silent.”
“It is my duty to speak.”
“Sit down, then.”
“No, I will stand.”
“We are ready to hear you,” replied Harding.
The stranger remained standing in a corner of the room, a little in the
shade. He was bareheaded, his arms folded across his chest, and it
was in this posture that in a hoarse voice, speaking like some one
who obliges himself to speak, he gave the following recital, which his
auditors did not once interrupt:--
“On the 20th of December, 1854, a steam-yacht, belonging to a Scotch
nobleman, Lord Glenarvan, anchored off Cape Bernouilli, on the western
coast of Australia, in the thirty-seventh parallel. On board this yacht
were Lord Glenarvan and his wife, a major in the English army, a French
geographer, a young girl, and a young boy. These two last were the
children of Captain Grant, whose ship, the ‘Britannia,’ had been lost,
crew and cargo, a year before. The ‘Duncan’ was commanded by Captain
John Mangles, and manned by a crew of fifteen men.
“This is the reason the yacht at this time lay off the coast of
Australia. Six months before, a bottle, enclosing a document written in
English, German, and French, had been found in the Irish Sea, and picked
up by the ‘Duncan.’ This document stated in substance that there still
existed three survivors from the wreck of the ‘Britannia,’ that these
survivors were Captain Grant and two of his men, and that they had found
refuge on some land, of which the document gave the latitude, but of
which the longitude, effaced by the sea, was no longer legible.
“This latitude was 37deg 11’ south; therefore, the longitude being
unknown, if they followed the thirty-seventh parallel over continents
and seas, they would be certain to reach the spot inhabited by Captain
Grant and his two companions. The English Admiralty having hesitated to
undertake this search, Lord Glenarvan resolved to attempt everything to
find the captain. He communicated with Mary and Robert Grant, who joined
him. The ‘Duncan’ yacht was equipped for the distant voyage, in which
the nobleman’s family and the captain’s children wished to take part,
and the ‘Duncan,’ leaving Glasgow, proceeded towards the Atlantic,
passed through the Straits of Magellan, and ascended the Pacific as
far as Patagonia, where, according to a previous interpretation of the
document, they supposed that Captain Grant was a prisoner among the
Indians.
“The ‘Duncan’ disembarked her passengers on the western coast of
Patagonia, and sailed to pick them up again on the eastern coast at
Cape Corrientes. Lord Glenarvan traversed Patagonia, following the
thirty-seventh parallel, and having found no trace of the captain, he
re-embarked on the 13th of November, so as to pursue his search through
the Ocean.
“After having unsuccessfully visited the islands of Tristan d’Acunha and
Amsterdam, situated in her course, the ‘Duncan,’ as I have said, arrived
at Cape Bernouilli, on the Australian coast, on the 20th of December,
1854.
“It was Lord Glenarvan’s intention to traverse Australia as he had
traversed America, and he disembarked. A few miles from the coast was
established a farm, belonging to an Irishman, who offered hospitality to
the travelers. Lord Glenarvan made known to the Irishman the cause
which had brought him to these parts, and asked if he knew whether a
three-masted English vessel, the ‘Britannia,’ had been lost less than
two years before on the west coast of Australia.
“The Irishman had never heard of this wreck, but, to the great surprise
of the bystanders, one of his servants came forward and said,--
“‘My lord, praise and thank God! If Captain Grant is still living, he is
living on the Australian shores.’
“‘Who are you?’ asked Lord Glenarvan.
“‘A Scotchman like yourself, my lord,’ replied the man; ‘I am one of
Captain Grant’s crew--one of the castaways of the “Britannia.’”
“This man was called Ayrton. He was, in fact, the boatswain’s mate of
the ‘Britannia,’ as his papers showed. But, separated from Captain Grant
at the moment when the ship struck upon the rocks, he had till then
believed that the captain with all his crew had perished, and that he,
Ayrton, was the sole survivor of the ‘Britannia.’
“‘Only,’ he added, ‘it was not on the west coast, but on the east coast
of Australia that the vessel was lost, and if Captain Grant is still
living, as his document indicates, he is a prisoner among the natives,
and it is on the other coast that he must be looked for.’
“This man spoke in a frank voice and with a confident look; his words
could not be doubted. The Irishman, in whose service he had been for
more than a year, answered for his trustworthiness. Lord Glenarvan,
therefore, believed in the fidelity of this man and, by his advice,
resolved to cross Australia, following the thirty-seventh parallel. Lord
Glenarvan, his wife, the two children, the major, the Frenchman, Captain
Mangles, and a few sailors composed the little band under the command
of Ayrton, while the ‘Duncan,’ under charge of the mate, Tom Austin,
proceeded to Melbourne, there to await Lord Glenarvan’s instructions.
“They set out on the 23rd of December, 1854.
“It is time to say that Ayrton was a traitor. He was, indeed, the
boatswain’s mate of the ‘Britannia,’ but, after some dispute with his
captain, he endeavored to incite the crew to mutiny and seize the ship,
and Captain Grant had landed him, on the 8th of April, 1852, on the
west coast of Australia, and then sailed, leaving him there, as was only
just.
“Therefore this wretched man knew nothing of the wreck of the
‘Britannia’; he had just heard of it from Glenarvan’s account. Since his
abandonment, he had become, under the name of Ben Joyce, the leader of
the escaped convicts; and if he boldly maintained that the wreck had
taken place on the east coast, and led Lord Glenarvan to proceed in that
direction, it was that he hoped to separate him from his ship, seize the
‘Duncan,’ and make the yacht a pirate in the Pacific.”
Here the stranger stopped for a moment. His voice trembled, but he
continued,--
“The expedition set out and proceeded across Australia. It was
inevitably unfortunate, since Ayrton, or Ben Joyce, as he may be
called, guided it, sometimes preceded, sometimes followed by his band of
convicts, who had been told what they had to do.
“Meanwhile, the ‘Duncan’ had been sent to Melbourne for repairs. It was
necessary, then, to get Lord Glenarvan to order her to leave Melbourne
and go to the east coast of Australia, where it would be easy to seize
her. After having led the expedition near enough to the coast, in the
midst of vast forests with no resources, Ayrton obtained a letter, which
he was charged to carry to the mate of the ‘Duncan’--a letter which
ordered the yacht to repair immediately to the east coast, to Twofold
Bay, that is to say a few days’ journey from the place where the
expedition had stopped. It was there that Ayrton had agreed to meet his
accomplices, and two days after gaining possession of the letter, he
arrived at Melbourne.
“So far the villain had succeeded in his wicked design. He would be able
to take the ‘Duncan’ into Twofold Bay, where it would be easy for the
convicts to seize her, and her crew massacred, Ben Joyce would become
master of the seas. But it pleased God to prevent the accomplishment of
these terrible projects.
“Ayrton, arrived at Melbourne, delivered the letter to the mate, Tom
Austin, who read it and immediately set sail, but judge of Ayrton’s rage
and disappointment, when the next day he found that the mate was taking
the vessel, not to the east coast of Australia, to Twofold Bay, but to
the east coast of New Zealand. He wished to stop him, but Austin showed
him the letter!... And indeed, by a providential error of the French
geographer, who had written the letter, the east coast of New Zealand
was mentioned as the place of destination.
“All Ayrton’s plans were frustrated! He became outrageous. They put him
in irons. He was then taken to the coast of New Zealand, not knowing
what would become of his accomplices, or what would become of Lord
Glenarvan.
“The ‘Duncan’ cruised about on this coast until the 3rd of March. On
that day Ayrton heard the report of guns. The guns on the ‘Duncan’ were
being fired, and soon Lord Glenarvan and his companions came on board.
“This is what had happened.
“After a thousand hardships, a thousand dangers, Lord Glenarvan had
accomplished his journey, and arrived on the east coast of Australia, at
Twofold Bay. ‘No “Duncan!”’ He telegraphed to Melbourne. They answered,
“Duncan” sailed on the 18th instant. Destination unknown.’
“Lord Glenarvan could only arrive at one conclusion; that his honest
yacht had fallen into the hands of Ben Joyce, and had become a pirate
vessel!
“However, Lord Glenarvan would not give up. He was a bold and generous
man. He embarked in a merchant vessel, sailed to the west coast of New
Zealand, traversed it along the thirty-seventh parallel, without
finding any trace of Captain Grant; but on the other side, to his
great surprise, and by the will of Heaven, he found the ‘Duncan,’ under
command of the mate, who had been waiting for him for five weeks!
“This was on the 3rd of March, 1855. Lord Glenarvan was now on board the
‘Duncan,’ but Ayrton was there also. He appeared before the nobleman,
who wished to extract from him all that the villain knew about Captain
Grant. Ayrton refused to speak. Lord Glenarvan then told him, that at
the first port they put into, he would be delivered up to the English
authorities. Ayrton remained mute.
“The ‘Duncan’ continued her voyage along the thirty-seventh parallel.
In the meanwhile, Lady Glenarvan undertook to vanquish the resistance of
the ruffian.
“At last, her influence prevailed, and Ayrton, in exchange for what he
could tell, proposed that Lord Glenarvan should leave him on some island
in the Pacific, instead of giving him up to the English authorities.
Lord Glenarvan, resolving to do anything to obtain information about
Captain Grant, consented.
“Ayrton then related all his life, and it was certain that he knew
nothing from the day on which Captain Grant had landed him on the
Australian coast.
“Nevertheless, Lord Glenarvan kept the promise which he had given. The
‘Duncan’ continued her voyage and arrived at Tabor Island. It was there
that Ayrton was to be landed, and it was there also that, by a
veritable miracle, they found Captain Grant and two men, exactly on the
thirty-seventh parallel.
“The convict, then, went to take their place on this desert islet, and
at the moment he left the yacht these words were pronounced by Lord
Glenarvan:--
“‘Here, Ayrton, you will be far from any land, and without any possible
communication with your fellow-creatures. You cannot escape from this
islet on which the ‘Duncan’ leaves you. You will be alone, under the eye
of a God who reads the depths of the heart, but you will be neither
lost nor forgotten, as was Captain Grant. Unworthy as you are to be
remembered by men, men will remember you. I know where you are Ayrton,
and I know where to find you. I will never forget it!
“And the ‘Duncan,’ making sail, soon disappeared. This was 18th of
March, 1855.
(The events which have just been briefly related are taken
from a work which some of our readers have no doubt read,
and which is entitled, “Captain Grant’s children.” They will
remark on this occasion, as well as later, some discrepancy
in the dates; but later again, they will understand why the
real dates were not at first given.)
“Ayrton was alone, but he had no want of either ammunition, weapons,
tools, or seeds.
“At his, the convict’s disposal, was the house built by honest Captain
Grant. He had only to live and expiate in solitude the crimes which he
had committed.
“Gentlemen, he repented, he was ashamed of his crimes and was very
miserable! He said to himself, that if men came some day to take
him from that islet, he must be worthy to return among them! How he
suffered, that wretched man! How he labored to recover himself by work!
How he prayed to be reformed by prayer! For two years, three years, this
went on, but Ayrton, humbled by solitude, always looking for some ship
to appear on the horizon, asking himself if the time of expiation would
soon be complete, suffered as none other suffered! Oh! how dreadful was
this solitude, to a heart tormented by remorse!
“But doubtless Heaven had not sufficiently punished this unhappy man,
for he felt that he was gradually becoming a savage! He felt that
brutishness was gradually gaining on him!
“He could not say if it was after two or three years of solitude, but at
last he became the miserable creature you found!
“I have no need to tell you, gentlemen, that Ayrton, Ben Joyce, and I,
are the same.”
Cyrus Harding and his companions rose at the end of this account. It
is impossible to say how much they were moved! What misery, grief, and
despair lay revealed before them!
“Ayrton,” said Harding, rising, “you have been a great criminal, but
Heaven must certainly think that you have expiated your crimes! That
has been proved by your having been brought again among your
fellow-creatures. Ayrton, you are forgiven! And now you will be our
companion?”
Ayrton drew back.
“Here is my hand!” said the engineer.
Ayrton grasped the hand which Harding extended to him, and great tears
fell from his eyes.
“Will you live with us?” asked Cyrus Harding.
“Captain Harding, leave me some time longer,” replied Ayrton, “leave me
alone in the hut in the corral!”
“As you like, Ayrton,” answered Cyrus Harding. Ayrton was going to
withdraw, when the engineer addressed one more question to him:--
“One word more, my friend. Since it was your intention to live alone,
why did you throw into the sea the document which put us on your track?”
“A document?” repeated Ayrton, who did not appear to know what he meant.
“Yes, the document which we found enclosed in a bottle, giving us the
exact position of Tabor Island!”
Ayrton passed his hand over his brow, then after having thought, “I
never threw any document into the sea!” he answered.
“Never?” exclaimed Pencroft.
“Never!”
And Ayrton, bowing, reached the door and departed.
Chapter 18
“Poor man!” said Herbert, who had rushed to the door, but returned,
having seen Ayrton slide down the rope on the lift and disappear in the
darkness.
“He will come back,” said Cyrus Harding.
“Come, now, captain,” exclaimed Pencroft, “what does that mean? What!
wasn’t it Ayrton who threw that bottle into the sea? Who was it then?”
Certainly, if ever a question was necessary to be made, it was that one!
“It was he,” answered Neb, “only the unhappy man was half-mad.”
“Yes!” said Herbert, “and he was no longer conscious of what he was
doing.”
“It can only be explained in that way, my friends,” replied Harding
quickly, “and I understand now how Ayrton was able to point out exactly
the situation of Tabor Island, since the events which had preceded his
being left on the island had made it known to him.”
“However,” observed Pencroft, “if he was not yet a brute when he wrote
that document, and if he threw it into the sea seven or eight years ago,
how is it that the paper has not been injured by damp?”
“That proves,” answered Cyrus Harding, “that Ayrton was deprived of
intelligence at a more recent time than he thinks.”
“Of course it must be so,” replied Pencroft, “without that the fact
would be unaccountable.”
“Unaccountable indeed,” answered the engineer, who did not appear
desirous to prolong the conversation.
“But has Ayrton told the truth?” asked the sailor.
“Yes,” replied the reporter. “The story which he has told is true in
every point. I remember quite well the account in the newspapers of the
yacht expedition undertaken by Lord Glenarvan, and its result.”
“Ayrton has told the truth,” added Harding. “Do not doubt it, Pencroft,
for it was painful to him. People tell the truth when they accuse
themselves like that!”
The next day--the 21st of December--the colonists descended to the
beach, and having climbed the plateau they found nothing of Ayrton. He
had reached his house in the corral during the night and the settlers
judged it best not to agitate him by their presence. Time would
doubtless perform what sympathy had been unable to accomplish.
Herbert, Pencroft, and Neb resumed their ordinary occupations. On this
day the same work brought Harding and the reporter to the workshop at
the Chimneys.
“Do you know, my dear Cyrus,” said Gideon Spilett, “that the explanation
you gave yesterday on the subject of the bottle has not satisfied me at
all! How can it be supposed that the unfortunate man was able to write
that document and throw the bottle into the sea without having the
slightest recollection of it?”
“Nor was it he who threw it in, my dear Spilett.”
“You think then--”
“I think nothing, I know nothing!” interrupted Cyrus Harding. “I am
content to rank this incident among those which I have not been able to
explain to this day!”
“Indeed, Cyrus,” said Spilett, “these things are incredible! Your
rescue, the case stranded on the sand, Top’s adventure, and lastly this
bottle... Shall we never have the answer to these enigmas?”
“Yes!” replied the engineer quickly, “yes, even if I have to penetrate
into the bowels of this island!”
“Chance will perhaps give us the key to this mystery!”
“Chance! Spilett! I do not believe in chance, any more than I believe in
mysteries in this world. There is a reason for everything unaccountable
which has happened here, and that reason I shall discover. But in the
meantime we must work and observe.”
The month of January arrived. The year 1867 commenced. The summer
occupations were assiduously continued. During the days which followed,
Herbert and Spilett having gone in the direction of the corral,
ascertained that Ayrton had taken possession of the habitation which
had been prepared for him. He busied himself with the numerous flock
confided to his care, and spared his companions the trouble of coming
every two or three days to visit the corral. Nevertheless, in order not
to leave Ayrton in solitude for too long a time, the settlers often paid
him a visit.
It was not unimportant either, in consequence of some suspicions
entertained by the engineer and Gideon Spilett, that this part of
the island should be subject to a surveillance of some sort, and that
Ayrton, if any incident occurred unexpectedly, should not neglect to
inform the inhabitants of Granite House of it.
Nevertheless it might happen that something would occur which it would
be necessary to bring rapidly to the engineer’s knowledge. Independently
of facts bearing on the mystery of Lincoln Island, many others
might happen, which would call for the prompt interference of the
colonists,--such as the sighting of a vessel, a wreck on the western
coast, the possible arrival of pirates, etc.
Therefore Cyrus Harding resolved to put the corral in instantaneous
communication with Granite House.
It was on the 10th of January that he made known his project to his
companions.
“Why! how are you going to manage that, captain?” asked Pencroft. “Do
you by chance happen to think of establishing a telegraph?”
“Exactly so,” answered the engineer.
“Electric?” cried Herbert.
“Electric,” replied Cyrus Harding. “We have all the necessary materials
for making a battery, and the most difficult thing will be to stretch
the wires, but by means of a drawplate I think we shall manage it.”
“Well, after that,” returned the sailor, “I shall never despair of
seeing ourselves some day rolling along on a railway!”
They then set to work, beginning with the most difficult thing, for, if
they failed in that, it would be useless to manufacture the battery and
other accessories.
The iron of Lincoln Island, as has been said, was of excellent quality,
and consequently very fit for being drawn out. Harding commenced by
manufacturing a drawplate, that is to say, a plate of steel, pierced
with conical holes of different sizes, which would successively bring
the wire to the wished-for tenacity. This piece of steel, after having
been tempered, was fixed in as firm a way as possible in a solid
framework planted in the ground, only a few feet from the great fall,
the motive power of which the engineer intended to utilize. In fact as
the fulling-mill was there, although not then in use, its beam moved
with extreme power would serve to stretch out the wire by rolling it
round itself. It was a delicate operation, and required much care. The
iron, prepared previously in long thin rods, the ends of which were
sharpened with the file, having been introduced into the largest hole of
the drawplate, was drawn out by the beam which wound it round itself,
to a length of twenty-five or thirty feet, then unrolled, and the same
operation was performed successively through the holes of a less size.
Finally, the engineer obtained wires from forty to fifty feet long,
which could be easily fastened together and stretched over the distance
of five miles, which separated the corral from the bounds of Granite
House.
It did not take more than a few days to perform this work, and indeed
as soon as the machine had been commenced, Cyrus Harding left his
companions to follow the trade of wiredrawers, and occupied himself with
manufacturing his battery.
It was necessary to obtain a battery with a constant current. It is
known that the elements of modern batteries are generally composed of
retort coal, zinc, and copper. Copper was absolutely wanting to the
engineer, who, notwithstanding all his researches, had never been able
to find any trace of it in Lincoln Island, and was therefore obliged to
do without it. Retort coal, that is to say, the hard graphite which
is found in the retorts of gas manufactories, after the coal has
been dehydrogenized, could have been obtained, but it would have been
necessary to establish a special apparatus, involving great labor. As
to zinc, it may be remembered that the case found at Flotsam Point was
lined with this metal, which could not be better utilized than for this
purpose.
Cyrus Harding, after mature consideration, decided to manufacture a
very simple battery, resembling as nearly as possible that invented
by Becquerel in 1820, and in which zinc only is employed. The other
substances, azotic acid and potash, were all at his disposal.
The way in which the battery was composed was as follows, and the
results were to be attained by the reaction of acid and potash on each
other. A number of glass bottles were made and filled with azotic acid.
The engineer corked them by means of a stopper through which passed a
glass tube, bored at its lower extremity, and intended to be plunged
into the acid by means of a clay stopper secured by a rag. Into this
tube, through its upper extremity, he poured a solution of potash,
previously obtained by burning and reducing to ashes various plants,
and in this way the acid and potash could act on each other through the
clay.
Cyrus Harding then took two slips of zinc, one of which was plunged
into azotic acid, the other into a solution of potash. A current was
immediately produced, which was transmitted from the slip of zinc in the
bottle to that in the tube, and the two slips having been connected by a
metallic wire the slip in the tube became the positive pole, and that in
the bottle the negative pole of the apparatus. Each bottle, therefore,
produced as many currents as united would be sufficient to produce all
the phenomena of the electric telegraph. Such was the ingenious and very
simple apparatus constructed by Cyrus Harding, an apparatus which would
allow them to establish a telegraphic communication between Granite
House and the corral.
On the 6th of February was commenced the planting along the road to
the corral, of posts furnished with glass insulators, and intended to
support the wire. A few days after, the wire was extended, ready to
produce the electric current at a rate of twenty thousand miles a
second.
Two batteries had been manufactured, one for Granite House, the other
for the corral; for if it was necessary the corral should be able to
communicate with Granite House it might also be useful that Granite
House should be able to communicate with the corral.
As to the receiver and manipulator, they were very simple. At the two
stations the wire was wound round a magnet, that is to say, round a
piece of soft iron surrounded with a wire. The communication was thus
established between the two poles; the current, starting from the
positive pole, traversed the wire, passed through the magnet which was
temporarily magnetized, and returned through the earth to the negative
pole. If the current was interrupted, the magnet immediately became
unmagnetized. It was sufficient to place a plate of soft iron before the
magnet, which, attracted during the passage of the current, would fall
back when the current was interrupted. This movement of the plate thus
obtained, Harding could easily fasten to it a needle arranged on a dial,
bearing the letters of the alphabet, and in this way communicate from
one station to the other.
All was completely arranged by the 12th of February. On this day,
Harding, having sent the current through the wire, asked if all
was going on well at the corral, and received in a few moments a
satisfactory reply from Ayrton. Pencroft was wild with joy, and every
morning and evening he sent a telegram to the corral, which always
received an answer.
This mode of communication presented two very real advantages: firstly,
because it enabled them to ascertain that Ayrton was at the corral; and
secondly, that he was thus not left completely isolated. Besides, Cyrus
Harding never allowed a week to pass without going to see him, and
Ayrton came from time to time to Granite House, where he always found a
cordial welcome.
The fine season passed away in the midst of the usual work. The
resources of the colony, particularly in vegetables and corn, increased
from day to day, and the plants brought from Tabor Island had succeeded
perfectly.
The plateau of Prospect Heights presented an encouraging aspect. The
fourth harvest had been admirable and it may be supposed that no one
thought of counting whether the four hundred thousand millions of grains
duly appeared in the crop. However, Pencroft had thought of doing so,
but Cyrus Harding having told him that even if he managed to count three
hundred grains a minute, or nine thousand an hour, it would take him
nearly five thousand five-hundred years to finish his task, the honest
sailor considered it best to give up the idea.
The weather was splendid, the temperature very warm in the day time, but
in the evening the sea-breezes tempered the heat of the atmosphere and
procured cool nights for the inhabitants of Granite House. There were,
however, a few storms, which, although they were not of long duration,
swept over Lincoln Island with extraordinary fury. The lightning blazed
and the thunder continued to roll for some hours.
At this period the little colony was extremely prosperous.
The tenants of the poultry-yard swarmed, and they lived on the surplus,
but it became necessary to reduce the population to a more moderate
number. The pigs had already produced young, and it may be understood
that their care for these animals absorbed a great part of Neb and
Pencroft’s time. The onagers, who had two pretty colts, were most often
mounted by Gideon Spilett and Herbert, who had become an excellent rider
under the reporter’s instruction, and they also harnessed them to the
cart either for carrying wood and coal to Granite House, or different
mineral productions required by the engineer.
Several expeditions were made about this time into the depths of the Far
West Forests. The explorers could venture there without having anything
to fear from the heat, for the sun’s rays scarcely penetrated through
the thick foliage spreading above their heads. They thus visited all the
left bank of the Mercy, along which ran the road from the corral to the
mouth of Falls River.
But in these excursions the settlers took care to be well armed, for
they met with savage wild boars, with which they often had a tussle.
They also, during this season, made fierce war against the jaguars.
Gideon Spilett had vowed a special hatred against them, and his pupil
Herbert seconded him well. Armed as they were, they no longer feared
to meet one of those beasts. Herbert’s courage was superb, and the
reporter’s sang-froid astonishing. Already twenty magnificent skins
ornamented the dining-room of Granite House, and if this continued, the
jaguar race would soon be extinct in the island, the object aimed at by
the hunters.
The engineer sometimes took part in the expeditions made to the unknown
parts of the island, which he surveyed with great attention. It was for
other traces than those of animals that he searched the thickets of the
vast forest, but nothing suspicious ever appeared. Neither Top nor Jup,
who accompanied him, ever betrayed by their behavior that there was
anything strange there, and yet more than once again the dog barked at
the mouth of the well, which the engineer had before explored without
result.
At this time Gideon Spilett, aided by Herbert, took several views of
the most picturesque parts of the island, by means of the photographic
apparatus found in the cases, and of which they had not as yet made any
use.
This apparatus, provided with a powerful object-glass, was very
complete. Substances necessary for the photographic reproduction,
collodion for preparing the glass plate, nitrate of silver to render it
sensitive, hyposulfate of soda to fix the prints obtained, chloride of
ammonium in which to soak the paper destined to give the positive proof,
acetate of soda and chloride of gold in which to immerse the paper,
nothing was wanting. Even the papers were there, all prepared,
and before laying in the printing-frame upon the negatives, it was
sufficient to soak them for a few minutes in the solution of nitrate of
silver.
The reporter and his assistant became in a short time very skilful
operators, and they obtained fine views of the country, such as the
island, taken from Prospect Heights with Mount Franklin in the distance,
the mouth of the Mercy, so picturesquely framed in high rocks, the glade
and the corral, with the spurs of the mountain in the background, the
curious development of Claw Cape, Flotsam Point, etc.
Nor did the photographers forget to take the portraits of all the
inhabitants of the island, leaving out no one.
“It multiplies us,” said Pencroft.
And the sailor was enchanted to see his own countenance, faithfully
reproduced, ornamenting the walls of Granite House, and he stopped
as willingly before this exhibition as he would have done before the
richest shop-windows in Broadway.
But it must be acknowledged that the most successful portrait was
incontestably that of Master Jup. Master Jup had sat with a gravity not
to be described, and his portrait was lifelike!
“He looks as if he was just going to grin!” exclaimed Pencroft.
And if Master Jup had not been satisfied, he would have been very
difficult to please; but he was quite contented and contemplated his own
countenance with a sentimental air which expressed some small amount of
conceit.
The summer heat ended with the month of March. The weather was sometimes
rainy, but still warm. The month of March, which corresponds to the
September of northern latitudes, was not so fine as might have been
hoped. Perhaps it announced an early and rigorous winter.
It might have been supposed one morning--the 21 st--that the first snow
had already made its appearance. In fact Herbert looking early from one
of the windows of Granite House, exclaimed,--
“Hallo! the islet is covered with snow!”
“Snow at this time?” answered the reporter, joining the boy.
Their companions were soon beside them, but could only ascertain one
thing, that not only the islet but all the beach below Granite House was
covered with one uniform sheet of white.
“It must be snow!” said Pencroft.
“Or rather it’s very like it!” replied Neb.
“But the thermometer marks fifty-eight degrees!” observed Gideon
Spilett.
Cyrus Harding gazed at the sheet of white without saying anything, for
he really did not know how to explain this phenomenon, at this time of
year and in such a temperature.
“By Jove!” exclaimed Pencroft, “all our plants will be frozen!”
And the sailor was about to descend, when he was preceded by the nimble
Jup, who slid down to the sand.
But the orang had not touched the ground, when the snowy sheet arose and
dispersed in the air in such innumerable flakes that the light of the
sun was obscured for some minutes.
“Birds!” cried Herbert.
They were indeed swarms of sea-birds, with dazzling white plumage.
They had perched by thousands on the islet and on the shore, and they
disappeared in the distance, leaving the colonists amazed as if they
had been present at some transformation scene, in which summer succeeded
winter at the touch of a fairy’s wand. Unfortunately the change had been
so sudden, that neither the reporter nor the lad had been able to bring
down one of these birds, of which they could not recognize the species.
A few days after came the 26th of March, the day on which, two years
before, the castaways from the air had been thrown upon Lincoln Island.
Chapter 19
Two years already! and for two years the colonists had had no
communication with their fellow-creatures! They were without news from
the civilized world, lost on this island, as completely as if they had
been on the most minute star of the celestial hemisphere!
What was now happening in their country? The picture of their native
land was always before their eyes, the land torn by civil war at the
time they left it, and which the Southern rebellion was perhaps still
staining with blood! It was a great sorrow to them, and they often
talked together of these things, without ever doubting however that
the cause of the North must triumph, for the honor of the American
Confederation.
During these two years not a vessel had passed in sight of the island;
or, at least, not a sail had been seen. It was evident that Lincoln
Island was out of the usual track, and also that it was unknown,--as was
besides proved by the maps,--for though there was no port, vessels might
have visited it for the purpose of renewing their store of water. But
the surrounding ocean was deserted as far as the eye could reach, and
the colonists must rely on themselves for regaining their native land.
However, one chance of rescue existed, and this chance was discussed
one day on the first week of April, when the colonists were gathered
together in the dining-room of Granite House.
They had been talking of America, of their native country, which they
had so little hope of ever seeing again.
“Decidedly we have only one way,” said Spilett, “one single way for
leaving Lincoln Island, and that is, to build a vessel large enough to
sail several hundred miles. It appears to me, that when one has built a
boat it is just as easy to build a ship!”
“And in which we might go to the Pomoutous,” added Herbert, “just as
easily as we went to Tabor Island.”
“I do not say no,” replied Pencroft, who had always the casting vote
in maritime questions; “I do not say no, although it is not exactly the
same thing to make a long as a short voyage! If our little craft had
been caught in any heavy gale of wind during the voyage to Tabor Island,
we should have known that land was at no great distance either way; but
twelve hundred miles is a pretty long way, and the nearest land is at
least that distance!”
“Would you not, in that case, Pencroft, attempt the adventure?” asked
the reporter.
“I will attempt anything that is desired, Mr. Spilett,” answered the
sailor, “and you know well that I am not a man to flinch!”
“Remember, besides, that we number another sailor amongst us now,”
remarked Neb.
“Who is that?” asked Pencroft.
“Ayrton.”
“If he will consent to come,” said Pencroft.
“Nonsense!” returned the reporter; “do you think that if Lord
Glenarvan’s yacht had appeared at Tabor Island, while he was still
living there, Ayrton would have refused to depart?”
“You forget, my friends,” then said Cyrus Harding, “that Ayrton was not
in possession of his reason during the last years of his stay there. But
that is not the question. The point is to know if we may count among
our chances of being rescued, the return of the Scotch vessel. Now,
Lord Glenarvan promised Ayrton that he would return to take him off from
Tabor Island when he considered that his crimes were expiated, and I
believe that he will return.”
“Yes,” said the reporter, “and I will add that he will return soon, for
it is twelve years since Ayrton was abandoned.”
“Well!” answered Pencroft, “I agree with you that the nobleman will
return, and soon too. But where will he touch? At Tabor Island, and not
at Lincoln Island.”
“That is the more certain,” replied Herbert, “as Lincoln Island is not
even marked on the map.”
“Therefore, my friends,” said the engineer, “we ought to take the
necessary precautions for making our presence and that of Ayrton on
Lincoln Island known at Tabor Island.”
“Certainly,” answered the reporter, “and nothing is easier than to place
in the hut, which was Captain Grant’s and Ayrton’s dwelling, a notice
which Lord Glenarvan and his crew cannot help finding, giving the
position of our island.”
“It is a pity,” remarked the sailor, “that we forgot to take that
precaution on our first visit to Tabor Island.”
“And why should we have done it?” asked Herbert. “At that time we did
not know Ayrton’s history; we did not know that any one was likely to
come some day to fetch him, and when we did know his history, the season
was too advanced to allow us to return then to Tabor Island.”
“Yes,” replied Harding, “it was too late, and we must put off the voyage
until next spring.”
“But suppose the Scotch yacht comes before that,” said Pencroft.
“That is not probable,” replied the engineer, “for Lord Glenarvan would
not choose the winter season to venture into these seas. Either he has
already returned to Tabor Island, since Ayrton has been with us, that is
to say, during the last five months and has left again; or he will not
come till later, and it will be time enough in the first fine October
days to go to Tabor Island, and leave a notice there.”
“We must allow,” said Neb, “that it will be very unfortunate if the
‘Duncan’ has returned to these parts only a few months ago!”
“I hope that it is not so,” replied Cyrus Harding, “and that Heaven has
not deprived us of the best chance which remains to us.”
“I think,” observed the reporter, “that at any rate we shall know what
we have to depend on when we have been to Tabor Island, for if the yacht
has returned there, they will necessarily have left some traces of their
visit.”
“That is evident,” answered the engineer. “So then, my friends, since
we have this chance of returning to our country, we must wait patiently,
and if it is taken from us we shall see what will be best to do.”
“At any rate,” remarked Pencroft, “it is well understood that if we
do leave Lincoln Island, it will not be because we were uncomfortable
there!”
“No, Pencroft,” replied the engineer, “it will be because we are far
from all that a man holds dearest in the world, his family, his friends,
his native land!”
Matters being thus decided, the building of a vessel large enough to
sail either to the Archipelagoes in the north, or to New Zealand in
the west, was no longer talked of, and they busied themselves in their
accustomed occupations, with a view to wintering a third time in Granite
House.
However, it was agreed that before the stormy weather came on, their
little vessel should be employed in making a voyage round the island.
A complete survey of the coast had not yet been made, and the colonists
had but an imperfect idea of the shore to the west and north, from the
mouth of Falls River to the Mandible Capes, as well as of the narrow bay
between them, which opened like a shark’s jaws.
The plan of this excursion was proposed by Pencroft, and Cyrus Harding
fully acquiesced in it, for he himself wished to see this part of his
domain.
The weather was variable, but the barometer did not fluctuate by sudden
movements, and they could therefore count on tolerable weather. However,
during the first week of April, after a sudden barometrical fall, a
renewed rise was marked by a heavy gale of wind, lasting five or six
days; then the needle of the instrument remained stationary at a
height of twenty-nine inches and nine-tenths, and the weather appeared
propitious for an excursion.
The departure was fixed for the 16th of April, and the “Bonadventure,”
anchored in Port Balloon, was provisioned for a voyage which might be of
some duration.
Cyrus Harding informed Ayrton of the projected expedition, and proposed
that he should take part in it, but Ayrton preferring to remain on
shore, it was decided that he should come to Granite House during the
absence of his companions. Master Jup was ordered to keep him company,
and made no remonstrance.
On the morning of the 16th of April all the colonists, including Top,
embarked. A fine breeze blew from the south-west, and the “Bonadventure”
tacked on leaving Port Balloon so as to reach Reptile End. Of the ninety
miles which the perimeter of the island measured, twenty included the
south coast between the port and the promontory. The wind being right
ahead it was necessary to hug the shore.
It took the whole day to reach the promontory, for the vessel on leaving
port had only two hours of ebb tide and had therefore to make way for
six hours against the flood. It was nightfall before the promontory was
doubled.
The sailor then proposed to the engineer that they should continue
sailing slowly with two reefs in the sail. But Harding preferred to
anchor a few cable-lengths from the shore, so as to survey that part of
the coast during the day. It was agreed also that as they were anxious
for a minute exploration of the coast they should not sail during the
night, but would always, when the weather permitted it, be at anchor
near the shore.
The night was passed under the promontory, and the wind having fallen,
nothing disturbed the silence. The passengers, with the exception of the
sailor, scarcely slept as well on board the “Bonadventure” as they would
have done in their rooms at Granite House, but they did sleep however.
Pencroft set sail at break of day, and by going on the larboard tack
they could keep close to the shore.
The colonists knew this beautiful wooded coast, since they had already
explored it on foot, and yet it again excited their admiration. They
coasted along as close in as possible, so as to notice everything,
avoiding always the trunks of trees which floated here and there.
Several times also they anchored, and Gideon Spilett took photographs of
the superb scenery.
About noon the “Bonadventure” arrived at the mouth of Falls River.
Beyond, on the left bank, a few scattered trees appeared, and three
miles further even these dwindled into solitary groups among the western
spurs of the mountain, whose arid ridge sloped down to the shore.
What a contrast between the northern and southern part of the coast!
In proportion as one was woody and fertile so was the other rugged and
barren! It might have been designated as one of those iron coasts, as
they are called in some countries, and its wild confusion appeared to
indicate that a sudden crystallization had been produced in the yet
liquid basalt of some distant geological sea. These stupendous masses
would have terrified the settlers if they had been cast at first on
this part of the island! They had not been able to perceive the sinister
aspect of this shore from the summit of Mount Franklin, for they
overlooked it from too great a height, but viewed from the sea it
presented a wild appearance which could not perhaps be equaled in any
corner of the globe.
The “Bonadventure” sailed along this coast for the distance of half a
mile. It was easy to see that it was composed of blocks of all sizes,
from twenty to three hundred feet in height, and of all shapes, round
like towers, prismatic like steeples, pyramidal like obelisks, conical
like factory chimneys. An iceberg of the Polar seas could not have been
more capricious in its terrible sublimity! Here, bridges were thrown
from one rock to another; there, arches like those of a wave, into the
depths of which the eye could not penetrate; in one place, large vaulted
excavations presented a monumental aspect; in another, a crowd of
columns, spires, and arches, such as no Gothic cathedral ever
possessed. Every caprice of nature, still more varied than those of the
imagination, appeared on this grand coast, which extended over a length
of eight or nine miles.
Cyrus Harding and his companions gazed, with a feeling of surprise
bordering on stupefaction. But, although they remained silent, Top,
not being troubled with feelings of this sort, uttered barks which were
repeated by the thousand echoes of the basaltic cliff. The engineer
even observed that these barks had something strange in them, like those
which the dog had uttered at the mouth of the well in Granite House.
“Let us go close in,” said he.
And the “Bonadventure” sailed as near as possible to the rocky shore.
Perhaps some cave, which it would be advisable to explore, existed
there? But Harding saw nothing, not a cavern, not a cleft which could
serve as a retreat to any being whatever, for the foot of the cliff was
washed by the surf. Soon Top’s barks ceased, and the vessel continued
her course at a few cables-length from the coast.
In the northwest part of the island the shore became again flat and
sandy. A few trees here and there rose above a low, marshy ground, which
the colonists had already surveyed, and in violent contrast to the other
desert shore, life was again manifested by the presence of myriads of
water-fowl. That evening the “Bonadventure” anchored in a small bay
to the north of the island, near the land, such was the depth of water
there. The night passed quietly, for the breeze died away with the last
light of day, and only rose again with the first streaks of dawn.
As it was easy to land, the usual hunters of the colony, that is to say,
Herbert and Gideon Spilett, went for a ramble of two hours or so, and
returned with several strings of wild duck and snipe. Top had
done wonders, and not a bird had been lost, thanks to his zeal and
cleverness.
At eight o’clock in the morning the “Bonadventure” set sail, and ran
rapidly towards North Mandible Cape, for the wind was right astern and
freshening rapidly.
“However,” observed Pencroft, “I should not be surprised if a gale came
up from the west. Yesterday the sun set in a very red-looking horizon,
and now, this morning, those mares-tails don’t forbode anything good.”
These mares-tails are cirrus clouds, scattered in the zenith, their
height from the sea being less than five thousand feet. They look like
light pieces of cotton wool, and their presence usually announces some
sudden change in the weather.
“Well,” said Harding, “let us carry as much sail as possible, and run
for shelter into Shark Gulf. I think that the ‘Bonadventure’ will be
safe there.”
“Perfectly,” replied Pencroft, “and besides, the north coast is merely
sand, very uninteresting to look at.”
“I shall not be sorry,” resumed the engineer, “to pass not only to-night
but to-morrow in that bay, which is worth being carefully explored.”
“I think that we shall be obliged to do so, whether we like it or not,”
answered Pencroft, “for the sky looks very threatening towards the west.
Dirty weather is coming on!”
“At any rate we have a favorable wind for reaching Cape Mandible,”
observed the reporter.
“A very fine wind,” replied the sailor; “but we must tack to enter the
gulf, and I should like to see my way clear in these unknown quarters.”
“Quarters which appear to be filled with rocks,” added Herbert, “if we
judge by what we saw on the south coast of Shark Gulf.”
“Pencroft,” said Cyrus Harding, “do as you think best, we will leave it
to you.”
“Don’t make your mind uneasy, captain,” replied the sailor, “I shall not
expose myself needlessly! I would rather a knife were run into my ribs
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