The Swiss Family Robinson · Chapter
A New Country Discovered — The Troop of Buffalos; A Precious Acquisition explained
The family awakens grateful for divine protection and plans the day's work.
What happens
The family awakens grateful for divine protection and plans the day's work. The father and Jack set out to search for the missing ass, crossing a bamboo plantation and discovering a new territory beyond a rocky ridge. They encounter a troop of wild buffalos, and after a tense standoff, the dogs attack a young buffalo, which the father wounds and captures. They also find a jackal's den, where Jack rescues a young jackal to tame. The chapter ends with the father and Jack returning home, laden with reeds and buffalo meat, and leading the captive buffalo.
Themes in this chapter
Providence and Faith
The chapter opens with the family giving thanks for divine protection, and the father's decisions are guided by a sense of providential care.
Courage and Perseverance
The father and Jack persist in their search for the ass despite exhaustion, and face the dangerous buffalo herd with caution and bravery.
Resourcefulness and Industry
The family plans their work efficiently, and the father and Jack use the captive buffalo to carry burdens, demonstrating practical ingenuity.
Characters to notice
- Father
Leads the expedition with Jack, makes strategic decisions about the buffalo and jackal, and reflects on divine protection and education.
- Jack
Accompanies his father as the agile escort, shows kindness and inventiveness by suggesting candlesticks from reeds for his mother, and rescues a young jackal to tame.
- Fritz
Mentioned as one of the elder boys left behind to protect the family; not directly active in this chapter.
- Ernest
Mentioned as one of the elder boys left behind; not directly active in this chapter.
- Francis
Mentioned as the youngest, left with his mother for protection.
- Mother
Stays at the hut with the younger boys, tasked with cutting sugarcanes and collecting provisions.
Key passages
“We had in vain hoped that night and our bright fire would bring back the fugitive; we had therefore no resource but to depend upon our own exertions for recovering him.”
After waiting all night for the lost ass to return, we realized we had to rely on our own efforts to find him.
The family accepts the need for self-reliance after their passive hope fails.
“To our right appeared the majestic wall of rocks which divided the island, some of which appeared to touch the heavens, others seemed to imprint the clouds with wild fantastic forms, while mists broken into pieces partially concealed their tops.”
On the right side, a towering rock wall split the island, with peaks that seemed to scrape the sky and clouds shaped into strange figures, partly hidden by drifting mist.
The father describes the awe-inspiring landscape of the newly discovered territory.
“I also felt the inclination to make an experiment on the effects and power of education, and to observe if it should be possible to succeed in taming him in such a degree as to obtain in consequence a race of good running dogs.”
I wanted to test whether education could tame the young jackal enough to create a line of useful hunting dogs.
The father justifies allowing Jack to keep the jackal as an experiment in domestication.