to find that the kayak was fast and rode over the waves like a cork. We could not have made a better boat!

In the next ten years my sons grew up strong and healthy. Our animals multiplied and we started other farms further inland. On one of these we grew crops and on others we left animals which increased in numbers and grew fatter. Sometimes they were attacked by wild animals. Then we had to go out on expeditions to round up our own animals and hunt the beasts which had driven them away.

Now that my boys were young men they often went off on expeditions without me. Once Fritz went up the river in his kayak and discovered a great jungle full of colourful birds and animals. There was a herd of elephants which were so large that they were tearing down the branches of trees and stuffing whole tree tops into their mouths.

Further on he found sleek panthers padding through the forest, and in the river a massive hippopotamus which could easily have sunk his small boat.

On another occasion Fritz went on an expedition to explore the islands which we could see in the distance. When he returned his kayak was weighted down with furs. From inside his boat he brought out a bag full of pearls from an oyster bed he had found. Last of all he showed me a strange piece of cloth. It had been tied to the leg of an albatross that flew onto his little boat.

On the piece of cloth was written, "Help! Save the shipwrecked sailor on Smoking Rock."

Fritz had written a message and tied it to the bird's leg before it fluttered into the air and flew away. Somewhere we knew there was a shipwrecked sailor. Perhaps he came from the same boat as we did.

Now that we knew of the shipwrecked sailor, we prepared carefully for an expedition to find him, and also to bring back some more furs and pearls. Fritz made another seat in his kayak for the sailor he hoped to rescue. A large supply of food was loaded in the other boat and a week later we set off, taking the dogs with us.

We enjoyed an exciting day's sailing along the coasts of the islands and arrived just before dusk at the bay where Fritz had found the oysters. We landed and cooked our supper, then built a huge fire to keep off any wild animals. Afterwards we went back to the boat to sleep.

Early next morning we awoke and were soon gathering oysters. We left them on the beach where the hot sun caused the shells to open. The pearls inside were beautiful, although they were of little value to us at present. If we were ever rescued they would be worth a fortune.

Once again that night we lit a huge fire on the beach and left the dogs on guard while we went back to the boat. We were just about to go to sleep when an awful roar rang through the forest. Our dogs were terrified, and we were all frightened. We had never heard anything like it before. The roar came again, much nearer. Then a lion jumped from the forest into the circle of light around the fire.

He was the biggest lion I had ever seen, and the fire made him very angry. He came to the water's edge and crouched to spring at us. Then suddenly there was a shot. With a cry the lion leapt into the air, then fell dead on the sand. Fritz had saved us!

We could not sleep that night. In the morning Fritz went off by himself to search for the shipwrecked sailor. He did not return that evening, nor did he come back the following night. We waited for another two days and then we went in search of him.

An hour later we stuck what I thought was a rock. It was a whale, and it turned to attack us. Jack fired one of our cannon and it dived deep under the water. When the whale reappeared, Jack fired a second shot and it disappeared, this time for good.

As the boys were cheering, one of them sighted a strange man in a boat. We thought that we had at last met a savage.

I waved a white flag. He stopped and looked at us before paddling over to our ship. It was not a savage—it was Fritz with a blackened face! He had heard our guns, and had disguised himself because he thought we were pirates and he wanted to frighten us away.

Without another word he made us follow him to a tiny island. We went ashore and saw, through the trees, a hut made from leaves and branches. Fritz went inside and came out leading a young lady by the hand.

She was Jenny Montrose, the daughter of a British Army Officer. On her way home to England her ship had been driven far off course by a storm which had lasted for two weeks. The ship had sunk, and only Jenny had survived. For three years she had been living alone on a tiny island.

That afternoon we set sail for Rock House, stopping at Oyster Bay for the night before taking Jenny to our home.

Another rainy season came and went. One evening in the spring Jack and Fritz spent some time cleaning two of the cannon. Before they finished, they fired two shots. A minute later, as if in reply, came the sound of three guns booming across the water, but we could see nothing. We waited until morning, then we fired our guns again. A few minutes later came a reply. Seven shots sounded from out of the mist.

Fritz and I set out in the kayak, and searched for nearly an hour. At last in one of the bays, we found a ship flying the English flag.

We returned to Rock House and the whole family set sail in our little ship. The captain was surprised and welcomed us aboard. He had come to find Jenny, and offered to take everybody to Europe.

The family talked for a long time about going back. Life in New Switzerland was very pleasant, and my wife and I decided to stay.

It was a beautiful island, and we had large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep.

The boys had to make up their own minds. Jack and Ernest chose to remain; Francis and Fritz wanted to sail back to Europe.

When the captain and all the people aboard the ship came to visit us, three of the passengers liked the island so much that they decided to stay with us.

None of us slept very much on the last night.

At dawn the ship's cannon fired to tell the passengers to go aboard, and sadly we said goodbye to Fritz, Francis and Jenny, perhaps for ever.

"God bless," we cried, as the ship slowly sailed out of Providence Bay.

The End