School: Drasa Avenue School Year: 8

Subject: English Week 6

Strand: Listening & Speaking / Reading and Viewing/ Writing And Shaping
Sub Strand: Socio-Cultural Contexts and Situations
Content learning outcome
Examine & explain socio-cultural & other values, attitudes, and beliefs and their
relationship with the text used audience, purpose, and conventions

Lesson Notes
Reading – Swiss Family Robinson
Chapter 12 – We Find a Cave
Read the following chapter
I cannot tell you how happy we felt when the rains stopped, and the sun shone
again. We crept out of our miserable hut and looked around us joyfully. The sky was
blue, and the birds were singing. The seeds we had sown were now tall plants.
Flowers were blooming everywhere. In that instant, we forgot the miserable three
months of the rainy season. We were ready to spend the rest of our lives in the
beautiful spot if God so willed.
Our first task was to clean Falcon’s Nest. This took us several days. The sailcloth
roof had been torn to pieces and the house was filled with dirt, leaves and branches.
When we had finished the cleaning, we moved into our tree-house.
After that, we went to Tenet House to see what had happened there. We found it in a
terrible state. The tent had been blown down and all the stores had been soaked. We
hoped to save some of them by drying them in the sun. But two barrels of gun
powder were absolutely spoiled. The Deliverance had been so badly beaten by the
winds that she was now useless. Fortunately, the Elizabeth was almost undamaged.
As I looked at the damage, I said to myself, “This must not happen again. Before the
next rainy season, we must build a home where we shall be safe and comfortable,
and where we can keep our stores dry.” I thought of Fritz’s idea to make a home in a
cave as Robinson Crusoe did. “But,” thought I, “Robinson found a cave ready for
him. Here the rocks have no cave in them. They were all solid stone. We should have
to make a cave for ourselves and that would take at least three summers.”
However, we simply had to have a dry place for our gun powder. Accordingly, one
morning I set out with Fritz and Jack to make a cave. After some searching among
the rocks, I marked a place on a cliff, and we began to make a hole there.
The work was very hard at first. It was so hard that I began to lose hope and was
almost ready to give up. We went on working and found that the rock was growing
softer. In a few days, we were able to dig seven feet into the rock.
Fritz and Jack were working hard and with real enthusiasm. Jack was using an iron
bar which he was driving into the rock with a hammer. All at once, he shouted in
great excitement.
“Father, it’s gone right through! Fritz, I have made a hole.”
“What have you made a whole in? Not in your hand, I hope,” I said jokingly. “You
can’t have made a hole in the cliff.”
“Yes! Yes, I have! I’ve made a hole in the cliff, Look!”
Fritz and I looked. We saw that this bar had gone through the rock to a hollow place
on the other side. I made the hole larger and then I saw there was a cave there.
The boys were going to rush in, but I stopped them. “Back! Back!” I shouted. “The
air inside there is poisonous. It’ll kill you.”
I made the boys gather some dry grass which I lit and threw inside the cave. The
flames went out at once. We waited and then threw in some more blazing grass. This
burnt steadily, showing that the air was no longer harmful.
We had made a wonderful discovery. We had discovered the cave we needed for the
next rainy season. I thanked the good God for His mercy. Then I sent Jack to
Falcon’s Nest to tell his mother what had happened.
“Bring her back with you,” I told him, “And your brother as well. And be sure to
bring plenty of candles with you so that we can explore our cave.”
Jack instantly sprang on Storm’s back and galloped away at top speed.
In four hours, he was back again with the rest of the family. They were all riding in
the cart drawn by the cow and Lightfoot. Jack rode in front of them and blew on a
horn as he rode.

CHAPTER 13
WE MAKE A WINTER HOME IN ROCK CASTLE
Each of us lit a candle and entered the cave. I went in first. My sons came after me
and their mother came last. We were filled with curiosity and fear. Even the dogs who
usually ran ahead, kept at the back by my wife’s side.
Hardly had we gone in three steps when we stopped in wonder. We seemed to be in a
fairy palace. The walls of the cave sparkled like diamonds. The pillars rising from
floor to the roof, shone with all colours of the rainbow. Crystals in many fantastic
shapes hung down from the roof. As our candles moved, the rainbow colours moved
too. We were too amazed to speak. It seemed like a beautiful dream.
After a time, I noticed that the floor of the cave was quite level and covered with dry,
white sand. I broke off a crystal and put it into my mouth. It was salt! We were in a
cave of rock salt! Well, we now had plenty of salt for ourselves and our animals.
We walked further into the cave and our wonder grew as we walked. At once we
began to talk about how to make this cave our new home. The boys were eager to
move in at once.
We discussed the matter and at length agreed that Falcon’s Nest should remain our
summer home. Rock Castle as we called the cave, should be our home for the rainy
season.
We set to work to prepare the cave for a home. First of all, we made holes in the rock
to admit light and air. In those holes, we fixed the doors and windows that we had
brought from the wreck. Falcon’s Nest did not need them now.
We divided the immense space inside the cave into two sections. On one side were
the rooms where we were going to live. On the other side were the kitchen, the
stables and the storerooms.
Our side was divided into a bedroom for my wife and me, a bedroom for the boys, a
sitting room and a dining room.
All this work took a long time, of course. But we worked cheerfully, thinking how
much more comfortable we were going to be during the next rainy season. Last
winter we were in a stable. This coming we should be in a fairy palace!
The weather was now so fine that our vegetable gardens needed little looking after.
All the vegetables that we planted grew wonderfully well and we had fine crops of
pineapple and melons. We also had fields of wheat and maize. I am glad to say that
now we had more than enough for our needs.

Our farm was becoming bigger and bigger. In fact, we had more animals than we
could feed. Accordingly, we decided to settle some of them in another spot where they
could live safely on their own.
Early one morning we set out to find a suitable spot for our colony of animals. We
loaded the cart with a dozen hens, two cocks, four sheep and a couple of goats. The
cow, the buffalo and old Grizzle drew the cart. Fritz road ahead of us in order to find
the best path. We were travelling through a country which was new to us.
We moved slowly because tall grasses and bushes were blocking our way. We pushed
on and at last, we reached a place that was covered with low bushes. To our
astonishment, the bushes seemed to be white with snow.
“Snow! Snow!” young Francis cried out joyfully and jumped out of the cart to make
snowballs.
We laughed at the boy and I soon realized that we had found not snow but cotton
bushes. The plain was covered with cotton bushes! Here there was enough cotton to
supply us with all the clothes that we needed. My wife was very pleased.
“Can you make a loom for weaving?” she asked me.
“I’ll try,” I promised her.
We filled all our empty sacks with cotton.
This plain was so green and fertile that it seemed the right spot for our colony. There
was plenty of water as there was a stream nearby. A forest settled it from the north
wind. On the edge of the forest, six great trees were growing in a square. We could
build our farmhouse among trees.
By this time, it was nightfall and so we returned to our tent where a good supper was
waiting for us. Over supper, we discussed our plans for the next day. We said our
usual evening prayer and we went to sleep.