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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Abandoned, by Jules Verne
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Abandoned
+
+Author: Jules Verne
+
+Translator: William Henry Giles Kingston
+
+Release Date: August 23, 2010 [EBook #33516]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABANDONED ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Hemant Garach, David Starner and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY
+ EDITED BY ERNEST RHYS
+
+ FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
+
+
+ ABANDONED
+ BY JULES VERNE
+
+ FIFTY ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+ THE PUBLISHERS OF _EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY_ WILL BE PLEASED TO SEND
+ FREELY TO ALL APPLICANTS A LIST OF THE PUBLISHED AND PROJECTED
+ VOLUMES TO BE COMPRISED UNDER THE FOLLOWING TWELVE HEADINGS:
+
+ TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION
+ THEOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY
+ HISTORY CLASSICAL
+ FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
+ ESSAYS ORATORY
+ POETRY & DRAMA
+ BIOGRAPHY
+ ROMANCE
+
+ IN TWO STYLES OF BINDING, CLOTH, FLAT BACK, COLOURED TOP, AND
+ LEATHER, ROUND CORNERS, GILT TOP.
+
+
+ LONDON: J. M. DENT & CO.
+ NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.
+
+
+ [Illustration: THIS IS FAIRY GOLD, BOY; AND 'TWILL PROVE SO.
+ SHAKESPEARE.]
+
+
+ [Illustration: ABANDONED By JULES VERNE
+ _Translated from the French_
+ By W. H. G. KINGSTON
+ LONDON: PUBLISHED by J. M. DENT & CO
+ AND IN NEW YORK BY E. P. DUTTON & CO]
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+The present romance, the second in the Mysterious Island triad, was
+originally issued in Paris with the title of _L'Abandonné_. Jules
+Verne's list of stories already ran then to some twenty volumes--a
+number which has since grown to almost Dumasien proportions.
+_L'Abandonné_, like its two companion tales, ran its course as a
+serial through the _Magasin Illustré_ of education and recreation,
+before its issue as a boy's story-book. Its success in both forms
+seems to have established a record in the race for popularity and
+a circulation in both the French and English fields of current
+literature. The present book was translated into English by the late
+W. H. G. Kingston; and is printed in EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY by special
+exclusive arrangement with Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd.
+
+ 1909
+
+
+The list of tales and favourite romances by Jules Verne includes the
+following:--
+
+ Five Weeks in a Balloon, 1870; A Journey to the Centre of the
+ Earth, translated by J. V., 1872; tr. F. A. Malleson, 1876;
+ Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, 1873; tr. H. Frith,
+ 1876; From the Earth to the Moon, and a Trip Round it, tr. Q.
+ Mercier and E. G. King, 1873; The English at the North Pole,
+ 1873; Meridiana: Adventures of Three English and Three
+ Russians, 1873; Dr. Ox's Experiment and other Stories, 1874; A
+ Floating City, 1874; The Blockade Runners, 1874; Around the
+ World in Eighty Days, tr. G. M. Towle and N. D'Anvers, 1874,
+ 1876; tr. H. Frith, 1879; The Fur Country, or Seventy Degrees
+ North Latitude, tr. N. D'Anvers, 1874; tr H. Frith, 1879; The
+ Mysterious Island, tr. W. H. G. Kingston, 1875; The Survivors
+ of the _Chancellor_: Diary of J. R. Kazallon, tr E. Frewer,
+ 1875; Martin Paz, tr. E. Frewer, 1876; Field of Ice, 1876;
+ Child of the Cavern, tr. W. H. G. Kingston, 1877, Michael
+ Strogoff, tr. W. H. G. Kingston, 1877; A Voyage Round the
+ World, 1877; Hector Senvadac, tr. E. Frewer, 1878; Dick Sands,
+ the Boy Captain, tr. E. Frewer, 1879; Celebrated Travels and
+ Travellers: The Great Navigators of the Eighteenth Century,
+ tr. Dora Leigh, N. D'Anvers, etc., 1879-81; Tribulations of a
+ Chinaman, tr. E. Frewer, 1880; The Begum's Fortune, tr. W. H.
+ G. Kingston, 1880; The Steam House, tr. A. D. Kingston, 1881;
+ The Giant Raft, W. J. Gordon, 1881; Godfrey Morgan, 1883; The
+ Green Ray, tr. M. de Hauteville, 1883; The Vanished Diamond,
+ 1885; The Archipelago on Fire, 1886; Mathias Sandorf, 1886;
+ Kérabân the Inflexible, 1887; The Lottery Ticket, 1887;
+ Clipper of the Clouds, 1887; The Flight to France, or Memoirs
+ of a Dragoon, 1888; North against South: Story of the American
+ Civil War, 1888; Adrift in the Pacific, 1889; Cesar Cacabel,
+ 1891; The Purchase of the North Pole, 1891; A Family without a
+ Name, 1891; Mistress Branican, 1892; Claudius Bombarnac, 1894;
+ Foundling Mick, 1895; Clovis Dardentor, 1897; For the Flag,
+ tr. Mrs. C. Hoey, 1897; An Antarctic Mystery, 1898.
+
+ Jules Verne's works are published in an authorised and
+ illustrated edition by Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston & Co.,
+ Ltd.
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ CHAPTER I
+ PAGE
+ Conversation on the Subject of the Bullet -- Construction
+ of a Canoe -- Hunting -- At the Top of a Kauri -- Nothing
+ to attest the Presence of Man -- Neb and Herbert's Prize
+ -- Turning a Turtle -- The Turtle disappears -- Cyrus
+ Harding's Explanation 1
+
+ CHAPTER II
+
+ First Trial of the Canoe -- A Wreck on the Coast --
+ Towing -- Flotsam Point -- Inventory of the Case: Tools,
+ Weapons, Instruments, Clothes, Books, Utensils -- What
+ Pencroft misses -- The Gospel -- A Verse from the Sacred
+ Book 11
+
+ CHAPTER III
+
+ The Start -- The rising Tide -- Elms and different Plants
+ -- The Jacamar -- Aspect of the Forest -- Gigantic
+ Eucalypti -- The Reason they are called "Fever Trees" --
+ Troops of Monkeys -- A Waterfall -- The Night Encampment 23
+
+ CHAPTER IV
+
+ Journey to the Coast -- Troops of Monkeys -- A new River
+ -- The Reason the Tide was not felt -- A woody Shore --
+ Reptile Promontory -- Herbert envies Gideon Spilett --
+ Explosion of Bamboos 34
+
+ CHAPTER V
+
+ Proposal to return by the Southern Shore -- Configuration
+ of the Coast -- Searching for the supposed Wreck -- A
+ Wreck in the Air -- Discovery of a small Natural Port --
+ At Midnight on the Banks of the Mercy -- The Canoe
+ Adrift 45
+
+ CHAPTER VI
+
+ Pencroft's Halloos -- A Night in the Chimneys --
+ Herbert's Arrows -- The Captain's Project -- An
+ unexpected Explanation -- What has happened in Granite
+ House -- How a new Servant enters the Service of the
+ Colonists 58
+
+ CHAPTER VII
+
+ Plans -- A Bridge over the Mercy -- Mode adopted for
+ making an Island of Prospect Heights -- The Drawbridge
+ -- Harvest -- The Stream -- The Poultry-yard -- A
+ Pigeon-house -- The two Onagas -- The Cart -- Excursion
+ to Port Balloon 70
+
+ CHAPTER VIII
+
+ Linen -- Shoes of Seal-leather -- Manufacture of Pyroxyle
+ -- Gardening -- Fishing -- Turtle-eggs -- Improvement of
+ Master Jup -- The Corral -- Musmon Hunt -- New Animal
+ and Vegetable Possessions -- Recollections of their
+ Native Land 81
+
+ CHAPTER IX
+
+ Bad Weather -- The Hydraulic Lift -- Manufacture of
+ Glass-ware -- The Bread-tree -- Frequent Visits to the
+ Corral -- Increase of the Flock -- The Reporter's
+ Question -- Exact Position of Lincoln Island --
+ Pencroft's Proposal 92
+
+ CHAPTER X
+
+ Boat-building -- Second Crop of Corn -- Hunting Koalas
+ -- A new Plant, more Pleasant than Useful -- Whale in
+ Sight -- A Harpoon from the Vineyard -- Cutting up the
+ Whale -- Use for the Bones -- End of the Month of May --
+ Pencroft has nothing left to wish for 103
+
+ CHAPTER XI
+
+ Winter -- Felling Wood -- The Mill -- Pencroft's fixed
+ Idea -- The Bones -- To what Use an Albatross may be put
+ -- Fuel for the Future -- Top and Jup -- Storms -- Damage
+ to the Poultry-yard -- Excursion to the Marsh -- Cyrus
+ Harding alone -- Exploring the Well 114
+
+ CHAPTER XII
+
+ The Rigging of the Vessel -- An Attack from Foxes -- Jup
+ wounded -- Jup cured -- Completion of the Boat --
+ Pencroft's Triumph -- The _Bonadventure's_ trial Trip
+ to the South of the Island -- An unexpected Document 127
+
+ CHAPTER XIII
+
+ Departure decided upon -- Conjectures -- Preparations --
+ The three Passengers -- First Night -- Second Night --
+ Tabor Island -- Searching the Shore -- Searching the
+ Wood -- No one -- Animals -- Plants -- A Dwelling --
+ Deserted 142
+
+ CHAPTER XIV
+
+ The Inventory -- Night -- A few Letters -- Continuation
+ of the Search -- Plants and Animals -- Herbert in great
+ Danger -- On Board -- The Departure -- Bad Weather -- A
+ Gleam of Reason -- Lost on the Sea -- A timely Light 154
+
+ CHAPTER XV
+
+ The Return -- Discussion -- Cyrus Harding and the Stranger
+ -- Port Balloon -- The Engineer's Devotion -- A touching
+ Incident -- Tears flow 166
+
+ CHAPTER XVI
+
+ A Mystery to be cleared up -- The Stranger's first Words
+ -- Twelve Years on the Islet -- Avowal which escapes him
+ -- The Disappearance -- Cyrus Harding's Confidence --
+ Construction of a Mill -- The first Bread -- An Act of
+ Devotion -- Honest Hands 176
+
+ CHAPTER XVII
+
+ Still alone -- The Stranger's Request -- The Farm
+ established at the Corral -- Twelve Years ago -- The
+ Boatswain's Mate of the _Britannia_ -- Left on Tabor
+ Island -- Cyrus Harding's Hand -- The mysterious
+ Document 191
+
+ CHAPTER XVIII
+
+ Conversation -- Cyrus Harding and Gideon Spilett -- An
+ Idea of the Engineer's -- The Electric Telegraph -- The
+ Wires -- The Battery -- The Alphabet -- Fine Season --
+ Prosperity of the Colony -- Photography -- An Appearance
+ of Snow -- Two Years on Lincoln Island 203
+
+ CHAPTER XIX
+
+ Recollections of their Native Land -- Probable Future --
+ Project for surveying the Coasts of the Island --
+ Departure on the 16th of April -- Sea-view of Reptile
+ End -- The basaltic Rocks of the Western Coast -- Bad
+ Weather -- Night comes on -- New Incident 216
+
+ CHAPTER XX
+
+ A Night at Sea -- Shark Gulf -- Confidences --
+ Preparations for Winter -- Forwardness of the Bad Season
+ -- Severe Cold -- Work in the Interior -- In Six Months
+ -- A Photographic Negative -- Unexpected Incident 226
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+ PAGE
+ TURNING A TURTLE 9
+ FLOTSAM AND JETSAM 15
+ UNPACKING THE MARVELLOUS CHEST 17
+ PENCROFT'S SUPERSTITION 21
+ IS IT TOBACCO? 27
+ THE HALT FOR BREAKFAST 29
+ DENIZENS OF THE FOREST 37
+ THE SEA 39
+ AT THAT MOMENT A SHOT STRUCK THE JAGUAR BETWEEN THE EYES
+ AND IT FELL DEAD 43
+ "NOW THERE'S SOMETHING TO EXPLAIN THE BULLET!" EXCLAIMED
+ PENCROFT 51
+ A WRECK IN THE AIR 53
+ THERE WAS NO LONGER A LADDER! 57
+ THE INVADERS OF GRANITE HOUSE 63
+ CAPTURING THE ORANG 67
+ ENGAGING THE NEW SERVANT 69
+ BUILDING THE BRIDGE 73
+ PENCROFT'S SCARECROWS 77
+ THE SETTLERS' NEW SHIRTS 83
+ JUP PASSED MOST OF HIS TIME IN THE KITCHEN, TRYING TO
+ IMITATE NEB 87
+ PENCROFT TO THE RESCUE 93
+ THE GLASS-BLOWERS 97
+ THE VERANDAH ON THE EDGE OF PROSPECT HEIGHTS 101
+ THE DOCKYARD 105
+ A VALUABLE PRIZE 109
+ PENCROFT HAS NOTHING LEFT TO WISH FOR 113
+ THE MESSENGER 119
+ WINTER EVENINGS IN GRANITE HOUSE 121
+ HE SAW NOTHING SUSPICIOUS 125
+ TOP VISITING THE INVALID 133
+ THE TRIAL TRIP 137
+ "LUFF, PENCROFT, LUFF!" 141
+ THE DEPARTURE 145
+ NEARING THE ISLAND 149
+ A HUT! 153
+ HERBERT IN DANGER 159
+ A LIGHT! A LIGHT! 165
+ "POOR FELLOW," MURMURED THE ENGINEER 169
+ THE EXPERIMENT 175
+ "WHO ARE YOU?" HE ASKED IN A HOLLOW VOICE 177
+ THE STRANGER 179
+ NOW FOR A GOOD WIND 187
+ HE SEIZED THE JAGUAR'S THROAT WITH ONE POWERFUL HAND 189
+ THE STRANGER'S STORY 195
+ "HERE IS MY HAND," SAID THE ENGINEER 201
+ THE ENGINEER AT WORK 209
+ JUP SITTING FOR HIS PORTRAIT 213
+ THE SNOWY SHEET AROSE AND DISPERSED IN THE AIR 215
+ ANOTHER MYSTERY 225
+ RETURNING FROM A SPORTING EXCURSION 233
+ THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVE 235
+
+
+
+
+THE ABANDONED
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+ Conversation on the Subject of the Bullet -- Construction of
+ a Canoe -- Hunting -- At the Top of a Kauri -- Nothing to
+ attest the Presence of Man -- Neb and Herbert's Prize --
+ Turning a Turtle -- The Turtle disappears -- Cyrus Harding's
+ Explanation.
+
+
+It was now exactly seven months since the balloon voyagers had been
+thrown on Lincoln Island. During that time, notwithstanding the
+researches they had made, no human being had been discovered. No smoke
+even had betrayed the presence of man on the surface of the island. No
+vestiges of his handiwork showed that either at an early or at a late
+period had man lived there. Not only did it now appear to be
+uninhabited by any but themselves, but the colonists were compelled to
+believe that it never had been inhabited. And now, all this
+scaffolding of reasonings fell before a simple ball of metal, found in
+the body of an inoffensive rodent! In fact, this bullet must have
+issued from a firearm, and who but a human being could have used such
+a weapon?
+
+When Pencroft had placed the bullet on the table, his companions
+looked at it with intense astonishment. All the consequences likely to
+result from this incident, notwithstanding its apparent
+insignificance, immediately took possession of their minds. The sudden
+apparition of a supernatural being could not have startled them more
+completely.
+
+Cyrus Harding did not hesitate to give utterance to the suggestions
+which this fact, at once surprising and unexpected, could not fail to
+raise in his mind. He took the bullet, turned it over and over, rolled
+it between his finger and thumb; then, turning to Pencroft, he
+asked,--
+
+"Are you sure that the peccary wounded by this bullet was not more
+than three months old?"
+
+"Not more, captain," replied Pencroft. "It was still sucking its
+mother when I found it in the trap."
+
+"Well," said the engineer, "that proves that within three months a
+gun-shot was fired in Lincoln Island."
+
+"And that a bullet," added Gideon Spilett, "wounded, though not
+mortally, this little animal."
+
+"That is unquestionable," said Cyrus Harding, "and these are the
+deductions which must be drawn from this incident: that the island was
+inhabited before our arrival, or that men have landed here within
+three months. Did these men arrive here voluntarily or involuntarily,
+by disembarking on the shore or by being wrecked? This point can only
+be cleared up later. As to what they were, Europeans or Malays,
+enemies or friends of our race, we cannot possibly guess; and if they
+still inhabit the island, or if they have left it, we know not. But
+these questions are of too much importance to be allowed to remain
+long unsettled."
+
+"No! a hundred times no! a thousand times no!" cried the sailor,
+springing up from the table. "There are no other men than ourselves on
+Lincoln Island! By my faith! The island isn't large, and if it had
+been inhabited, we should have seen some of the inhabitants long
+before this!"
+
+"In fact, the contrary would be very astonishing," said Herbert.
+
+"But it would be much more astonishing, I should think," observed the
+reporter, "that this peccary should have been born with a bullet in
+its inside!"
+
+"At least," said Neb seriously, "if Pencroft has not had--"
+
+"Look here, Neb," burst out Pencroft. "Do you think I could have a
+bullet in my jaw for five or six months without finding it out? Where
+could it be hidden?" he asked opening his mouth to show the
+two-and-thirty teeth with which it was furnished. "Look well, Neb, and
+if you find one hollow tooth in this set, I will let you pull out half
+a dozen!"
+
+"Neb's supposition is certainly inadmissible," replied Harding, who,
+notwithstanding the gravity of his thoughts, could not restrain a
+smile. "It is certain that a gun has been fired in the island, within
+three months at most. But I am inclined to think that the people who
+landed on this coast were only here a very short time ago, or that
+they just touched here; for if, when we surveyed the island from the
+summit of Mount Franklin, it had been inhabited, we should have seen
+them or we should have been seen ourselves. It is therefore probable
+that within only a few weeks castaways have been thrown by a storm on
+some part of the coast. However that may be, it is of consequence to
+us to have this point settled."
+
+"I think that we should act with caution," said the reporter.
+
+"Such is my advice," replied Cyrus Harding, "for it is to be feared
+that Malay pirates have landed on the island!"
+
+"Captain," asked the sailor, "would it not be a good plan, before
+setting out, to build a canoe in which we could either ascend the
+river, or, if we liked, coast round the island? It will not do to be
+unprovided."
+
+"Your idea is good, Pencroft," replied the engineer, "but we cannot
+wait for that. It would take at least a month to build a boat."
+
+"Yes, a real boat," replied the sailor; "but we do not want one for a
+sea voyage, and in five days at the most, I will undertake to
+construct a canoe fit to navigate the Mercy."
+
+"Five days," cried Neb, "to build a boat?"
+
+"Yes, Neb; a boat in the Indian fashion."
+
+"Of wood?" asked the negro, looking still unconvinced.
+
+"Of wood," replied Pencroft, "or rather of bark. I repeat, captain,
+that in five days the work will be finished!"
+
+"In five days, then, be it," replied the engineer.
+
+"But till that time we must be very watchful," said Herbert.
+
+"Very watchful indeed, my friends," replied Harding; "and I beg you to
+confine your hunting excursions to the neighbourhood of Granite
+House."
+
+The dinner ended less gaily than Pencroft had hoped.
+
+So, then, the island was, or had been, inhabited by others than the
+settlers. Proved as it was by the incident of the bullet, it was
+hereafter an unquestionable fact, and such a discovery could not but
+cause great uneasiness amongst the colonists.
+
+Cyrus Harding and Gideon Spilett, before sleeping, conversed long
+about the matter. They asked themselves if by chance this incident
+might not have some connection with the inexplicable way in which the
+engineer had been saved, and the other peculiar circumstances which
+had struck them at different times. However Cyrus Harding, after
+having discussed the pros and cons of the question, ended by saying,--
+
+"In short, would you like to know my opinion, my dear Spilett?"
+
+"Yes, Cyrus."
+
+"Well, then, it is this: however minutely we explore the island, we
+shall find nothing."
+
+The next day Pencroft set to work. He did not mean to build a boat
+with boards and planking, but simply a flat-bottomed canoe, which
+would be well suited for navigating the Mercy--above all, for
+approaching its source, where the water would naturally be shallow.
+Pieces of bark, fastened one to the other, would form a light boat;
+and in case of natural obstacles, which would render a portage
+necessary, it would be easily carried. Pencroft intended to secure the
+pieces of bark by means of nails, to insure the canoe being
+water-tight.
+
+It was first necessary to select the trees which would afford a strong
+and supple bark for the work. Now the last storm had brought down a
+number of large birch trees, the bark of which would be perfectly
+suited for their purpose. Some of these trees lay on the ground, and
+they had only to be barked, which was the most difficult thing of all,
+owing to the imperfect tools which the settlers possessed. However,
+they overcame all difficulties.
+
+Whilst the sailor, seconded by the engineer, thus occupied himself
+without losing an hour, Gideon Spilett and Herbert were not idle. They
+were made purveyors to the colony. The reporter could not but admire
+the boy, who had acquired great skill in handling the bow and spear.
+Herbert also showed great courage and much of that presence of mind
+which may justly be called "the reasoning of bravery." These two
+companions of the chase, remembering Cyrus Harding's recommendations,
+did not go beyond a radius of two miles round Granite House; but the
+borders of the forest furnished a sufficient tribute of agouties,
+capybaras, kangaroos, peccaries, etc.; and if the result from the
+traps was less than during the cold, still the warren yielded its
+accustomed quota, which might have fed all the colony in Lincoln
+Island.
+
+Often during these excursions, Herbert talked with Gideon Spilett on
+the incident of the bullet, and the deductions which the engineer drew
+from it, and one day--it was the 26th of October--he said,--
+
+"But, Mr. Spilett, do you not think it very extraordinary that, if any
+castaways have landed on the island, they have not yet shown
+themselves near Granite House?"
+
+"Very astonishing if they are still here," replied the reporter, "but
+not astonishing at all if they are here no longer!"
+
+"So you think that these people have already quitted the island?"
+returned Herbert.
+
+"It is more than probable, my boy; for if their stay was prolonged,
+and above all, if they were still here, some accident would have at
+last betrayed their presence."
+
+"But if they were able to go away," observed the lad, "they could not
+have been castaways."
+
+"No, Herbert; or, at least, they were what might be called provisional
+castaways. It is very possible that a storm may have driven them to
+the island without destroying their vessel, and that, the storm over,
+they went away again."
+
+"I must acknowledge one thing," said Herbert, "it is that Captain
+Harding appears rather to fear than desire the presence of human
+beings on our island."
+
+"In short," responded the reporter, "there are only Malays who
+frequent these seas, and those fellows are ruffians which it is best
+to avoid."
+
+"It is not impossible, Mr. Spilett," said Herbert, "that some day or
+other we may find traces of their landing."
+
+"I do not say no, my boy. A deserted camp, the ashes of a fire, would
+put us on the track, and this is what we will look for in our next
+expedition."
+
+The day on which the hunters spoke thus, they were in a part of the
+forest near the Mercy, remarkable for its beautiful trees. There,
+among others, rose, to a height of nearly 200 feet above the ground,
+some of those superb coniferĉ, to which, in New Zealand, the natives
+give the name of Kauris.
+
+"I have an idea, Mr. Spilett," said Herbert. "If I were to climb to
+the top of one of these kauris, I could survey the country for an
+immense distance round."
+
+"The idea is good," replied the reporter; "but could you climb to the
+top of those giants?"
+
+"I can at least try," replied Herbert.
+
+The light and active boy then sprang on the first branches, the
+arrangement of which made the ascent of the kauri easy, and in a few
+minutes he arrived at the summit, which emerged from the immense plain
+of verdure.
+
+From this elevated situation his gaze extended over all the southern
+portion of the island, from Claw Cape on the south-east, to Reptile
+End on the south-west. To the north-west rose Mount Franklin, which
+concealed a great part of the horizon.
+
+But Herbert, from the height of his observatory, could examine all the
+yet unknown portion of the island which might have given shelter to
+the strangers whose presence they suspected.
+
+The lad looked attentively. There was nothing in sight on the sea, not
+a sail, neither on the horizon nor near the island. However, as the
+bank of trees hid the shore, it was possible that a vessel, especially
+if deprived of her masts, might lie close to the land and thus be
+invisible to Herbert.
+
+Neither in the forests of the Far West was anything to be seen. The
+wood formed an impenetrable screen, measuring several square miles,
+without a break or an opening. It was impossible even to follow the
+course of the Mercy, or to ascertain in what part of the mountain it
+took its source. Perhaps other creeks also ran towards the west, but
+they could not be seen.
+
+But at last, if all indication of an encampment escaped Herbert's
+sight, could he not even catch a glimpse of smoke, the faintest trace
+of which would be easily discernible in the pure atmosphere?
+
+For an instant Herbert thought he could perceive a slight smoke in the
+west, but a more attentive examination showed that he was mistaken. He
+strained his eyes in every direction, and his sight was excellent. No,
+decidedly there was nothing there.
+
+Herbert descended to the foot of the kauri, and the two sportsmen
+returned to Granite House. There Cyrus Harding listened to the lad's
+account, shook his head and said nothing. It was very evident that no
+decided opinion could be pronounced on this question until after a
+complete exploration of the island.
+
+Two days after--the 28th of October--another incident occurred, for
+which an explanation was again required.
+
+Whilst strolling along the shore about two miles from Granite House,
+Herbert and Neb were fortunate enough to capture a magnificent
+specimen of the order of chelonia. It was a turtle of the species
+Midas, the edible green turtle, so called from the colour both of its
+shell and fat.
+
+Herbert caught sight of this turtle as it was crawling among the rocks
+to reach the sea.
+
+"Help, Neb, help!" he cried.
+
+Neb ran up.
+
+"What a fine animal!" said Neb; "but how are we to catch it?"
+
+"Nothing is easier, Neb," replied Herbert. "We have only to turn the
+turtle on its back, and it cannot possibly get away. Take your spear
+and do as I do."
+
+The reptile, aware of danger, had retired between its carapace and
+plastron. They no longer saw its head or feet, and it was motionless
+as a rock.
+
+Herbert and Neb then drove their sticks underneath the animal, and by
+their united efforts managed without difficulty to turn it on its
+back. The turtle, which was three feet in length, would have weighed
+at least four hundred pounds.
+
+"Capital!" cried Neb; "this is something which will rejoice friend
+Pencroft's heart."
+
+In fact, the heart of friend Pencroft could not fail to be rejoiced,
+for the flesh of the turtle, which feeds on wrack-grass, is extremely
+savoury. At this moment the creature's head could be seen, which was
+small, flat, but widened behind by the large temporal fossĉ hidden
+under the long roof.
+
+"And now, what shall we do with our prize?" said Neb. "We can't drag
+it to Granite House!"
+
+"Leave it here, since it cannot turn over," replied Herbert, "and we
+will come back with the cart to fetch it."
+
+"That is the best plan."
+
+However, for greater precaution, Herbert took the trouble, which Neb
+deemed superfluous, to wedge up the animal with great stones, after
+which the two hunters returned to Granite House, following the beach,
+which the tide had left uncovered. Herbert, wishing to surprise
+Pencroft, said nothing about the "superb specimen of a chelonian"
+which they had turned over on the sand, but, two hours later, he and
+Neb returned with the cart to the place where they had left it. The
+"superb specimen of a chelonian" was no longer there!
+
+Neb and Herbert stared at each other first, then they stared about
+them. It was just at this spot that the turtle had been left. The lad
+even found the stones which he had used, and therefore he was certain
+of not being mistaken.
+
+"Well!" said Neb, "these beasts can turn themselves over, then?"
+
+"It appears so," replied Herbert, who could not understand it at all,
+and was gazing at the stones scattered on the sand.
+
+"Well, Pencroft will be disgusted!"
+
+"And Captain Harding will perhaps be very perplexed how to explain
+this disappearance" thought Herbert.
+
+"Look here," said Neb, who wished to hide his ill-luck, "we won't
+speak about it."
+
+"On the contrary, Neb we must speak about it," replied Herbert.
+
+And the two, taking the cart, which there was now no use for, returned
+to Granite House.
+
+Arrived at the dockyard, where the engineer and the sailor were
+working together Herbert recounted what had happened.
+
+"Oh! the stupids!" cried the sailor, "to have let at least fifty meals
+escape!"
+
+"But, Pencroft," replied Neb, "it wasn't our fault that the beast got
+away, as I tell you, we had turned it over on its back!"
+
+"Then you didn't turn it over enough!" returned the obstinate sailor.
+
+[Illustration: TURNING A TURTLE]
+
+"Not enough!" cried Herbert.
+
+And he told how he had taken care to wedge up the turtle with stones.
+
+"It is a miracle, then!" replied Pencroft.
+
+"I thought, captain," said Herbert, "that turtles, once placed on
+their backs, could not regain their feet, especially when they are of
+a large size?"
+
+"That is true, my boy," replied Cyrus Harding.
+
+"Then how did it manage?"
+
+"At what distance from the sea did you leave this turtle?" asked the
+engineer, who, having suspended his work, was reflecting on this
+incident.
+
+"Fifteen feet at the most," replied Herbert.
+
+"And the tide was low at the time?"
+
+"Yes, captain."
+
+"Well," replied the engineer, "what the turtle could not do on the
+sand it might have been able to do in the water. It turned over when
+the tide overtook it, and then quietly returned to the deep sea."
+
+"Oh! what stupids we were!" cried Neb.
+
+"That is precisely what I had the honour of telling you before!"
+returned the sailor.
+
+Cyrus Harding had given this explanation, which, no doubt, was
+admissible. But was he himself convinced of the accuracy of this
+explanation? It cannot be said that he was.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ First Trial of the Canoe -- A Wreck on the Coast -- Towing --
+ Flotsam Point -- Inventory of the Case: Tools, Weapons,
+ Instruments, Clothes, Books, Utensils -- What Pencroft misses
+ -- The Gospel -- A Verse from the Sacred Book.
+
+
+On the 9th of October the bark canoe was entirely finished. Pencroft
+had kept his promise, and a light boat, the shell of which was joined
+together by the flexible twigs of the crejimba, had been constructed
+in five days. A seat in the stern, a second seat in the middle to
+preserve the equilibrium, a third seat in the bows, rowlocks for the
+two oars, a scull to steer with, completed the little craft, which was
+twelve feet long, and did not weigh more than 200 pounds.
+
+The operation of launching it was extremely simple. The canoe was
+carried to the beach and laid on the sand before Granite House, and
+the rising tide floated it. Pencroft, who leapt in directly,
+manoeuvred it with the scull and declared it to be just the thing for
+the purpose to which they wished to put it.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried the sailor, who did not disdain to celebrate thus his
+own triumph. "With this we could go round--"
+
+"The world?" asked Gideon Spilett.
+
+"No, the island. Some stones for ballast, a mast, and a sail, which
+the captain will make for us some day, and we shall go splendidly!
+Well, captain--and you, Mr. Spilett; and you, Herbert; and you,
+Neb--aren't you coming to try our new vessel? Come along! we must see
+if it will carry all five of us!"
+
+This was certainly a trial which ought to be made. Pencroft soon
+brought the canoe to the shore by a narrow passage among the rocks,
+and it was agreed that they should make a trial of the boat that day
+by following the shore as far as the first point at which the rocks of
+the south ended.
+
+As they embarked, Neb cried,--
+
+"But your boat leaks rather, Pencroft."
+
+"That's nothing, Neb," replied the sailor; "the wood will get
+seasoned. In two days there won't be a single leak, and our boat will
+have no more water in her than there is in the stomach of a drunkard.
+Jump in!"
+
+They were soon all seated, and Pencroft shoved off. The weather was
+magnificent, the sea as calm as if its waters were contained within
+the narrow limits of a lake. Thus the boat could proceed with as much
+security as if it was ascending the tranquil current of the Mercy.
+
+Neb took one of the oars, Herbert the other, and Pencroft remained in
+the stern in order to use the skull.
+
+The sailor first crossed the channel, and steered close to the
+southern point of the islet. A light breeze blew from the south. No
+roughness was found either in the channel or the green sea. A long
+swell, which the canoe scarcely felt, as it was heavily laden, rolled
+regularly over the surface of the water. They pulled out about half a
+mile distant from the shore, that they might have a good view of Mount
+Franklin.
+
+Pencroft afterwards returned towards the mouth of the river. The boat
+then skirted the shore, which, extending to the extreme point, hid all
+Tadorn's Fens.
+
+This point, of which the distance was increased by the irregularity of
+the coast, was nearly three miles from the Mercy. The settlers
+resolved to go to its extremity, and only go beyond it as much as was
+necessary to take a rapid survey of the coast as far as Claw Cape.
+
+The canoe followed the windings of the shore, avoiding the rocks which
+fringed it, and which the rising tide began to cover. The cliff
+gradually sloped away from the mouth of the river to the point. This
+was formed of granite rocks, capriciously distributed, very different
+from the cliff at Prospect Heights, and of an extremely wild aspect.
+It might have been said that an immense cartload of rocks had been
+emptied out there. There was no vegetation on this sharp promontory,
+which projected two miles from the forest, and it thus represented a
+giant's arm stretched out from a leafy sleeve.
+
+The canoe, impelled by the two oars, advanced without difficulty.
+Gideon Spilett, pencil in one hand and note-book in the other,
+sketched the coast in bold strokes. Neb, Herbert, and Pencroft
+chatted, whilst examining this part of their domain, which was new to
+them, and, in proportion as the canoe proceeded towards the south, the
+two Mandible Capes appeared to move, and surround Union Bay more
+closely.
+
+As to Cyrus Harding, he did not speak; he simply gazed, and by the
+mistrust which his look expressed, it appeared that he was examining
+some strange country.
+
+In the meanwhile, after a voyage of three quarters of an hour, the
+canoe reached the extremity of the point, and Pencroft was preparing
+to return, when Herbert, rising, pointed to a black object, saying,--
+
+"What do I see down there on the beach?"
+
+All eyes turned towards the point indicated.
+
+"Why," said the reporter, "there is something. It looks like part of a
+wreck half buried in the sand."
+
+"Ah!" cried Pencroft, "I see what it is!"
+
+"What?" asked Neb.
+
+"Barrels, barrels, which perhaps are full," replied the sailor.
+
+"Pull to the shore, Pencroft!" said Cyrus.
+
+A few strokes of the oar brought the canoe into a little creek, and
+its passengers leapt on shore.
+
+Pencroft was not mistaken. Two barrels were there, half buried in the
+sand, but still firmly attached to a large chest, which, sustained by
+them, had floated to the moment when it stranded on the beach.
+
+"There has been a wreck, then, in some part of the island," said
+Herbert.
+
+"Evidently," replied Spilett.
+
+"But what's in this chest?" cried Pencroft, with very natural
+impatience. "What's in this chest? It is shut up, and nothing to open
+it with! Well, perhaps a stone--"
+
+And the sailor, raising a heavy block, was about to break in one of
+the sides of the chest, when the engineer arrested his hand.
+
+"Pencroft," said he, "can you restrain your impatience for one hour
+only?"
+
+"But, captain, just think! Perhaps there is everything we want in
+there!"
+
+"We shall find that out, Pencroft," replied the engineer; "but trust
+to me, and do not break the chest, which may be useful to us. We must
+convey it to Granite House, where we can open it easily and without
+breaking it. It is quite prepared for a voyage, and, since it has
+floated here, it may just as well float to the mouth of the river."
+
+"You are right, captain, and I was wrong, as usual," replied the
+sailor.
+
+The engineer's advice was good. In fact, the canoe probably would not
+have been able to contain the articles possibly enclosed in the chest,
+which doubtless was heavy, since two empty barrels were required to
+buoy it up. It was, therefore, much better to tow it to the beach at
+Granite House.
+
+And now, whence had this chest come? That was the important question
+Cyrus Harding and his companions looked attentively around them, and
+examined the shore for several hundred steps. No other articles or
+pieces of wreck could be found. Herbert and Neb climbed a high rock to
+survey the sea, but there was nothing in sight--neither a dismasted
+vessel nor a ship under sail.
+
+However, there was no doubt that there had been a wreck Perhaps this
+incident was connected with that of the bullet? Perhaps strangers had
+landed on another part of the island? Perhaps they were still there?
+But the thought which came naturally to the settlers was, that these
+strangers could not be Malay pirates, for the chest was evidently of
+American or European make.
+
+All the party returned to the chest, which was of an unusually large
+size. It was made of oak wood, very carefully closed and covered with
+a thick hide, which was secured by copper nails. The two great
+barrels, hermetically sealed, but which sounded hollow and empty, were
+fastened to its sides by strong ropes knotted with a skill which
+Pencroft directly pronounced sailors alone could exhibit. It appeared
+to be in a perfect state of preservation, which was explained by the
+fact that it had stranded on a sandy beach, and not among rocks. They
+had no doubt whatever, on examining it carefully, that it had not been
+long in the water, and that its arrival on this coast was recent. The
+water did not appear to have penetrated to the inside, and the
+articles which it contained were no doubt uninjured.
+
+[Illustration: FLOTSAM AND JETSAM]
+
+It was evident that this chest had been thrown overboard from some
+dismasted vessel driven towards the island, and that, in the hope that
+it would reach the land, where they might afterwards find it, the
+passengers had taken the precaution to buoy it up by means of this
+floating apparatus.
+
+"We will tow this chest to Granite House," said the engineer, "where
+we can make an inventory of its contents, then, if we discover any of
+the survivors from the supposed wreck, we can return it to those to
+whom it belongs. If we find no one--"
+
+"We will keep it for ourselves!" cried Pencroft "But what in the world
+can there be in it?"
+
+The sea was already approaching the chest, and the high tide would
+evidently float it. One of the ropes which fastened the barrels was
+partly unlashed and used as a cable to unite the floating apparatus
+with the canoe. Pencroft and Neb then dug away the sand with their
+oars, so as to facilitate the moving of the chest, towing which the
+boat soon began to double the point to which the name of Flotsam Point
+was given.
+
+The chest was heavy, and the barrels were scarcely sufficient to keep
+it above water. The sailor also feared every instant that it would get
+loose and sink to the bottom of the sea. But happily his fears were
+not realised, and an hour and a half after they set out--all that time
+had been taken up in going a distance of three miles--the boat touched
+the beach below Granite House.
+
+Canoe and chest were then hauled up on the sand, and as the tide was
+then going out, they were soon left high and dry. Neb, hurrying home,
+brought back some tools with which to open the chest in such a way
+that it might be injured as little as possible, and they proceeded to
+its inventory. Pencroft did not try to hide that he was greatly
+excited.
+
+The sailor began by detaching the two barrels, which, being in good
+condition, would of course be of use. Then the locks were forced with
+a cold chisel and hammer, and the lid thrown back. A second casing of
+zinc lined the interior of the chest, which had been evidently
+arranged that the articles which it enclosed might under any
+circumstances be sheltered from damp.
+
+"Oh!" cried Neb, "suppose it's jam!".
+
+[Illustration: UNPACKING THE MARVELLOUS CHEST]
+
+"I hope not," replied the reporter.
+
+"If only there was--" said the sailor in a low voice.
+
+"What?" asked Neb, who overheard him.
+
+"Nothing!"
+
+The covering of zinc was torn off and thrown back over the sides of
+the chest, and by degrees numerous articles of very varied character
+were produced and strewn about on the sand. At each new object
+Pencroft uttered fresh hurrahs, Herbert clapped his hands, and Neb
+danced--like a nigger. There were books which made Herbert wild with
+joy, and cooking utensils which Neb covered with kisses!
+
+In short, the colonists had reason to be extremely satisfied, for this
+chest contained tools, weapons, instruments, clothes, books; and this
+is the exact list of them as stated in Gideon Spilett's note-book:--
+
+Tools:--3 knives with several blades, 2 woodmen's axes, 2 carpenter's
+hatchets, 3 planes, 2 adzes, 1 twibil or mattock, 6 chisels, 2 files,
+3 hammers, 3 gimlets, 2 augers, 10 bags of nails and screws, 3 saws of
+different sizes, 2 boxes of needles.
+
+Weapons:--2 flint-lock guns, 2 for percussion caps, 2 breech-loader
+carbines, 5 boarding cutlasses, 4 sabres, 2 barrels of powder, each
+containing twenty-five pounds; 12 boxes of percussion caps.
+
+Instruments:--1 sextant, 1 double opera-glass, 1 telescope, 1 box of
+mathematical instruments, 1 mariner's compass, 1 Fahrenheit
+thermometer, 1 aneroid barometer, 1 box containing a photographic
+apparatus, object-glass, plates, chemicals, etc.
+
+Clothes:--2 dozen shirts of a peculiar material resembling wool, but
+evidently of a vegetable origin; 3 dozen stockings of the same
+material.
+
+Utensils:--1 iron pot, 6 copper saucepans, 3 iron dishes, 10 metal
+plates, 2 kettles, 1 portable stove, 6 table-knives.
+
+Books:--1 Bible, 1 atlas, 1 dictionary of the different Polynesian
+idioms, 1 dictionary of natural science, in six volumes; 3 reams of
+white paper, 2 books with blank pages.
+
+"It must be allowed," said the reporter, after the inventory had been
+made, "that the owner of this chest was a practical man! Tools,
+weapons, instruments, clothes, utensils, books--nothing is wanting! It
+might really be said that he expected to be wrecked, and had prepared
+for it beforehand."
+
+"Nothing is wanting, indeed," murmured Cyrus Harding thoughtfully.
+
+"And for a certainty," added Herbert, "the vessel which carried this
+chest and its owner was not a Malay pirate!"
+
+"Unless," said Pencroft, "the owner had been taken prisoner by
+pirates--"
+
+"That is not admissible," replied the reporter. "It is more probable
+that an American or European vessel has been driven into this quarter,
+and that her passengers, wishing to save necessaries at least,
+prepared this chest and threw it overboard."
+
+"Is that your opinion, captain?" asked Herbert.
+
+"Yes, my boy," replied the engineer, "that may have been the case. It
+is possible that at the moment, or in expectation of a wreck, they
+collected into this chest different articles of the greatest use in
+hopes of finding it again on the coast--"
+
+"Even the photographic box!" exclaimed the sailor incredulously.
+
+"As to that apparatus," replied Harding, "I do not quite see the use
+of it; and a more complete supply of clothes or more abundant
+ammunition would have been more valuable to us as well as to any other
+castaways!"
+
+"But isn't there any mark or direction on these instruments, tools, or
+books, which would tell us something about them?" asked Gideon
+Spilett.
+
+That might be ascertained. Each article was carefully examined,
+especially the books, instruments and weapons. Neither the weapons nor
+the instruments, contrary to the usual custom, bore the name of the
+maker; they were, besides, in a perfect state, and did not appear to
+have been used. The same peculiarity marked the tools and utensils;
+all were new, which proved that the articles had not been taken by
+chance and thrown into the chest, but, on the contrary, that the
+choice of the things had been well considered and arranged with care.
+This was also indicated by a second case of metal which had preserved
+them from damp, and which could not have been soldered in a moment of
+haste.
+
+As to the dictionaries of natural science and Polynesian idioms, both
+were English, but they neither bore the name of the publisher nor the
+date of publication.
+
+The same with the Bible printed in English, in quarto, remarkable in a
+typographical point of view, and which appeared to have been often
+used.
+
+The atlas was a magnificent work, comprising maps of every country in
+the world, and several planispheres arranged upon Mercator's
+projection, aid of which the nomenclature was in French--but which
+also bore neither date nor name of publisher.
+
+There was nothing, therefore, on these different articles by which
+they could be traced and nothing consequently of a nature to show the
+nationality of the vessel which must have recently passed these
+shores.
+
+But, wherever the chest might have come from, it was a treasure to the
+settlers on Lincoln Island. Till then, by making use of the
+productions of nature, they had created everything for themselves,
+and, thanks to their intelligence, they had managed without
+difficulty. But did it not appear as if Providence had wished to
+reward them by sending them these productions of human industry? Their
+thanks rose unanimously to Heaven.
+
+However, one of them was not quite satisfied: it was Pencroft. It
+appeared that the chest did not contain some thing which he evidently
+held in great esteem, for in proportion as they approached the bottom
+of the box, his hurrahs diminished in heartiness, and, the inventory
+finished, he was heard to mutter these words--
+
+"That's all very fine, but you can see that there is nothing for me in
+that box!"
+
+This led Neb to say,--
+
+"Why, friend Pencroft, what more do you expect?"
+
+"Half a pound of tobacco," replied Pencroft seriously, "and nothing
+would have been wanting to complete my happiness."
+
+No one could help laughing at this speech of the sailor's.
+
+[Illustration: PENCROFT'S SUPERSTITION]
+
+But the result of this discovery of the chest was, that it was more
+than ever necessary to explore the island thoroughly. It was therefore
+agreed that the next morning at break of day they should set out, by
+ascending the Mercy so as to reach the western shore. If any castaways
+had landed on the coast, it was to be feared they were without
+resources, and it was therefore the more necessary to carry help to
+them without delay.
+
+During the day the different articles were carried to Granite House,
+where they were methodically arranged in the great hall.
+
+This day--the 29th of October--happened to be a Sunday, and, before
+going to bed, Herbert asked the engineer if he would not read them
+something from the Gospel.
+
+"Willingly," replied Cyrus Harding.
+
+He took the sacred volume, and was about to open it, when Pencroft
+stopped him, saying,--
+
+"Captain, I am superstitious. Open at random and read the first verse
+which your eye falls upon. We will see if it applies to our
+situation."
+
+Cyrus Harding smiled at the sailor's idea, and, yielding to his wish,
+he opened exactly at a place where the leaves were separated by a
+marker.
+
+Immediately his eyes were attracted by a cross which, made with a
+pencil, was placed against the eighth verse of the seventh chapter of
+the Gospel of St. Matthew. He read the verse, which was this:--
+
+"For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+ The Start -- The rising Tide -- Elms and different Plants --
+ The Jacamar -- Aspect of the Forest -- Gigantic Eucalypti --
+ The Reason they are called "Fever Trees" -- Troops of Monkeys
+ -- A Waterfall -- The Night Encampment.
+
+
+The next day, the 30th of October, all was ready for the proposed
+exploring expedition, which recent events had rendered so necessary.
+In fact, things had so come about that the settlers in Lincoln Island
+no longer needed help for themselves, but were even able to carry it
+to others.
+
+It was therefore agreed that they should ascend the Mercy as far as
+the river was navigable. A great part of the distance would thus be
+traversed without fatigue, and the explorers could transport their
+provisions and arms to an advanced point in the west of the island.
+
+It was necessary to think not only of the things which they should
+take with them, but also of those which they might have by chance to
+bring back to Granite House. If there had been a wreck on the coast,
+as was supposed, there would be many things cast up, which would be
+lawfully their prizes. In the event of this, the cart would have been
+of more use than the light canoe, but it was heavy and clumsy to drag,
+and therefore more difficult to use; this led Pencroft to express his
+regret that the chest had not contained, besides "his half-pound of
+tobacco," a pair of strong New Jersey horses, which would have been
+very useful to the colony!
+
+The provisions, which Neb had already packed up, consisted of a store
+of meat and of several gallons of beer, that is to say, enough to
+sustain them for three days, the time which Harding assigned for the
+expedition. They hoped besides to supply themselves on the road, and
+Neb took care not to forget the portable stove.
+
+The only tools the settlers took were the two woodmen's axes, which
+they could use to cut a path through the thick forests, as also the
+instruments, the telescope and pocket-compass.
+
+For weapons they selected the two flint-lock guns, which were likely
+to be more useful to them than the percussion fowling-pieces, the
+first only requiring flints which could be easily replaced, and the
+latter needing fulminating caps, a frequent use of which would soon
+exhaust their limited stock. However, they took also one of the
+carbines and some cartridges. As to the powder, of which there was
+about fifty pounds in the barrel, a small supply of it had to be
+taken, but the engineer hoped to manufacture an explosive substance
+which would allow them to husband it. To the firearms were added the
+five cutlasses well sheathed in leather, and, thus supplied, the
+settlers could venture into the vast forest with some chance of
+success.
+
+It is useless to add that Pencroft, Herbert, and Neb, thus armed, were
+at the summit of their happiness, although Cyrus Harding made them
+promise not to fire a shot unless it was necessary.
+
+At six in the morning the canoe put off from the shore; all had
+embarked, including Top, and they proceeded to the mouth of the Mercy.
+
+The tide had begun to come up half an hour before. For several hours,
+therefore, there would be a current, which it was well to profit by,
+for later the ebb would make it difficult to ascend the river. The
+tide was already strong, for in three days the moon would be full, and
+it was enough to keep the boat in the centre of the current, where it
+floated swiftly along between the high banks without its being
+necessary to increase its speed by the aid of the oars. In a few
+minutes the explorers arrived at the angle formed by the Mercy, and
+exactly at the place where, seven months before, Pencroft had made his
+first raft of wood.
+
+After this sudden angle the river widened and flowed under the shade
+of great evergreen firs.
+
+The aspect of the banks was magnificent. Cyrus Harding and his
+companions could not but admire the lovely effects so easily produced
+by nature with water and trees. As they advanced the forest element
+diminished. On the right bank of the river grew magnificent specimens
+of the ulmaceĉ tribe, the precious elm, so valuable to builders, and
+which withstands well the action of water. Then there were numerous
+groups belonging to the same family, amongst others one in particular,
+the fruit of which produces a very useful oil. Further on, Herbert
+remarked the lardizabala, a twining shrub which, when bruised in
+water, furnishes excellent cordage; and two or three ebony trees of a
+beautiful black, crossed with capricious veins.
+
+From time to time, in certain places where the landing was easy, the
+canoe was stopped, when Gideon Spilett, Herbert, and Pencroft, their
+guns in their hands, and preceded by Top, jumped on shore. Without
+expecting game, some useful plant might be met with, and the young
+naturalist was delighted with discovering a sort of wild spinage,
+belonging to the order of chenopodiaceĉ, and numerous specimens of
+cruciferĉ, belonging to the cabbage tribe, which it would certainly
+be possible to cultivate by transplanting. There were cresses,
+horse-radish, turnips, and lastly, little branching hairy stalks,
+scarcely more than three feet high, which produced brownish grains.
+
+"Do you know what this plant is?" asked Herbert of the sailor.
+
+"Tobacco!" cried Pencroft, who evidently had never seen his favourite
+plant except in the bowl of his pipe.
+
+"No, Pencroft," replied Herbert; "this is not tobacco, it is mustard."
+
+"Mustard be hanged!" returned the sailor; "but if by chance you happen
+to come across a tobacco-plant, my boy, pray don't scorn that!"
+
+"We shall find it some day!" said Gideon Spilett.
+
+"Well!" exclaimed Pencroft, "when that day comes, I do not know what
+more will be wanting in our island!"
+
+These different plants, which had been carefully rooted, up, were
+carried to the canoe, where Cyrus Harding had remained buried in
+thought.
+
+The reporter, Herbert, and Pencroft in this manner frequently
+disembarked, sometimes on the right bank, sometimes on the left bank
+of the Mercy.
+
+The latter was less abrupt, but the former more wooded. The engineer
+ascertained by consulting his pocket compass that the direction of the
+river from the first turn was obviously south-west and north-east, and
+nearly straight for a length of about three miles. But it was to be
+supposed that this direction changed beyond that point, and that the
+Mercy continued to the north-west, towards the spurs of Mount
+Franklin, among which the river rose.
+
+During one of these excursions, Gideon Spilett managed to get hold of
+two couples of living gallinaceĉ. They were birds with long, thin
+beaks, lengthened necks, short wings, and without any appearance of a
+tail. Herbert rightly gave them the name of tinamons, and it was
+resolved that they should be the first tenants of their future poultry
+yard.
+
+But till then the guns had not spoken, and the first report which
+awoke the echoes of the forest of the Far West was provoked by the
+appearance of a beautiful bird, resembling the kingfisher.
+
+"I recognise him!" cried Pencroft, and it seemed as if his gun went
+off by itself.
+
+"What do you recognise?" asked the reporter.
+
+"The bird which escaped us on our first excursion, and from which we
+gave the name to that part of the forest."
+
+"A jacamar!" cried Herbert.
+
+It was indeed a jacamar, of which the plumage shines with a metallic
+lustre. A shot brought it to the ground, and Top carried it to the
+canoe. At the same time half a dozen lories were brought down. The
+lory is of the size of a pigeon, the plumage dashed with green, part
+of the wings crimson, and its crest bordered with white. To the young
+boy belonged the honour of this shot, and he was proud enough of it.
+Lories are better food than the jacamar, the flesh of which is rather
+tough, but it was difficult to persuade Pencroft that he had not
+killed the king of eatable birds. It was ten o'clock in the morning
+when the canoe reached a second angle of the Mercy, nearly five miles
+from its mouth. Here a halt was made for breakfast under the shade of
+some splendid trees. The river still measured from sixty to seventy
+feet in breadth, and its bed from five to six feet in depth. The
+engineer had observed that it was increased by numerous affluents, but
+they were unnavigable, being simply little streams. As to the forest,
+including Jacamar Wood, as well as the forests of the Far West, it
+extended as far as the eye could reach. In no place, either in the
+depths of the forest or under the trees on the banks of the Mercy, was
+the presence of man revealed. The explorers could not discover one
+suspicious trace. It was evident that the woodman's axe had never
+touched these trees, that the pioneer's knife had never severed the
+creepers hanging from one trunk to another in the midst of tangled
+brushwood and long grass. If castaways had landed on the island, they
+could not have yet quitted the shore and it was not in the woods that
+the survivors of the supposed shipwreck should be sought.
+
+[Illustration: IS IT TOBACCO?]
+
+The engineer therefore manifested some impatience to reach the western
+coast of Lincoln Island, which was at least five miles distant
+according to his estimation.
+
+The voyage was continued, and as the Mercy appeared to flow not
+towards the shore, but rather towards Mount Franklin, it was decided
+that they should use the boat as long as there was enough water under
+its keel to float it. It was both fatigue spared and time gained, for
+they would have been obliged to cut a path through the thick wood with
+their axes. But soon the flow completely failed them either the tide
+was going down, and it was about the hour, or it could no longer be
+felt at this distance from the mouth of the Mercy. They had therefore
+to make use of the oars, Herbert and Neb each took one, and Pencroft
+took the scull. The forest soon became less dense, the trees grew
+further apart and often quite isolated. But the further they were from
+each other the more magnificent they appeared, profiting, as they did,
+by the free, pure air which circulated around them.
+
+What splendid specimens of the Flora of this latitude! Certainly their
+presence would have been enough for a botanist to name without
+hesitation the parallel which traversed Lincoln Island.
+
+"Eucalypti!" cried Herbert.
+
+They were, in fact, those splendid trees, the giants of the
+extra-tropical zone, the congeners of the Australian and New Zealand
+eucalyptus, both situated under the same latitude as Lincoln Island.
+Some rose to a height of two hundred feet. Their trunks at the base
+measured twenty feet in circumference, and their bark was covered by a
+network of furrows containing a red, sweet-smelling gum. Nothing is
+more wonderful or more singular than those enormous specimens of the
+order of the myrtaceĉ, with their leaves placed vertically and not
+horizontally, so that an edge and not a surface looks upwards, the
+effect being that the sun's rays penetrate more freely among the
+trees.
+
+[Illustration: THE HALT FOR BREAKFAST]
+
+The ground at the foot of the eucalypti was carpeted with grass, and
+from the bushes escaped flights of little birds, which glittered in
+the sunlight like winged rubies.
+
+"These are something like trees!" cried Neb; "but are they good for
+anything?"
+
+"Pooh!" replied Pencroft. "Of course there are vegetable giants as
+well as human giants, and they are no good, except to show themselves
+at fairs!"
+
+"I think that you are mistaken, Pencroft," replied Gideon Spilett,
+"and that the wood of the eucalyptus has begun to be very
+advantageously employed in cabinet-making."
+
+"And I may add," said Herbert, "that the eucalyptus belongs to a
+family which comprises many useful members; the guava-tree, from whose
+fruit guava jelly is made; the clove-tree, which produces the spice;
+the pomegranate-tree, which bears pomegranates; the Eugeacia
+Cauliflora, the fruit of which is used in making a tolerable wine; the
+Ugui myrtle, which contains an excellent alcoholic liquor; the
+Caryophyllus myrtle, of which the bark forms an esteemed cinnamon; the
+Eugenia Pimenta, from whence comes Jamaica pepper; the common myrtle,
+from whose buds and berries spice is sometimes made; the Eucalyptus
+manifera, which yields a sweet sort of manna; the Guinea Eucalyptus,
+the sap of which is transformed into beer by fermentation; in short,
+all those trees known under the name of gum-trees or iron-bark trees
+in Australia, belong to this family of the myrtaceĉ, which contains
+forty-six genera and thirteen hundred species!"
+
+The lad was allowed to run on, and he delivered his little botanical
+lecture with great animation. Cyrus Harding listened smiling, and
+Pencroft with an indescribable feeling of pride.
+
+"Very good, Herbert," replied Pencroft, "but I could swear that all
+those useful specimens you have just told us about are none of them
+giants like these!"
+
+"That is true, Pencroft."
+
+"That supports what I said," returned the sailor, "namely, that these
+giants are good for nothing!"
+
+"There you are wrong, Pencroft," said the engineer; "these gigantic
+eucalypti, which shelter us, are good for something."
+
+"And what is that?"
+
+"To render the countries which they inhabit healthy. Do you know what
+they are called in Australia and New Zealand?"
+
+"No, captain."
+
+"They are called 'fever trees.'"
+
+"Because they give fevers?"
+
+"No, because they prevent them!"
+
+"Good. I must note that," said the reporter.
+
+"Note it then, my dear Spilett; for it appears proved that the
+presence of the eucalyptus is enough to neutralise miasmas. This
+natural antidote has been tried in certain countries in the middle of
+Europe and the north of Africa, where the soil was absolutely
+unhealthy, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants has been
+gradually ameliorated. No more intermittent fevers prevail in the
+regions now covered with forests of the myrtaceĉ. This fact is now
+beyond doubt, and it is a happy circumstance for us settlers in
+Lincoln Island."
+
+"Ah! what an island! What a blessed island!" cried Pencroft. "I tell
+you, it wants nothing--unless it is--"
+
+"That will come, Pencroft, that will be found," replied the engineer;
+"but now we must continue our voyage and push on as far as the river
+will carry our boat!"
+
+The exploration was therefore continued for another two miles in the
+midst of country covered with eucalypti, which predominated in the
+woods of this portion of the island. The space which they occupied
+extended as far as the eye could reach on each side of the Mercy,
+which wound along between high green banks. The bed was often
+obstructed by long weeds, and even by pointed rocks, which rendered
+the navigation very difficult. The action of the oars was prevented,
+and Pencroft was obliged to push with a pole. They found also that the
+water was becoming shallower and shallower, and that the canoe must
+soon stop. The sun was already sinking towards the horizon, and the
+trees threw long shadows on the ground. Cyrus Harding, seeing that he
+could not hope to reach the western coast of the island in one
+journey, resolved to camp at the place where any further navigation
+was prevented by want of water. He calculated that they were still
+five or six miles from the coast, and this distance was too great for
+them to attempt traversing during the night in the midst of unknown
+woods.
+
+The boat was pushed on through the forest, which gradually became
+thicker again, and appeared also to have more inhabitants; for if the
+eyes of the sailor did not deceive him, he thought he saw bands of
+monkeys springing among the trees. Sometimes even two or three of
+these animals stopped at a little distance from the canoe and gazed at
+the settlers without manifesting any terror, as if, seeing men for the
+first time, they had not yet learned to fear them. It would have been
+easy to bring down one of these quadrumani with a gunshot, and
+Pencroft was greatly tempted to fire, but Harding opposed so useless a
+massacre. This was prudent, for the monkeys, or apes rather, appearing
+to be very powerful and extremely active, it was useless to provoke an
+unnecessary aggression, and the creatures might, ignorant of the power
+of the explorer's firearms, have attacked them. It is true that the
+sailor considered the monkeys from a purely alimentary point of view,
+for those animals which are herbivorous make very excellent game; but
+since they had an abundant supply of provisions, it was a pity to
+waste their ammunition.
+
+Towards four o'clock, the navigation of the Mercy became exceedingly
+difficult, for its course was obstructed by aquatic plants and rocks.
+The banks rose higher and higher, and already they were approaching
+the spurs of Mount Franklin. The source could not be far off, since it
+was fed by the water from the southern slopes of the mountain.
+
+"In a quarter of an hour," said the sailor, "we shall be obliged to
+stop, captain."
+
+"Very well, we will stop, Pencroft, and we will make our encampment
+for the night."
+
+"At what distance are we from Granite House?" asked Herbert.
+
+"About seven miles," replied the engineer, "taking into calculation,
+however, the _détours_ of the river, which has carried us to the
+north-west."
+
+"Shall, we go on?" asked the reporter.
+
+"Yes, as long as we can," replied Cyrus Harding. "To-morrow, at break
+of day, we will leave the canoe, and in two hours I hope we shall
+cross the distance which separates us from the coast, and then we
+shall have the whole day in which to explore the shore."
+
+"Go-ahead!" replied Pencroft.
+
+But soon the boat grated on the stony bottom of the river, which was
+now not more than twenty feet in breadth. The trees met like a bower
+overhead, and caused a half-darkness. They also heard the noise of a
+waterfall, which showed that a few hundred feet up the river there was
+a natural barrier.
+
+Presently, after a sudden turn of the river, a cascade appeared
+through the trees. The canoe again touched the bottom, and in a few
+minutes it was moored to a trunk near the right bank.
+
+It was nearly five o'clock. The last rays of the sun gleamed through
+the thick foliage and glanced on the little waterfall, making the
+spray sparkle with all the colours of the rainbow. Beyond that, the
+Mercy was lost in the brushwood, where it was fed from some hidden
+source. The different streams which flowed into it increased it to a
+regular river further down, but here it was simply a shallow, limpid
+brook.
+
+It was agreed to camp here, as the place was charming. The colonists
+disembarked, and a fire was soon lighted under a clump of trees, among
+the branches of which Cyrus Harding and his companions could, if it
+was necessary, take refuge for the night.
+
+Supper was quickly devoured, for they were very hungry, and then there
+was only sleeping to think of. But, as roarings of rather a suspicious
+nature had been heard during the evening, a good fire was made up for
+the night, so as to protect the sleepers with its crackling flames.
+Neb and Pencroft also watched by turns, and did not spare fuel. They
+thought they saw the dark forms of some wild animals prowling round
+the camp among the bushes, but the night passed without incident, and
+the next day, the 31st of October, at five o'clock in the morning, all
+were on foot, ready for a start.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+ Journey to the Coast -- Troops of Monkeys -- A new River --
+ The Reason the Tide was not felt -- A woody Shore -- Reptile
+ Promontory -- Herbert envies Gideon Spilett -- Explosion of
+ Bamboos.
+
+
+It was six o'clock in the morning when the settlers, after a hasty
+breakfast, set out to reach by the shortest way the western coast of the
+island. And how long would it take to do this? Cyrus Harding had said
+two hours, but of course that depended on the nature of the obstacles
+they might meet with. As it was probable that they would have to cut a
+path through the grass, shrubs, and creepers, they marched axe in hand,
+and with guns also ready, wisely taking warning from the cries of the
+wild beasts heard in the night.
+
+The exact position of the encampment could be determined by the bearing
+of Mount Franklin, and as the volcano arose in the north at a distance
+of less than three miles, they had only to go straight towards the
+south-west to reach the western coast. They set out, having first
+carefully secured the canoe. Pencroft and Neb carried sufficient
+provisions for the little band for at least two days. It would not thus
+be necessary to hunt. The engineer advised his companions to refrain
+from firing, that their presence might not be betrayed to any one near
+the shore. The first hatchet blows were given among the brushwood in the
+midst of some mastick-trees, a little above the cascade; and his compass
+in his hand, Cyrus Harding led the way.
+
+The forest here was composed for the most part of trees which had
+already been met with near the lake and on Prospect Heights. There were
+deodars, Douglas firs, casuarinas, gum-trees, eucalypti, hibiscus,
+cedars, and other trees, generally of a moderate size, for their number
+prevented their growth.
+
+Since their departure, the settlers had descended the slopes which
+constituted the mountain system of the island, on to a dry soil, but the
+luxuriant vegetation of which indicated it to be watered either by some
+subterranean marsh or by some stream. However, Cyrus Harding did not
+remember to have seen, at the time of his excursion to the crater, any
+other watercourses but the Red Creek and the Mercy.
+
+During the first part of their excursion, they saw numerous troops of
+monkeys who exhibited great astonishment at the sight of men, whose
+appearance was so new to them. Gideon Spilett jokingly asked whether
+these active and merry quadrupeds did not consider him and his
+companions as degenerate brothers.
+
+And certainly, pedestrians, hindered at each step by bushes, caught by
+creepers, barred by trunks of trees, did not shine beside those supple
+animals, who, bounding from branch to branch, were hindered by nothing
+on their course. The monkeys were numerous, but happily they did not
+manifest any hostile disposition.
+
+Several pigs, agoutis, kangaroos, and other rodents were seen, also two
+or three kaolas, at which Pencroft longed to have a shot.
+
+"But," said he, "you may jump and play just now; we shall have one or
+two words to say to you on our way back!"
+
+At half-past nine the way was suddenly found to be barred by an unknown
+stream, from thirty to forty feet broad, whose rapid current dashed
+foaming over the numerous rocks which interrupted its course. This creek
+was deep and clear, but it was absolutely unnavigable.
+
+"We are cut off!" cried Neb.
+
+"No," replied Herbert, "it is only a stream, and we can easily swim
+over."
+
+"What would be the use of that?" returned Harding. "This creek evidently
+runs to the sea. Let us remain on this side and follow the bank, and I
+shall be much astonished if it does not lead us very quickly to the
+coast. Forward!"
+
+"One minute," said the reporter. "The name of this creek, my friends? Do
+not let us leave our geography incomplete."
+
+"All right!" said Pencroft.
+
+"Name it, my boy," said the engineer, addressing the lad.
+
+"Will it not be better to wait until we have explored it to its mouth?"
+answered Herbert.
+
+"Very well," replied Cyrus Harding. "Let us follow it as fast as we can
+without stopping."
+
+"Still another minute!" said Pencroft.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the reporter.
+
+"Though hunting is forbidden, fishing is allowed, I suppose," said the
+sailor.
+
+"We have no time to lose," replied the engineer.
+
+"Oh! five minutes!" replied Pencroft, "I only ask for five minutes to
+use in the interest of our breakfast!"
+
+And Pencroft, lying down on the bank, plunged his arm into the water,
+and soon pulled up several dozen of fine crayfish from among the stores.
+
+"These will be good!" cried Neb, going to the sailor's aid.
+
+"As I said, there is everything in this island, except tobacco!"
+muttered Pencroft with a sigh.
+
+The fishing did not take five minutes for the crayfish were swarming in
+the creek. A bag was filled with the crustaceĉ, whose shells were of a
+cobalt blue. The settlers then pushed on.
+
+They advanced more rapidly and easily along the bank of the river than
+in the forest. From time to time they came upon the traces of animals of
+a large size who had come to quench their thirst at the stream but none
+were actually seen and it was evidently not in this part of the forest
+that the peccary had received the bullet which had cost Pencroft a
+grinder.
+
+In the meanwhile, considering the rapid current Harding was led to
+suppose that he and his companions were much farther from the western
+coast than they had at first supposed. In fact, at this hour, the rising
+tide would have turned back the current of the creek if its mouth had
+only been a few miles distant. Now, this effect was not produced, and
+the water pursued its natural course. The engineer was much astonished
+at this, and frequently consulted his compass to assure himself that
+some turn of the river was not leading them again into the Far West.
+
+However, the creek gradually widened and its waters became less
+tumultuous. The trees on the right bank were as close together as on the
+left bank, and it was impossible to distinguish anything beyond them,
+but these masses of wood were evidently uninhabited, for Top did not
+bark, and the intelligent animal would not have failed to signal the
+presence of any stranger in the neighbourhood.
+
+[Illustration: DENIZENS OF THE FOREST]
+
+At half past ten, to the great surprise of Cyrus Harding, Herbert, who
+was a little in front, suddenly stopped and exclaimed--
+
+"The sea!"
+
+In a few minutes more, the whole western shore of the island lay
+extended before the eyes of the settlers.
+
+But what a contrast between this and the eastern coast, upon which
+chance had first thrown them. No granite cliff, no rocks, not even a
+sandy beach. The forest reached the shore, and the tall trees bending
+over the water were beaten by the waves. It was not such a shore as is
+usually formed by nature, either by extending a vast carpet of sand, or
+by grouping masses of rock, but a beautiful border consisting of the
+most splendid trees. The bank was raised a little above the level of the
+sea, and on this luxuriant soil supported by a granite base, the fine
+forest trees seemed to be as firmly planted as in the interior of the
+island.
+
+The colonists were then on the shore of an unimportant little harbour,
+which would scarcely have contained even two or three fishing boats. It
+served as a neck to the new creek of which the curious thing was that
+its waters, instead of joining the sea by a gentle slope, fell from a
+height of more than forty feet, which explained why the rising tide was
+not felt up the stream. In fact, the tides of the Pacific, even at their
+maximum of elevation, could never reach the level of the river, and,
+doubtless millions of years would pass before the water would have worn
+away the granite and hollowed a practicable mouth.
+
+It was settled that the name of Falls River should be given to this
+stream. Beyond, towards the north, the forest border was prolonged for a
+space of nearly two miles, then the trees became scarcer, and beyond
+that again the picturesque heights described a nearly straight line
+which ran north and south. On the contrary, all the part of the shore
+between Falls River and Reptile End was a mass of wood, magnificent
+trees, some straight, others bent, so that the long sea swell bathed
+their roots. Now, it was this coast, that is, all the Serpentine
+peninsula, that was to be explored, for this part of the shore offered
+a refuge to castaways, which the other wild and barren side must have
+refused.
+
+[Illustration: THE SEA.]
+
+The weather was fine and clear, and from the height of a hillock on
+which Neb and Pencroft had arranged breakfast, a wide view was obtained.
+There was, however, not a sail in sight; nothing could be seen along the
+shore as far as the eye could reach. But the engineer would take nothing
+for granted until he had explored the coast to the very extremity of the
+Serpentine peninsula.
+
+Breakfast was soon despatched, and at half-past eleven the captain gave
+the signal for departure. Instead of proceeding over the summit of a
+cliff or along a sandy beach, the settlers were obliged to remain under
+cover of the trees so that they might continue on the shore.
+
+The distance which separated Falls River from Reptile End was about
+twelve miles. It would have taken the settlers four hours to do this, on
+a clear ground and without hurrying themselves; but as it was they
+needed double the time, for what with trees to go round, bushes to cut
+down, and creepers to chop away, they were impeded at every step, these
+obstacles greatly lengthening their journey.
+
+There was, however, nothing to show that a shipwreck had taken place
+recently. It is true that, as Gideon Spilett observed, any remains of it
+might have drifted out to sea, and they must not take it for granted
+that because they could find no traces of it, a ship had not been cast
+away on the coast.
+
+The reporter's argument was just, and besides, the incident of the
+bullet proved that a shot must have been fired in Lincoln Island within
+three months.
+
+It was already five o'clock, and there were still two miles between the
+settlers and the extremity of the Serpentine peninsula. It was evident
+that after having reached Reptile End, Harding and his companions would
+not have time to return before dark to their encampment near the source
+of the Mercy. It would therefore be necessary to pass the night on the
+promontory. But they had no lack of provisions, which was lucky, for
+there were no animals on the shore, though birds, on the contrary,
+abounded--jacamars, couroucoos, tragopans, grouse, lories, parrots,
+cockatoos, pheasants, pigeons, and a hundred others. There was not a
+tree without a nest, and not a nest which was not full of flapping
+wings.
+
+Towards seven o'clock the weary explorers arrived at Reptile End. Here
+the seaside forest ended, and the shore resumed the customary appearance
+of a coast, with rocks, reefs, and sands. It was possible that something
+might be found here, but darkness came on, and the further exploration
+had to be put off to the next day.
+
+Pencroft and Herbert hastened on to find a suitable place for their
+camp. Amongst the last trees of the forest of the Far West, the boy
+found several thick clumps of bamboos.
+
+"Good," said he; "this is a valuable discovery."
+
+"Valuable?" returned Pencroft.
+
+"Certainly," replied Herbert. "I may say, Pencroft, that the bark of the
+bamboo cut into flexible laths, is used for making baskets; that this
+bark, mashed into a paste, is used for the manufacture of Chinese paper;
+that the stalks furnish, according to their size, canes and pipes, and
+are used for conducting water; that large bamboos make excellent
+material for building, being light and strong, and being never attacked
+by insects. I will add that by sawing the bamboo in two at the joint,
+keeping for the bottom the part of the transverse film which forms the
+joint, useful cups are obtained, which are much in use among the
+Chinese. No! you don't care for that. But--"
+
+"But what?"
+
+"But I can tell you, if you are ignorant of it, that in India these
+bamboos are eaten like asparagus."
+
+"Asparagus thirty feet high!" exclaimed the sailor. "And are they good?"
+
+"Excellent," replied Herbert. "Only it is not the stems of thirty feet
+high which are eaten, but the young shoots."
+
+"Perfect, my boy, perfect!" replied Pencroft.
+
+"I will also add that the pith of the young stalks, preserved in
+vinegar, makes a good pickle."
+
+"Better and better, Herbert!"
+
+"And lastly, that the bamboos exude a sweet liquor which can be made
+into a very agreeable drink."
+
+"Is that all?" asked the sailor.
+
+"That is all!"
+
+"And they don't happen to do for smoking?"
+
+"No, my poor Pencroft."
+
+Herbert and the sailor had not to look long for a place in which to pass
+the night. The rocks, which must have been violently beaten by the sea
+under the influence of the winds of the south west, presented many
+cavities in which shelter could be found against the night air. But just
+as they were about to enter one of these caves a loud roaring arrested
+them.
+
+"Back!" cried Pencroft. "Our guns are only loaded with small shot, and
+beasts which can roar as loud as that would care no more for it than for
+grams of salt!". And the sailor, seizing Herbert by the arm, dragged him
+behind a rock, just as a magnificent animal showed itself at the
+entrance of the cavern.
+
+It was a jaguar of a size at least equal to its Asiatic congeners, that
+is to say, it measured five feet from the extremity of its head to the
+beginning of its tail. The yellow colour of its hair was relieved by
+streaks and regular oblong spots of black, which contrasted with the
+white of its chest. Herbert recognised it as the ferocious rival of the
+tiger, as formidable as the puma, which is the rival of the largest
+wolf!
+
+The jaguar advanced and gazed around him with blazing eyes, his hair
+bristling as if this was not the first time he had scented man.
+
+At this moment the reporter appeared round a rock, and Herbert, thinking
+that he had not seen the jaguar, was about to rush towards him, when
+Gideon Spilett signed to him to remain where he was. This was not his
+first tiger, and advancing to within ten feet of the animal he remained
+motionless, his gun to his shoulder, without moving a muscle. The jaguar
+collected itself for a spring, but at that moment a shot struck it in
+the eyes, and it fell dead.
+
+Herbert and Pencroft rushed towards the jaguar. Neb and Harding also ran
+up, and they remained for some instants contemplating the animal as it
+lay stretched on the ground, thinking that its magnificent skin would be
+a great ornament to the hall at Granite House.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Spilett, how I admire and envy you!" cried Herbert, in a fit of
+very natural enthusiasm.
+
+"Well, my boy," replied the reporter, "you could have done the same."
+
+[Illustration: AT THAT MOMENT A SHOT STRUCK THE JAGUAR BETWEEN THE EYES
+AND IT FELL DEAD]
+
+"I! with such coolness!--"
+
+"Imagine to yourself, Herbert, that the jaguar is only a hare, and you
+would fire as quietly as possible."
+
+"That is," rejoined Pencroft, "it is not more dangerous than a hare!"
+
+"And now," said Gideon Spilett, "since the jaguar has left its abode, I
+do not see, my friends, why we should not take possession of it for the
+night."
+
+"But others may come," said Pencroft.
+
+"It will be enough to light a fire at the entrance of the cavern," said
+the reporter, "and no wild beasts will dare to cross the threshold."
+
+"Into the jaguar's house, then!" replied the sailor, dragging after him
+the body of the animal.
+
+Whilst Neb skinned the jaguar, his companions collected an abundant
+supply of dry wood from the forest, which they heaped up at the cave.
+
+Cyrus Harding, seeing the clump of bamboos, cut a quantity, which he
+mingled with the other fuel.
+
+This done, they entered the grotto, of which the floor was strewn with
+bones, the guns were carefully loaded, in case of a sudden attack, they
+had supper, and then just before they lay down to rest, the heap of wood
+piled at the entrance was set fire to. Immediately, a regular explosion,
+or rather, a series of reports, broke the silence! The noise was caused,
+by the bamboos, which, as the flames reached them, exploded like
+fireworks. The noise was enough to terrify even the boldest of wild
+beasts.
+
+It was not the engineer who had invented this way of causing loud
+explosions, for, according to Marco Polo, the Tartars have employed it
+for many centuries to drive away from their encampments the formidable
+wild beasts of Central Asia.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+ Proposal to return by the Southern Shore -- Configuration of
+ the Coast -- Searching for the supposed Wreck -- A Wreck in
+ the Air -- Discovery of a small Natural Port -- At Midnight
+ on the Banks of the Mercy -- The Canoe Adrift.
+
+
+Cyrus Harding and his companions slept like innocent marmots in the
+cave which the jaguar had so politely left at their disposal.
+
+At sunrise all were on the shore at the extremity of the promontory,
+and their gaze was directed towards the horizon, of which two-thirds
+of the circumference were visible. For the last time the engineer
+could ascertain that not a sail nor the wreck of a ship was on the
+sea, and even with the telescope nothing suspicious could be
+discovered.
+
+There was nothing either on the shore, at least, in the straight line
+of three miles which formed the south side of the promontory, for
+beyond that, rising ground hid the rest of the coast, and even from
+the extremity of the Serpentine Peninsula Cape Claw could not be seen.
+
+The southern coast of the island still remained to be explored. Now
+should they undertake it immediately, and devote this day to it?
+
+This was not included in their first plan. In fact, when the boat was
+abandoned at the sources of the Mercy, it had been agreed that after
+having surveyed the west coast, they should go back to it, and return
+to Granite House by the Mercy. Harding then thought that the western
+coast would have offered refuge, either to a ship in distress, or to a
+vessel in her regular course; but now, as he saw that this coast
+presented no good anchorage, he wished to seek on the south what they
+had not been able to find on the west.
+
+Gideon Spilett proposed to continue the exploration, that the question
+of the supposed wreck might be completely settled, and he asked at
+what distance Claw Cape might be from the extremity of the peninsula.
+
+"About thirty miles," replied the engineer, "if we take into
+consideration the curvings of the coast."
+
+"Thirty miles!" returned Spilett. "That would be a long day's march.
+Nevertheless, I think that we should return to Granite House by the
+south coast."
+
+"But," observed Herbert, "from Claw Cape to Granite House there must
+be at least another ten miles."
+
+"Make it forty miles in all," replied the engineer, "and do not
+hesitate to do it. At least we should survey the unknown shore, and
+then we shall not have to begin the exploration again."
+
+"Very good," said Pencroft. "But the boat?"
+
+"The boat has remained by itself for one day at the sources of the
+Mercy," replied Gideon Spilett; "it may just as well stay there two
+days! As yet, we have had no reason to think that the island is
+infested by thieves!"
+
+"Yet," said the sailor, "when I remember the history of the turtle, I
+am far from confident of that."
+
+"The turtle! the turtle!" replied the reporter. "Don't you know that
+the sea turned it over?"
+
+"Who knows?" murmured the engineer.
+
+"But--" said Neb.
+
+Neb had evidently something to say, for he opened his mouth to speak
+and yet said nothing.
+
+"What do you want to say, Neb?" asked the engineer.
+
+"If we return by the shore to Claw Cape," replied Neb, "after having
+doubled the Cape, we shall be stopped--"
+
+"By the Mercy! of course," replied Herbert, "and we shall have neither
+bridge nor boat by which to cross."
+
+"But, captain," added Pencroft, "with a few floating trunks we shall
+have no difficulty in crossing the river."
+
+"Never mind," said Spilett, "it will be useful to construct a bridge
+if we wish to have an easy access to the Far West!"
+
+"A bridge!" cried Pencroft. "Well, is not the captain the best
+engineer in his profession? He will make us a bridge when we want one.
+As to transporting you this evening to the other side of the Mercy,
+and that without wetting one thread of your clothes, I will take care
+of that. We have provisions for another day, and besides we can get
+plenty of game. Forward!"
+
+The reporter's proposal, so strongly seconded by the sailor, received
+general approbation, for each wished to have their doubts set at rest,
+and by returning by Claw Cape the exploration would be ended. But
+there was not an hour to lose, for forty miles was a long march, and
+they could not hope to reach Granite House before night.
+
+At six o'clock in the morning the little band set out. As a precaution
+the guns were loaded with ball, and Top, who led the van, received
+orders to beat about the edge of the forest.
+
+From the extremity of the promontory which formed the tail of the
+peninsula the coast was rounded for a distance of five miles, which
+was rapidly passed over, without even the most minute investigations
+bringing to light the least trace of any old or recent landings; no
+_debris_, no mark of an encampment, no cinders of a fire, nor even a
+footprint!
+
+From the point of the peninsula on which the settlers now were their
+gaze could extend along the south-west. Twenty-five miles off the
+coast terminated in the Claw Cape, which loomed dimly through the
+morning mists, and which, by the phenomenon of the mirage, appeared as
+if suspended between land and water.
+
+Between the place occupied by the colonists and the other side of the
+immense bay, the shore was composed, first, of a tract of low land,
+bordered in the background by trees; then the shore became more
+irregular, projecting sharp points into the sea, and finally ended in
+the black rocks which, accumulated in picturesque disorder, formed
+Claw Cape.
+
+Such was the development of this part of the island, which the
+settlers took in at a glance, whilst stopping for an instant.
+
+"If a vessel ran in here," said Pencroft, "she would certainly be
+lost. Sandbanks and reefs everywhere! Bad quarters!"
+
+"But at least something would be left of the ship," observed the
+reporter.
+
+"There might be pieces of wood on the rocks, but nothing on the
+sands," replied the sailor.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because the sands are still more dangerous than the rocks, for they
+swallow up everything that is thrown on them. In a few days the hull
+of a ship of several hundred tons would disappear entirely in there!"
+
+"So, Pencroft," asked the engineer, "if a ship has been wrecked on
+these banks, is it not astonishing that there is now no trace of her
+remaining?"
+
+"No, captain, with the aid of time and tempest. However, it would be
+surprising, even in this case, that some of the masts or spars should
+not have been thrown on the beach, out of reach of the waves."
+
+"Let us go on with our search, then," returned Cyrus Harding.
+
+At one o'clock the colonists arrived at the other side of Washington
+Bay, they having now gone a distance of twenty miles.
+
+They then halted for breakfast.
+
+Here began the irregular coast, covered with lines of rocks and
+sandbanks. The long sea-swell could be seen breaking over the rocks in
+the bay, forming a foamy fringe. From this point to Claw Cape the
+beach was very narrow between the edge of the forest and the reefs.
+
+Walking was now more difficult, on account of the numerous rocks which
+encumbered the beach. The granite cliff also gradually increased in
+height, and only the green tops of the trees which crowned it could be
+seen.
+
+After half an hour's rest, the settlers resumed their journey, and not
+a spot among the rocks was left unexamined. Pencroft and Neb even
+rushed into the surf whenever any object attracted their attention.
+But they found nothing, some curious formations of the rocks having
+deceived them. They ascertained, however, that eatable shell-fish
+abounded there, but these could not be of any great advantage to them
+until some easy means of communication had been established between
+the two banks of the Mercy, and until the means of transport had been
+perfected.
+
+Nothing therefore which threw any light on the supposed wreck could be
+found on this shore, yet an object of any importance, such as the hull
+of a ship, would have been seen directly, or any of her masts and
+spars would have been washed on shore, just as the chest had been,
+which was found twenty miles from here. But there was nothing.
+
+Towards three o'clock Harding and his companions arrived at a snug
+little creek. It formed quite a natural harbour, invisible from the
+sea, and was entered by a narrow channel. At the back of this creek
+some violent convulsion had torn up the rocky border, and a cutting,
+by a gentle slope, gave access to an upper plateau, which might be
+situated at least ten miles from Claw Cape, and consequently four
+miles in a straight line from Prospect Heights. Gideon Spilett
+proposed to his companions that they should make a halt here. They
+agreed readily, for their walk had sharpened their appetites; and
+although it was not their usual dinner-hour, no one refused to
+strengthen himself with a piece of venison. This luncheon would
+sustain them till their supper, which they intended to take at Granite
+House. In a few minutes the settlers, seated under a clump of fine
+sea-pines, were devouring the provisions which Neb produced from his
+bag.
+
+This spot was raised from fifty to sixty feet above the level of the
+sea. The view was very extensive, but beyond the cape it ended in
+Union Bay. Neither the islet nor Prospect Heights were visible, and
+could not be from thence, for the rising ground and the curtain of
+trees closed the northern horizon.
+
+It is useless to add that notwithstanding the wide extent of sea which
+the explorers could survey, and though the engineer swept the horizon
+with his glass, no vessel could be found.
+
+The shore was of course examined with the same care from the edge of
+the water to the cliff, and nothing could be discovered even with the
+aid of the instrument.
+
+"Well," said Gideon Spilett, "it seems we must make up our minds to
+console ourselves with thinking that no one will come to dispute with
+us the possession of Lincoln Island!"
+
+"But the bullet," cried Herbert. "That was not imaginary, I suppose!"
+
+"Hang it, no!" exclaimed Pencroft, thinking of his absent tooth.
+
+"Then what conclusion may be drawn?" asked the reporter.
+
+"This," replied the engineer, "that three months or more ago, a
+vessel, either voluntarily or not, came here."
+
+"What! then you admit, Cyrus, that she was swallowed up without
+leaving any trace?" cried the reporter.
+
+"No, my dear Spilett, but you see that if it is certain that a human
+being set foot on the island, it appears no less certain that he has
+now left it."
+
+"Then, if I understand you right, captain," said Herbert, "the vessel
+has left again?"
+
+"Evidently."
+
+"And we have lost an opportunity to get back to our country?" said
+Neb.
+
+"I fear so."
+
+"Very well, since the opportunity is lost, let us go on, it can't be
+helped," said Pencroft, who felt home sickness for Granite House.
+
+But just as they were rising, Top was heard loudly barking; and the
+dog issued from the wood, holding in his mouth a rag soiled with mud.
+
+Neb seized it. It was a piece of strong cloth!
+
+Top still barked, and by his going and coming, seemed to invite his
+master to follow him into the forest.
+
+"Now there's something to explain the bullet!" exclaimed Pencroft.
+
+"A castaway!" replied Herbert.
+
+"Wounded, perhaps!" said Neb.
+
+"Or dead!" added the reporter.
+
+All ran after the dog, among the tall pines on the border of the
+forest. Harding and his companions made ready their fire-arms, in case
+of an emergency.
+
+They advanced some way into the wood, but to their great
+disappointment, they as yet saw no signs of any human being having
+passed that way. Shrubs and creepers were uninjured, and they had even
+to cut them away with the axe, as they had done in the deepest
+recesses of the forest. It was difficult to fancy that any human
+creature had ever passed there, but yet Top went backwards and
+forwards, not like a dog who searches at random, but like a being
+endowed with a mind, who is following up an idea.
+
+In about seven or eight minutes Top stopped in a glade surrounded with
+tall trees. The settlers gazed around them, but saw nothing, neither
+under the bushes nor among the trees.
+
+"What is the matter, Top?" said Cyrus Harding.
+
+Top barked louder, bounding about at the foot of a gigantic pine. All
+at once Pencroft shouted,--
+
+[Illustration: "NOW THERE'S SOMETHING TO EXPLAIN THE BULLET!"
+EXCLAIMED PENCROFT]
+
+"Ho, splendid! capital!"
+
+"What is it?" asked Spilett
+
+"We have been looking for a wreck at sea or on land!"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well, and here we've found one in the air!"
+
+And the sailor pointed to a great white rag, caught in the top of a
+pine, a fallen scrap of which the dog had brought to them.
+
+"But that is not a wreck!" cried Gideon Spilett.
+
+"I beg your pardon!" returned Pencroft.
+
+"Why? is it--?"
+
+"It is all that remains of our airy boat, of our balloon, which has
+been caught up aloft there, at the top of that tree!"
+
+Pencroft was not mistaken, and he gave vent to his feelings in a
+tremendous hurrah, adding,--
+
+"There is good cloth! There is what will furnish us with linen for
+years. There is what will make us handkerchiefs and shirts! Ha, ha, Mr
+Spilett, what do you say to an island where shirts grow on the trees?"
+
+It was certainly a lucky circumstance for the settlers in Lincoln
+Island that the balloon, after having made its last bound into the
+air, had fallen on the island and thus given them the opportunity of
+finding it again, whether they kept the case under its present form,
+or whether they wished to attempt another escape by it, or whether
+they usefully employed the several hundred yards of cotton, which was
+of fine quality. Pencroft's joy was therefore shared by all.
+
+But it was necessary to bring down the remains of the balloon from the
+tree, to place it in security, and this was no slight task. Neb,
+Herbert, and the sailor, climbing to the summit of the tree, used all
+their skill to disengage the now reduced balloon.
+
+The operation lasted two hours, and then not only the case, with its
+valve, its springs, its brasswork, lay on the ground, but the net,
+that is to say a considerable quantity of ropes and cordage, and the
+circle and the anchor. The case, except for the fracture, was in good
+condition, only the lower portion being torn.
+
+[Illustration: A WRECK IN THE AIR]
+
+It was a fortune which had fallen from the sky. "All the same,
+captain," said the sailor, "if we ever decide to leave the island, it
+won't be in a balloon, will it? These air-boats won't go where we want
+them to go, and we have had some experience in that way! Look here, We
+will build a craft of some twenty tons, and then we can make a
+main-sail, a fore-sail, and a jib out of that cloth. As to the rest of
+it, that will help to dress us."
+
+"We shall see, Pencroft," replied Cyrus Harding; "we shall see."
+
+"In the meantime, we must put it in a safe place," said Neb.
+
+They certainly could not think of carrying this load of cloth, ropes,
+and cordage, to Granite House, for the weight of it was very
+considerable, and whilst waiting for a suitable vehicle in which to
+convey it, it was of importance that this treasure should not be left
+longer exposed to the mercies of the first storm. The settlers uniting
+their efforts managed to drag it as far as the shore, where they
+discovered a large rocky cavity, which owing to its position could not
+be visited either by the wind or rain.
+
+"We needed a locker, and now we have one," said Pencroft; "but as we
+cannot lock it up, it will be prudent to hide the opening. I don't
+mean from two-legged thieves, but; from those with four paws!"
+
+At six o'clock, all was stowed away, and after having given the creek
+the very suitable name of "Port Balloon," the settlers pursued their
+way along Claw Cape. Pencroft and the engineer talked of the different
+projects which it was agreed to put into execution with the briefest
+possible delay. It was necessary first of all to throw a bridge over
+the Mercy, so as to establish an easy communication with the south of
+the island; then the cart must be taken to bring back the balloon, for
+the canoe alone could not carry it, then they would build a decked
+boat, and Pencroft would rig it as a cutter, and they would be able to
+undertake voyages of circumnavigation round the island, etc.
+
+In the meanwhile night came on, and it was already dark when the
+settlers reached Flotsam Point, the place where they had discovered
+the precious chest.
+
+The distance between Flotsam Point and Granite House was another four
+miles, and it was midnight when, after having followed the shore to
+the mouth of the Mercy, the settlers arrived at the first angle formed
+by the Mercy.
+
+There the river was eighty feet in breadth, which was awkward to
+cross, but as Pencroft had taken upon himself to conquer this
+difficulty, he was compelled to do it. The settlers certainly had
+reason to be pretty tired. The journey had been long, and the task of
+getting down the balloon had not rested either their arms or legs.
+They were anxious to reach Granite House to eat and sleep, and if the
+bridge had been constructed, in a quarter of an hour they would have
+been at home.
+
+The night was very dark. Pencroft prepared to keep his promise by
+constructing a sort of raft, on which to make the passage of the
+Mercy. He and Neb, armed with axes, chose two trees near the water,
+and began to attack them at the base.
+
+Cyrus Harding and Spilett, seated on the bank, waited till their
+companions were ready for their help, whilst Herbert roamed about,
+though without going to any distance. All at once, the lad, who had
+strolled by the river, came running back, and, pointing up the Mercy,
+exclaimed,--
+
+"What is floating there?"
+
+Pencroft stopped working, and seeing an indistinct object moving
+through the gloom,--
+
+"A canoe!" cried he.
+
+All approached, and saw to their extreme surprise, a boat floating
+down the current.
+
+"Boat ahoy!" shouted the sailor, without thinking that perhaps it
+would be best to keep silence.
+
+No reply. The boat still drifted onwards, and it was not more than
+twelve feet off, when the sailor exclaimed--
+
+"But it is our own boat! she has broken her moorings, and floated down
+the current. I must say she has arrived very opportunely."
+
+"Our boat?" murmured the engineer.
+
+Pencroft was right. It was indeed the canoe, of which the rope had
+undoubtedly broken, and which had come alone from the sources of the
+Mercy. It was very important to seize it before the rapid current
+should have swept it away out of the mouth of the river, but Neb and
+Pencroft cleverly managed this by means of a long pole.
+
+The canoe touched the shore. The engineer leapt in first, and found,
+on examining the rope, that it had been really worn through by rubbing
+against the rocks.
+
+"Well," said the reporter to him, in a low voice, "this is a strange
+thing."
+
+"Strange indeed!" returned Cyrus Handing.
+
+Strange or not, it was very fortunate. Herbert, the reporter, Neb, and
+Pencroft, embarked in turn. There was no doubt about the rope having
+been worn through, but the astonishing part of the affair was, that
+the boat should have arrived just at the moment when the settlers were
+there to seize it on its way, for a quarter of an hour earlier or
+later it would have been lost in the sea.
+
+If they had been living in the time of genii, this incident would have
+given them the right to think that the island was haunted by some
+supernatural being, who used his power in the service of the
+castaways!
+
+A few strokes of the oar brought the settlers to the mouth of the
+Mercy. The canoe was hauled up on the beach near the Chimneys, and all
+proceeded towards the ladder of Granite House.
+
+But at that moment, Top barked angrily, and Neb, who was looking for
+the first steps, uttered a cry.
+
+There was no longer a ladder!
+
+[Illustration: THERE WAS NO LONGER A LADDER!]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+ Pencroft's Halloos -- A Night in the Chimneys -- Herbert's
+ Arrows -- The Captain's Project -- An unexpected Explanation
+ -- What has happened in Granite House -- How a new Servant
+ enters the Service of the Colonists.
+
+
+Cyrus Harding stood still, without saying a word. His companions
+searched in the darkness on the wall, in case the wind should have
+moved the ladder, and on the ground, thinking that it might have
+fallen down.... But the ladder had quite disappeared. As to
+ascertaining if a squall had blown it on to the landing-place, half
+way up, that was impossible in the dark.
+
+"If it is a joke," cried Pencroft, "it is a very stupid one; to come
+home and find no staircase to go up to your room by; for weary men,
+there is nothing to laugh at that I can see."
+
+Neb could do nothing but cry out, "Oh! oh! oh!"
+
+"I begin to think that very curious things happen in Lincoln Island!"
+said Pencroft.
+
+"Curious?" replied Gideon Spilett, "not at all, Pencroft, nothing can
+be more natural. Some one has come during our absence, taken
+possession of our dwelling and drawn up the ladder."
+
+"Some one," cried the sailor. "But who?"
+
+"Who but the hunter who fired the bullet?" replied the reporter.
+
+"Well, if there is any one up there," replied Pencroft, who began to
+lose patience, "I will give them a hail, and they must answer."
+
+And in a stentorian voice the sailor gave a prolonged "Halloo!" which
+was echoed again and again from the cliff and rocks.
+
+The settlers listened and they thought they heard a sort of chuckling
+laugh, of which they could not guess the origin. But no voice replied
+to Pencroft, who in vain repeated his vigorous shouts.
+
+There was something indeed in this to astonish the most apathetic of
+men, and the settlers were not men of that description. In their
+situation every incident had its importance, and, certainly, during
+the seven months which they had spent on the island, they had not
+before met with anything of so surprising a character.
+
+Be that as it may, forgetting their fatigue in the singularity of the
+event, they remained below Granite House, not knowing what to think,
+not knowing what to do, questioning each other without any hope of a
+satisfactory reply, every one starting some supposition each more
+unlikely than the last. Neb bewailed himself, much disappointed at not
+being able to get into his kitchen, for the provisions which they had
+had on their expedition were exhausted, and they had no means of
+renewing them.
+
+"My friends," at last said Cyrus Harding, "there is only one thing to
+be done at present, wait for day, and then act according to
+circumstances. But let us go to the Chimneys. There we shall be under
+shelter, and if we cannot eat, we can at least sleep."
+
+"But who is it that has played us this cool trick?" again asked
+Pencroft, unable to make up his mind to retire from the spot.
+
+Whoever it was, the only thing practicable was to do as the engineer
+proposed, to go to the Chimneys and there wait for day. In the
+meanwhile Top was ordered to mount guard below the windows of Granite
+House, and when Top received an order he obeyed it without any
+questioning. The brave dog therefore remained at the foot of the cliff
+whilst his master with his companions sought a refuge among the rocks.
+
+To say that the settlers, notwithstanding their fatigue, slept well on
+the sandy floor of the Chimneys would not be true. It was not only
+that they were extremely anxious to find out the cause of what had
+happened, whether it was the result of an accident which would be
+discovered at the return of day, or whether on the contrary it was the
+work of a human being; but they also had very uncomfortable beds. That
+could not be helped, however, for in some way or other at that moment
+their dwelling was occupied, and they could not possibly enter it.
+
+Now Granite House was more than their dwelling, it was their
+warehouse. There were all the stores belonging to the colony, weapons,
+instruments, tools, ammunition, provisions, etc. To think that all
+that might be pillaged and that the settlers would have all their work
+to do over again, fresh weapons and tools to make, was a serious
+matter. Their uneasiness led one or other of them also to go out every
+few minutes to see if Top was keeping good watch. Cyrus Harding alone
+waited with his habitual patience, although his strong mind was
+exasperated at being confronted with such an inexplicable fact, and he
+was provoked at himself for allowing a feeling to which he could not
+give a name, to gain an influence over him. Gideon Spilett shared his
+feelings in this respect, and the two conversed together in whispers
+of the inexplicable circumstance which baffled even their intelligence
+and experience.
+
+"It is a joke," said Pencroft; "it is a trick some one has played us.
+Well, I don't like such jokes, and the joker had better look out for
+himself, if he falls into my hands, I can tell him."
+
+As soon as the first gleam of light appeared in the east, the
+colonists, suitably armed, repaired to the beach under Granite House.
+The rising sun now shone on the cliff and they could see the windows,
+the shutters of which were closed, through the curtains of foliage.
+
+All here was in order; but a cry escaped the colonists when they saw
+that the door, which they had closed on their departure, was now wide
+open.
+
+Some one had entered Granite House--there could be no more doubt about
+that.
+
+The upper ladder, which generally hung from the door to the landing,
+was in its place, but the lower ladder was drawn up and raised to the
+threshold. It was evident that the intruders had wished to guard
+themselves against a surprise.
+
+Pencroft hailed again.
+
+No reply.
+
+"The beggars," exclaimed the sailor. "There they are sleeping quietly
+as if they were in their own house. Hallo there, you pirates,
+brigands, robbers, sons of John Bull!".
+
+When Pencroft, being a Yankee, treated any one to the epithet of "son
+of John Bull," he considered he had reached the last limits of insult.
+
+The sun had now completely risen, and the whole façade of Granite
+House became illuminated by his rays; but in the interior as well as
+on the exterior all was quiet and calm.
+
+The settlers asked if Granite House was inhabited or not, and yet the
+position of the ladder was sufficient to show that it was; it was also
+certain that the inhabitants, whoever they might be, had not been able
+to escape. But how were they to be got at?
+
+Herbert then thought of fastening a cord to an arrow, and shooting the
+arrow so that it should pass between the first rounds of the ladder
+which hung from the threshold. By means of the cord they would then be
+able to draw down the ladder to the ground, and so re-establish the
+communication between the beach and Granite House. There was evidently
+nothing else to be done, and, with a little skill, this method might
+succeed. Very fortunately bows and arrows had been left at the
+Chimneys, where they also found a quantity of light hibiscus cord.
+Pencroft fastened this to a well-feathered arrow. Then Herbert fixing
+it to his bow, took a careful aim for the lower part of the ladder.
+
+Cyrus Harding, Gideon Spilett, Pencroft, and Neb drew back, so as to
+see if anything appeared at the windows. The reporter lifted his gun
+to his shoulder and covered the door.
+
+The bow was bent, the arrow flew, taking the cord with it, and passed
+between the two last rounds.
+
+The operation had succeeded.
+
+Herbert immediately seized the end of the cord, but, at that moment
+when he gave it a pull to bring down the ladder, an arm, thrust
+suddenly out between the wall and the door, grasped it and dragged it
+inside Granite House.
+
+"The rascals!" shouted the sailor. "If a ball can do anything for you,
+you shall not have long to wait for it."
+
+"But who was it?" asked Neb.
+
+"Who was it? Didn't you see?"
+
+"No."
+
+"It was a monkey, a sapago, an orang-outang, a baboon, a gorilla, a
+sagoin. Our dwelling has been invaded by monkeys, who climbed up the
+ladder during our absence."
+
+And, at this moment, as if to bear witness to the truth of the sailors
+words, two or three quadrumana showed themselves at the windows, from
+which they had pushed back the shutters, and saluted the real
+proprietors of the place with a thousand hideous grimaces.
+
+"I knew that it was only a joke," cried Pencroft, "but one of the
+jokers shall pay the penalty for the rest."
+
+So saying, the sailor, raising his piece, took a rapid aim at one of
+the monkeys and fired. All disappeared, except one who fell mortally
+wounded on the beach. This monkey, which was of a large size,
+evidently belonged to the first order of the quadrumana. Whether this
+was a chimpanzee, an orang-outang, or a gorilla, he took rank among
+the anthropoid apes, who are so called from their resemblance to the
+human race. However, Herbert declared it to be an orang-outang.
+
+"What a magnificent beast!" cried Neb.
+
+"Magnificent, if you like," replied Pencroft; "but still I do not see
+how we are to get into our house."
+
+"Herbert is a good marksman," said the reporter, "and his bow is here.
+He can try again."
+
+"Why, these apes are so cunning," returned Pencroft, "they won't show
+themselves again at the windows and so we can't kill them, and when I
+think of the mischief they may do in the rooms and storehouse--"
+
+"Have patience," replied Harding; "these creatures cannot keep us long
+at bay."
+
+"I shall not be sure of that till I see them down here," replied the
+sailor "And now, captain, do you know how many dozens of these fellows
+are up there?"
+
+It was difficult to reply to Pencroft, and as for the young boy making
+another attempt, that was not easy; for the lower part of the ladder
+had been drawn again into the door, and when another pull was given,
+the line broke and the ladder remained firm. The case was really
+perplexing. Pencroft stormed. There was a comic side to the situation,
+but he did not think it funny at all. It was certain that the settlers
+would end by reinstating themselves in their domicile and driving out
+the intruders, but when and how? that is what they were not able to
+say.
+
+[Illustration: THE INVADERS OF GRANITE HOUSE]
+
+Two hours passed, during which the apes took care not to show
+themselves, but they were still there, and three or four times a nose
+or a paw was poked out at the door or windows, and was immediately
+saluted by a gun-shot.
+
+"Let us hide ourselves," at last said the engineer. "Perhaps the apes
+will think we have gone quite away and will show themselves again. Let
+Spilett and Herbert conceal themselves behind those rocks and fire on
+all that may appear."
+
+The engineer's orders were obeyed, and whilst the reporter and the
+lad, the best marksmen in the colony, posted themselves in a good
+position, but out of the monkeys' sight, Neb, Pencroft, and Cyrus
+climbed the plateau and entered the forest in order to kill some game,
+for it was now time for breakfast and they had no provisions
+remaining.
+
+In half an hour the hunters returned with a few rock pigeons, which
+they roasted as well as they could. Not an ape had appeared. Gideon
+Spilett and Herbert went to take their share of the breakfast, leaving
+Top to watch under the windows. They then, having eaten, returned to
+their post.
+
+Two hours later, their situation was in no degree improved. The
+quadrumana gave no sign of existence, and it might have been supposed
+that they had disappeared; but what seemed more probable was that,
+terrified by the death of one of their companions, and frightened by
+the noise of the firearms, they had retreated to the back part of the
+house or probably even into the storeroom. And when they thought of
+the valuables which this storeroom contained, the patience so much
+recommended by the engineer, fast changed into great irritation, and
+there certainly was room for it.
+
+"Decidedly it is too bad," said the reporter; "and the worst of it is,
+there is no way of putting an end to it."
+
+"But we must drive these vagabonds out somehow," cried the sailor. "We
+could soon get the better of them, even if there are twenty of the
+rascals; but for that, we must meet them hand to hand. Come now, is
+there no way of getting at them?"
+
+"Let us try to enter Granite House by the old opening at the lake,"
+replied the engineer.
+
+"Oh!" shouted the sailor, "and I never thought of that."
+
+This was in reality the only way by which to penetrate into Granite
+House so as to fight with and drive out the intruders. The opening
+was, it is true, closed up with a wall of cemented stones, which it
+would be necessary to sacrifice, but that could easily be rebuilt.
+Fortunately, Cyrus Harding had not as yet effected his project of
+hiding this opening by raising the waters of the lake, for the
+operation would then have taken some time.
+
+It was already past twelve o'clock when the colonists, well armed and
+provided with picks and spades, left the Chimneys, passed beneath the
+windows of Granite House, after telling Top to remain at his post, and
+began to ascend the left bank of the Mercy, so as to reach Prospect
+Heights.
+
+But they had not made fifty steps in this direction, when they heard
+the dog barking furiously.
+
+And all rushed down the bank again.
+
+Arrived at the turning, they saw that the situation had changed.
+
+In fact, the apes, seized with a sudden panic, from some unknown
+cause, were trying to escape. Two or three ran and clambered from one
+window to another with the agility of acrobats. They were not even
+trying to replace the ladder, by which it would have been easy to
+descend; perhaps in their terror they had forgotten this way of
+escape. The colonists, now being able to take aim without difficulty,
+fired. Some, wounded or killed, fell back into the rooms, uttering
+piercing cries. The rest, throwing themselves out, were dashed to
+pieces in their fall, and in a few minutes, so far as they knew, there
+was not a living quadrumana in Granite House.
+
+At this moment the ladder was seen to slip over the threshold, then
+unroll and fall to the ground.
+
+"Hullo!" cried the sailor, "this is queer!"
+
+"Very strange!" murmured the engineer, leaping first up the ladder.
+
+"Take care, captain!" cried Pencroft, "perhaps there are still some of
+these rascals..."
+
+"We shall soon see," replied the engineer, without stopping however.
+
+All his companions followed him, and in a minute they had arrived at
+the threshold. They searched everywhere. There was no one in the rooms
+nor in the storehouse, which had been respected by the band of
+quadrumana.
+
+"Well now, and the ladder," cried the sailor; "who can the gentleman
+have been who sent us that down?"
+
+But at that moment a cry was heard, and a great orang, who had hidden
+himself in the passage, rushed into the room, pursued by Neb.
+
+"Ah the robber!" cried Pencroft.
+
+And hatchet in hand, he was about to cleave the head of the animal,
+when Cyrus Harding seized his arm, saying,--
+
+"Spare him, Pencroft."
+
+"Pardon this rascal?"
+
+"Yes! it was he who threw us the ladder!"
+
+And the engineer said this in such a peculiar voice that it was
+difficult to know whether he spoke seriously or not.
+
+Nevertheless, they threw themselves on the orang, who defended himself
+gallantly, but was soon overpowered and bound.
+
+"There!" said Pencroft. "And what shall we make of him, now we've got
+him?"
+
+"A servant!" replied Herbert.
+
+The lad was not joking in saying this, for he knew how this
+intelligent race could be turned to account.
+
+The settlers then approached the ape and gazed at it attentively. He
+belonged to the family of anthropoid apes, of which the facial angle
+is not much inferior to that of the Australians and Hottentots. It was
+an orang-outang, and as such, had neither the ferocity of the gorilla,
+nor the stupidity of the baboon. It is to this family of the
+anthropoid apes that so many characteristics belong which prove them
+to be possessed of an almost human intelligence. Employed in houses,
+they can wait at table, sweep rooms, brush clothes, clean boots,
+handle a knife, fork, and spoon properly, and even drink wine,...
+doing everything as well as the best servant that ever walked upon two
+legs. Buffon possessed one of these apes, who served him for a long
+time as a faithful and zealous servant.
+
+[Illustration: CAPTURING THE ORANG]
+
+The one which had been seized in the hall of Granite House was a great
+fellow, six feet high, with an admirably proportioned frame, a broad
+chest, head of a moderate size, the facial angle reaching sixty-five
+degrees, round skull, projecting nose, skin covered with soft glossy
+hair, in short, a fine specimen of the anthropoids. His eyes, rather
+smaller than human eyes, sparkled with intelligence, his white teeth
+glittered under his moustache, and he wore a little curly brown beard.
+
+"A handsome fellow!" said Pencroft; "if we only knew his language, we
+could talk to him."
+
+"But, master," said Neb, "are you serious? Are we going to take him as
+a servant?"
+
+"Yes, Neb," replied the engineer, smiling. "But you must not be
+jealous."
+
+"And I hope he will make an excellent servant," added Herbert. "He
+appears young, and will be easy to educate, and we shall not be
+obliged to use force to subdue him, nor draw his teeth, as is
+sometimes done. He will soon grow fond of his masters if they are kind
+to him."
+
+"And they will be," replied Pencroft, who had forgotten all his
+rancour against "the jokers."
+
+Then, approaching the orang,--
+
+"Well, old boy!" he asked, "how are you?"
+
+The orang replied by a little grunt which did not show any anger.
+
+"You wish to join the colony?" again asked the sailor. "You are going
+to enter the service of Captain Cyrus Harding?"
+
+Another respondent grunt was uttered by the ape.
+
+"And you will be satisfied with no other wages than your food?"
+
+Third affirmative grunt.
+
+"This conversation is slightly monotonous," observed Gideon Spilett.
+
+"So much the better," replied Pencroft, "the best servants are those
+who talk the least. And then, no wages, do you hear, my boy? We will
+give you no wages at first, but we will double them afterwards if we
+are pleased with you."
+
+Thus the colony was increased by a new member. As to his name the
+sailor begged that in memory of another ape which he had known, he
+might be called Jupiter, and Jup for short.
+
+And so, without more ceremony, Master Jup was installed in Granite
+House.
+
+[Illustration: ENGAGING THE NEW SERVANT]
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+ Plans -- A Bridge over the Mercy -- Mode adopted for making
+ an Island of Prospect Heights -- The Drawbridge -- Harvest --
+ The Stream -- The Poultry Yard -- A Pigeon-house -- The two
+ Onagas -- The Cart -- Excursion to Port Balloon.
+
+
+The settlers in Lincoln Island had now regained their dwelling,
+without having been obliged to reach it by the old opening, and were
+therefore spared the trouble of mason's work. It was certainly lucky,
+that at the moment they were about to set out to do so, the apes had
+been seized with that terror, no less sudden than inexplicable, which
+had driven them out of Granite House. Had the animals discovered that
+they were about to be attacked from another direction? This was the
+only explanation of their sudden retreat.
+
+During the day the bodies of the apes were carried into the wood,
+where they were buried; then the settlers busied themselves in
+repairing the disorder caused by the intruders, disorder but not
+damage, for although they had turned everything in the rooms
+topsy-turvy, yet they had broken nothing. Neb relighted his stove, and
+the stores in the larder furnished a substantial repast, to which all
+did ample justice.
+
+Jup was not forgotten, and he ate with relish some stone-pine almonds
+and rhizome roots, with which he was abundantly supplied. Pencroft had
+unfastened his arms, but judged it best to have his legs tied until
+they were more sure of his submission.
+
+Then, before retiring to rest, Harding and his companions seated round
+their table, discussed those plans, the execution of which was most
+pressing. The most important and most urgent was the establishment of
+a bridge over the Mercy, so as to form a communication with the
+southern part of the island and Granite House; then the making of an
+enclosure for the musmons or other woolly animals which they wished to
+capture.
+
+These two projects would help to solve the difficulty as to their
+clothing, which was now serious. The bridge would render easy the
+transport of the balloon case, which would furnish them with linen,
+and the inhabitants of the enclosure would yield wool which would
+supply them with winter clothes.
+
+As to the enclosure, it was Cyrus Harding's intention to establish it
+at the sources of the Red Creek, where the ruminants would find fresh
+and abundant pasture. The road between Prospect Heights and the
+sources of the stream was already partly beaten, and with a better
+cart than the first, the material could be easily conveyed to the
+spot, especially if they could manage to capture some animals to draw
+it.
+
+But though there might be no inconvenience in the enclosure being so
+far from Granite House, it would not be the same with the
+poultry-yard, to which Neb called the attention of the colonists. It
+was indeed necessary that the birds should be close within reach of
+the cook, and no place appeared more favourable for the establishment
+of the said poultry-yard than that portion of the banks of the lake
+which was close to the old opening.
+
+Water-birds would prosper there as well as others, and the couple of
+tinamous taken in their last excursion would be the first to be
+domesticated.
+
+The next day, the 3rd of November, the new works were begun by the
+construction of the bridge, and all hands were required for this
+important task. Saws, hatchets, and hammers were shouldered by the
+settlers, who, now transformed into carpenters, descended to the
+shore.
+
+There Pencroft observed,--
+
+"Suppose, that during our absence, Master Jup takes it into his head
+to draw up the ladder which he so politely returned to us yesterday?"
+
+"Let us tie its lower end down firmly," replied Cyrus Harding.
+
+This was done by means of two stakes securely fixed in the sand. Then
+the settlers, ascending the left bank of the Mercy, soon arrived at
+the angle formed by the river.
+
+There they halted, in order to ascertain if the bridge could be thrown
+across. The place appeared suitable.
+
+In fact, from this spot, to Port Balloon, discovered the day before on
+the southern coast, there was only a distance of three miles and a
+half, and from the bridge to the Port, it would be easy to make a good
+cart-road which would render the communication between Granite House
+and the south of the island extremely easy.
+
+Cyrus Harding now imparted to his companions a scheme for completely
+isolating Prospect Heights so as to shelter it from the attacks both
+of quadrupeds and quadrumana. In this way, Granite House, the
+Chimneys, the poultry-yard, and all the upper part of the plateau
+which was to be used for cultivation, would be protected against the
+depredations of animals. Nothing could be easier than to execute this
+project, and this is how the engineer intended to set to work.
+
+The plateau was already defended on three sides by watercourses,
+either artificial or natural. On the north-west, by the shores of Lake
+Grant, from the entrance of the passage to the breach made in the
+banks of the lake for the escape of the water.
+
+On the north, from this breach to the sea, by the new watercourse
+which had hollowed out a bed for itself across the plateau and shore,
+above and below the fall, and it would be enough to dig the bed of
+this creek a little deeper to make it impracticable for animals, on
+all the eastern border by the sea itself, from the mouth of the
+aforesaid creek to the mouth of the Mercy.
+
+Lastly on the south, from the mouth to the turn of the Mercy where the
+bridge was to be established.
+
+The western border of the plateau now remained between the turn of the
+river and the southern angle of the lake, a distance of about a mile,
+which was open to all comers. But nothing could be easier than to dig
+a broad deep ditch, which could be filled from the lake, and the
+overflow of which would throw itself by a rapid fall into the bed of
+the Mercy. The level of the lake would, no doubt, be somewhat lowered
+by this fresh discharge of its waters, but Cyrus Harding had
+ascertained that the volume of water in the Red Creek was considerable
+enough to allow of the execution of this project.
+
+[Illustration: BUILDING THE BRIDGE]
+
+"So then," added the engineer, "Prospect Heights will become a regular
+island, being surrounded with water on all sides, and only
+communicating with the rest of our domain by the bridge which we are
+about to throw across the Mercy, the two little bridges already
+established above and below the fall; and, lastly, two other little
+bridges which must be constructed, one over the canal which I propose
+to dig, the other across to the left bank of the Mercy. Now, if these
+bridges can be raised at will, Prospect Heights will be guarded from
+any surprise."
+
+The bridge was the most urgent work. Trees were selected, cut down,
+stripped of their branches, and cut into beams, joists, and planks.
+The end of the bridge which rested on the right bank of the Mercy was
+to be firm, but the other end on the left bank was to be movable, so
+that it might be raised by means of a counterpoise, as some canal
+bridges are managed.
+
+This was certainly a considerable work, and though it was skilfully
+conducted, it took some time, for the Mercy at this place was eighty
+feet wide. It was therefore necessary to fix piles in the bed of the
+river so as to sustain the floor of the bridge and establish a
+pile-driver to act on the tops of these piles, which would thus form
+two arches and allow the bridge to support heavy loads.
+
+Happily there was no want of tools with which to shape the wood, nor
+of iron-work to make it firm, nor of the ingenuity of a man who had a
+marvellous knowledge of the work, nor lastly, the zeal of his
+companions, who in seven months had necessarily acquired great skill
+in the use of their tools; and it must be said that not the least
+skillful was Gideon Spilett, who in dexterity almost equalled the
+sailor himself. "Who would ever have expected so much from a newspaper
+man!" thought Pencroft.
+
+The construction of the Mercy bridge lasted three weeks of regular
+hard work. They even breakfasted on the scene of their labours, and
+the weather being magnificent, they only returned to Granite House to
+sleep.
+
+During this period it may be stated that Master Jup grew more
+accustomed to his new masters, whose movements he always watched with
+very inquisitive eyes. However, as a precautionary measure, Pencroft
+did not as yet allow him complete liberty, rightly wishing to wait
+until the limits of the plateau should be settled by the projected
+works. Top and Jup were good friends and played willingly together,
+but Jup did everything solemnly.
+
+On the 20th of November the bridge was finished. The movable part,
+balanced by the counterpoise, swung easily, and only a slight effort
+was needed to raise it; between its hinge and the last cross-bar on
+which it rested when closed, there existed a space of twenty feet,
+which was sufficiently wide to prevent any animals from crossing.
+
+The settlers now began to talk of fetching the balloon-case, which
+they were anxious to place in perfect security; but to bring it, it
+would be necessary to take a cart to Port Balloon, and consequently,
+necessary to beat a road through the dense forests of the Far West.
+This would take some time. Also, Neb and Pencroft having gone to
+examine into the state of things at Port Balloon, and reported that
+the stock of cloth would suffer no damage in the grotto where it was
+stored, it was decided that the work at Prospect Heights should not be
+discontinued.
+
+"That," observed Pencroft, "will enable us to establish our
+poultry-yard under better conditions, since we need have no fear of
+visits from foxes nor the attacks of other beasts."
+
+"Then," added Neb, "we can clear the plateau, and transplant wild
+plants to it."
+
+"And prepare our second cornfield!" cried the sailor with a triumphant
+air.
+
+In fact, the first cornfield sown with a single grain had prospered
+admirably, thanks to Pencroft's care. It had produced the ten ears
+foretold by the engineer, and each ear containing eighty grains, the
+colony found itself in possession of eight hundred grains, in six
+months, which promised a double harvest each year.
+
+These eight hundred grains, except fifty, which were prudently
+reserved, were to be sown in a new field, but with no less care than
+was bestowed on the single grain.
+
+The field was prepared, then surrounded with a strong palisade, high
+and pointed, which quadrupeds would have found difficulty in leaping.
+As to birds, some scarecrows, due to Pencroft's ingenious brain, were
+enough to frighten them. The seven hundred and fifty grains, deposited
+in very regular furrows, were then left for nature to do the rest.
+
+On the 21st of November, Cyrus Harding began to plan the canal which
+was to close the plateau on the west, from the south angle of Lake
+Grant to the angle of the Mercy. There was there two or three feet of
+vegetable earth, and below that granite. It was therefore necessary to
+manufacture some more nitro glycerine, and the nitro glycerine did its
+accustomed work. In less than a fortnight a ditch twelve feet wide and
+six deep, was dug out in the hard ground of the plateau. A new trench
+was made by the same means in the rocky border of the lake forming a
+small stream, to which they gave the name of Creek Glycerine, and
+which was thus an affluent of the Mercy. As the engineer had
+predicted, the level of the lake was lowered, though very slightly. To
+complete the enclosure the bed of the stream on the beach was
+considerably enlarged, and the sand supported by means of stakes.
+
+By the end of the first fortnight of December these works were
+finished, and Prospect Heights--that is to say, a sort of irregular
+pentagon having a perimeter of nearly four miles, surrounded by a
+liquid belt--was completely protected from depredators of every
+description.
+
+During the month of December, the heat was very great. In spite of it
+however, the settlers continued their work, and as they were anxious
+to possess a poultry-yard they forthwith commenced it.
+
+It is useless to say that since the enclosing of the plateau had been
+completed, Master Jup had been set at liberty. He did not leave his
+masters, and evinced no wish to escape. He was a gentle animal, though
+very powerful and wonderfully active. He was already taught to make
+himself useful by drawing loads of wood and carting away the stones
+which were extracted from the bed of Creek Glycerine.
+
+The poultry yard occupied an area of two hundred square yards on the
+south eastern bank of the lake. It was surrounded by a palisade, and
+in it were constructed various shelters for the birds which were to
+populate it. These were simply built of branches and divided into
+compartments made ready for the expected guests.
+
+[Illustration: PENCROFT'S SCARECROWS]
+
+The first were the two tinamous, which were not long in having a
+number of young ones; they had for companions half a dozen ducks,
+accustomed to the borders of the lake. Some belonged to the Chinese
+species, of which the wings open like a fan, and which by the
+brilliancy of their plumage rival the golden pheasants. A few days
+afterwards, Herbert snared a couple of gallinaceĉ, with spreading
+tails composed of long feathers, magnificent alectors, which soon
+became tame. As to pelicans, kingfishers, water-hens, they came of
+themselves to the shores of the poultry-yard, and this little
+community, after some disputes, cooing, screaming, clucking, ended by
+settling down peacefully, and increased in encouraging proportion for
+the future use of the colony.
+
+Cyrus Harding, wishing to complete his performance, established a
+pigeon-house in a corner of the poultry-yard. There he lodged a dozen
+of those pigeons which frequented the rocks of the plateau. These
+birds soon became accustomed to returning every evening to their new
+dwelling, and showed more disposition to domesticate themselves than
+their congeners, the wood-pigeons.
+
+Lastly, the time had come for turning the balloon-case to use, by
+cutting it up to make shirts and other articles; for as to keeping it
+in its present form, and risking themselves in a balloon filled with
+gas, above a sea of the limits of which they had no idea, it was not
+to be thought of.
+
+It was necessary to bring the case to Granite House, and the colonists
+employed themselves in rendering their heavy cart lighter and more
+manageable. But though they had a vehicle, the moving power was yet to
+be found.
+
+But did there not exist in the island some animal which might supply
+the place of the horse, ass, or ox? That was the question.
+
+"Certainly," said Pencroft, "a beast of burden would be very useful to
+us until the captain has made a steam cart, or even an engine, for
+some day we shall have a railroad from Granite House to Port Balloon,
+with a branch line to Mount Franklin!"
+
+One day, the 23rd of December, Neb and Top were heard shouting and
+barking, each apparently trying who could make the most noise. The
+settlers, who were busy at the Chimneys, ran, fearing some vexatious
+incident.
+
+What did they see? Two fine animals of a large size, who had
+imprudently ventured on the plateau, when the bridges were open. One
+would have said they were horses, or at least donkeys, male and
+female, of a fine shape, dove-coloured, the legs and tail white,
+striped with black on the head and neck. They advanced quietly without
+showing any uneasiness, and gazed at the men, in whom they could not
+as yet recognise their future masters.
+
+"These are onagas!" cried Herbert, "animals something between the
+zebra and the conaga!"
+
+"Why not donkeys?" asked Neb.
+
+"Because they have not long ears, and their shape is more graceful!"
+
+"Donkeys or horses," interrupted Pencroft, "they are 'moving powers,'
+as the captain would say, and as such must be captured!"
+
+The sailor, without frightening the animals, crept through the grass
+to the bridge over Creek Glycerine, lowered it, and the onagas were
+prisoners.
+
+Now, should they seize them with violence and master them by force?
+No. It was decided that for a few days they should be allowed to roam
+freely about the plateau, where there was an abundance of grass, and
+the engineer immediately began to prepare a stable near the
+poultry-yard, in which the onagas might find food, with a good litter,
+and shelter during the night.
+
+This done, the movements of the two magnificent creatures were left
+entirely free, and the settlers avoided even approaching them so as to
+terrify them. Several times, however, the onagas appeared to wish to
+leave the plateau, too confined for animals accustomed to the plains
+and forests. They were then seen following the water-barrier which
+everywhere presented itself before them, uttering short neighs, then
+galloping through the grass, and becoming calmer, they would remain
+entire hours gazing at the woods, from which they were cut off for
+ever!
+
+In the meantime harness of vegetable fibre had been manufactured, and
+some days after the capture of the onagas, not only the cart was
+ready, but a straight road, or rather a cutting, had been made through
+the forests of the Far West, from the angle of the Mercy to Port
+Balloon. The cart might then be driven there, and towards the end of
+December they tried the onagas for the first time.
+
+Pencroft had already coaxed the animals to come and eat out of his
+hand, and they allowed him to approach without making any difficulty,
+but once harnessed they reared and could with difficulty be held in.
+However it was not long before they submitted to this new service, for
+the onaga, being less refractory than the zebra, is frequently put in
+harness in the mountainous regions of Southern Africa, and it has even
+been acclimatised in Europe, under zones of a relative coolness.
+
+On this day all the colony, except Pencroft who walked at the animals'
+heads, mounted the cart, and set out on the road to Port Balloon.
+
+Of course they were jolted over the somewhat rough road, but the
+vehicle arrived without any accident, and was soon loaded with the
+case and rigging of the balloon.
+
+At eight o'clock that evening the cart, after passing over the Mercy
+bridge, descended the left bank of the river, and stopped on the
+beach. The onagas being unharnessed, were thence led to their stable,
+and Pencroft before going to sleep gave vent to his feelings in a deep
+sigh of satisfaction that awoke all the echoes of Granite House.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+ Linen -- Shoes of Seal-leather -- Manufacture of Pyroxyle --
+ Gardening -- Fishing -- Turtle-eggs -- Improvement of Master
+ Jup -- The Corral -- Musmon Hunt -- New Animal and Vegetable
+ Possessions -- Recollections of their Native Land.
+
+
+The first week of January was devoted to the manufacture of the linen
+garments required by the colony. The needles found in the box were
+used by sturdy if not delicate fingers, and we may be sure that what
+was sewn was sewn firmly.
+
+There was no lack of thread, thanks to Cyrus Harding's idea of
+re-employing that which had been already used in the covering of the
+balloon. This with admirable patience was all unpicked by Gideon
+Spilett and Herbert, for Pencroft had been obliged to give this work
+up, as it irritated him beyond measure; but he had no equal in the
+sewing part of the business. Indeed, everybody knows that sailors have
+a remarkable aptitude for tailoring.
+
+The cloth of which the balloon-case was made was then cleaned by means
+of soda and potash, obtained by the incineration of plants, in such a
+way that the cotton, having got rid of the varnish, resumed its
+natural softness and elasticity; then, exposed to the action of the
+atmosphere, it soon became perfectly white. Some dozen shirts and
+socks--the latter not knitted of course, but made of cotton--were thus
+manufactured. What a comfort it was to the settlers to clothe
+themselves again in clean linen, which was doubtless rather rough, but
+they were not troubled about that! and then to go to sleep between
+sheets, which made the couches at Granite House into quite comfortable
+beds!
+
+It was about this time also that they made boots of seal-leather,
+which were greatly needed to replace the shoes and boots brought from
+America. We may be sure that these new shoes were large enough and
+never pinched the feet of the wearers.
+
+With the beginning of the year 1866 the heat was very great, but the
+hunting in the forests did not stand still. Agoutis, peccaries,
+capybaras, kangaroos, game of all sorts, actually swarmed there, and
+Spilett and Herbert were too good marksmen ever to throw away their
+shot uselessly.
+
+Cyrus Harding still recommended them to husband the ammunition, and he
+took measures to replace the powder and shot which had been found in
+the box, and which he wished to reserve for the future. How did he
+know where chance might one day cast his companions and himself in the
+event of their leaving their domain? They should, then, prepare for
+the unknown future by husbanding their ammunition and by substituting
+for it some easily renewable substance.
+
+To replace lead, of which Harding had found no traces in the island,
+he employed granulated iron, which was easy to manufacture. These
+bullets, not having the weight of leaden bullets, were made larger,
+and each charge contained less, but the skill of the sportsmen made up
+this deficiency. As to powder, Cyrus Harding would have been able to
+make that also, for he had at his disposal saltpetre, sulphur, and
+coal; but this preparation requires extreme care, and without special
+tools it is difficult to produce it of a good quality. Harding
+preferred, therefore, to manufacture pyroxyle, that is to say
+gun-cotton, a substance in which cotton is not indispensable, as the
+elementary tissue of vegetables may be used, and this is found in an
+almost pure state, not only in cotton, but in the textile fibres of
+hemp and flax, in paper, the pith of the elder, etc. Now, the elder
+abounded in the island towards the mouth of Red Creek, and the
+colonists had already made coffee of the berries of these shrubs,
+which belong to the family of the caprifoliaceĉ.
+
+[Illustration: THE SETTLERS' NEW SHIRTS]
+
+The only thing to be collected, therefore, was elder-pith, for as to
+the other substance necessary for the manufacture of pyroxyle, it was
+only fuming azotic acid. Now, Harding having sulphuric acid at his
+disposal, had already been easily able to produce azotic acid by
+attacking the saltpetre with which nature supplied him. He accordingly
+resolved to manufacture and employ pyroxyle, although it has some
+inconveniences, that is to say, a great inequality of effect, an
+excessive inflammability, since it takes fire at one hundred and
+seventy degrees instead of two hundred and forty, and lastly, an
+instantaneous deflagration which might damage the firearms. On the
+other hand, the advantages of pyroxyle consist in this, that it is not
+injured by damp, that it does not make the gun-barrels dirty, and that
+its force is four times that of ordinary powder.
+
+To make pyroxyle, the cotton must be immersed in the fuming azotic
+acid for a quarter of an hour, then washed in cold water and dried.
+Nothing could be more simple.
+
+Cyrus Harding had only at his disposal the ordinary azotic acid and
+not the fuming or monohydrate azotic acid, that is to say, acid which
+emits white vapours when it comes in contact with damp air; but by
+substituting for the latter ordinary azotic acid, mixed, in the
+proportion of from three to five volumes of concentrated sulphuric
+acid, the engineer obtained the same result. The sportsmen of the
+island therefore soon had a perfectly prepared substance, which,
+employed discreetly, produced admirable results.
+
+About this time the settlers cleared three acres of the plateau, and
+the rest was preserved in a wild state, for the benefit of the onagas.
+Several excursions were made into the Jacamar woods and forests of the
+Far West, and they brought back from thence a large collection of wild
+vegetables, spinage, cress, radishes, and turnips, which careful
+culture would soon improve, and which would temper the regimen on
+which the settlers had till then subsisted. Supplies of wood and coal
+were also carted. Each excursion was at the same time a means of
+improving the roads, which gradually became smoother under the wheels
+of the cart.
+
+The rabbit-warren still continued to supply the larder of Granite
+House. As fortunately it was situated on the other side of Creek
+Glycerine, its inhabitants could not reach the plateau nor ravage the
+newly-made plantation. The oyster-bed among the rocks was frequently
+renewed, and furnished excellent molluscs. Besides that, the fishing,
+either in the lake or the Mercy, was very profitable, for Pencroft had
+made some lines, armed with iron hooks, with which they frequently
+caught fine trout, and a species of fish whose silvery sides were
+speckled with yellow, and which were also extremely savoury. Master
+Neb, who was skilled in the culinary art, knew how to vary agreeably
+the bill of fare. Bread alone was wanting at the table of the
+settlers, and as has been said, they felt this privation greatly.
+
+The settlers hunted too the turtles which frequented the shores of
+Cape Mandible. At this place the beach was covered with little mounds,
+concealing perfectly spherical turtles' eggs, with white hard shells,
+the albumen of which does not coagulate as that of birds' eggs. They
+were hatched by the sun, and their number was naturally considerable,
+as each turtle can lay annually two hundred and fifty.
+
+"A regular egg-field," observed Gideon Spilett, "and we have nothing
+to do but to pick them up."
+
+But not being contented with simply the produce, they made chase after
+the producers, the result of which was that they were able to bring
+back to Granite House a dozen of these chelonians, which were really
+valuable in an alimentary point of view. The turtle soup, flavoured
+with aromatic herbs, often gained well-merited praises for its
+preparer, Neb.
+
+We must here mention another fortunate circumstance by which new
+stores for the winter were laid in. Shoals of salmon entered the
+Mercy, and ascended the country for several miles. It was the time at
+which the females, going to find suitable places in which to spawn,
+precede the males and make a great noise through the fresh water. A
+thousand of these fish, which measured about two feet and a half in
+length, came up the river, and a large quantity were retained by
+fixing dams across the stream. More than a hundred were thus taken,
+which were salted and stored for the time when winter, freezing up the
+streams, would render fishing impracticable. By this time the
+intelligent Jup was raised to the duty of valet. He had been dressed
+in a jacket, white linen breeches, and an apron, the pockets of which
+were his delight. The clever orang had been marvellously trained by
+Neb, and any one would have said that the negro and the ape understood
+each other when they talked together. Jup had besides a real affection
+for Neb, and Neb returned it. When his services were not required,
+either for carrying wood or for climbing to the top of some tree, Jup
+passed the greatest part of his time in the kitchen, where he
+endeavoured to imitate Neb in all that he saw him do. The black showed
+the greatest patience and even extreme zeal in instructing his pupil,
+and the pupil exhibited remarkable intelligence in profiting by the
+lessons he received from his master.
+
+Judge then of the pleasure Master Jup gave to the inhabitants of
+Granite House when, without their having had any idea of it, he
+appeared one day, napkin on his arm, ready to wait at table. Quick,
+attentive, he acquitted himself perfectly, changing the plates,
+bringing dishes, pouring out water, all with a gravity which gave
+intense amusement to the settlers, and which enraptured Pencroft.
+
+"Jup, some soup!"
+
+"Jup, a little agouti!"
+
+"Jup, a plate!"
+
+"Jup! Good Jup! Honest Jup!"
+
+Nothing was heard but that, and Jup without ever being disconcerted,
+replied to every one, watched for everything, and he shook his head in
+a knowing way when Pencroft, referring to his joke of the first day,
+said to him,--
+
+"Decidedly, Jup, your wages must be doubled."
+
+It is useless to say that the orang was now thoroughly domesticated at
+Granite House, and that he often accompanied his masters to the forest
+without showing any wish to leave them. It was most amusing to see him
+walking with a stick which Pencroft had given him, and which he
+carried on his shoulder like a gun. If they wished to gather some
+fruit from the summit of a tree, how quickly he climbed for it! If the
+wheel of the cart, stuck in the mud, with what energy did Jup with a
+single heave of his shoulder put it right again.
+
+"What a jolly fellow he is!" cried Pencroft often. "If he was as
+mischievous as he is good, there would be no doing any thing with
+him!"
+
+It was towards the end of January the colonists began their labours in
+the centre of the island. It had been decided that a corral should be
+established near the sources of the Red Creek, at the foot of Mount
+Franklin, destined to contain the ruminants, whose presence would have
+been troublesome at Granite House, and especially for the musmons, who
+were to supply the wool for the settlers' winter garments.
+
+Each morning, the colony, sometimes entire, but more often represented
+only by Harding, Herbert, and Pencroft, proceeded to the sources of
+the Creek, a distance of not more than five miles, by the newly beaten
+road to which the name of Corral Road had been given.
+
+[Illustration: JUP PASSED MOST OF HIS TIME IN THE KITCHEN, TRYING TO
+IMITATE NEB]
+
+There a site was chosen, at the back of the southern ridge of the
+mountain. It was a meadow land, dotted here and there with clumps of
+trees, and watered by a little stream, which sprung from the slopes
+which closed it in on one side. The grass was fresh, and it was not
+too much shaded by the trees which grew about it. This meadow was to
+be surrounded by a palisade, high enough to prevent even the most
+agile animals from leaping over. This enclosure would be large enough
+to contain a hundred musmons and wild goats, with all the young ones
+they might produce.
+
+The perimeter of the corral was then traced by the engineer, and they
+would then have proceeded to fell the trees necessary for the
+construction of the palisade, but as the opening up of the road had
+already necessitated the sacrifice of a considerable number, those
+were brought and supplied a hundred stakes, which were firmly fixed in
+the ground.
+
+At the front of the palisade a large entrance was reserved, and closed
+with strong folding-doors.
+
+The construction of this corral did not take less than three weeks,
+for besides the palisade, Cyrus Harding built large sheds, in which
+the animals could take shelter. These buildings had also to be made
+very strong, for musmons are powerful animals, and their first fury
+was to be feared. The stakes, sharpened at their upper end and
+hardened by fire, had been fixed by means of cross-bars, and at
+regular distances props assured the solidity of the whole.
+
+The corral finished, a raid had to be made on the pastures frequented
+by the ruminants. This was done on the 7th of February, on a beautiful
+summer's day, and every one took part in it. The onagas, already well
+trained, were ridden by Spilett and Herbert, and were of great use.
+
+The manoeuvre consisted simply in surrounding the musmons and goats,
+and gradually narrowing the circle around them. Cyrus Harding,
+Pencroft, Neb, and Jup, posted themselves in different parts of the
+wood, whilst the two cavaliers and Top galloped in a radius of half a
+mile round the corral.
+
+The musmons were very numerous in this part of the island. These fine
+animals were as large as deer; their horns were stronger than those of
+the ram, and their grey-coloured fleece was mixed with long hair.
+
+This hunting day was very fatiguing. Such going and coming, and
+running and riding and shouting! Of a hundred musmons which had been
+surrounded, more than two-thirds escaped, but at last, thirty of these
+animals and ten wild goats were gradually driven back towards the
+corral, the open door of which appearing to offer a means of escape,
+they rushed in and were prisoners.
+
+In short, the result was satisfactory, and the settlers had no reason
+to complain. There was no doubt that the flock would prosper, and that
+at no distant time not only wool but hides would be abundant.
+
+That evening the hunters returned to Granite House quite exhausted.
+However, notwithstanding their fatigue, they returned the next day to
+visit the corral. The prisoners had been trying to overthrow the
+palisade, but of course had not succeeded, and were not long in
+becoming more tranquil.
+
+During the month of February, no event of any importance occurred. The
+daily labours were pursued methodically, and, as well as improving the
+roads to the corral and to Port Balloon, a third was commenced, which,
+starting from the enclosure, proceeded towards the western coast. The
+yet unknown portion of Lincoln Island was that of the wood-covered
+Serpentine Peninsula, which sheltered the wild beasts, from which
+Gideon Spilett was so anxious to clear their domain.
+
+Before the cold season should appear the most assiduous care was given
+to the cultivation of the wild plants which had been transplanted from
+the forest to Prospect Heights. Herbert never returned from an
+excursion without bringing home some useful vegetable. One day, it was
+some specimens of the chicory tribe, the seeds of which by pressure
+yield an excellent oil; another, it was some common sorrel, whose
+anti-scorbutic qualities were not to be despised; then, some of those
+precious tubers, which have at all times been cultivated in South
+America, potatoes, of which more than two hundred species are now
+known. The kitchen garden, now well stocked and carefully defended
+from the birds, was divided into small beds, where grew lettuces,
+kidney potatoes, sorrel, turnips, radishes, and other cruciferĉ. The
+soil on the plateau was particularly fertile, and it was hoped that
+the harvests would be abundant.
+
+They had also a variety of different beverages, and so long as they
+did not demand wine, the most hard to please would have had no reason
+to complain. To the Oswego tea, and the fermented liquor extracted
+from the roots of the dragonnier, Harding had added a regular beer,
+made from the young shoots of the spruce-fir, which, after having been
+boiled and fermented, made that agreeable drink, called by the
+Anglo-Americans spring-beer.
+
+Towards the end of the summer, the poultry-yard was possessed of a
+couple of fine bustards, which belonged to the houbara species,
+characterised by a sort of feathery mantle; a dozen shovellers, whose
+upper mandible was prolonged on each side by a membraneous appendage;
+and also some magnificent cocks, similar to the Mozambique cocks, the
+comb, caruncle and epidermis being black. So far, everything had
+succeeded, thanks to the activity of these courageous and intelligent
+men. Nature did much for them, doubtless; but faithful to the great
+precept, they made a right use of what a bountiful Providence gave
+them.
+
+After the heat of these warm summer days, in the evening when their
+work was finished and the sea breeze began to blow, they liked to sit
+on the edge of Prospect Heights, in a sort of verandah, covered with
+creepers, which Neb had made with his own hands. There they talked,
+they instructed each other, they made plans, and the rough good-humour
+of the sailor always amused this little world, in which the most
+perfect harmony had never ceased to reign.
+
+They often spoke of their country, of their dear and great America.
+What was the result of the War of Secession? It could not have been
+greatly prolonged, Richmond had doubtless soon fallen into the hands
+of General Grant. The taking of the capital of the Confederates must
+have been the last action of this terrible struggle. Now the North had
+triumphed in the good cause, how welcome would have been a newspaper
+to the exiles in Lincoln Island! For eleven months all communication
+between them and the rest of their fellow-creatures had been
+interrupted, and in a short time the 24th of March would arrive, the
+anniversary of the day on which the balloon had thrown them on this
+unknown coast. They were then mere castaways, not even knowing how
+they should preserve their miserable lives from the fury of the
+elements! And now, thanks to the knowledge of their captain, and their
+own intelligence, they were regular colonists, furnished with arms,
+tools, and instruments; they had been able to turn to their profit the
+animals, plants, and minerals of the island, that is to say, the three
+kingdoms of Nature.
+
+Yes; they often talked of all these things and formed still more plans
+for the future.
+
+As to Cyrus Harding he was for the most part silent, and listened to
+his companions more often than he spoke to them. Sometimes he smiled
+at Herbert's ideas or Pencroft's nonsense, but always and everywhere
+he pondered over those inexplicable facts, that strange enigma, of
+which the secret still escaped him!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+ Bad Weather -- The Hydraulic Lift -- Manufacture of
+ Glass-ware -- The Bread-tree -- Frequent Visits to the Corral
+ -- Increase of the Flock -- The Reporter's Question -- Exact
+ Position of Lincoln Island -- Pencroft's Proposal.
+
+
+The weather changed during the first week of March. There had been a
+full moon at the commencement of the month, and the heat was still
+excessive. The atmosphere was felt to be full of electricity, and a
+period of some length of tempestuous weather was to be feared.
+
+Indeed, on the 2nd, peals of thunder were heard, the wind blew from
+the east, and hail rattled against the façade of Granite House like
+volleys of grape-shot. The door and windows were immediately closed,
+or everything in the rooms would have been drenched. On seeing these
+hailstones, some of which were the size of a pigeon's egg, Pencroft's
+first thought was that his cornfield was in serious danger.
+
+He directly rushed to his field, where little green heads were already
+appearing, and, by means of a great cloth, he managed to protect his
+crop.
+
+This bad weather lasted a week, during which time the thunder rolled
+without cessation in the depths of the sky.
+
+The colonists, not having any pressing work out of doors, profited by
+the bad weather to work at the interior of Granite House, the
+arrangement of which was becoming more complete from day to day. The
+engineer made a turning-lathe, with which he turned several articles
+both for the toilet and the kitchen, particularly buttons, the want of
+which was greatly felt. A gun-rack had been made for the firearms,
+which were kept with extreme care, and neither tables nor cupboards
+were left incomplete. They sawed, they planed, they filed, they
+turned: and during the whole of this bad season, nothing was heard but
+the grinding of tools or the humming of the turning-lathe which
+responded to the growling of the thunder.
+
+[Illustration: PENCROFT TO THE RESCUE]
+
+Master Jup had not been forgotten, and he occupied a room at the back,
+near the storeroom, a sort of cabin with a cot always full of good
+litter, which perfectly suited his taste.
+
+"With good old Jup there is never any quarrelling," often repeated
+Pencroft, "never any improper reply! What a servant, Neb, what a
+servant!"
+
+Of course Jup was now well used to service. He brushed their clothes,
+he turned the spit, he waited at table, he swept the rooms, he
+gathered wood, and he performed another admirable piece of service
+which delighted Pencroft--he never went to sleep without first coming
+to tuck up the worthy sailor in his bed.
+
+As to the health of the members of the colony, bipeds or bimana,
+quadrumana or quadrupeds, it left nothing to be desired. With their
+life in the open air, on this salubrious soil, under that temperate
+zone, working both with head and hands, they could not suppose that
+illness would ever attack them.
+
+All were indeed wonderfully well. Herbert had already grown two inches
+in the year. His figure was forming and becoming more manly, and he
+promised to be an accomplished man, physically as well as morally.
+Besides, he improved himself during the leisure hours which manual
+occupations left to him; he read the books found in the case; and
+after the practical lessons which were taught by the very necessity of
+their position, he found in the engineer for science, and the reporter
+for languages, masters who were delighted to complete his education.
+
+The tempest ended about the 9th of March, but the sky remained covered
+with clouds during the whole of this last summer month. The
+atmosphere, violently agitated by the electric commotions, could not
+recover its former purity, and there was almost invariably rain and
+fog, except for three or four fine days on which several excursions
+were made. About this time the female onaga gave birth to a young one
+which belonged to the same sex as its mother, and which throve
+capitally. In the corral, the flock of musmons had also increased, and
+several lambs already bleated in the sheds, to the great delight of
+Neb and Herbert, who had each their favourite among these new-comers.
+An attempt was also made for the domestication of the peccaries, which
+succeeded well. A sty was constructed near the poultry-yard, and soon
+contained several young ones in the way to become civilised, that is
+to say, to become fat under Neb's care. Master Jup, entrusted with
+carrying them their daily nourishment, leavings from the kitchen,
+etc., acquitted himself conscientiously of his task. He sometimes
+amused himself at the expense of his little pensioners by tweaking
+their tails; but this was mischief, and not wickedness, for these
+little twisted tails amused him like a plaything, and his instinct was
+that of a child. One day in this month of March, Pencroft, talking to
+the engineer, reminded Cyrus Harding of a promise which the latter had
+not as yet had time to fulfil.
+
+"You once spoke of an apparatus which would take the place of the long
+ladders at Granite House, captain," said he; "won't you make it some
+day?"
+
+"Nothing will be easier; but is this a really useful thing?"
+
+"Certainly, captain. After we have given ourselves necessaries, let us
+think a little of luxury. For us it may be luxury, if you like, but
+for things it is necessary. It isn't very convenient to climb up a
+long ladder when one is heavily loaded."
+
+"Well, Pencroft, we will try to please you," replied Cyrus Harding.
+
+"But you have no machine at your disposal."
+
+"We will make one."
+
+"A steam machine?"
+
+"No, a water machine."
+
+And, indeed, to work his apparatus there was already a natural force
+at the disposal of the engineer which could be used without great
+difficulty. For this, it was enough to augment the flow of the little
+stream which supplied the interior of Granite House with water. The
+opening among the stones and grass was then increased, thus producing
+a strong fall at the bottom of the passage, the overflow from which
+escaped by the inner well. Below this fall the engineer fixed a
+cylinder with paddles, which was joined on the exterior with a strong
+cable rolled on a wheel, supporting a basket. In this way, by means of
+a long rope reaching to the ground, which enabled them to regulate the
+motive power, they could rise in the basket to the door of Granite
+House.
+
+It was on the 17th of March that the lift acted for the first time,
+and gave universal satisfaction. Henceforward all the loads, wood,
+coal, provisions, and even the settlers themselves, were hoisted by
+this simple system, which replaced the primitive ladder, and, as may
+be supposed, no one thought of regretting the change. Top particularly
+was enchanted with this improvement, for he had not, and never could
+have possessed Master Jup's skill in climbing ladders, and often it
+was on Neb's back, or even on that of the orang, that he had been
+obliged to make the ascent to Granite House. About this time, too,
+Cyrus Harding attempted to manufacture glass and he at first put the
+old pottery-kiln to this new use. There were some difficulties to be
+encountered, but after several fruitless attempts, he succeeded in
+setting up a glass manufactory, which Gideon Spilett and Herbert, his
+usual assistants did not leave for several days. As to the substances
+used in the composition of glass, they are simply sand, chalk and
+soda, either carbonate or sulphate. Now the beach supplied sand, lime
+supplied chalk, sea weeds supplied soda, pyrites supplied sulphuric
+acid and the ground supplied coal to heat the kiln to the wished-for
+temperature. Cyrus Harding thus soon had every thing ready for setting
+to work.
+
+The tool, the manufacture of which presented the most difficulty, was
+the pipe of the glass maker, an iron tube, five or six feet long,
+which collects on one end the material in a state of fusion. But by
+means of a long, thin piece of iron rolled up like the barrel of a
+gun, Pencroft succeeded in making a tube soon ready for use.
+
+On the 28th of March the tube was heated. A hundred parts of sand
+thirty-five of chalk, forty of sulphate of soda, mixed with two or
+three parts of powered coal, composed the substance which was placed
+in crucibles. When the high temperature of the oven had reduced it to
+a liquid, or rather a pasty state, Cyrus Harding collected with the
+tube a quantity of the paste, he turned it about on a metal plate
+previously arranged so as to give it a form suitable for blowing, then
+he passed the tube to Herbert, telling him to blow at the other
+extremity.
+
+[Illustration: THE GLASS-BLOWERS]
+
+And Herbert, swelling out his cheeks, blew so much and so well into
+the tube--taking care to twirl it round at the same time--that his
+breath dilated the glassy mass. Other quantities of the substance in a
+state of fusion were added to the first, and in a short time the
+result was a bubble which measured a foot in diameter. Harding then
+took the tube out of Herbert's hands, and, giving to it a pendulous
+motion, he ended by lengthening the malleable bubble so as to give it
+a cylindro-conic shape.
+
+The blowing operation had given a cylinder of glass terminated by two
+hemispheric caps, which were easily detached by means of a sharp iron
+dipped in cold water; then, by the same proceeding, this cylinder was
+cut lengthways, and after having been rendered malleable by a second
+heating, it was extended on a plate and spread out with a wooden
+roller.
+
+The first pane was thus manufactured, and they had only to perform
+this operation fifty times to have fifty panes. The windows at Granite
+House were soon furnished with panes; not very white, perhaps, but
+still sufficiently transparent.
+
+As to bottles and tumblers, that was only play. They were satisfied
+with them, besides, just as they came from the end of the tube.
+Pencroft had asked to be allowed to "blow" in his turn, and it was
+great fun for him; but he blew so hard that his productions took the
+most ridiculous shapes, which he admired immensely.
+
+Cyrus Harding and Herbert, whilst hunting one day, had entered the
+forest of the Far West, on the left bank of the Mercy, and, as usual,
+the lad was asking a thousand questions of the engineer, who answered
+them heartily. Now, as Harding was not a sportsman, and as, on the
+other side, Herbert was talking chemistry and natural philosophy,
+numbers of kangaroos, capybaras, and agoutis came within range, which,
+however, escaped the lad's gun; the consequence was that the day was
+already advanced, and the two hunters were in danger of having made a
+useless excursion, when Herbert, stopping, and uttering a cry of joy,
+exclaimed,--
+
+"Oh, Captain Harding, do you see that tree?" and he pointed to a
+shrub, rather than a tree, for it was composed of a single stem,
+covered with a scaly bark, which bore leaves streaked with little
+parallel veins.
+
+"And what is this tree which resembles a little palm?" asked Harding.
+
+"It is a 'cycas revoluta,' of which I have a picture in our dictionary
+of Natural History!" said Herbert.
+
+"But I can't see any fruit on this shrub!" observed his companion.
+
+"No, captain," replied Herbert; "but its stem contains a flour with
+which nature has provided us all ready ground."
+
+"It is, then, the bread-tree?"
+
+"Yes, the bread-tree."
+
+"Well, my boy," replied the engineer, "this is a valuable discovery,
+since our wheat harvest is not yet ripe; I hope that you are not
+mistaken!"
+
+Herbert was not mistaken: he broke the stem of a cycas, which was
+composed of a glandulous tissue, containing a quantity of floury pith,
+traversed with woody fibre, separated by rings of the same substance,
+arranged concentrically. With this fecula was mingled a mucilaginous
+juice of disagreeable flavour, but which it would be easy to get rid
+of by pressure. This cellular substance was regular flour of a
+superior quality, extremely nourishing; its exportation was formerly
+forbidden by the Japanese laws.
+
+Cyrus Harding and Herbert, after having examined that part of the Far
+West where the cycas grew, took their bearings, and returned to
+Granite House, where they made known their discovery.
+
+The next day the settlers went to collect some and returned to Granite
+House with an ample supply of cycas stems. The engineer constructed a
+press, with which to extract the mucilaginous juice mingled with the
+fecula, and he obtained a large quantity of flour, which Neb soon
+transformed into cakes and puddings. This was not quite real wheaten
+bread, but it was very like it.
+
+Now, too, the onaga, the goats, and the sheep in the corral furnished
+daily the milk necessary to the colony. The cart, or rather a sort of
+light carriole which had replaced it, made frequent journeys to the
+corral, and when it was Pencroft's turn to go he took Jup, and let him
+drive, and Jup, cracking his whip, acquitted himself with his
+customary intelligence.
+
+Everything prospered, as well in the corral as in Granite House and
+certainly the settlers, if it had not been that they were so far from
+their native land, had no reason to complain. They were so well suited
+to this life, and were, besides, so accustomed to the island, that
+they could not have left its hospitable soil without regret!
+
+And yet so deeply is the love of his country implanted in the heart of
+man, that if a ship had unexpectedly come in sight of the island, the
+colonists would have made signals, would have attracted her attention,
+and would have departed!
+
+It was the 1st of April, a Sunday, Easter Day, which Harding and his
+companions sanctified by rest and prayer. The day was fine, such as an
+October day in the northern hemisphere might be.
+
+All, towards the evening after dinner, were seated under the verandah
+on the edge of Prospect Heights, and they were watching the darkness
+creeping up from the horizon. Some cups of the infusion of elder
+berries, which took the place of coffee, had been served by Neb. They
+were speaking of the island and of its isolated situation in the
+Pacific, which led Gideon Spilett to say,--
+
+"My dear Cyrus, have you ever, since you possessed the sextant found
+in the case, again taken the position of our island?"
+
+"No," replied the engineer
+
+"But it would perhaps be a good thing to do it with this instrument,
+which is more perfect than that which you before used."
+
+"What is the good?" said Pencroft. "The island is quite comfortable
+where it is!"
+
+"Well, who knows," returned the reporter, "who knows but that we may
+be much nearer inhabited land than we think?"
+
+"We shall know to morrow," replied Cyrus Harding, "and if it had not
+been for the occupations which left me no leisure, we should have
+known it already."
+
+"Good!" said Pencroft. "The captain is too good an observer to be
+mistaken, and, if it has not moved from its place, the island is just
+where he put it."
+
+"We shall see."
+
+[Illustration: THE VERANDAH ON THE EDGE OF PROSPECT HEIGHTS]
+
+On the next day, therefore, by means of the sextant, the engineer made
+the necessary observations to verify the position which he had already
+obtained, and this was the result of his operation. His first
+observation had given him for the situation of Lincoln Island,--
+
+ In west longitude: from 150° to 155°;
+ In south latitude: from 30° to 35°.
+
+The second gave exactly:
+
+ In longitude: 150° 30´;
+ In south latitude: 34° 57´.
+
+So then, notwithstanding the imperfection of his apparatus, Cyrus
+Harding had operated with so much skill that his error did not exceed
+five degrees.
+
+"Now," said Gideon Spilett, "since we possess an atlas as well as a
+sextant, let us see, my dear Cyrus, the exact position which Lincoln
+Island occupies in the Pacific."
+
+Herbert fetched the atlas, and the map of the Pacific was opened, and
+the engineer, compass in hand, prepared to determine their position.
+
+Suddenly the compasses stopped, and he exclaimed,--
+
+"But an island exists in this part of the Pacific already!"
+
+"An island?" cried Pencroft.
+
+"Tabor Island."
+
+"An important island?"
+
+"No, an islet lost in the Pacific, and which perhaps has never been
+visited."
+
+"Well, we will visit it," said Pencroft.
+
+"We?"
+
+"Yes, captain. We will build a decked boat, and I will undertake to
+steer her. At what distance are we from this Tabor Island?"
+
+"About a hundred and fifty miles to the north-east," replied Harding.
+
+"A hundred and fifty miles! And what's that?" returned Pencroft. "In
+forty-eight hours, with a good wind, we should sight it!"
+
+And, on this reply, it was decided that a vessel should be constructed
+in time to be launched towards the month of next October, on the
+return of the fine season.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ Boat-building -- Second Crop of Corn -- Hunting Koalas -- A
+ new Plant, more Pleasant than Useful -- Whale in Sight -- A
+ Harpoon from the Vineyard -- Cutting up the Whale -- Use for
+ the Bones -- End of the Month of May -- Pencroft has nothing
+ left to wish for.
+
+
+When Pencroft had once got a plan into his head, he had no peace till
+it was executed. Now he wished to visit Tabor Island, and as a boat of
+a certain size was necessary for this voyage, he determined to build
+one.
+
+What wood should be employed? Elm or fir, both of which abounded in
+the island? They decided for the fir, as being easy to work, but which
+stands water as well as the elm.
+
+These details settled, it was agreed that since the fine season would
+not return before six months, Cyrus Harding and Pencroft should work
+alone at the boat. Gideon Spilett and Herbert were to continue to
+hunt, and neither Neb nor Master Jup his assistant were to leave the
+domestic duties which had devolved upon them.
+
+Directly the trees were chosen, they were felled, stripped of their
+branches, and sawn into planks as well as sawyers would have been able
+to do it. A week after, in the recess between the Chimneys and the
+cliff, a dockyard was prepared, and a keel five-and-thirty feet long,
+furnished with a stern-post at the stern and a stem at the bows, lay
+along the sand.
+
+Cyrus Harding was not working in the dark at this new trade. He knew
+as much about ship-building as about nearly everything else, and he
+had at first drawn the model of his ship on paper. Besides, he was
+ably seconded by Pencroft, who, having worked for several years in a
+dockyard at Brooklyn, knew the practical part of the trade. It was not
+until after careful calculation and deep thought that the timbers were
+laid on the keel.
+
+Pencroft, as may be believed, was all eagerness to carry out his new
+enterprise, and would not leave his work for an instant.
+
+A single thing had the honour of drawing him, but for one day only,
+from his dockyard. This was the second wheat-harvest, which was
+gathered in on the 15th of April. It was as much a success as the
+first, and yielded the number of grains which had been predicted.
+
+"Five bushels, captain," said Pencroft, after having scrupulously
+measured his treasure.
+
+"Five bushels," replied the engineer; "and a hundred and thirty
+thousand grains a bushel will make six hundred and fifty thousand
+grains."
+
+"Well, we will sow them all this time," said the sailor, "except a
+little in reserve."
+
+"Yes, Pencroft, and if the next crop gives a proportionate yield, we
+shall have four thousand bushels."
+
+"And shall we eat bread?"
+
+"We shall eat bread."
+
+"But we must have a mill."
+
+"We will make one."
+
+The third cornfield was very much larger than the two first, and the
+soil, prepared with extreme care, received the precious seed. That
+done, Pencroft returned to his work.
+
+During this time Spilett and Herbert hunted in the neighbourhood, and
+they ventured deep into the still unknown parts of the Far West, their
+guns loaded with ball, ready for any dangerous emergency. It was a
+vast thicket of magnificent trees, crowded together as if pressed for
+room. The exploration of these dense masses of wood was difficult in
+the extreme, and the reporter never ventured there without the
+pocket-compass, for the sun scarcely pierced through the thick
+foliage, and it would have been very difficult for them to retrace
+their way. It naturally happened that game was more rare in those
+situations where there was hardly sufficient room to move; two or
+three large herbivorous animals were however killed during the last
+fortnight of April. These were koalas, specimens of which the settlers
+had already seen to the north of the lake, and which stupidly allowed
+themselves to be killed among the thick branches of the trees in which
+they took refuge. Their skins were brought back to Granite House, and
+there, by the help of sulphuric acid, they were subjected to a sort of
+tanning process which rendered them capable of being used.
+
+[Illustration: THE DOCKYARD]
+
+On the 30th of April, the two sportsmen were in the depth of the Far
+West, when the reporter, preceding Herbert a few paces, arrived in a
+sort of clearing, into which the trees more sparsely scattered had
+permitted a few rays to penetrate. Gideon Spilett was at first
+surprised at the odour which exhaled from certain plants with straight
+stalks, round and branchy, bearing grape-like clusters of flowers and
+very small berries. The reporter broke off one or two of these stalks
+and returned to the lad, to whom he said,--
+
+"What can this be, Herbert?"
+
+"Well, Mr. Spilett," said Herbert, "this is a treasure which will
+secure you Pencroft's gratitude for ever."
+
+"Is it tobacco?"
+
+"Yes, and though it may not be of the first quality, it is none the
+less tobacco!"
+
+"Oh, good old Pencroft! Won't he be pleased? But we must not let him
+smoke it all, he must give us our share."
+
+"Ah! an idea occurs to me, Mr. Spilett," replied Herbert. "Don't let
+us say anything to Pencroft yet; we will prepare these leaves, and one
+fine day we will present him with a pipe already filled!"
+
+"All right, Herbert, and on that day our worthy companion will have
+nothing left to wish for in this world."
+
+The reporter and the lad secured a good store of the precious plant,
+and then returned to Granite House, where they smuggled it in with as
+much precaution as if Pencroft had been the most vigilant and severe
+of custom-house officers.
+
+Cyrus Harding and Neb were taken into confidence, and the sailor
+suspected nothing during the whole time, necessarily somewhat long,
+which was required in order to dry the small leaves, chop them up, and
+subject them to a certain torrefaction on hot stones. This took two
+months; but all these manipulations were successfully carried on
+unknown to Pencroft, for, occupied with the construction of his boat,
+he only returned to Granite House at the hour of rest.
+
+For some days they had observed an enormous animal two or three miles
+out in the open sea swimming around Lincoln Island. This was a whale
+of the largest size, which apparently belonged to the southern
+species, called the "Cape Whale."
+
+"What a lucky chance it would be if we could capture it!" cried the
+sailor. "Ah, if we only had a proper boat and a good harpoon, I would
+say, 'After the beast,' for he would be well worth the trouble of
+catching!"
+
+"Well, Pencroft," observed Harding, "I should much like to watch you
+handling a harpoon. It would be very interesting."
+
+"I am astonished," said the reporter, "to see a whale in this
+comparatively high latitude."
+
+"Why so, Mr. Spilett?" replied Herbert. "We are exactly in that part
+of the Pacific which English and American whalemen call the whale
+field, and it is here, between New Zealand and South America, that the
+whales of the southern hemisphere are met with in the greatest
+numbers."
+
+And Pencroft returned to his work, not without uttering a sigh of
+regret, for every sailor is a born fisherman, and if the pleasure of
+fishing is in exact proportion to the size of the animal, one can
+judge how a whaler feels in sight of a whale. And if this had only
+been for pleasure! But they could not help feeling how valuable such a
+prize would have been to the colony, for the oil, the fat, and the
+bones would have been put to many uses.
+
+Now it happened that this whale appeared to have no wish to leave the
+waters of the island. Therefore, whether from the windows of Granite
+House, or from Prospect Heights, Herbert and Gideon Spilett, when they
+were not hunting, or Neb unless presiding over his fires, never left
+the telescope, but watched all the animal's movements. The cetacean,
+having entered far into Union Bay, made rapid furrows across it from
+Mandible Cape to Claw Cape, propelled by its enormously powerful
+flukes, on which it supported itself, and making its way through the
+water at the rate little short of twelve knots an hour. Sometimes also
+it approached so near to the island that it could be clearly
+distinguished. It was the southern whale, which is completely black,
+the head being more depressed than that of the northern whale.
+
+They could also see it throwing up from its air-holes to a great
+height, a cloud of vapour, or of water, for, strange as it may appear,
+naturalists and whalers are not agreed on this subject. Is it air or
+is it water which is thus driven out? It is generally admitted to be
+vapour, which, condensing suddenly by contact with the cold air, falls
+again as rain.
+
+However, the presence of this mammifer preoccupied the colonists. It
+irritated Pencroft especially as he could think of nothing else while
+at work. He ended by longing for it, like a child for a thing which it
+has been denied. At night he talked about it in his sleep, and
+certainly if he had had the means of attacking it, if the sloop had
+been in a fit state to put to sea, he would not have hesitated to set
+out in pursuit.
+
+But what the colonists could not do for themselves, chance did for
+them, and on the 3rd of May, shouts from Neb, who had stationed
+himself at the kitchen window, announced that the whale was stranded
+on the beach of the island.
+
+Herbert and Gideon Spilett, who were just about to set out hunting,
+left their guns, Pencroft threw down his axe, and Harding and Neb
+joining their companions, all rushed towards the scene of action.
+
+The stranding had taken place on the beach of Flotsam Point, three
+miles from Granite House, and at high tide. It was therefore probable
+that the cetacean would not be able to extricate itself easily, at any
+rate it was best to hasten, so as to cut off its retreat if necessary.
+They ran with pick-axes and iron-tipped poles in their hands, passed
+over the Mercy bridge, descended the right bank of the river, along
+the beach, and in less than twenty minutes the settlers were close to
+the enormous animal, above which flocks of birds already hovered.
+
+"What a monster!" cried Neb.
+
+And the exclamation was natural, for it was a southern whale, eighty
+feet long, a giant of the species, probably not weighing less than a
+hundred and fifty thousand pounds!
+
+In the meanwhile, the monster thus stranded did not move, nor attempt
+by struggling to regain the water whilst the tide was still high.
+
+It was dead, and a harpoon was sticking out of its left side.
+
+"There are whalers in these quarters, then?" said Gideon Spilett
+directly.
+
+[Illustration: A VALUABLE PRIZE]
+
+"Oh, Mr Spilett, that doesn't prove anything!" replied Pencroft.
+"Whales have been known to go thousands of miles with a harpoon in the
+side, and this one might even have been struck in the north of the
+Atlantic and come to die in the south of the Pacific, and it would be
+nothing astonishing."
+
+Pencroft, having torn the harpoon from the animal's side, read this
+inscription on it:--
+
+ "'MARIA STELLA,'
+ "VINEYARD."
+
+"A vessel from the Vineyard! A ship from my country!" he cried. "The
+_Maria Stella_! A fine whaler, 'pon my word; I know her well! Oh, my
+friends, a vessel from the Vineyard!--a whaler from the Vineyard!"[1]
+
+ [1] A port in the State of New York.
+
+And the sailor brandishing the harpoon, repeated, not without emotion,
+the name which he loved so well--the name of his birthplace.
+
+But as it could not be expected that the _Maria Stella_ would come to
+reclaim the animal harpooned by her, they resolved to begin cutting it
+up before decomposition should commence. The birds, who had watched
+this rich prey for several days, had determined to take possession of
+it without further delay, and it was necessary to drive them off by
+firing at them repeatedly.
+
+The whale was a female, and a large quantity of milk was taken from
+it, which, according to the opinion of the naturalist Duffenbach,
+might pass for cow's milk, and, indeed, it differs from it neither in
+taste, colour, nor density.
+
+Pencroft had formerly served on board a whaling-ship, and he could
+methodically direct the operation of cutting up--a sufficiently
+disagreeable operation lasting three days, but from which the settlers
+did not flinch, not even Gideon Spilett, who, as the sailor said,
+would end by making a "real good castaway."
+
+The blubber, cut in parallel slices of two feet and a half in
+thickness, then divided into pieces which might weigh about a thousand
+pounds each, was melted down in large earthen pots brought to the
+spot, for they did not wish to taint the environs of Granite House,
+and in this fusion it lost nearly a third of its weight.
+
+But there was an immense quantity of it; the tongue alone yielded six
+thousand pounds of oil, and the lower lip four thousand. Then, besides
+the fat, which would insure for a long time a store of stearine and
+glycerine, there were still the bones, for which a use could doubtless
+be found, although there were neither umbrellas nor stays used at
+Granite House. The upper part of the mouth of the cetacean was,
+indeed, provided on both sides with eight hundred horny blades, very
+elastic, of a fibrous texture, and fringed at the edge like great
+combs, of which the teeth, six feet long, served to retain the
+thousands of animalculĉ, little fish, and molluscs, on which the whale
+fed.
+
+The operation finished, to the great satisfaction of the operators,
+the remains of the animal were left to the birds, who would soon make
+every vestige of it disappear, and their usual daily occupations were
+resumed by the inmates of Granite House.
+
+However, before returning to the dockyard, Cyrus Harding conceived the
+idea of fabricating certain machines, which greatly excited the
+curiosity of his companions. He took a dozen of the whale's bones, cut
+them into six equal parts, and sharpened their ends.
+
+"This machine is not my own invention, and it is frequently employed
+by the Aleutian hunters in Russian America. You see these bones, my
+friends; well, when it freezes, I will bend them, and then wet them
+with water till they are entirely covered with ice, which will keep
+them bent, and I will strew them on the snow, having previously
+covered them with fat. Now, what will happen if a hungry animal
+swallows one of these baits? Why, the heat of his stomach will melt
+the ice, and the bone, springing straight, will pierce him with its
+sharp points."
+
+"Well! I do call that ingenious!" said Pencroft.
+
+"And it will spare the powder and shot," rejoined Cyrus Harding.
+
+"That will be better than traps!" added Neb.
+
+In the meanwhile the boat-building progressed, and towards the end of
+the month half the planking was completed. It could already be seen
+that her shape was excellent, and that she would sail well.
+
+Pencroft worked with unparalleled ardour, and only a sturdy frame
+could have borne such fatigue; but his companions were preparing in
+secret a reward for his labours, and on the 31st of May he was to meet
+with one of the greatest joy's of his life.
+
+On that day, after dinner, just as he was about to leave the table,
+Pencroft felt a hand on his shoulder.
+
+It was the hand of Gideon Spilett, who said,--
+
+"One moment, Master Pencroft, you mustn't sneak off like that! You've
+forgotten your dessert."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Spilett," replied the sailor, "I am going back to my
+work."
+
+"Well a cup of coffee, my friend?"
+
+"Nothing more."
+
+"A pipe, then?"
+
+Pencroft jumped up, and his great good-natured face grew pale when he
+saw the reporter presenting him with a ready-filled pipe, and Herbert
+with a glowing coal.
+
+The sailor endeavoured to speak, but could not get out a word, so,
+seizing the pipe, he carried it to his lips, then applying the coal,
+he drew five or six great whiffs. A fragrant blue cloud soon arose,
+and from its depths a voice was heard repeating excitedly,--
+
+"Tobacco! real tobacco!"
+
+"Yes, Pencroft," returned Cyrus Harding, "and very good tobacco too!"
+
+"O divine Providence! sacred Author of all things!" cried the sailor.
+"Nothing more is now wanting to our island."
+
+And Pencroft smoked, and smoked, and smoked.
+
+"And who made this discovery?" he asked at length. "You, Herbert, no
+doubt?"
+
+"No, Pencroft, it was Mr. Spilett."
+
+"Mr Spilett!" exclaimed the sailor seizing the reporter, and clasping
+him to his breast with such a squeeze that he had never felt anything
+like it before.
+
+"Oh, Pencroft," said Spilett, recovering his breath at last, "a truce
+for one moment. You must share your gratitude with Herbert, who
+recognised the plant, with Cyrus, who prepared it, and with Neb who
+took a great deal of trouble to keep our secret."
+
+"Well, my friends, I will repay you some day," replied the sailor.
+"Now we are friends for life."
+
+[Illustration: PENCROFT HAS NOTHING LEFT TO WISH FOR]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+ Winter -- Felling Wood -- The Mill -- Pencroft's fixed Idea
+ -- The Bones -- To what Use an Albatross may be put -- Fuel
+ for the Future -- Top and Jup -- Storms -- Damage to the
+ Poultry-yard -- Excursion to the Marsh -- Cyrus Harding alone
+ -- Exploring the Well
+
+
+Winter arrived with the month of June, which is the December of the
+northern zones, and the great business was the making of warm and
+solid clothing.
+
+The musmons in the corral had been stripped of their wool, and this
+precious textile material was now to be transformed into stuff.
+
+Of course Cyrus Harding, having at his disposal neither carders,
+combers, polishers, stretchers, twisters, mule-jenny, nor self-acting
+machine to spin the wool, nor loom to weave it, was obliged to proceed
+in a simpler way, so as to do without spinning and weaving. And indeed
+he proposed to make use of the property which the filaments of wool
+possess when subjected to a powerful pressure of mixing together, and
+of manufacturing by this simple process the material called felt. This
+felt could then be obtained by a simple operation which, if it
+diminished the flexibility of the stuff, increased its power of
+retaining heat in proportion. Now the wool furnished by the musmons
+was composed of very short hairs, and was in a good condition to be
+felted.
+
+The engineer, aided by his companions, including Pencroft, who was
+once more obliged to leave his boat, commenced the preliminary
+operations, the object of which was to rid the wool of that fat and
+oily substance with which it is impregnated, and which is called
+grease. This cleaning was done in vats filled with water, which was
+maintained at the temperature of seventy degrees, and in which the
+wool was soaked for four-and-twenty hours; it was then thoroughly
+washed in baths of soda, and, when sufficiently dried by pressure, it
+was in a state to be compressed, that is to say, to produce a solid
+material, rough, no doubt, and such as would have no value in a
+manufacturing centre of Europe or America, but which would be highly
+esteemed in the Lincoln Island markets.
+
+This sort of material must have been known from the most ancient
+times, and, in fact, the first woollen stuffs were manufactured by the
+process which Harding was now about to employ. Where Harding's
+engineering qualifications now came into play was in the construction
+of the machine for pressing the wool, for he knew how to turn
+ingeniously to profit the mechanical force, hitherto unused, which the
+waterfall on the beach possessed to move a fulling-mill.
+
+Nothing could be more rudimentary. The wool was placed in troughs, and
+upon it fell in turns heavy wooden mallets, such was the machine in
+question, and such it had been for centuries until the time when the
+mallets were replaced by cylinders of compression, and the material
+was no longer subjected to beating, but to regular rolling.
+
+The operation, ably directed by Cyrus Harding, was a complete success.
+The wool, previously impregnated with a solution of soap, intended on
+the one hand to facilitate the interlacing, the compression, and the
+softening of the wool, and on the other to prevent its diminution by
+the beating, issued from the mill in the shape of thick felt cloth.
+The roughnesses with which the staple of wool is naturally filled were
+so thoroughly entangled and interlaced together that a material was
+formed equally suitable either for garments or bedclothes. It was
+certainly neither merino, muslin, cashmere, rep, satin, alpaca, cloth,
+nor flannel. It was "Lincolnian felt," and Lincoln Island possessed
+yet another manufacture. The colonists had now warm garments and thick
+bedclothes, and they could without fear await the approach of the
+winter of 1866-67.
+
+The severe cold began to be felt about the 20th of June, and, to his
+great regret, Pencroft was obliged to suspend his boat-building, which
+he hoped to finish in time for next spring.
+
+The sailor's great idea was to make a voyage of discovery to Tabor
+Island, although Harding could not approve of a voyage simply for
+curiosity's sake, for there was evidently nothing to be found on this
+desert and almost arid rock. A voyage of a hundred and fifty miles in
+a comparatively small vessel, over unknown seas, could not but cause
+him some anxiety. Suppose that their vessel, once out at sea, should
+be unable to reach Tabor Island, and could not return to Lincoln
+Island, what would become of her in the midst of the Pacific, so
+fruitful of disasters?
+
+Harding often talked over this project with Pencroft, and he found him
+strangely bent upon undertaking this voyage, for which determination
+he himself could give no sufficient reason.
+
+"Now," said the engineer one day to him, "I must observe, my friend,
+that after having said so much, in praise of Lincoln Island, after
+having spoken so often of the sorrow you would feel if you were
+obliged to forsake it, you are the first to wish to leave it."
+
+"Only to leave it for a few days," replied Pencroft, "only for a few
+days, captain. Time to go and come back, and see what that islet is
+like!"
+
+"But it is not nearly as good as Lincoln Island."
+
+"I know that beforehand."
+
+"Then why venture there?"
+
+"To know what is going on in Tabor Island."
+
+"But nothing is going on there; nothing could happen there."
+
+"Who knows?"
+
+"And if you are caught in a hurricane?"
+
+"There is no fear of that in the fine season," replied Pencroft. "But,
+captain, as we must provide against everything, I shall ask your
+permission to take Herbert only with me on this voyage."
+
+"Pencroft," replied the engineer, placing his hand on the sailor's
+shoulder, "if any misfortune happens to you, or to this lad, whom
+chance has made our child, do you think we could ever cease to blame
+ourselves?"
+
+"Captain Harding," replied Pencroft, with unshaken confidence, "we
+shall not cause you that sorrow. Besides, we will speak further of
+this voyage, when the time comes to make it. And I fancy, when you
+have seen our tight-rigged little craft, when you have observed how
+she behaves at sea, when we sail round our island, for we will do so
+together--I fancy, I say, that you will no longer hesitate to let me
+go. I don't conceal from you that your boat will be a masterpiece."
+
+"Say 'our' boat, at least, Pencroft," replied the engineer, disarmed
+for the moment. The conversation ended thus, to be resumed later on,
+without convincing either the sailor or the engineer.
+
+The first snow fell towards the end of the month of June. The corral
+had previously been largely supplied with stores, so that daily visits
+to it were not requisite; but it was decided that more than a week
+should never be allowed to pass without some one going to it.
+
+Traps were again set, and the machines manufactured by Harding were
+tried. The bent whalebones, imprisoned in a case of ice, and covered
+with a thick outer layer of fat, were placed on the border of the
+forest at a spot where animals usually passed on their way to the
+lake.
+
+To the engineer's great satisfaction, this invention, copied from the
+Aleutian fishermen, succeeded perfectly. A dozen foxes, a few wild
+boars, and even a jaguar, were taken in this way, the animals being
+found dead, their stomachs pierced by the unbent bones.
+
+An incident must here be related, not only as interesting in itself,
+but because it was the first attempt made by the colonists to
+communicate with the rest of mankind.
+
+Gideon Spilett had already several times pondered whether to throw
+into the sea a letter enclosed in a bottle, which currents might
+perhaps carry to an inhabited coast, or to confide it to pigeons.
+
+But how could it be seriously hoped that either pigeons or bottles
+could cross the distance of twelve hundred miles which separated the
+island from any inhabited land? It would have been pure folly.
+
+But on the 30th of June the capture was effected, not without
+difficulty, of an albatross, which a shot from Herbert's gun had
+slightly wounded in the foot. It was a magnificent bird, measuring ten
+feet from wing to wing, and which could traverse seas as wide as the
+Pacific.
+
+Herbert would have liked to keep this superb bird, as its wound would
+soon heal, and he thought he could tame it; but Spilett explained to
+him that they should not neglect this opportunity of attempting to
+communicate by this messenger with the lands of the Pacific; for if
+the albatross had come from some inhabited region, there was no doubt
+but that it would return there so soon as it was set free.
+
+Perhaps in his heart Gideon Spilett, in whom the journalist sometimes
+came to the surface, was not sorry to have the opportunity of sending
+forth to take its chance an exciting article relating the adventures
+of the settlers in Lincoln Island. What a success for the authorised
+reporter of the _New York Herald_, and for the number which should
+contain the article, if it should ever reach the address of its
+editor, the Honourable John Benett!
+
+Gideon Spilett then wrote out a concise account, which was placed in a
+strong waterproof bag, with an earnest request to whoever might find
+it to forward it to the office of the _New York Herald_. This little
+bag was fastened to the neck of the albatross, and not to its foot,
+for these birds are in the habit of resting on the surface of the sea;
+then liberty was given to this swift courier of the air, and it was
+not without some emotion that the colonists watched it disappear in
+the misty west.
+
+"Where is he going to?" asked Pencroft.
+
+"Towards New Zealand," replied Herbert.
+
+"A good voyage to you," shouted the sailor, who himself did not expect
+any great result from this mode of correspondence.
+
+With the winter, work had been resumed in the interior of Granite
+House, mending clothes and different occupations, amongst others
+making the sails for their vessel, which were cut from the
+inexhaustible balloon-case.
+
+During the month of July the cold was intense, but there was no lack
+of either wood or coal. Cyrus Harding had established a second
+fireplace in the dining-room, and there the long winter evenings were
+spent. Talking whilst they worked, reading when the hands remained
+idle, the time passed with profit to all.
+
+[Illustration: THE MESSENGER]
+
+It was real enjoyment to the settlers when in their room, well lighted
+with candles, well warmed with coal, after a good dinner, elder-berry
+coffee smoking in the cups, the pipes giving forth an odoriferous
+smoke, they could hear the storm howling without. Their comfort would
+have been complete, if complete comfort could ever exist for those who
+are far from their fellow creatures, and without any means of
+communication with them. They often talked of their country, of the
+friends whom they had left, of the grandeur of the American Republic,
+whose influence could not but increase, and Cyrus Harding, who had
+been much mixed up with the affairs of the Union, greatly interested
+his auditors by his recitals, his views, and his prognostics.
+
+It chanced one day that Spilett was led to say,--
+
+"But now, my dear Cyrus, all this industrial and commercial movement
+to which you predict a continual advance, does it not run the danger
+of being sooner or later completely stopped?"
+
+"Stopped! And by what?"
+
+"By the want of coal, which may justly be called the most precious of
+minerals."
+
+"Yes, the most precious indeed," replied the engineer; "and it would
+seem that nature wished to prove that it was so by making the diamond,
+which is simply pure carbon crystallised."
+
+"You don't mean to say, captain," interrupted Pencroft, "that we burn
+diamonds in our stoves in the shape of coal?"
+
+"No, my friend," replied Harding.
+
+"However," resumed Gideon Spilett, "you do not deny that some day the
+coal will be entirely consumed?"
+
+"Oh! the veins of coal are still considerable, and the hundred
+thousand miners who annually extract from them a hundred millions of
+hundredweights have not nearly exhausted them."
+
+"With the increasing consumption of coal," replied Gideon Spilett, "it
+can be foreseen that the hundred thousand workmen will soon become two
+hundred thousand, and that the rate of extraction will be doubled."
+
+"Doubtless, but after the European mines, which will be soon worked
+more thoroughly with new machines, the American and Australian mines
+will for a long time yet provide for the consumption in trade."
+
+"For how long a time?" asked the reporter.
+
+"For at least two hundred and fifty or three hundred years."
+
+"That is reassuring for us, but a bad look-out for our great
+grandchildren!" observed Pencroft.
+
+[Illustration: WINTER EVENINGS IN GRANITE HOUSE]
+
+"They will discover something else," said Herbert.
+
+"It is to be hoped so," answered Spilett, "for without coal there
+would be no machinery, and without machinery there would be no
+railways, no steamers, no manufactories, nothing of that which is
+indispensable to modern civilisation!"
+
+"But what will they find?" asked Pencroft. "Can you guess, captain?"
+
+"Nearly, my friend."
+
+"And what will they burn instead of coal?"
+
+"Water," replied Harding.
+
+"Water!" cried Pencroft, "water as fuel for steamers and engines!
+water to heat water!"
+
+"Yes, but water decomposed into its primitive elements," replied Cyrus
+Harding, "and decomposed, doubtless; by electricity, which will then
+have become a powerful and manageable force, for all great
+discoveries, by some inexplicable law, appear to agree and become
+complete at the same time. Yes, my friends, I believe that water will
+one day be employed as fuel, that hydrogen and oxygen which constitute
+it, used singly or together, will furnish an inexhaustible source of
+heat and light, of an intensity of which coal is not capable. Some day
+the coal-rooms of steamers and the tenders of locomotives will,
+instead of coal, be stored with these two condensed gases, which will
+burn in the furnaces with enormous calorific power. There is,
+therefore, nothing to fear. As long as the earth is inhabited it will
+supply the wants of its inhabitants, and there will be no want of
+either light or heat as long as the productions of the vegetable,
+mineral or animal kingdoms do not fail us. I believe, then, that when
+the deposits of coal are exhausted, we shall heat and warm ourselves
+with water. Water will be the coal of the future."
+
+"I should like to see that," observed the sailor.
+
+"You were born too soon, Pencroft," returned Neb, who only took part
+in the discussion by these words.
+
+However, it was not Neb's speech which interrupted the conversation,
+but Top's barking, which broke out again with that strange intonation
+which had before perplexed the engineer. At the same time Top began to
+run round the mouth of the well, which opened at the extremity of the
+interior passage.
+
+"What can Top be barking in that way for?" asked Pencroft.
+
+"And Jup be growling like that?" added Herbert.
+
+In fact the orang, joining the dog, gave unequivocal signs of
+agitation, and, singular to say, the two animals appeared more uneasy
+than angry.
+
+"It is evident," said Gideon Spilett, "that this well is in direct
+communication with the sea, and that some marine animal comes from
+time to time to breathe at the bottom."
+
+"That's evident," replied the sailor, "and there can be no other
+explanation to give. Quiet there, Top!" added Pencroft, turning to the
+dog, "and you, Jup, be off to your room!"
+
+The ape and the dog were silent. Jup went off to bed, but Top remained
+in the room, and continued to utter low growls at intervals during the
+rest of the evening. There was no further talk on the subject, but the
+incident, however, clouded the brow of the engineer.
+
+During the remainder of the month of July there was alternate rain and
+frost. The temperature was not so low as during the preceding winter,
+and its maximum did not exceed eight degrees Fahrenheit. But although
+this winter was less cold, it was more troubled by storms and squalls;
+the sea besides often endangered the safety of the Chimneys. At times
+it almost seemed as if an under-current raised these monstrous billows
+which thundered against the wall of Granite House.
+
+When the settlers, leaning from their windows, gazed on the huge
+watery masses breaking beneath their eyes, they could not but admire
+the magnificent spectacle of the ocean in its impotent fury. The waves
+rebounded in dazzling foam, the beach entirely disappearing under the
+raging flood, and the cliff appearing to emerge from the sea itself,
+the spray rising to a height of more than a hundred feet.
+
+During these storms it was difficult and even dangerous to venture
+out, owing to the frequently falling trees; however, the colonists
+never allowed a week to pass without having paid a visit to the
+corral. Happily this enclosure, sheltered by the south-eastern spur of
+Mount Franklin, did not greatly suffer from the violence of the
+hurricanes, which spared its trees, sheds, and palisades; but the
+poultry-yard on Prospect Heights, being directly exposed to the gusts
+of wind from the east, suffered considerable damage. The pigeon-house
+was twice unroofed and the paling blown down. All this required to be
+re-made more solidly than before, for, as may be clearly seen, Lincoln
+Island was situated in one of the most dangerous parts of the Pacific.
+It really appeared as if it formed the central point of vast cyclones,
+which beat it perpetually as the whip does the top, only here it was
+the top which was motionless and the whip which moved. During the
+first week of the month of August the weather became more moderate,
+and the atmosphere recovered the calm which it appeared to have lost
+for ever. With the calm the cold again became intense, and the
+thermometer fell to eight degrees Fahrenheit, below zero.
+
+On the 3rd of August an excursion which had been talked of for several
+days was made into the south-eastern part of the island, towards
+Tadorn Marsh. The hunters were tempted by the aquatic game which took
+up their winter-quarters there. Wild duck, snipe, teal, and grebe,
+abounded there, and it was agreed that a day should be devoted to an
+expedition against these birds.
+
+Not only Gideon Spilett and Herbert, but Pencroft and Neb also took
+part in this excursion. Cyrus Harding alone, alleging some work as an
+excuse, did not join them, but remained at Granite House.
+
+The hunters proceeded in the direction of Port Balloon, in order to
+reach the marsh, after having promised to be back by the evening. Top
+and Jup accompanied them. As soon as they had passed over the Mercy
+Bridge, the engineer raised it and returned, intending to put into
+execution a project for the performance of which he wished to be
+alone.
+
+Now this project was to minutely explore the interior well, the mouth
+of which was on a level with the passage of Granite House, and which
+communicated with the sea, since it formerly supplied a way to the
+waters of the lake.
+
+[Illustration: HE SAW NOTHING SUSPICIOUS]
+
+Why did Top so often run round this opening? Why did he utter such
+strange barks when a sort of uneasiness seemed to draw him towards
+this well. Why did Jup join Top in a sort of common anxiety? Had this
+well branches besides the communication with the sea? Did it spread
+towards other parts of the island? This is what Cyrus Harding wished
+to know. He had resolved, therefore, to attempt the exploration of the
+well during the absence of his companions, and an opportunity for
+doing so had now presented itself.
+
+It was easy to descend to the bottom of the well by employing the
+rope-ladder which had not been used since the establishment of the
+lift. The engineer drew the ladder to the hole, the diameter of which
+measured nearly six feet, and allowed it to unroll itself after having
+securely fastened its upper extremity. Then, having lighted a lantern,
+taken a revolver, and placed a cutlass in his belt, he began the
+descent.
+
+The sides were everywhere entire; but points of rock jutted out here
+and there, and by means of these points it would have been quite
+possible for an active creature to climb to the mouth of the well.
+
+The engineer remarked this; but although he carefully examined these
+points by the light of his lantern, he could find no impression, no
+fracture which could give any reason to suppose that they had either
+recently or at any former time been used as a staircase. Cyrus Harding
+descended deeper, throwing the light of his lantern on all sides.
+
+He saw nothing suspicious.
+
+When the engineer had reached the last rounds he came upon the water,
+which was then perfectly calm. Neither at its level nor in any other
+part of the well, did any passage open which could lead to the
+interior of the cliff. The wall which Harding struck with the hilt of
+his cutlass sounded solid. It was compact granite, through which no
+living being could force a way. To arrive at the bottom of the well
+and then climb up to its mouth it was necessary to pass through the
+channel under the rocky sub-soil of the beach, which placed it in
+communication with the sea, and this was only possible for marine
+animals. As to the question of knowing where this channel ended, at
+what point of the shore, and at what depth beneath the water, it could
+not be answered.
+
+Then Cyrus Harding, having ended his survey, re-ascended, drew up the
+ladder, covered the mouth of the well, and returned thoughtfully to
+the dining-room, saying to himself,--
+
+"I have seen nothing, and yet there _is_ something there!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+ The Rigging of the Vessel -- An Attack from Foxes -- Jup
+ wounded -- Jup cured -- Completion of the Boat -- Pencroft's
+ Triumph -- The _Bonadventure's_ trial Trip to the South of
+ the Island -- An unexpected Document.
+
+
+In the evening the hunters returned, having enjoyed good sport, and
+being literally loaded with game; indeed, they had as much as four men
+could possibly carry. Top wore a necklace of teal and Jup wreaths of
+snipe round his body.
+
+"Here, master," cried Neb; "here's something to employ our time!
+Preserved and made into pies we shall have a welcome store! But I must
+have some one to help me. I count on you, Pencroft."
+
+"No, Neb," replied the sailor; "I have the rigging of the vessel to
+finish and to look after, and you will have to do without me."
+
+"And you, Mr. Herbert?"
+
+"I must go to the corral to-morrow, Neb," replied the lad.
+
+"It will be you then, Mr. Spilett, who will help me?"
+
+"To oblige you, Neb, I will," replied the reporter; "but I warn you
+that if you disclose your receipts to me, I shall publish them."
+
+"Whenever you like, Mr. Spilett," replied Neb; "whenever you like."
+
+And so the next day Gideon Spilett became Neb's assistant and was
+installed in his culinary laboratory. The engineer had previously made
+known to him the result of the exploration which he had made the day
+before, and on this point the reporter shared Harding's opinion, that
+although he had found nothing, a secret still remained to be
+discovered!
+
+The frost continued for another week, and the settlers did not leave
+Granite House unless to look after the poultry-yard. The dwelling was
+filled with appetising odours, which were emitted from the learned
+manipulation of Neb and the reporter. But all the results of the chase
+were not made into preserved provisions; and as the game kept
+perfectly in the intense cold, wild duck and other fowl were eaten
+fresh, and declared superior to all other aquatic birds in the known
+world.
+
+During this week Pencroft, aided by Herbert, who handled the
+sail-maker's needle with much skill, worked with such energy that the
+sails of that vessel were finished. There was no want of cordage.
+Thanks to the rigging which had been recovered with the case of the
+balloon, the ropes and cables from the net were all of good quality,
+and the sailor turned them all to account. To the sails were attached
+strong bolt ropes, and there still remained enough from which to make
+the halliards, shrouds, and sheets, etc. The blocks were manufactured
+by Cyrus Harding under Pencroft's directions by means of the
+turning-lathe. It therefore happened that the rigging was entirely
+prepared before the vessel was finished. Pencroft also manufactured a
+flag, that flag so dear to every true American, containing the stars
+and stripes of their glorious Union. The colours for it were supplied
+from certain plants used in dyeing, and which were very abundant in
+the island; only to the thirty-seven stars, representing the
+thirty-seven States of the Union, which shine on the American flag,
+the sailor added a thirty-eighth, the star of "the State of Lincoln,"
+for he considered his island as already united to the great republic.
+"And," said he, "it is so already in heart, if not in deed!"
+
+In the meantime, the flag was hoisted at the central window of Granite
+House, and the settlers saluted it with three cheers.
+
+The cold season was now almost at an end, and it appeared as if this
+second winter was to pass without any unusual occurrence, when, on the
+night of the 11th August, the plateau of Prospect Heights was menaced
+with complete destruction.
+
+After a busy day the colonists were sleeping soundly, when towards
+four o'clock in the morning they were suddenly awakened by Top's
+barking.
+
+The dog was not this time barking near the mouth of the well, but at
+the threshold of the door, at which he was scratching as if he wished
+to burst it open. Jup was also uttering piercing cries.
+
+"Hallo, Top!" cried Neb, who was the first awake. But the dog
+continued to bark more furiously than ever.
+
+"What's the matter now?" asked Harding.
+
+And all dressing in haste rushed to the windows, which they opened.
+
+Beneath their eyes was spread a sheet of snow which looked grey in the
+dim light. The settlers could see nothing, but they heard a singular
+yelping noise away in the darkness. It was evident that the beach had
+been invaded by a number of animals which could not be seen.
+
+"What are they?" cried Pencroft.
+
+"Wolves, jaguars, or apes?" replied Neb.
+
+"They have nearly reached the plateau," said the reporter.
+
+"And our poultry-yard," exclaimed Herbert, "and our garden!"
+
+"Where can they have crossed?" asked Pencroft.
+
+"They must have crossed the bridge on the shore," replied the
+engineer, "which one of us must have forgotten to close."
+
+"True," said Spilett, "I remember to have left it open."
+
+"A fine job you have made of it, Mr. Spilett," cried the sailor.
+
+"What is done cannot be undone," replied Cyrus Harding. "We must
+consult what it will now be best to do."
+
+Such were the questions and answers which were rapidly exchanged
+between Harding and his companions. It was certain that the bridge had
+been crossed, that the shore had been invaded by animals, and that
+whatever they might be they could by ascending the left bank of the
+Mercy reach Prospect Heights. They must therefore be advanced against
+quickly and fought with if necessary.
+
+"But what are these beasts?" was asked a second time, as the yelpings
+were again heard more loudly than before. These yelps made Herbert
+start, and he remembered to have already heard them during his first
+visit to the sources of the Red Creek.
+
+"They are culpeux foxes!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Forward!" shouted the sailor.
+
+And all arming themselves with hatchets, carbines, and revolvers,
+threw themselves into the lift and soon set foot on the shore.
+
+Culpeux are dangerous animals when in great numbers and irritated by
+hunger, nevertheless the colonists did not hesitate to throw
+themselves into the midst of the troop, and their first shots vividly
+lighting up the darkness made their assailants draw back.
+
+The chief thing was to hinder these plunderers from reaching the
+plateau, for the garden and the poultry-yard would then have been at
+their mercy, and immense, perhaps irreparable mischief, would
+inevitably be the result, especially with regard to the cornfield. But
+as the invasion of the plateau could only be made by the left bank of
+the Mercy, it was sufficient to oppose the culpeux on the narrow bank
+between the river and the cliff of granite.
+
+This was plain to all, and, by Cyrus Harding's orders, they reached
+the spot indicated by him, while the culpeux rushed fiercely through
+the gloom. Harding, Gideon, Spilett, Herbert, Pencroft, and Neb posted
+themselves in impregnable line. Top, his formidable jaws open,
+preceded the colonists, and he was followed by Jup, armed with knotty
+cudgel, which he brandished like a club.
+
+The night was extremely dark, it was only by the flashes from the
+revolvers as each person fired that they could see their assailants,
+who were at least a hundred in number, and whose eyes were glowing
+like hot coals.
+
+"They must not pass!" shouted Pencroft.
+
+"They shall not pass!" returned the engineer.
+
+But if they did not pass it was not for want of having attempted it.
+Those in the rear pushed on the foremost assailants, and it was an
+incessant struggle with revolvers and hatchets. Several culpeux
+already lay dead on the ground, but their number did not appear to
+diminish, and it might have been supposed that reinforcements were
+continually arriving over the bridge.
+
+The colonists were soon obliged to fight at close quarters, not
+without receiving some wounds, though happily very slight ones.
+Herbert had, with a shot from his revolver, rescued Neb, on whose
+back a culpeux had sprung like a tiger cat. Top fought with actual
+fury, flying at the throats of the foxes and strangling them
+instantaneously. Jup wielded his weapon valiantly, and it was in vain
+that they endeavoured to keep him in the rear. Endowed doubtless with
+sight which enabled him to pierce the obscurity, he was always in the
+thick of the fight, uttering from time to time a sharp hissing sound,
+which was with him the sign of great rejoicing.
+
+At one moment he advanced so far, that by the light from a revolver he
+was seen surrounded by five or six large culpeux, with whom he was
+coping with great coolness.
+
+However the struggle was ended at last, and victory was on the side of
+the settlers, but not until they had fought for two long hours! The
+first signs of the approach of day doubtless determined the retreat of
+their assailants, who scampered away towards the North, passing over
+the bridge, which Neb ran immediately to raise. When day had
+sufficiently lighted up the field of battle, the settlers counted as
+many as fifty dead bodies scattered about on the shore.
+
+"And Jup!" cried Pencroft, "where is Jup?" Jup had disappeared. His
+friend Neb called him, and for the first time Jup did not reply to his
+friend's call.
+
+Every one set out in search of Jup, trembling lest he should be found
+amongst the slain; they cleared the place of the bodies which stained
+the snow with their blood, Jup was found in the midst of a heap of
+culpeux, whose broken jaws and crushed bodies showed that they had to
+do with the terrible club of the intrepid animal.
+
+Poor Jup still held in his hand the stump of his broken cudgel, but
+deprived of his weapon he had been overpowered by numbers, and his
+chest was covered with severe wounds.
+
+"He is living," cried Neb, who was bending over him.
+
+"And we will save him," replied the sailor. "We will nurse him as if
+he was one of ourselves."
+
+It appeared as if Jup understood, for he leant his head on Pencroft's
+shoulder as if to thank him. The sailor was wounded himself, but his
+wound was insignificant, as were those of his companions; for thanks
+to their firearms they had been almost always able to keep their
+assailants at a distance. It was therefore only the orang whose
+condition was serious.
+
+Jup, carried by Neb and Pencroft, was placed in the lift, and only a
+slight moan now and then escaped his lips. He was gently drawn up to
+Granite House. There he was laid on a mattress taken from one of the
+beds, and his wounds were bathed with the greatest care. It did not
+appear that any vital part had been reached, but Jup was very weak
+from loss of blood, and a high fever soon set in after his wounds had
+been dressed. He was laid down, strict diet was imposed, "just like a
+real person," as Neb said, and they made him swallow several cups of a
+cooling drink, for which the ingredients were supplied from the
+vegetable medicine chest of Granite House. Jup was at first restless,
+but his breathing gradually became more regular, and he was left
+sleeping quietly. From time to time Top, walking on tip-toe, as one
+might say, came to visit his friend, and seemed to approve of all the
+care that had been taken of him. One of Jup's hands hung over the side
+of his bed, and Top licked it with a sympathising air.
+
+They employed the day in interring the dead, who were dragged to the
+forest of the Far West, and there buried deep.
+
+This attack, which might have had such serious consequences, was a
+lesson to the settlers, who from this time never went to bed until one
+of their number had made sure that all the bridges were raised, and
+that no invasion was possible.
+
+However Jup, after having given them serious anxiety for several days,
+began to recover. His constitution brought him through, the fever
+gradually subsided, and Gideon Spilett, who was a bit of a doctor,
+pronounced him quite out of danger. On the 16th of August, Jup began
+to eat. Neb made him nice little sweet dishes, which the invalid
+discussed with great relish, for if he had a pet failing it was that
+of being somewhat of a gourmand, and Neb had never done anything to
+cure him of this fault.
+
+"What would you have?" said he to Gideon Spilett, who sometimes
+expostulated with him for spoiling the ape. "Poor Jup has no other
+pleasure than that of the palate, and I am only too glad to be able to
+reward his services in this way!"
+
+[Illustration: TOP VISITING THE INVALID]
+
+Ten days after having taken to his bed, on the 21st of August, Master
+Jup arose. His wounds were healed, and it was evident that he would
+not be long in regaining his usual strength and agility. Like all
+convalescents, he was tremendously hungry, and the reporter allowed
+him to eat as much as he liked, for he trusted to that instinct, which
+is too often wanting in reasoning beings, to keep the orang from any
+excess. Neb was delighted to see his pupil's appetite returning.
+
+"Eat away, my Jup," said he, "and don't spare anything; you have shed
+your blood for us, and it is the least I can do to make you strong
+again!"
+
+On the 25th of August Neb's voice was heard calling to his companions.
+
+"Captain, Mr. Spilett, Mr. Herbert, Pencroft, come! come!"
+
+The colonists, who were together in the dining-room, rose at Neb's
+call, who was then in Jup's room.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the reporter.
+
+"Look," replied Neb, with a shout of laughter. And what did they see?
+Master Jup smoking calmly and seriously, sitting cross-legged like a
+Turk at the entrance to Granite House!
+
+"My pipe," cried Pencroft. "He has taken my pipe! Hallo, my honest
+Jup, I make you a present of it! Smoke away, old boy, smoke away!"
+
+And Jup gravely puffed out clouds of smoke which seemed to give him
+great satisfaction. Harding did not appear to be much astonished at
+this incident, and he cited several examples of tame apes, to whom the
+use of tobacco had become quite familiar.
+
+But from this day Master Jup had a pipe of his own, the sailor's
+ex-pipe, which was hung in his room near his store of tobacco. He
+filled it himself, lighted it with a glowing coal, and appeared to be
+the happiest of quadrumana. It may readily be understood that this
+similarity of tastes of Jup and Pencroft served to tighten the bonds
+of friendship which already existed between the honest ape and the
+worthy sailor.
+
+"Perhaps he is really a man," said Pencroft sometimes to Neb. "Should
+you be surprised to hear him beginning to speak to us some day?"
+
+"My word, no," replied Neb. "What astonishes me is that he hasn't
+spoken to us before, for now he wants nothing but speech!"
+
+"It would amuse me all the same," resumed the sailor, "if some fine
+day he said to me, 'Suppose we change pipes, Pencroft.'"
+
+"Yes," replied Neb, "what a pity he was born dumb!"
+
+With the month of September the winter ended, and the works were again
+eagerly commenced. The building of the vessel advanced rapidly, she
+was already completely decked over, and all the inside parts of the
+hull were firmly united with ribs bent by means of steam, which
+answered all the purposes of a mould.
+
+As there was no want of wood, Pencroft proposed to the engineer to
+give a double lining to the hull, so as to completely insure the
+strength of the vessel.
+
+Harding, not knowing what the future might have in store for them,
+approved the sailor's idea of making the craft as strong as possible.
+The interior and deck of the vessel was entirely finished towards the
+15th of September. For calking the seams they made oakum of dry
+seaweed, which was hammered in between the planks; then these seams
+were covered with boiling tar, which was obtained in great abundance
+from the pines in the forest.
+
+The management of the vessel was very simple. She had from the first
+been ballasted with heavy blocks of granite walled up, in a bed of
+lime, twelve thousand pounds of which they stowed away.
+
+A deck was placed over this ballast, and the interior was divided into
+two cabins; two benches extended along them and served also as
+lockers. The foot of the mast supported the partition which separated
+the two cabins, which were reached by two hatchways let into the deck.
+
+Pencroft had no trouble in finding a tree suitable for the mast. He
+chose a straight young fir, with no knots, and which he had only to
+square at the step, and round off at the top. The ironwork of the
+mast, the rudder and the hull, had been roughly but strongly forged at
+the Chimneys. Lastly, yards, masts, boom, spars, oars, etc., were all
+finished by the first week in October, and it was agreed that a trial
+trip should be taken round the island, so as to ascertain how the
+vessel would behave at sea, and how far they might depend upon her.
+
+During all this time the necessary works had not been neglected. The
+corral was enlarged, for the flock of musmons and goats had been
+increased by a number of young ones, who had to be housed and fed. The
+colonists had paid visits also to the oyster bed, the warren, the coal
+and iron mines, and to the till then unexplored districts of the Far
+West forest, which abounded in game. Certain indigenous plants were
+discovered, and those fit for immediate use, contributed to vary the
+vegetable stores of Granite House.
+
+They were a species of ficoide, some similar to those of the Cape,
+with eatable fleshy leaves, others bearing seeds containing a sort of
+flour.
+
+On the 10th of October the vessel was launched. Pencroft was radiant
+with joy, the operation was perfectly successful; the boat completely
+rigged, having been pushed on rollers to the water's edge, was floated
+by the rising tide, amidst the cheers of the colonists, particularly
+of Pencroft, who showed no modesty on this occasion. Besides his
+importance was to last beyond the finishing of the vessel, since,
+after having built her, he was to command her. The grade of captain
+was bestowed upon him with the approbation of all. To satisfy Captain
+Pencroft, it was now necessary to give a name to the vessel, and,
+after many propositions had been discussed, the votes were all in
+favour of the _Bonadventure_. As soon as the _Bonadventure_ had been
+lifted by the rising tide, it was seen that she lay evenly in the
+water, and would be easily navigated. However the trial trip was to be
+made that very day, by an excursion off the coast. The weather was
+fine, the breeze fresh, and the sea smooth, especially towards the
+south coast, for the wind was blowing from the north-west.
+
+"All hands on board," shouted Pencroft, but breakfast was first
+necessary, and it was thought best to take provisions on board, in the
+event of their excursion being prolonged until the evening.
+
+[Illustration: THE TRIAL TRIP]
+
+Cyrus Harding was equally anxious to try the vessel, the model of
+which had originated with him, although on the sailor's advice he had
+altered some parts of it, but he did not share Pencroft's confidence
+in her, and as the latter had not again spoken of the voyage to Tabor
+Island, Harding hoped he had given it up. He would have indeed great
+reluctance in letting two or three of his companions venture so far in
+so small a boat, which was not of more than fifteen tons' burden.
+
+At half-past ten everybody was on board, even Top and Jup, and Herbert
+weighed the anchor, which was fast in the sand near the mouth of the
+Mercy. The sail was hoisted, the Lincolnian flag floated from the
+mast-head, and the _Bonadventure_, steered by Pencroft, stood out to
+sea.
+
+The wind blowing out of Union Bay she ran before it, and thus showed
+her owners, much to their satisfaction, that she possessed a
+remarkably fast pair of heels, according to Pencroft's mode of
+speaking. After having doubled Flotsam Point and Claw Cape, the
+captain kept her close hauled, so as to sail along the southern coast
+of the island, when it was found she sailed admirably within five
+points of the wind. All hands were enchanted, they had a good vessel,
+which, in case of need, would be of great service to them, and with
+fine weather and a fresh breeze the voyage promised to be charming.
+
+Pencroft now stood off the shore, three or four miles across from Port
+Balloon. The island then appeared in all its extent and under a new
+aspect, with the varied panorama of its shore from Claw Cape to
+Reptile End, the forests in which dark firs contrasted with the young
+foliage of other trees and overlooked the whole, and Mount Franklin
+whose lofty head was still whitened with snow.
+
+"How beautiful it is!" cried Herbert.
+
+"Yes, our island is beautiful and good," replied Pencroft. "I love it
+as I loved my poor mother. It received us poor and destitute, and now
+what is wanting to us five fellows who fell on it from the sky."
+
+"Nothing," replied Neb; "nothing, captain."
+
+And the two brave men gave three tremendous cheers in honour of their
+island!
+
+During all this time Gideon Spilett, leaning against the mast,
+sketched the panorama which was developed before his eyes.
+
+Cyrus Harding gazed on it in silence.
+
+"Well, Captain Harding," asked Pencroft, "what do you think of our
+vessel?"
+
+"She appears to behave well," replied the engineer.
+
+"Good! And do you think now that she could undertake a voyage of some
+extent?"
+
+"What voyage, Pencroft?"
+
+"One to Tabor Island, for instance."
+
+"My friend," replied Harding, "I think that in any pressing emergency
+we need not hesitate to trust ourselves to the _Bonadventure_ even for
+a longer voyage; but you know I should see you set off to Tabor Island
+with great uneasiness, since nothing obliges you to go there."
+
+"One likes to know one's neighbours," returned the sailor, who was
+obstinate in his idea. "Tabor Island is our neighbour, and the only
+one! Politeness requires us to go at least to pay a visit."
+
+"By Jove," said Spilett; "our friend Pencroft has become very
+particular about the proprieties all at once!"
+
+"I am not particular about anything at all," retorted the sailor; who
+was rather vexed by the engineer's opposition, but who did not wish to
+cause him anxiety.
+
+"Consider, Pencroft," resumed Harding, "you cannot go alone to Tabor
+Island."
+
+"One companion will be enough for me."
+
+"Even so," replied the engineer, "you will risk depriving the colony
+of Lincoln Island of two settlers out of five."
+
+"Out of six," answered Pencroft; "you forget Jup."
+
+"Out of seven," added Neb; "Top is quite worth another."
+
+"There is no risk at all in it, captain," replied Pencroft.
+
+"That is possible, Pencroft; but I repeat it is to expose ourselves
+uselessly."
+
+The obstinate sailor did not reply, and let the conversation drop,
+quite determined to resume it again. But he did not suspect that an
+incident would come to his aid and change into an act of humanity that
+which was at first only a doubtful whim.
+
+After standing off the shore the _Bonadventure_ again approached it in
+the direction of Port Balloon. It was important to ascertain the
+channels between the sandbanks and reefs, that buoys might be laid
+down, since this little creek was to be the harbour.
+
+They were not more than half a mile from the coast, and it was
+necessary to tack to beat against the wind. The _Bonadventure_ was
+then going at a very moderate rate, as the breeze, partly intercepted
+by the high land, scarcely swelled her sails, and the sea, smooth as
+glass, was only rippled now and then by passing gusts.
+
+Herbert had stationed himself in the bows that he might indicate the
+course to be followed among the channels, when all at once he
+shouted,--
+
+"Luff, Pencroft, luff!"
+
+"What's the matter," replied the sailor, "a rock?"
+
+"No--wait," said Herbert, "I don't quite see. Luff again--right--now."
+
+So saying, Herbert leaning over the side, plunged his arm into the
+water and pulled it out, exclaiming,--
+
+"A bottle!"
+
+He held in his hand a corked bottle which he had just seized a few
+cables' length from the shore.
+
+Cyrus Harding took the bottle Without uttering a single word he drew
+the cork, and took from it a damp paper, on which were written these
+words:--
+
+"Castaway ... Tabor Island: 153° W long, 37° 11´ S lat."
+
+[Illustration: "LUFF, PENCROFT, LUFF!"]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+ Departure decided upon -- Conjectures -- Preparations -- The
+ three Passengers -- First Night -- Second Night -- Tabor
+ Island -- Searching the Shore -- Searching the Wood -- No
+ one -- Animals -- Plants -- A Dwelling -- Deserted.
+
+
+"A castaway!" exclaimed Pencroft; "left on this Tabor Island not two
+hundred miles from us! Ah, Captain Harding, you won't now oppose my
+going."
+
+"No, Pencroft," replied Cyrus Harding; "and you shall set out as soon
+as possible."
+
+"To-morrow?"
+
+"To-morrow!"
+
+The engineer still held in his hand the paper which he had taken from
+the bottle. He contemplated it for some instants, then resumed,--
+
+"From this document, my friends, from the way in which it is worded,
+we may conclude this: first, that the castaway on Tabor Island is a
+man possessing a considerable knowledge of navigation, since he gives
+the latitude and longitude of the island exactly as we ourselves found
+it, and to a second of approximation; secondly, that he is either
+English or American, as the document is written in the English
+language."
+
+"That is perfectly logical," answered Spilett; "and the presence of
+this castaway explains the arrival of the case on the shores of our
+island. There must have been a wreck, since there is a castaway. As to
+the latter, whoever he may be, it is lucky for him that Pencroft
+thought of building this boat and of trying her this very day, for a
+day later and this bottle might have been broken on the rocks."
+
+"Indeed," said Herbert, "it is a fortunate chance that the
+_Bonadventure_ passed exactly where the bottle was still floating!"
+
+"Does not this appear strange to you?" asked Harding of Pencroft.
+
+"It appears fortunate, that's all," answered the sailor. "Do you see
+anything extraordinary in it, captain. The bottle must go somewhere,
+and why not here as well as anywhere else?"
+
+"Perhaps you are right, Pencroft," replied the engineer; "and yet--"
+
+"But," observed Herbert, "there's nothing to prove that this bottle
+has been floating long in the sea."
+
+"Nothing," replied Gideon Spilett; "and the document appears even to
+have been recently written. What do you think about it, Cyrus?"
+
+"It is difficult to say, and besides we shall soon know," replied
+Harding.
+
+During this conversation Pencroft had not remained in-active. He had
+put the vessel about, and the _Bonadventure_, all sails set, was
+running rapidly towards Claw Cape.
+
+Every one was thinking of the castaway on Tabor Island. Should they be
+in time to save him? This was a great event in the life of the
+colonists! They themselves were but castaways, but it was to be feared
+that another might not have been so fortunate, and their duty was to
+go to his succour.
+
+Claw Cape was doubled, and about four o'clock the _Bonadventure_
+dropped her anchor at the mouth of the Mercy.
+
+That same evening the arrangements for the new expedition were made.
+It appeared best that Pencroft and Herbert, who knew how to work the
+vessel, should undertake the voyage alone. By setting out the next
+day, the 10th of October, they would arrive on the 13th, for with the
+present wind it would not take more than forty-eight hours to make
+this passage of a hundred and fifty miles. One day in the island,
+three or four to return, they might hope therefore that on the 17th
+they would again reach Lincoln Island. The weather was fine, the
+barometer was rising, the wind appeared settled, everything then was
+in favour of these brave men whom an act of humanity was taking far
+from their island.
+
+Thus it had been agreed that Cyrus Harding, Neb, and Gideon Spilett,
+should remain at Granite House, but an objection was raised, and
+Spilett, who had not forgotten his business as reporter to the _New
+York Herald_, having declared that he would go by swimming rather than
+lose such an opportunity, he was admitted to take a part in the
+voyage.
+
+The evening was occupied in transporting on board the _Bonadventure_
+articles of bedding, utensils, arms, ammunition, a compass, provisions
+for a week, and this business being rapidly accomplished the colonists
+ascended to Granite House.
+
+The next day, at five o'clock in the morning, the farewells were said,
+not without some emotion on both sides, and Pencroft setting sail made
+towards Claw Cape, which had to be doubled in order to proceed to the
+south-west.
+
+The _Bonadventure_ was already a quarter of a mile from the coast,
+when the passengers perceived on the heights of Granite House two men
+waving their farewells; they were Cyrus Harding and Neb.
+
+"Our friends," exclaimed Spilett, "this is our first separation for
+fifteen months."
+
+Pencroft, the reporter, and Herbert waved in return, and Granite House
+soon disappeared behind the high rocks of the Cape.
+
+During the first part of the day the _Bonadventure_ was still in sight
+of the southern coast of Lincoln Island, which soon appeared just like
+a green basket, with Mount Franklin rising from the centre. The
+heights, diminished by distance, did not present an appearance likely
+to tempt vessels to touch there. Reptile End was passed in about an
+hour, though at a distance of about ten miles.
+
+At this distance it was no longer possible to distinguish anything of
+the Western Coast, which stretched away to the ridges of Mount
+Franklin, and three hours after the last of Lincoln Island sank below
+the horizon.
+
+The _Bonadventure_ behaved capitally. Bounding over the waves she
+proceeded rapidly on her course. Pencroft had hoisted the foresail,
+and steering by the compass followed a rectilinear direction. From
+time to time Herbert relieved him at the helm, and the lad's hand was
+so firm that the sailor had not a point to find fault with.
+
+Gideon Spilett chatted sometimes with one, sometimes with the other,
+if wanted he lent a hand with the ropes, and Captain Pencroft was
+perfectly satisfied with his crew.
+
+[Illustration: THE DEPARTURE]
+
+In the evening the crescent moon, which would not be in its first
+quarter until the 16th, appeared in the twilight and soon set again.
+The night was dark but starry, and the next day again promised to be
+fine.
+
+Pencroft prudently lowered the foresail, not wishing to be caught by a
+sudden gust while carrying too much canvas; it was perhaps an
+unnecessary precaution on such a calm night, but Pencroft was a
+prudent sailor and cannot be blamed for it.
+
+The reporter slept part of the night. Pencroft and Herbert took turns
+for a spell of two hours each at the helm. The sailor trusted Herbert
+as he would himself, and his confidence was justified by the coolness
+and judgment of the lad. Pencroft gave him his directions as a
+commander to his steersman, and Herbert never allowed the
+_Bonadventure_ to swerve even a point. The night passed quietly, as
+did the day of the 12th of October. A south-easterly direction was
+strictly maintained, unless the _Bonadventure_ fell in with some
+unknown current she would come exactly within sight of Tabor Island.
+
+As to the sea over which the vessel was then sailing, it was
+absolutely deserted. Now and then a great albatross or frigate bird
+passed within gun-shot, and Gideon Spilett wondered if it was to one
+of them that he had confided his last letter addressed to the _New
+York Herald_. These birds were the only beings that appeared to
+frequent this part of the ocean between Tabor and Lincoln Island.
+
+"And yet," observed Herbert, "this is the time that whalers usually
+proceed towards the southern part of the Pacific. Indeed I do not
+think there could be a more deserted sea than this."
+
+"It is not quite so deserted as all that," replied Pencroft.
+
+"What do you mean," asked the reporter.
+
+"We are on it. Do you take our vessel for a wreck and us for
+porpoises?"
+
+And Pencroft laughed at his joke.
+
+By the evening, according to calculation, it was thought that the
+_Bonadventure_ had accomplished a distance of a hundred and twenty
+miles since her departure from Lincoln Island, that is to say in
+thirty-six hours, which would give her a speed of between three and
+four knots an hour. The breeze was very slight and might soon drop
+altogether. However it was hoped that the next morning by break of
+day, if the calculation had been correct and the course true, they
+would sight Tabor Island.
+
+Neither Gideon Spilett, Herbert, nor Pencroft slept that night. In the
+expectation of the next day they could not but feel some emotion.
+There was so much uncertainty in their enterprise! Were they near
+Tabor Island? Was the island still inhabited by the castaway to whose
+succour they had come. Who was this man? Would not his presence
+disturb the little colony till then so united? Besides, would he be
+content to exchange his prison for another? All these questions, which
+would no doubt be answered the next day, kept them in suspense, and at
+the dawn of day they all fixed their gaze on the western horizon.
+
+"Land!" shouted Pencroft at about six o'clock in the morning.
+
+And it was impossible that Pencroft should be mistaken, it was evident
+that land was there. Imagine the joy of the little crew of the
+_Bonadventure_. In a few hours they would land on the beach of the
+island!
+
+The low coast of Tabor Island, scarcely emerging from the sea, was not
+more than fifteen miles distant.
+
+The head of the _Bonadventure_, which was a little to the south of the
+island, was set directly towards it, and as the sun mounted in the
+east, his rays fell upon one or two headlands.
+
+"This is a much less important isle than Lincoln Island," observed
+Herbert, "and is probably due like ours to some submarine convulsion."
+
+At eleven o'clock the _Bonadventure_ was not more than two miles off,
+and Pencroft, whilst looking for a suitable place at which to land,
+proceeded very cautiously through the unknown waters. The whole of the
+island could now be surveyed, and on it could be seen groups of gum
+and other large trees, of the same species as those growing on Lincoln
+Island. But the astonishing thing was that no smoke arose to show that
+the island was inhabited, not a signal appeared on any point of the
+shore whatever!
+
+And yet the document was clear enough; there was a castaway, and this
+castaway should have been on the watch.
+
+In the meanwhile the _Bonadventure_ entered the winding channels among
+the reefs, and Pencroft observed every turn with extreme care. He had
+put Herbert at the helm, posting himself in the bows, inspecting the
+water, whilst he held the halliard in his hand, ready to lower the
+sail at a moment's notice. Gideon Spilett with his glass eagerly
+scanned the shore, though without perceiving anything.
+
+However at about twelve o'clock the keel of the _Bonadventure_ grated
+on the bottom. The anchor was let go, the sails furled, and the crew
+of the little vessel landed.
+
+And there was no reason to doubt that this was Tabor Island, since
+according to the most recent charts there was no island in this part
+of the Pacific between New Zealand and the American coast.
+
+The vessel was securely moored, so that there should be no danger of
+her being carried away by the receding tide; then Pencroft and his
+companions, well armed, ascended the shore, so as to gain an elevation
+of about two hundred and fifty or three hundred feet which rose at a
+distance of half a mile.
+
+"From the summit of that hill," said Spilett, "we can no doubt obtain
+a complete view of the island, which will greatly facilitate our
+search."
+
+"So as to do here," replied Herbert, "that which Captain Harding did
+the very first thing on Lincoln Island, by climbing Mount Franklin."
+
+"Exactly so," answered the reporter; "and it is the best plan of
+proceeding."
+
+Whilst thus talking the explorers had advanced along a clearing which
+terminated at the foot of the hill. Flocks of rock-pigeons and
+sea-swallows, similar to those of Lincoln Island, fluttered around
+them. Under the woods which skirted the glade on the left they could
+hear the bushes rustling and see the grass waving, which indicated the
+presence of timid animals, but still nothing to show that the island
+was inhabited.
+
+Arrived at the foot of the hill, Pencroft, Spilett, and Herbert
+climbed it in a few minutes, and gazed anxiously round the horizon.
+
+[Illustration: NEARING THE ISLAND]
+
+They were on an islet which did not measure more than six miles in
+circumference, its shape not much bordered by capes or promontories,
+bays or creeks, being a lengthened oval. All around, the lonely sea
+extended to the limits of the horizon. No land nor even a sail was in
+sight.
+
+This woody islet did not offer the varied aspects of Lincoln Island,
+arid and wild in one part, but fertile and rich in the other. On the
+contrary this was a uniform mass of verdure, out of which rose two or
+three hills of no great height. Obliquely to the oval of the island
+ran a stream through a wide meadow falling into the sea on the west by
+a narrow mouth.
+
+"The domain is limited," said Herbert.
+
+"Yes," rejoined Pencroft. "It would have been too small for us."
+
+"And moreover," said the reporter, "it appears to be uninhabited."
+
+"Indeed," answered Herbert, "nothing here betrays the presence of
+man."
+
+"Let us go down," said Pencroft, "and search."
+
+The sailor and his two companions returned to the shore, to the place
+where they had left the _Bonadventure_.
+
+They had decided to make the tour of the island on foot, before
+exploring the interior, so that not a spot should escape their
+investigations. The beach was easy to follow, and only in some places
+was their way barred by large rocks, which, however, they easily
+passed round. The explorers proceeded towards the south, disturbing
+numerous flocks of sea-birds and herds of seals, which threw
+themselves into the sea as soon as they saw the strangers at a
+distance.
+
+"Those beasts yonder," observed the reporter, "do not see men for the
+first time. They fear them, therefore they must know them."
+
+An hour after their departure they arrived on the southern point of
+the islet, terminated by a sharp cape, and proceeded towards the north
+along the western coast, equally formed by sand and rocks, the
+background bordered with thick woods.
+
+There was not a trace of a habitation in any part, not the print of a
+human foot on the shore of the island, which after four hours' walking
+had been gone completely round.
+
+It was to say the least very extraordinary, and they were compelled to
+believe that Tabor Island was not or was no longer inhabited. Perhaps,
+after all, the document was already several months or several years
+old, and it was possible in this case, either that the castaway had
+been enabled to return to his country, or that he had died of misery.
+
+Pencroft, Spilett, and Herbert, forming more or less probable
+conjectures, dined rapidly on board the _Bonadventure_, so as to be
+able to continue their excursion until nightfall. This was done at
+five o'clock in the evening, at which hour they entered the wood.
+
+Numerous animals fled at their approach, being principally, one might
+say, only goats and pigs, which it was easy to see belonged to
+European species.
+
+Doubtless some whaler had landed them on the island, where they had
+rapidly increased. Herbert resolved to catch one or two living, and
+take them back to Lincoln Island.
+
+It was no longer doubtful that men at some period or other had visited
+this islet, and this became still more evident when paths appeared
+trodden through the forest, felled trees, and everywhere traces of the
+hand of man; but the trees were becoming rotten, and had been felled
+many years ago; the marks of the axe were velveted with moss, and the
+grass grew long and thick on the paths, so that it was difficult to
+find them.
+
+"But," observed Gideon Spilett, "this not only proves that men have
+landed on the island, but also that they lived on it for some time.
+Now, who were these men? How many of them remain?"
+
+"The document," said Herbert, "only spoke of one castaway."
+
+"Well, if he is still on the island," replied Pencroft, "it is
+impossible but that we shall find him."
+
+The exploration was continued. The sailor and his companions naturally
+followed the route which cut diagonally across the island, and they
+were thus obliged to follow the stream which flowed towards the sea.
+
+If the animals of European origin, if works due to a human hand,
+showed incontestably that men had already visited the island, several
+specimens of the vegetable kingdom did not prove it less. In some
+places, in the midst of clearings, it was evident that the soil had
+been planted with culinary plants, at probably the same distant
+period.
+
+What, then, was Herbert's joy, when he recognised potatoes, chicory,
+sorrel, carrots, cabbages, and turnips, of which it was sufficient to
+collect the seed to enrich the soil of Lincoln Island.
+
+"Capital, jolly!" exclaimed Pencroft. "That will suit Neb as well as
+us. Even if we do not find the castaway, at least our voyage will not
+have been useless, and God will have rewarded us."
+
+"Doubtless," replied Gideon Spilett; "but to see the state in which we
+find these plantations, it is to be feared that the island has not
+been inhabited for some time."
+
+"Indeed," answered Herbert, "an inhabitant, whoever he was, could not
+have neglected such an important culture!"
+
+"Yes," said Pencroft, "the castaway has gone."
+
+"We must suppose so."
+
+"It must then be admitted that the document has already a distant
+date?"
+
+"Evidently."
+
+"And that the bottle only arrived at Lincoln Island after having
+floated in the sea a long time."
+
+"Why not," returned Pencroft. "But night is coming on," added he, "and
+I think that it will be best to give up the search for the present."
+
+"Let us go on board, and to-morrow we will begin again," said the
+reporter.
+
+This was the wisest course, and it was about to be followed when
+Herbert, pointing to a confused mass among the trees, exclaimed,--
+
+"A hut!"
+
+All three immediately ran towards the dwelling. In the twilight it was
+just possible to see that it was built of planks and covered with a
+thick tarpaulin.
+
+The half-closed door was pushed open by Pencroft, who entered with a
+rapid step.
+
+The hut was empty!
+
+[Illustration: A HUT!]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+ The Inventory -- Night -- A few Letters -- Continuation of
+ the Search -- Plants and Animals -- Herbert in great Danger
+ -- On Board -- The Departure -- Bad Weather -- A Gleam of
+ Reason -- Lost on the Sea -- A timely Light.
+
+
+Pencroft, Herbert, and Gideon Spilett remained silent in the midst of
+the darkness.
+
+Pencroft shouted loudly.
+
+No reply was made.
+
+The sailor then struck a light and set fire to a twig. This lighted
+for a minute a small room, which appeared perfectly empty. At the back
+was a rude fireplace, with a few cold cinders, supporting an armful of
+dry wood. Pencroft threw the blazing twig on it, the wood cracked and
+gave forth a bright light.
+
+The sailor and his two companions then perceived a disordered bed, of
+which the damp and yellow coverlets proved that it had not been used
+for a long time. In the corner of the fireplace were two kettles,
+covered with rust, and an overthrown pot. A cupboard, with a few
+mouldy sailor's clothes; on the table a tin plate and a Bible, eaten
+away by damp; in a corner a few tools, a spade, pickaxe, two
+fowling-pieces, one of which was broken; on a plank, forming a shelf,
+stood a barrel of powder, still untouched, a barrel of shot, and
+several boxes of caps, all thickly covered with dust, accumulated,
+perhaps, by many long years.
+
+"There is no one here," said the reporter.
+
+"No one," replied Pencroft.
+
+"It is a long time since this room has been inhabited," observed
+Herbert.
+
+"Yes, a very long time!" answered the reporter.
+
+"Mr. Spilett," then said Pencroft, "instead of returning on board, I
+think that it would be well to pass the night in this hut."
+
+"You are right, Pencroft," answered Gideon Spilett, "and if its owner
+returns, well! perhaps he will not be sorry to find the place taken
+possession of."
+
+"He will not return," said the sailor, shaking his head.
+
+"You think that he has quitted the island?" asked the reporter.
+
+"If he had quitted the island he would have taken away his weapons and
+his tools," replied Pencroft. "You know the value which castaways set
+on such articles as these, the last remains of a wreck? No! no!"
+repeated the sailor, in a tone of conviction, "no, he has not left the
+island! If he had escaped in a boat made by himself, he would still
+less have left these indispensable and necessary articles. No! he is
+on the island!"
+
+"Living?" asked Herbert.
+
+"Living or dead. But if he is dead, I suppose he has not buried
+himself, and so we shall at least find his remains!"
+
+It was then agreed that the night should be passed in the deserted
+dwelling, and a store of wood found in a corner was sufficient to warm
+it. The door closed, Pencroft, Herbert, and Spilett remained there,
+seated on a bench, talking little but wondering much. They were in a
+frame of mind to imagine anything or expect anything. They listened
+eagerly for sounds outside. The door might have opened suddenly, and a
+man presented himself to them without their being in the least
+surprised, notwithstanding all that the hut revealed of abandonment,
+and they had their hands ready to press the hands of this man, this
+castaway, this unknown friend, for whom friends were waiting.
+
+But no voice was heard, the door did not open. The hours thus passed
+away.
+
+How long the night appeared to the sailor and his companions! Herbert
+alone slept for two hours, for at his age sleep is a necessity. They
+were all three anxious to continue their exploration of the day
+before, and to search the most secret recesses of the islet! The
+inferences deduced by Pencroft were perfectly reasonable, and it was
+nearly certain that, as the hut was deserted, and the tools, utensils,
+and weapons were still there, the owner had succumbed. It was agreed,
+therefore, that they should search for his remains, and give them at
+least Christian burial.
+
+Day dawned; Pencroft and his companions immediately proceeded to
+survey the dwelling. It had certainly been built in a favourable
+situation, at the back of a little hill, sheltered by five or six
+magnificent gum trees. Before its front and through the trees the axe
+had prepared a wide clearing, which allowed the view to extend to the
+sea. Beyond a lawn, surrounded by a wooden fence falling to pieces,
+was the shore, on the left of which was the mouth of the stream.
+
+The hut had been built of planks, and it was easy to see that these
+planks had been obtained from the hull or deck of a ship. It was
+probable that a disabled vessel had been cast on the coast of the
+island, that one at least of the crew had been saved, and that by
+means of the wreck this man, having tools at his disposal, had built
+the dwelling.
+
+And this became still more evident when Gideon Spilett, after having
+walked round the hut, saw on a plank, probably one of those which had
+formed the armour of the wrecked vessel, these letters already half
+effaced:--
+
+ "Br--tan--a."
+
+"Britannia," exclaimed Pencroft, whom the reporter had called; "it is
+a common name for ships, and I could not say if she was English or
+American!"
+
+"It matters very little, Pencroft!"
+
+"Very little indeed," answered the sailor; "and we will save the
+survivor of her crew if he is still living, to whatever country he may
+belong. But before beginning our search again let us go on board the
+_Bonadventure_."
+
+A sort of uneasiness had seized Pencroft upon the subject of his
+vessel. Should the island be inhabited after all, and should some one
+have taken possession of her? But he shrugged his shoulders at such an
+unreasonable supposition. At any rate the sailor was not sorry to go
+to breakfast on board. The road already trodden was not long, scarcely
+a mile. They set out on their walk, gazing into the wood and thickets
+through which goats and pigs fled in hundreds.
+
+Twenty minutes after leaving the hut Pencroft and his companions
+reached the western coast of the island, and saw the _Bonadventure_
+held fast by her anchor, which was buried deep in the sand.
+
+Pencroft could not restrain a sigh of satisfaction. After all this
+vessel was his child, and it is the right of fathers to be often
+uneasy when there is no occasion for it.
+
+They returned on board, breakfasted, so that it should not be
+necessary to dine until very late; then the repast being ended, the
+exploration was continued and conducted with the most minute care.
+Indeed, it was very probable that the only inhabitant of the island
+had perished. It was therefore more for the traces of a dead than of a
+living man that Pencroft and his companions searched. But their
+searches were vain, and during the half of that day they sought to no
+purpose among the thickets of trees which covered the islet. There was
+then scarcely any doubt that, if the castaway was dead, no trace of
+his body now remained, but that some wild beast had probably devoured
+it to the last bone.
+
+"We will set off to-morrow at daybreak," said Pencroft to his two
+companions, as about two o'clock they were resting for a few minutes
+under the shade of a clump of firs.
+
+"I should think that we might without scruple take the utensils which
+belonged to the castaway," added Herbert.
+
+"I think so too," returned Gideon Spilett; "and these arms and tools
+will make up the stores of Granite House. The supply of powder and
+shot is also most important."
+
+"Yes," replied Pencroft; "but we must not forget to capture a couple
+or two of those pigs, of which Lincoln Island is destitute--"
+
+"Nor to gather those seeds," added Herbert, "which will give us all
+the vegetables of the Old and the New Worlds."
+
+"Then perhaps it would be best," said the reporter, "to remain a day
+longer on Tabor Island, so as to collect all that may be useful to
+us."
+
+"No, Mr. Spilett," answered Pencroft, "I will ask you to set off
+to-morrow at daybreak. The wind seems to me to be likely to shift to
+the west, and after having had a fair wind for coming we shall have a
+fair wind for going back."
+
+"Then do not let us lose time," said Herbert, rising.
+
+"We won't waste time," returned Pencroft. "You, Herbert, go and gather
+the seeds, which you know better than we do. Whilst you do that, Mr.
+Spilett and I will go and have a pig hunt, and even without Top I hope
+we shall manage to catch a few!"
+
+Herbert accordingly took the path which led towards the cultivated
+part of the islet, whilst the sailor and the reporter entered the
+forest.
+
+Many specimens of the porcine race fled before them, and these
+animals, which were singularly active, did not appear to be in a
+humour to allow themselves to be approached.
+
+However, after an hour's chase, the hunters had just managed to get
+hold of a couple lying in a thicket, when cries were heard resounding
+from the north part of the island. With the cries were mingled
+terrible yells, in which there was nothing human.
+
+Pencroft and Gideon Spilett were at once on their feet, and the pigs
+by this movement began to run away, at the moment when the sailor was
+getting ready the rope to bind them.
+
+"That's Herbert's voice," said the reporter.
+
+"Run!" exclaimed Pencroft.
+
+And the sailor and Spilett immediately ran at full speed towards the
+spot from whence the cries proceeded.
+
+They did well to hasten, for at a turn of the path near a clearing
+they saw the lad thrown on the ground and in the grasp of a savage
+being, apparently a gigantic ape, who was about to do him some great
+harm.
+
+To rush on this monster, throw him on the ground in his turn, snatch
+Herbert from him, then bind him securely, was the work of a minute for
+Pencroft and Gideon Spilett. The sailor was of Herculean strength, the
+reporter also very powerful, and in spite of the monster's resistance
+he was firmly tied so that he could not even move.
+
+"You are not hurt, Herbert," asked Spilett.
+
+"No, no!"
+
+"Oh, if this ape had wounded him!" exclaimed Pencroft.
+
+"But he is not an ape," answered Herbert.
+
+At these words Pencroft and Gideon Spilett looked at the singular
+being who lay on the ground. Indeed it was not an ape, it was a human
+being, a man. But what a man! A savage in all the horrible acceptation
+of the word, and so much the more frightful that he seemed fallen to
+the lowest degree of brutishness!
+
+[Illustration: HERBERT IN DANGER]
+
+Shaggy hair, untrimmed beard descending to the chest, the body almost
+naked except a rag round the waist, wild eyes, enormous hands with
+immensely long nails, skin the colour of mahogany, feet as hard as if
+made of horn,--such was the miserable creature who yet had a claim to
+be called a man. But it might justly be asked if there were yet a soul
+in this body, or if the brute instinct alone survived in it!
+
+"Are you quite sure that this is a man, or that he has ever been one?"
+said Pencroft to the reporter.
+
+"Alas! there is no doubt about it," replied Spilett.
+
+"Then this must be the castaway?" asked Herbert.
+
+"Yes," replied Gideon Spilett, "but the unfortunate man has no longer
+anything human about him!"
+
+The reporter spoke the truth. It was evident that if the castaway had
+ever been a civilised being, solitude had made him a savage, or worse,
+perhaps a regular man of the woods. Hoarse sounds issued from his
+throat between his teeth, which were sharp as the teeth of a wild
+beast made to tear raw flesh.
+
+Memory must have deserted him long before, and for a long time also he
+had forgotten how to use his gun and tools, and he no longer knew how
+to make a fire! It could be seen that he was active and powerful, but
+the physical qualities had been developed in him to the injury of the
+moral qualities. Gideon Spilett spoke to him. He did not appear to
+understand or even to hear. And yet on looking into his eyes, the
+reporter thought he could see that all reason was not extinguished in
+him. However, the prisoner did not struggle, nor even attempt to break
+his bonds. Was he overwhelmed by the presence of men whose fellow he
+had once been? Had he found in some corner of his brain a fleeting
+remembrance which recalled him to humanity? If free, would he attempt
+to fly, or would he remain? They could not tell, but they did not make
+the experiment; and after gazing attentively at the miserable
+creature,--
+
+"Whoever he may be," remarked Gideon Spilett; "whoever he may have
+been, and whatever he may become, it is our duty to take him with us
+to Lincoln Island."
+
+"Yes, yes!" replied Herbert; "and perhaps with care we may arouse in
+him some gleam of intelligence."
+
+"The soul does not die," said the reporter; "and it would be a great
+satisfaction to rescue one of God's creatures from brutishness."
+
+Pencroft shook his head doubtfully.
+
+"We must try at any rate," returned the reporter; "humanity commands
+us."
+
+It was indeed their duty as Christians and civilised beings. All three
+felt this, and they well knew that Cyrus Harding would approve of
+their acting thus.
+
+"Shall we leave him bound?" asked the sailor.
+
+"Perhaps he would walk if his feet were unfastened," said Herbert.
+
+"Let us try," replied Pencroft.
+
+The cords which shackled the prisoner's feet were cut off, but his
+arms remained securely fastened. He got up by himself and did not
+manifest any desire to run away. His hard eyes darted a piercing
+glance at the three men, who walked near him, but nothing denoted that
+he recollected being their fellow, or at least having been so. A
+continual hissing sound issued from his lips, his aspect was wild, but
+he did not attempt to resist.
+
+By the reporter's advice the unfortunate man was taken to the hut.
+Perhaps the sight of the things that belonged to him would make some
+impression on him! Perhaps a spark would be sufficient to revive his
+obscured intellect, to rekindle his dulled soul. The dwelling was not
+far off. In a few minutes they arrived there, but the prisoner
+remembered nothing, and it appeared that he had lost consciousness of
+everything.
+
+What could they think of the degree of brutishness into which this
+miserable being had fallen, unless that his imprisonment on the islet
+dated from a very distant period, and after having arrived there a
+rational being solitude had reduced him to this condition.
+
+The reporter then thought that perhaps the sight of fire would have
+some effect on him, and in a moment one of those beautiful flames,
+that attract even animals, blazed up on the hearth. The sight of the
+flame seemed at first to fix the attention of the unhappy object, but
+soon he turned away and the look of intelligence faded. Evidently
+there was nothing to be done, for the time at least, but to take him
+on board the _Bonadventure_. This was done, and he remained there in
+Pencroft's charge.
+
+Herbert and Spilett returned to finish their work; and some hours
+after they came back to the shore, carrying the utensils and guns, a
+store of vegetables, of seeds, some game, and two couple of pigs.
+
+All was embarked, and the _Bonadventure_ was ready to weigh anchor and
+sail with the morning tide.
+
+The prisoner had been placed in the fore cabin, where he remained
+quiet, silent, apparently deaf and dumb.
+
+Pencroft offered him something to eat, but he pushed away the cooked
+meat that was presented to him and which doubtless did not suit him.
+But on the sailor showing him one of the ducks which Herbert had
+killed, he pounced on it like a wild beast, and devoured it greedily.
+
+"You think that he will recover his senses?" asked Pencroft. "It is
+not impossible that our care will have an effect upon him, for it is
+solitude that has made him what he is, and from this time forward he
+will be no longer alone."
+
+"The poor man must no doubt have been in this state for a long time,"
+said Herbert.
+
+"Perhaps," answered Gideon Spilett.
+
+"About what age is he?" asked the lad.
+
+"It is difficult to say," replied the reporter; "for it is impossible
+to see his features under the thick beard which covers his face; but
+he is no longer young, and I suppose he might be about fifty."
+
+"Have you noticed, Mr. Spilett, how deeply sunk his eyes are?" asked
+Herbert.
+
+"Yes, Herbert; but I must add that they are more human than one could
+expect from his appearance."
+
+"However, we shall see," replied Pencroft; "and I am anxious to know
+what opinion Captain Harding will have of our savage. We went to look
+for a human creature, and we are bringing back a monster! After all we
+did what we could."
+
+The night passed, and whether the prisoner slept or not could not be
+known; but at any rate, although he had been unbound, he did not move.
+He was like a wild animal, which appears stunned at first by its
+capture, and becomes wild again afterwards.
+
+At daybreak the next morning, the 15th of October, the change of
+weather predicted by Pencroft occurred. The wind having shifted to the
+north-west favoured the return of the _Bonadventure_, but at the same
+time it freshened, which would render navigation more difficult.
+
+At five o'clock in the morning the anchor was weighed. Pencroft took a
+reef in the mainsail, and steered towards the north-east, so as to
+sail straight for Lincoln Island.
+
+The first day of the voyage was not marked by any incident. The
+prisoner remained quiet in the fore-cabin, and as he had been a sailor
+it appeared that the motion of the vessel might produce on him a
+salutary reaction. Did some recollection of his former calling return
+to him? However that might be he remained tranquil, astonished rather
+than depressed.
+
+The next day the wind increased, blowing more from the north,
+consequently in a less favourable direction for the _Bonadventure_.
+Pencroft was soon obliged to sail close-hauled, and without saying
+anything about it he began to be uneasy at the state of the sea, which
+frequently broke over the bows. Certainly, if the wind did not
+moderate, it would take a longer time to reach Lincoln Island than it
+had taken to make Tabor Island.
+
+Indeed, on the morning of the 17th, the _Bonadventure_ had been
+forty-eight hours at sea, and nothing showed that she was near the
+island. It was impossible, besides, to estimate the distance
+traversed, or to trust to the reckoning for the direction, as the
+speed had been very irregular.
+
+Twenty-four hours after there was yet no land in sight. The wind was
+right ahead and the sea very heavy. The sails were close-reefed, and
+they tacked frequently. On the 18th, a wave swept completely over the
+_Bonadventure;_ and if the crew had not taken the precaution of
+lashing themselves to the deck, they would have been carried away.
+
+On this occasion Pencroft and his companions, who were occupied with
+loosing themselves, received unexpected aid from the prisoner, who
+emerged from the hatchway as if his sailor's instinct had suddenly
+returned, broke a piece out of the bulwarks with a spar so as to let
+the water which filled the deck escape. Then the vessel being clear,
+he descended to his cabin without having uttered a word. Pencroft,
+Gideon Spilett, and Herbert, greatly astonished, let him proceed.
+
+Their situation was truly serious, and the sailor had reason to fear
+that he was lost on the wide sea without any possibility of recovering
+his course.
+
+The night was dark and cold. However, about eleven o'clock, the wind
+fell, the sea went down, and the speed of the vessel, as she laboured
+less, greatly increased.
+
+Neither Pencroft, Spilett, nor Herbert thought of taking an hour's
+sleep. They kept a sharp look-out, for either Lincoln Island
+could not be far distant and would be sighted at daybreak, or the
+_Bonadventure_, carried away by currents, had drifted so much that it
+would be impossible to rectify her course. Pencroft, uneasy to the
+last degree, yet did not despair, for he had a gallant heart, and
+grasping the tiller he anxiously endeavoured to pierce the darkness
+which surrounded them.
+
+About two o'clock in the morning he started forward,--
+
+"A light! a light!" he shouted.
+
+Indeed, a bright light appeared twenty miles to the north-east.
+Lincoln Island was there, and this fire, evidently lighted by Cyrus
+Harding, showed them the course to be followed. Pencroft, who was
+bearing too much to the north, altered his course and steered towards
+the fire, which burned brightly above the horizon like a star of the
+first magnitude.
+
+[Illustration: A LIGHT! A LIGHT!]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+ The Return -- Discussion -- Cyrus Harding and the Stranger --
+ Port Balloon -- The Engineer's Devotion -- A touching
+ Incident -- Tears flow.
+
+
+The next day, the 20th of October, at seven o'clock in the morning,
+after a voyage of four days, the _Bonadventure_ gently glided up to
+the beach at the mouth of the Mercy.
+
+Cyrus Harding and Neb, who had become very uneasy at the bad weather
+and the prolonged absence of their companions, had climbed at daybreak
+to the plateau of Prospect Heights, and they had at last caught sight
+of the vessel which had been so long in returning.
+
+"God be praised! there they are!" exclaimed Cyrus Harding.
+
+As to Neb in his joy, he began to dance, to twirl round, clapping his
+hands and shouting, "Oh! my master!" A more touching pantomime than
+the finest discourse.
+
+The engineer's first idea, on counting the people on the deck of the
+_Bonadventure_, was that Pencroft had not found the castaway of Tabor
+Island, or at any rate that the unfortunate man had refused to leave
+his island and change one prison for another.
+
+Indeed Pencroft, Gideon Spilett, and Herbert were alone on the deck of
+the _Bonadventure_.
+
+The moment the vessel touched, the engineer and Neb were waiting on
+the beach, and before the passengers had time to leap on to the sand,
+Harding said: "We have been very uneasy at your delay, my friends! Did
+you meet with any accident?"
+
+"No," replied Gideon Spilett; "on the contrary, everything went
+wonderfully well. We will tell you all about it."
+
+"However," returned the engineer, "your search has been unsuccessful,
+since you are only three just as you went!"
+
+"Excuse me, captain," replied the sailor, "we are four."
+
+"You have found the castaway?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you have brought him?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Living?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Where is he? Who is he?"
+
+"He is," replied the reporter, "or rather he was, a man! There, Cyrus,
+that is all we can tell you!"
+
+The engineer was then informed of all that had passed during the
+voyage, and under what conditions the search had been conducted; how
+the only dwelling in the island had long been abandoned; how at last a
+castaway had been captured, who appeared no longer to belong to the
+human species.
+
+"And that's just the point," added Pencroft, "I don't know if we have
+done right to bring him here."
+
+"Certainly you have, Pencroft," replied the engineer quickly.
+
+"But the wretched creature has no sense!"
+
+"That is possible at present," replied Cyrus Harding; "but only a few
+months ago the wretched creature was a man like you and me. And who
+knows what will become of the survivor of us after a long solitude on
+this island? It is a great misfortune to be alone, my friends; and it
+must be believed that solitude can quickly destroy reason, since you
+have found this poor creature in such a state!"
+
+"But, captain," asked Herbert, "what leads you to think that the
+brutishness of the unfortunate man began only a few months back?"
+
+"Because the document we found had been recently written," answered
+the engineer, "and the castaway alone can have written it."
+
+"Always supposing," observed Gideon Spilett, "that it had not been
+written by a companion of this man, since dead."
+
+"That is impossible, my dear Spilett."
+
+"Why so?" asked the reporter.
+
+"Because the document would then have spoken of two castaways,"
+replied Harding, "and it mentioned only one."
+
+Herbert then in a few words related the incidents of the voyage, and
+dwelt on the curious fact of the sort of passing gleam in the
+prisoner's mind, when for an instant in the height of the storm he had
+become a sailor.
+
+"Well, Herbert," replied the engineer, "you are right to attach great
+importance to this fact. The unfortunate man cannot be incurable, and
+despair has made him what he is; but here he will find his fellow-men,
+and since there is still a soul in him, this soul we shall save!"
+
+The castaway of Tabor Island, to the great pity of the engineer and
+the great astonishment of Neb, was then brought from the cabin which
+he occupied in the fore part of the _Bonadventure_; when once on land
+he manifested a wish to run away.
+
+But Cyrus Harding approaching, placed his hand on his shoulder with a
+gesture full of authority, and looked at him with infinite tenderness.
+Immediately the unhappy man, submitting to a superior will, gradually
+became calm, his eyes fell, his head bent, and he made no more
+resistance.
+
+"Poor fellow!" murmured the engineer.
+
+Cyrus Harding had attentively observed him. To judge by his appearance
+this miserable being had no longer anything human about him, and yet
+Harding, as had the reporter already, observed in his look an
+indefinable trace of intelligence.
+
+It was decided that the castaway, or rather the stranger, as he was
+thenceforth termed by his companions, should live in one of the rooms
+of Granite House, from which, however, he could not escape. He was led
+there without difficulty; and with careful attention, it might,
+perhaps, be hoped that some day he would be a companion to the
+settlers in Lincoln Island.
+
+Cyrus Harding, during breakfast, which Neb had hastened to prepare, as
+the reporter, Herbert, and Pencroft were dying of hunger, heard in
+detail all the incidents which had marked the voyage of exploration to
+the islet. He agreed with his friends on this point, that the stranger
+must be either English or American, the name Britannia leading them to
+suppose this, and, besides, through the bushy beard, and under the
+shaggy, matted hair, the engineer thought he could recognise the
+characteristic features of the Anglo-Saxon.
+
+[Illustration: "POOR FELLOW," MURMURED THE ENGINEER]
+
+"But, by the bye," said Gideon Spilett, addressing Herbert, "you never
+told us how you met this savage, and we know nothing, except that you
+would have been strangled, if we had not happened to come up in time
+to help you!"
+
+"Upon my word," answered Herbert, "it is rather difficult to say how
+it happened. I was, I think, occupied in collecting my plants, when I
+heard a noise like an avalanche falling from a very tall tree. I
+scarcely had time to look round. This unfortunate man, who was without
+doubt concealed in a tree, rushed upon me in less time than I take to
+tell you about it, and unless Mr. Spilett and Pencroft--"
+
+"My boy!" said Cyrus Harding, "you ran a great danger, but, perhaps,
+without that, the poor creature would have still hidden himself from
+your search, and we should not have had a new companion."
+
+"You hope, then, Cyrus, to succeed in reforming the man?" asked the
+reporter.
+
+"Yes," replied the engineer.
+
+Breakfast over, Harding and his companions left Granite House and
+returned to the beach. They there occupied themselves in unloading the
+_Bonadventure_, and the engineer, having examined the arms and tools,
+saw nothing which could help them to establish the identity of the
+stranger.
+
+The capture of pigs, made on the islet, was looked upon as being very
+profitable to Lincoln Island, and the animals were led to the sty,
+where they soon became at home.
+
+The two barrels, containing the powder and shot, as well as the box of
+caps, were very welcome. It was agreed to establish a small
+powder-magazine, either outside Granite House or in the Upper Cavern,
+where there would be no fear of explosion. However, the use of
+pyroxyle was to be continued, for this substance giving excellent
+results, there was no reason for substituting ordinary powder.
+
+When the unloading of the vessel was finished,--
+
+"Captain," said Pencroft, "I think it would be prudent to put our
+_Bonadventure_ in a safe place."
+
+"Is she not safe at the mouth of the Mercy?" asked Cyrus Harding.
+
+"No, captain," replied the sailor. "Half of the time she is stranded
+on the sand, and that works her. She is a famous craft, you see, and
+she behaved admirably during the squall which struck us on our
+return."
+
+"Could she not float in the river?"
+
+"No doubt, captain, she could; but there is no shelter there, and in
+the east winds, I think that the _Bonadventure_ would suffer much from
+the surf."
+
+"Well, where would you put her, Pencroft?"
+
+"In Port Balloon," replied the sailor. "That little creek, shut in by
+rocks, seems to me to be just the harbour we want."
+
+"Is it not rather far?"
+
+"Pooh! it is not more than three miles from Granite House, and we have
+a fine straight road to take us there!"
+
+"Do it then, Pencroft, and take your _Bonadventure_ there," replied
+the engineer, "and yet I would rather have her under our more
+immediate protection. When we have time, we must make a little harbour
+for her."
+
+"Famous!" exclaimed Pencroft. "A harbour with a lighthouse, a pier,
+and a dock! Ah! really with you, captain, everything becomes easy."
+
+"Yes, my brave Pencroft," answered the engineer, "but on condition,
+however, that you help me, for you do as much as three men in all our
+work."
+
+Herbert and the sailor then re-embarked on board the _Bonadventure_,
+the anchor was weighed, the sail hoisted, and the wind drove her
+rapidly towards Claw Cape. Two hours after, she was reposing on the
+tranquil waters of Port Balloon.
+
+During the first days passed by the stranger in Granite House, had he
+already given them reason to think that his savage nature was becoming
+tamed? Did a brighter light burn in the depths of that obscured mind?
+In short, was the soul returning to the body?
+
+Yes, to a certainty, and to such a degree, that Cyrus Harding and the
+reporter wondered if the reason of the unfortunate man had ever been
+totally extinguished. At first, accustomed to the open air, to the
+unrestrained liberty which he had enjoyed on Tabor Island, the
+stranger manifested a sullen fury, and it was feared that he might
+throw himself on to the beach, out of one of the windows of Granite
+House. But gradually he became calmer, and more freedom was allowed to
+his movements.
+
+They had reason to hope, and to hope much. Already, forgetting his
+carnivorous instincts, the stranger accepted a less bestial
+nourishment than that on which he fed on the islet, and cooked meat
+did not produce in him the same sentiment of repulsion which he had
+showed on board the _Bonadventure_. Cyrus Harding had profited by a
+moment when he was sleeping, to cut his hair and matted beard, which
+formed a sort of mane, and gave him such a savage aspect. He had also
+been clothed more suitably, after having got rid of the rag which
+covered him. The result was that, thanks to these attentions, the
+stranger resumed a more human appearance, and it even seemed as if his
+eyes had become milder. Certainly, when formerly lighted up by
+intelligence, this man's face must have had a sort of beauty.
+
+Every day, Harding imposed on himself the task of passing some hours
+in his company. He came and worked near him, and occupied himself in
+different things, so as to fix his attention. A spark, indeed, would
+be sufficient to reillumine that soul, a recollection crossing that
+brain to recall reason. That had been seen, during the storm, on board
+the _Bonadventure!_ The engineer did not neglect either to speak
+aloud, so as to penetrate at the same time by the organs of hearing
+and sight the depths of that torpid intelligence. Sometimes one of his
+companions, sometimes another, sometimes all joined him. They spoke
+most often of things belonging to the navy, which must interest a
+sailor.
+
+At times the stranger gave some slight attention to what was said, and
+the settlers were soon convinced that he partly understood them.
+Sometimes the expression of his countenance was deeply sorrowful, a
+proof that he suffered mentally, for his face could not be mistaken;
+but he did not speak, although at different times, however, they
+almost thought that words were about to issue from his lips. At all
+events, the poor creature was quite quiet and sad!
+
+But was not his calm only apparent? Was not his sadness only the
+result of his seclusion? Nothing could yet be ascertained. Seeing only
+certain objects and in a limited space, always in contact with the
+colonists, to whom he would soon become accustomed, having no desires
+to satisfy, better fed, better clothed, it was natural that his
+physical nature should gradually improve; but was he penetrated with
+the sense of a new life? or rather, to employ a word, which would be
+exactly applicable to him, was he not becoming tamed, like an animal
+in company with his master? This was an important question, which
+Cyrus Harding was anxious to answer, and yet he did not wish to treat
+his invalid roughly! would he ever be a convalescent?
+
+How the engineer observed him every moment! How he was on the watch
+for his soul, if one may use the expression! How he was ready to grasp
+it! The settlers followed with real sympathy all the phases of the
+cure undertaken by Harding. They aided him also in this work of
+humanity, and all, except perhaps the incredulous Pencroft, soon
+shared both his hope and his faith.
+
+The calm of the stranger was deep, as has been said, and he even
+showed a sort of attachment for the engineer, whose influence he
+evidently felt. Cyrus Harding resolved then to try him, by
+transporting him to another scene, from that ocean which formerly his
+eyes had been accustomed to contemplate, to the border of the forest,
+which might perhaps recall those where so many years of his life had
+been passed!
+
+"But," said Gideon Spilett, "can we hope that he will not escape, if
+once set at liberty?"
+
+"The experiment must be tried," replied the engineer.
+
+"Well!" said Pencroft. "When that fellow is outside, and feels the
+fresh air, he will be off as fast as his legs can carry him!"
+
+"I do not think so," returned Harding.
+
+"Let us try," said Spilett.
+
+"We will try," replied the engineer.
+
+This was on the 30th of October, and consequently the castaway of
+Tabor Island had been a prisoner in Granite House for nine days. It
+was warm, and a bright sun darted his rays on the island. Cyrus
+Harding and Pencroft went to the room occupied by the stranger, who
+was found lying near the window and gazing at the sky.
+
+"Come, my friend," said the engineer to him.
+
+The stranger rose immediately. His eyes were fixed on Cyrus Harding,
+and he followed him, whilst the sailor marched behind them, little
+confident as to the result of the experiment.
+
+Arrived at the door, Harding and Pencroft made him take his place in
+the lift, whilst Neb, Herbert, and Gideon Spilett waited for them
+before Granite House. The lift descended, and in a few moments all
+were united on the beach.
+
+The settlers went a short distance from the stranger, so as to leave
+him at liberty.
+
+He then made a few steps towards the sea, and his look brightened with
+extreme animation, but he did not make the slightest attempt to
+escape. He was gazing at the little waves, which broken by the islet
+rippled on the sand.
+
+"This is only the sea," observed Gideon Spilett, "and possibly it does
+not inspire him with any wish to escape!"
+
+"Yes," replied Harding, "we must take him to the plateau, on the
+border of the forest. There the experiment will be more conclusive."
+
+"Besides, he could not run away," said Neb, "since the bridge is
+raised."
+
+"Oh!" said Pencroft, "that isn't a man to be troubled by a stream like
+Creek Glycerine! He could cross it directly, at a single bound!"
+
+"We shall soon see," Harding contented himself with replying, his eyes
+not quitting those of his patient.
+
+The latter was then led towards the mouth of the Mercy, and all
+climbing the left bank of the river, reached Prospect Heights.
+
+Arrived at the spot on which grew the first beautiful trees of the
+forest, their foliage slightly agitated by the breeze, the stranger
+appeared greedily to drink in the penetrating odour which filled the
+atmosphere, and a long sigh escaped from his chest.
+
+The settlers kept behind him, ready to seize him if he made any
+movement to escape!
+
+And, indeed, the poor creature was on the point of springing into the
+creek which separated him from the forest, and his legs were bent for
+an instant as if for a spring, but almost immediately he stepped back,
+half sank down, and a large tear fell from his eyes.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Cyrus Harding, "you have become a man again, for you
+can weep!"
+
+[Illustration: THE EXPERIMENT]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+ A Mystery to be cleared up -- The Stranger's first Words --
+ Twelve Years on the Islet -- Avowal which escapes him -- The
+ Disappearance -- Cyrus Harding's Confidence -- Construction
+ of a Mill -- The first Bread -- An Act of Devotion -- Honest
+ Hands.
+
+
+Yes! the unfortunate man had wept! Some recollection doubtless had
+flashed across his brain, and to use Cyrus Harding's expression, by
+those tears he was once more a man.
+
+The colonists left him for some time on the plateau, and withdrew
+themselves to a short distance, so that he might feel himself free;
+but he did not think of profiting by this liberty, and Harding soon
+brought him back to Granite House. Two days after this occurrence, the
+stranger appeared to wish gradually to mingle with their common life.
+He evidently heard and understood, but no less evidently was he
+strangely determined not to speak to the colonists; for one evening,
+Pencroft, listening at the door of his room, heard these words escape
+from his lips:--
+
+"No! here! I! never!"
+
+The sailor reported these words to his companions.
+
+"There is some painful mystery there!" said Harding.
+
+The stranger had begun to use the labouring tools, and he worked in
+the garden. When he stopped in his work, as was often the case, he
+remained retired within himself; but on the engineer's recommendation,
+they respected the reserve which he apparently wished to keep. If one
+of the settlers approached him, he drew back, and his chest heaved
+with sobs, as if overburthened!
+
+Was it remorse that overwhelmed him thus? They were compelled to
+believe so, and Gideon Spilett could not help one day making this
+observation,--
+
+"If he does not speak it is because he has, I fear, things too serious
+to be told!"
+
+They must be patient and wait.
+
+[Illustration: "WHO ARE YOU?" HE ASKED IN A HOLLOW VOICE]
+
+A few days later, on the 3rd of November, the stranger, working on the
+plateau, had stopped, letting his spade drop to the ground, and
+Harding who was observing him from a little distance, saw that tears
+were again flowing from his eyes. A sort of irresistible pity led him
+towards the unfortunate man, and he touched his arm lightly.
+
+"My friend!" said he.
+
+The stranger tried to avoid his look, and Cyrus Harding, having
+endeavoured to take his hand, he drew back quickly.
+
+"My friend," said Harding in a firmer voice, "look at me, I wish it!"
+
+The stranger looked at the engineer, and seemed to be under his power,
+as a subject under the influence of a mesmerist. He wished to run
+away. But then his countenance suddenly underwent a transformation.
+His eyes flashed. Words struggled to escape from his lips. He could no
+longer contain himself!... At last he folded his arms, then, in a
+hollow voice,--
+
+"Who are you?" he asked Cyrus Harding.
+
+"Castaways, like you," replied the engineer, whose emotion was deep.
+"We have brought you here, among your fellow-men."
+
+"My fellow-men!... I have none!"
+
+"You are in the midst of friends."
+
+"Friends!--for me! friends!" exclaimed the stranger, hiding his face
+in his hands. "No--never--leave me! leave me!"
+
+Then he rushed to the side of the plateau which overlooked the sea,
+and remained there a long time motionless.
+
+Harding rejoined his companions and related to them what had just
+happened.
+
+"Yes! there is some mystery in that man's life," said Gideon Spilett,
+"and it appears as if he had only re-entered society by the path of
+remorse."
+
+"I don't know what sort of a man we have brought here," said the
+sailor. "He has secrets--"
+
+"Which we will respect," interrupted Cyrus Harding quickly. "If he has
+committed any crime, he has most fearfully expiated it, and in our
+eyes he is absolved."
+
+[Illustration: THE STRANGER]
+
+For two hours the stranger remained alone on the shore, evidently
+under the influence of recollections which recalled all his past
+life--a melancholy life doubtless--and the colonists, without losing
+sight of him, did not attempt to disturb his solitude. However, after
+two hours, appearing to have formed a resolution, he came to find
+Cyrus Harding. His eyes were red with the tears he had shed, but he
+wept no longer. His countenance expressed deep humility. He appeared
+anxious, timorous, ashamed, and his eyes were constantly fixed on the
+ground.
+
+"Sir," said he to Harding, "your companions and you, are you English?"
+
+"No," answered the engineer, "we are Americans."
+
+"Ah!" said the stranger, and he murmured, "I prefer that!"
+
+"And you, my friend?" asked the engineer.
+
+"English," replied he hastily.
+
+And as if these few words had been difficult to say, he retreated to
+the beach, where he walked up and down between the cascade and the
+mouth of the Mercy, in a state of extreme agitation.
+
+Then, passing one moment close to Herbert, he stopped, and in a
+stifled voice,--
+
+"What month?" he asked.
+
+"December," replied Herbert.
+
+"What year?"
+
+"1866."
+
+"Twelve years! twelve years!" he exclaimed.
+
+Then he left him abruptly.
+
+Herbert reported to the colonists the questions and answers which had
+been made.
+
+"This unfortunate man," observed Gideon Spilett, "was no longer
+acquainted with either months or years!"
+
+"Yes!" added Herbert, "and he had been twelve years already on the
+islet when we found him there!"
+
+"Twelve years!" rejoined Harding. "Ah! twelve years of solitude, after
+a wicked life, perhaps, may well impair a man's reason!"
+
+"I am induced to think," said Pencroft, "that this man was not wrecked
+on Tabor Island, but that in consequence of some crime he was left
+there."
+
+"You must be right, Pencroft," replied the reporter, "and if it is so
+it is not impossible that those who left him on the island may return
+to fetch him some day!"
+
+"And they will no longer find him," said Herbert.
+
+"But then," added Pencroft, "they must return, and--"
+
+"My friends," said Cyrus Harding, "do not let us discuss this question
+until we know more about it. I believe that the unhappy man has
+suffered, that he has severely expiated his faults, whatever they may
+have been, and that the wish to unburden himself stifles him. Do not
+let us press him to tell us his history! He will tell it to us
+doubtless, and when we know it, we shall see what course it will be
+best to follow. He alone besides can tell us, if he has more than a
+hope, a certainty, of returning some day to his country, but I doubt
+it!"
+
+"And why?" asked the reporter.
+
+"Because that, in the event of his being sure of being delivered at a
+certain time, he would have waited the hour of his deliverance and
+would not have thrown this document into the sea. No, it is more
+probable that he was condemned to die on that islet, and that he never
+expected to see his fellow-creatures again!"
+
+"But," observed the sailor, "there is one thing which I cannot
+explain."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"If this man had been left for twelve years on Tabor Island, one may
+well suppose that he had been several years already in the wild state
+in which we found him!"
+
+"That is probable," replied Cyrus Harding.
+
+"It must then be many years since he wrote that document!"
+
+"No doubt, and yet the document appears to have been recently
+written!"
+
+"Besides, how do you know that the bottle which enclosed the document
+may not have taken several years to come from Tabor Island to Lincoln
+Island?"
+
+"That is not absolutely impossible," replied the reporter.
+
+"Might it not have been a long time already on the coast of the
+island?"
+
+"No," answered Pencroft, "for it was still floating. We could not even
+suppose that after it had stayed for any length of time on the shore,
+it would have been swept off by the sea, for the south coast is all
+rocks, and it would certainly have been smashed to pieces there!"
+
+"That is true," rejoined Cyrus Harding thoughtfully.
+
+"And then," continued the sailor, "if the document was several years
+old, if it had been shut up in that bottle for several years, it would
+have been injured by damp. Now, there is nothing of the kind, and it
+was found in a perfect state of preservation."
+
+The sailor's reasoning was very just, and pointed out an
+incomprehensible fact, for the document appeared to have been recently
+written, when the colonists found it in the bottle. Moreover, it gave
+the latitude and longitude of Tabor Island correctly, which implied
+that its author had a more complete knowledge of hydrography than
+could be expected of a common sailor.
+
+"There is in this, again, something unaccountable," said the engineer;
+"but we will not urge our companion to speak. When he likes, my
+friends, then we shall be ready to hear him!"
+
+During the following days the stranger did not speak a word, and did
+not once leave the precincts of the plateau. He worked away, without
+losing a moment, without taking a minute's rest, but always in a
+retired place. At meal times he never came to Granite House, although
+invited several times to do so, but contented himself with eating a
+few raw vegetables. At nightfall he did not return to the room
+assigned to him, but remained under some clump of trees, or when the
+weather was bad crouched in some cleft of the rocks. Thus he lived in
+the same manner as when he had no other shelter than the forests of
+Tabor Island, and as all persuasion to induce him to improve his life
+was in vain, the colonists waited patiently. And the time was near,
+when, as it seemed, almost involuntarily urged by his conscience, a
+terrible confession escaped him.
+
+On the 10th of November, about eight o'clock in the evening, as night
+was coming on, the stranger appeared unexpectedly before the settlers,
+who were assembled under the verandah. His eyes burned strangely, and
+he had quite resumed the wild aspect of his worst days.
+
+Cyrus Harding and his companions were astounded on seeing that,
+overcome by some terrible emotion, his teeth chattered like those of a
+person in a fever. What was the matter with him? Was the sight of his
+fellow-creatures insupportable to him? Was he weary of this return to
+a civilised mode of existence? Was he pining for his former savage
+life? It appeared so, as soon he was heard to express himself in these
+incoherent sentences:--
+
+"Why am I here?... By what right have you dragged me from my islet?...
+Do you think there could be any tie between you and me?... Do you know
+who I am--what I have done--why I was there--alone? And who told you
+that I was not abandoned there--that I was not condemned to die
+there?... Do you know my past?... How do you know that I have not
+stolen, murdered--that I am not a wretch--an accursed being--only fit
+to live like a wild beast far from all--speak--do you know it?"
+
+The colonists listened without interrupting the miserable creature,
+from whom these broken confessions escaped, as it were, in spite of
+himself. Harding wishing to calm him, approached him, but he hastily
+drew back.
+
+"No! no!" he exclaimed; "one word only--am I free?"
+
+"You are free," answered the engineer.
+
+"Farewell then!" he cried, and fled like a madman.
+
+Neb, Pencroft, and Herbert ran also towards the edge of the wood--but
+they returned alone.
+
+"We must let him alone!" said Cyrus Harding.
+
+"He will never come back!" exclaimed Pencroft.
+
+"He will come back," replied the engineer.
+
+Many days passed; but Harding--was it a sort of
+presentiment?--persisted in the fixed idea that sooner or later the
+unhappy man would return.
+
+"It is the last revolt of his wild nature," said he, "which remorse
+has touched, and which renewed solitude will terrify."
+
+In the meanwhile, works of all sorts were continued, as well on
+Prospect Heights as at the corral, where Harding intended to build a
+farm. It is unnecessary to say that the seeds collected by Herbert on
+Tabor Island had been carefully sown. The plateau thus formed one
+immense kitchen-garden, well laid out and carefully tended, so that
+the arms of the settlers were never in want of work. There was always
+something to be done. As the esculents increased in number, it became
+necessary to enlarge the simple beds, which threatened to grow into
+regular fields and replace the meadows. But grass abounded in other
+parts of the island, and there was no fear of the onagas being obliged
+to go on short allowance. It was well worth while, besides, to turn
+Prospect Heights into a kitchen-garden, defended by its deep belt of
+creeks, and to remove them to the meadows, which had no need of
+protection against the depredations of quadrumana and quadrupeds.
+
+On the 15th of November, the third harvest was gathered in. How
+wonderfully had the field increased in extent, since eighteen months
+ago, when the first grain of wheat was sown! The second crop of six
+hundred thousand grains produced this time four thousand bushels, or
+five hundred millions of grains!
+
+The colony was rich in corn, for ten bushels alone were sufficient for
+sowing every year to produce an ample crop for the food both of men
+and beasts. The harvest was completed, and the last fortnight of the
+month of November was devoted to the work of converting it into food
+for man. In fact, they had corn, but not flour, and the establishment
+of a mill was necessary. Cyrus Harding could have utilised the second
+fall which flowed into the Mercy to establish his motive power, the
+first being already occupied with moving the felting mill; but after
+some consultation, it was decided that a simple windmill should be
+built on Prospect Heights. The building of this presented no more
+difficulty than the building of the former, and it was moreover
+certain that there would be no want of wind on the plateau, exposed as
+it was to the sea breezes.
+
+"Not to mention," said Pencroft, "that the windmill will be more
+lively and will have a good effect in the landscape!"
+
+They set to work by choosing timber for the frame and machinery of the
+mill. Some large stones, found at the north of the lake, could be
+easily transformed into millstones; and as to the sails, the
+inexhaustible case of the balloon furnished the necessary material.
+
+Cyrus Harding made his model, and the site of the mill was chosen a
+little to the right of the poultry-yard, near the shore of the lake.
+The frame was to rest on a pivot supported with strong timbers, so
+that it could turn with all the machinery it contained according as
+the wind required it. The work advanced rapidly. Neb and Pencroft had
+become very skilful carpenters, and had nothing to do but to copy the
+models provided by the engineer.
+
+Soon a sort of cylindrical box, in shape like a pepperpot, with a
+pointed roof, rose on the spot chosen. The four frames which formed
+the sails had been firmly fixed in the centre beam, so as to form a
+certain angle with it, and secured with iron clamps. As to the
+different parts of the internal mechanism, the box destined to contain
+the two millstones, the fixed stone and the moving stone, the hopper,
+a sort of large square trough, wide at the top, narrow at the bottom,
+which would allow the grain to fall on the stones, the oscillating
+spout intended to regulate the passing of the grain, and lastly the
+bolting machine, which by the operation of sifting, separates the bran
+from the flour, were made without difficulty. The tools were good, and
+the work not difficult, for in reality, the machinery of a mill is
+very simple. This was only a question of time.
+
+Every one had worked at the construction of the mill, and on the 1st
+of December it was finished. As usual, Pencroft was delighted with his
+work, and had no doubt that the apparatus was perfect.
+
+"Now for a good wind," said he, "and we shall grind our first harvest
+splendidly!"
+
+"A good wind, certainly," answered the engineer, "but not too much,
+Pencroft."
+
+"Pooh! our mill would only go the faster!"
+
+"There is no need for it to go so very fast," replied Cyrus Harding.
+"It is known by experience that the greatest quantity of work is
+performed by a mill when the number of turns made by the sails in a
+minute is six times the number of feet traversed by the wind in a
+second. A moderate breeze, which passes over twenty-four feet to the
+second, will give sixteen turns to the sails during a minute, and
+there is no need of more."
+
+"Exactly!" cried Herbert; "a fine breeze is blowing from the
+north-east, which will soon do our business for us."
+
+There was no reason for delaying the inauguration of the mill, for the
+settlers were eager to taste the first piece of bread in Lincoln
+Island. On this morning two or three bushels of wheat were ground, and
+the next day at breakfast a magnificent loaf, a little heavy perhaps,
+although raised with yeast, appeared on the table at Granite House.
+Every one munched away at it with a pleasure which may be easily
+understood.
+
+In the meanwhile, the stranger had not reappeared. Several times
+Gideon Spilett and Herbert searched the forest in the neighbourhood of
+Granite House, without meeting or finding any trace of him. They
+became seriously uneasy at this prolonged absence. Certainly, the
+former savage of Tabor Island could not be perplexed how to live in
+the forest, abounding in game, but was it not to be feared that he had
+resumed his habits, and that this freedom would revive in him his wild
+instincts? However, Harding, by a sort of presentiment, doubtless,
+always persisted in saying that the fugitive would return.
+
+"Yes, he will return!" he repeated with a confidence which his
+companions could not share. "When this unfortunate man was on Tabor
+Island, he knew himself to be alone! Here, he knows that fellow men
+are awaiting him! Since he has partially spoken of his past life, the
+poor penitent will return to tell the whole, and from that day he will
+belong to us!"
+
+The event justified Cyrus Harding's predictions. On the 3rd of
+December, Herbert had left the plateau to go and fish on the southern
+bank of the lake. He was unarmed, and till then had never taken any
+precautions for defence as dangerous animals had not shown themselves
+on that part of the island.
+
+Meanwhile, Pencroft and Neb were working in the poultry-yard, whilst
+Harding and the reporter were occupied at the Chimneys in making soda,
+the store of soap being exhausted.
+
+Suddenly cries resounded,--
+
+"Help! help!"
+
+Cyrus Harding and the reporter, being at too great a distance, had not
+been able to hear the shouts. Pencroft and Neb, leaving the
+poultry-yard in all haste, rushed towards the lake.
+
+[Illustration: NOW FOR A GOOD WIND]
+
+But before them, the stranger, whose presence at this place no one had
+suspected, crossed Creek Glycerine, which separated the plateau from
+the forest, and bounded up the opposite bank.
+
+Herbert was there face to face with a fierce jaguar, similar to the
+one which had been killed on Reptile End. Suddenly surprised, he was
+standing with his back against a tree, whilst the animal, gathering
+itself together, was about to spring.
+
+But the stranger, with no other weapon than a knife, rushed on the
+formidable animal, who turned to meet this new adversary.
+
+The struggle was short. The stranger possessed immense strength and
+activity. He seized the jaguar's throat with one powerful hand,
+holding it as in a vice, without heeding the beast's claws which tore
+his flesh, and with the other he plunged his knife into its heart.
+
+The jaguar fell. The stranger kicked away the body, and was about to
+fly at the moment when the settlers arrived on the field of battle,
+but Herbert, clinging to him, cried,--
+
+"No, no! You shall not go!"
+
+Harding advanced towards the stranger, who frowned when he saw him
+approaching. The blood flowed from his shoulder under his torn shirt,
+but he took no notice of it.
+
+"My friend," said Cyrus Harding, "we have just contracted a debt of
+gratitude to you. To save our boy you have risked your life!"
+
+"My life!" murmured the stranger "What is that worth? Less than
+nothing!"
+
+"You are wounded!"
+
+"It is no matter."
+
+"Will you give me your hand?"
+
+And as Herbert endeavoured to seize the hand which had just saved him,
+the stranger folded his arms, his chest heaved, his look darkened, and
+he appeared to wish to escape, but making a violent effort over
+himself, and in an abrupt tone,--
+
+"Who are you?" he asked, "and what do you claim to be to me?"
+
+It was the colonists' history which he thus demanded, and for the
+first time. Perhaps this history recounted, he would tell his own.
+
+[Illustration: HE SEIZED THE JAGUAR'S THROAT WITH ONE POWERFUL HAND]
+
+In a few words Harding related all that had happened since their
+departure from Richmond; how they had managed, and what resources they
+now had at their disposal.
+
+The stranger listened with extreme attention.
+
+Then the engineer told who they all were, Gideon Spilett, Herbert,
+Pencroft, Neb, himself; and he added, that the greatest happiness they
+had felt since their arrival in Lincoln Island was on the return of
+the vessel from Tabor Island, when they had been able to include
+amongst them a new companion.
+
+At these words the stranger's face flushed, his head sunk on his
+breast, and confusion was depicted on his countenance.
+
+"And now that you know us," added Cyrus Harding, "will you give us
+your hand?"
+
+"No," replied the stranger in a hoarse voice; "no! You are honest men,
+you! And I--"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+ Still alone -- The Stranger's Request -- The Farm established
+ at the Corral -- Twelve Years ago -- The Boatswain's Mate of
+ the _Britannia_ -- Left on Tabor Island -- Cyrus Harding's
+ Hand -- The mysterious Document.
+
+
+These last words justified the colonists' presentiment. There had been
+some mournful past, perhaps expiated in the sight of men, but from
+which his conscience had not yet absolved him. At any rate the guilty
+man felt remorse, he repented, and his new friends would have
+cordially pressed the hand which they sought; but he did not feel
+himself worthy to extend it to honest men! However, after the scene
+with the jaguar, he did not return to the forest, and from that day
+did not go beyond the enclosure of Granite House.
+
+What was the mystery of his life? Would the stranger one day speak of
+it? Time alone could show. At any rate, it was agreed that his secret
+should never be asked from him, and that they would live with him as
+if they suspected nothing.
+
+For some days their life continued as before. Cyrus Harding and
+Gideon Spilett worked together, sometimes chemists, sometimes
+experimentalists. The reporter never left the engineer except to hunt
+with Herbert, for it would not have been prudent to allow the lad to
+ramble alone in the forest; and it was very necessary to be on
+their guard. As to Neb and Pencroft, one day at the stables and
+poultry-yard, another at the corral, without reckoning work in Granite
+House, they were never in want of employment.
+
+The stranger worked alone, and he had resumed his usual life, never
+appearing at meals, sleeping under the trees in the plateau, never
+mingling with his companions. It really seemed as if the society of
+those who had saved him was insupportable to him!
+
+"But then," observed Pencroft, "why did he entreat the help of his
+fellow-creatures? Why did he throw that paper into the sea?"
+
+"He will tell us why," invariably replied Cyrus Harding.
+
+"When?"
+
+"Perhaps sooner than you think, Pencroft."
+
+And, indeed, the day of confession was near.
+
+On the 10th of December, a week after his return to Granite House,
+Harding saw the stranger approaching, who, in a calm voice and humble
+tone, said to him: "Sir, I have a request to make you."
+
+"Speak," answered the engineer; "but first let me ask you a question."
+
+At these words the stranger reddened, and was on the point of
+withdrawing. Cyrus Harding understood what was passing in the mind of
+the guilty man, who doubtless feared that the engineer would
+interrogate him on his past life.
+
+Harding held him back.
+
+"Comrade," said he, "we are not only your companions but your friends.
+I wish you to believe that, and now I will listen to you."
+
+The stranger pressed his hand over his eyes. He was seized with a sort
+of trembling, and remained a few moments without being able to
+articulate a word.
+
+"Sir," said he at last, "I have come to beg you to grant me a favour."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"You have, four or five miles from here, a corral for your
+domesticated animals. These animals need to be taken care of. Will you
+allow me to live there with them?"
+
+Cyrus Harding gazed at the unfortunate man for a few moments with a
+feeling of deep commiseration; then,--
+
+"My friend," said he, "the corral has only stables hardly fit for
+animals."
+
+"It will be good enough for me, sir."
+
+"My friend," answered Harding, "we will not constrain you in anything.
+You wish to live at the corral, so be it. You will, however, be always
+welcome at Granite House. But since you wish to live at the corral we
+will make the necessary arrangements for your being comfortably
+established there."
+
+"Never mind that, I shall do very well."
+
+"My friend," answered Harding, who always intentionally made use of
+this cordial appellation, "you must let us judge what it will be best
+to do in this respect."
+
+"Thank you, sir," replied the stranger as he withdrew.
+
+The engineer then made known to his companions the proposal which had
+been made to him, and it was agreed that they should build a wooden
+house at the corral, which they would make as comfortable as possible.
+
+That very day the colonists repaired to the corral with the necessary
+tools, and a week had not passed before the house was ready to receive
+its tenant. It was built about twenty feet from the sheds, and from
+there it was easy to overlook the flock of sheep, which then numbered
+more than eighty. Some furniture, a bed, table, bench, cupboard, and
+chest, were manufactured, and a gun, ammunition, and tools were
+carried to the corral.
+
+The stranger, however, had seen nothing of his new dwelling, and he
+had allowed the settlers to work there without him, whilst he occupied
+himself on the plateau, wishing, doubtless, to put the finishing
+stroke to his work. Indeed, thanks to him, all the ground was dug up
+and ready to be sowed when the time came.
+
+It was on the 20th of December that all the arrangements at the corral
+were completed. The engineer announced to the stranger that his
+dwelling was ready to receive him, and the latter replied that he
+would go and sleep there that very evening.
+
+On this evening the colonists were gathered in the dining-room of
+Granite House. It was then eight o'clock, the hour at which their
+companion was to leave them. Not wishing to trouble him by their
+presence, and thus imposing on him the necessity of saying farewells
+which might perhaps be painful to him, they had left him alone, and
+ascended to Granite House.
+
+Now, they had been talking in the room for a few minutes, when a light
+knock was heard at the door. Almost immediately the stranger entered,
+and without any preamble,--
+
+"Gentlemen," said he, "before I leave you, it is right that you should
+know my history. I will tell it you."
+
+These simple words profoundly impressed Cyrus Harding and his
+companions.
+
+The engineer rose.
+
+"We ask you nothing, my friend," said he, "it is your right to be
+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 Bermouilli, 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.
+
+[Illustration: THE STRANGER'S STORY]
+
+"This latitude was 37° 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 Bermouilli, 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 travellers. 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,' added he, '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, whilst 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 had endeavoured 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 of 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 on the 18th
+of March 1855.[2]
+
+ [2] 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 amongst them! How he
+suffered, that wretched man! How he laboured 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 ever
+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!
+
+[Illustration: 'HERE IS MY HAND' SAID THE ENGINEER]
+
+"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 XVIII
+
+ Conversation -- Cyrus Harding and Gideon Spilett -- An Idea
+ of the Engineer's -- The Electric Telegraph -- The Wires --
+ The Battery -- The Alphabet -- Fine Season -- Prosperity of
+ the Colony -- Photography -- An Appearance of Snow -- Two
+ Years in Lincoln Island.
+
+
+"Poor man!" said Herbert, who had rushed to the door, but returned,
+having seen Ayrton slide down the rope of 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 draw-plate 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 draw-plate, 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 utilise. 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 draw-plate, 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 wire-drawers, 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 graphyte which
+is found in the retorts of gas manufactories, after the coal has been
+dehydrogenised, could have been obtained, but it would have been
+necessary to establish a special apparatus, involving great labour. As
+to zinc, it may be remembered that the case found at Flotsam Point was
+lined with this metal, which could not be better utilised 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 magnetised, and returned through the earth to the negative
+pole. If the current was interrupted the magnet immediately became
+unmagnetised. 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.
+
+[Illustration: THE ENGINEER AT WORK]
+
+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 those animals absorbed a great part of
+Neb and Pencroft's time. The onagas, 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 frequently 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
+thickest of the vast forest, but nothing suspicious ever appeared.
+Neither Top nor Jup, who accompanied him, ever betrayed by their
+behaviour 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, hyposulphate 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 21st--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.
+
+[Illustration: JUP SITTING FOR HIS PORTRAIT]
+
+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
+recognise 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.
+
+[Illustration: THE SNOWY SHEET AROSE AND DISPERSED IN THE AIR]
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+ Recollections of their Native Land -- Probable Future --
+ Project for surveying the Coasts of the Island -- Departure
+ on the 16th of April -- Sea-view of Reptile End -- The
+ basaltic Rocks of the Western Coast -- Bad Weather -- Night
+ comes on -- New Incident.
+
+
+Two years already! and for two years the colonists had had no
+communication with their fellow-creatures! They were without news from
+the civilised 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 honour 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 in 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 Pomatous," 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."
+
+"That is true," replied Herbert.
+
+"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, whilst 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 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 in some way or another, 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 this world, his family, his
+friends, his native land!"
+
+Matters being thus decided, the building of a vessel large enough to
+sail either to the Archipelagos 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 the 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 crystallisation 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 equalled 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 cable-lengths from the coast.
+
+In the north-west 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 forebode
+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 favourable 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 than a sharp rock into those of my _Bonadventure_!"
+
+That which Pencroft called ribs was the part of his vessel under
+water, and he valued it more than his own skin.
+
+"What o'clock is it?" asked Pencroft.
+
+"Ten o'clock," replied Gideon Spilett.
+
+"And what distance is it to the Cape, captain?"
+
+"About fifteen miles," replied the engineer.
+
+"That's a matter of two hours and a half," said the sailor, "and we
+shall be off the Cape between twelve and one o'clock. Unluckily, the
+tide will be turning at that moment, and will be ebbing out of the
+gulf. I am afraid that it will be very difficult to get in, having
+both wind and tide against us."
+
+"And the more so that it is a full moon to-day," remarked Herbert,
+"and these April tides are very strong."
+
+"Well, Pencroft," asked Cyrus Harding, "can you not anchor off the
+Cape?"
+
+"Anchor near land, with bad weather coming on!" exclaimed the sailor.
+"What are you thinking of, captain? We should run aground to a
+certainty!"
+
+"What will you do then?"
+
+"I shall try to keep in the offing until the flood, that is to say,
+till about seven in the evening, and if there is still light enough I
+will try to enter the gulf; if not, we must stand off and on during
+the night, and we will enter to-morrow at sunrise."
+
+"As I told you, Pencroft, we will leave it to you," answered Harding.
+
+"Ah!" said Pencroft, "if there was only a light-house on the coast, it
+would be much more convenient for sailors."
+
+"Yes," replied Herbert, "and this time we shall have no obliging
+engineer to light a fire to guide us into port!"
+
+"Why, indeed, my dear Cyrus," said Spilett, "we have never thanked you
+for it, but frankly, without that fire we should never have been able
+to reach--"
+
+"A fire?" asked Harding, much astonished at the reporter's words.
+
+"We mean, captain," answered Pencroft, "that on board the
+_Bonadventure_ we were very anxious during the few hours before our
+return, and we should have passed to windward of the island, if it had
+not been for the precaution you took of lighting a fire in the night
+of the 19th of October, on Prospect Heights."
+
+"Yes, yes! That was a lucky idea of mine!" replied the engineer.
+
+"And this time," continued the sailor, "unless the idea occurs to
+Ayrton, there will be no one to do us that little service!"
+
+"No! no one!" answered Cyrus Harding.
+
+A few minutes after, finding himself alone in the bows of the vessel
+with the reporter, the engineer bent down and whispered,--
+
+"If there is one thing certain in this world, Spilett, it is that I
+never lighted any fire during the night of the 19th of October,
+neither on Prospect Heights nor on any other part of the island!"
+
+[Illustration: ANOTHER MYSTERY]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+ A Night at Sea -- Shark Gulf -- Confidences -- Preparations
+ for Winter -- Forwardness of the bad Season -- Severe Cold --
+ Work in the Interior -- In six Months -- A photographic
+ Negative -- Unexpected Incident.
+
+
+Things happened as Pencroft had predicted, he being seldom mistaken in
+his prognostications. The wind rose, and from a fresh breeze it soon
+increased to a regular gale; that is to say, it acquired a speed of
+from forty to forty-five miles an hour, before which a ship in the
+open sea would have run under close-reefed topsails. Now, as it was
+nearly six o'clock when the _Bonadventure_ reached the gulf, and as at
+that moment the tide turned, it was impossible to enter. They were
+therefore compelled to stand off, for even if he had wished to do so,
+Pencroft could not have gained the mouth of the Mercy. Hoisting the
+jib to the mainmast by way of a storm-sail, he hove to, putting the
+head of the vessel towards the land.
+
+Fortunately, although the wind was strong, the sea, being sheltered by
+the land, did not run very high. They had then little to fear from the
+waves, which always endanger small craft. The _Bonadventure_ would
+doubtlessly not have capsized, for she was well ballasted; but
+enormous masses of water falling on the deck, might injure her, if her
+timbers could not sustain them. Pencroft, as a good sailor, was
+prepared for anything. Certainly, he had great confidence in his
+vessel, but nevertheless he awaited the return of day with some
+anxiety.
+
+During the night, Cyrus Harding and Gideon Spilett had no opportunity
+for talking together, and yet the words pronounced in the reporter's
+ear by the engineer were well worth being discussed, together with the
+mysterious influence which appeared to reign over Lincoln Island.
+Gideon Spilett did not cease from pondering over this new and
+inexplicable incident,--the appearance of a fire on the coast of the
+island. The fire had actually been seen! His companions, Herbert and
+Pencroft, had seen it with him! The fire had served to signalise the
+position of the island during that dark night, and they had not
+doubted that it was lighted by the engineer's hand; and here was Cyrus
+Harding expressly declaring that he had never done anything of the
+sort! Spilett resolved to recur to this incident as soon as the
+_Bonadventure_ returned, and to urge Cyrus Harding to acquaint their
+companions with these strange facts. Perhaps it would be decided to
+make in common a complete investigation of every part of Lincoln
+Island.
+
+However that might be, on this evening no fire was lighted on these
+yet unknown shores, which formed the entrance to the gulf, and the
+little vessel stood off during the night.
+
+When the first streaks of dawn appeared in the western horizon, the
+wind, which had slightly fallen, shifted two points, and enabled
+Pencroft to enter the narrow gulf with greater ease. Towards seven
+o'clock in the morning, the _Bonadventure_, weathering the North
+Mandible Cape, entered the strait and glided on to the waters, so
+strangely enclosed in the frame of lava.
+
+"Well," said Pencroft, "this bay would make admirable roads, in which
+a whole fleet could lie at their ease!"
+
+"What is especially curious," observed Harding, "is that the gulf has
+been formed by two rivers of lava, thrown out by the volcano, and
+accumulated by successive eruptions. The result is that the gulf is
+completely sheltered on all sides, and I believe that even in the
+stormiest weather, the sea here must be as calm as a lake."
+
+"No doubt," returned the sailor, "since the wind has only that narrow
+entrance between the two capes to get in by; and besides, the north
+cape protects that of the south in a way which would make the entrance
+of gusts very difficult. I declare our _Bonadventure_ could stay here
+from one end of the year to the other, without even dragging at her
+anchor!"
+
+"It is rather large for her!" observed the reporter.
+
+"Well! Mr. Spilett," replied the sailor, "I agree that it is too large
+for the _Bonadventure_; but if the fleets of the Union were in want of
+a harbour in the Pacific, I don't think they would ever find a better
+place than this!"
+
+"We are in the shark's mouth," remarked Neb, alluding to the form of
+the gulf.
+
+"Right into its mouth, my honest Neb!" replied Herbert; "but you are
+not afraid that it will shut upon us, are you?"
+
+"No, Mr. Herbert," answered Neb; "and yet this gulf here doesn't
+please me much! It has a wicked look!"
+
+"Hallo!" cried Pencroft, "here is Neb turning up his nose at my gulf,
+just as I was thinking of presenting it to America!"
+
+"But, at any rate, is the water deep enough?" asked the engineer, "for
+a depth sufficient for the keel of the _Bonadventure_, would not be
+enough for those of our iron-clads."
+
+"That is easily found out," replied Pencroft.
+
+And the sailor sounded with a long cord, which served him as a
+lead-line, and to which was fastened a lump of iron. This cord
+measured nearly fifty fathoms, and its entire length was unrolled
+without finding any bottom.
+
+"There," exclaimed Pencroft, "our iron-clads can come here after all!
+They would not run aground!"
+
+"Indeed," said Gideon Spilett, "this gulf is a regular abyss; but,
+taking into consideration the volcanic origin of the island, it is not
+astonishing that the sea should offer similar depressions."
+
+"One would say too," observed Herbert, "that these cliffs were
+perfectly perpendicular; and I believe that at their foot, even with a
+line five or six times longer, Pencroft would not find the bottom."
+
+"That is all very well," then said the reporter; "but I must point out
+to Pencroft that his harbour is wanting in one very important
+respect!"
+
+"And what is that, Mr. Spilett?"
+
+"An opening, a cutting of some sort, to give access to the interior of
+the island. I do not see a spot on which we could land."
+
+And, in fact, the steep lava cliffs did not afford a single place
+suitable for landing. They formed an insuperable barrier, recalling,
+but with more wildness, the fiords of Norway. The _Bonadventure_,
+coasting as close as possible along the cliffs, did not discover even
+a projection which would allow the passengers to leave the deck.
+
+Pencroft consoled himself by saying that with the help of a mine they
+could soon open out the cliff when that was necessary, and then, as
+there was evidently nothing to be done in the gulf, he steered his
+vessel towards the strait and passed out at about two o'clock in the
+afternoon.
+
+"Ah!" said Neb, uttering a sigh of satisfaction.
+
+One might really say that the honest negro did not feel at his ease in
+those enormous jaws.
+
+The distance from Mandible Cape to the mouth of the Mercy was not more
+than eight miles. The head of the _Bonadventure_ was put towards
+Granite House, and a fair wind filling her sails, she ran rapidly
+along the coast.
+
+To the enormous lava rocks succeeded soon those capricious sand dunes,
+among which the engineer had been so singularly recovered, and which
+sea-birds frequented in thousands.
+
+About four o'clock, Pencroft, leaving the point of the islet on his
+left, entered the channel which separated it from the coast, and at
+five o'clock the anchor of the _Bonadventure_ was buried in the sand
+at the mouth of the Mercy.
+
+The colonists had been absent three days from their dwelling. Ayrton
+was waiting for them on the beach, and Jup came joyously to meet them,
+giving vent to deep grunts of satisfaction.
+
+A complete exploration of the coast of the island had now been made,
+and no suspicious appearances had been observed. If any mysterious
+being resided on it, it could only be under cover of the impenetrable
+forest of the Serpentine Peninsula, to which the colonists had not yet
+directed their investigations.
+
+Gideon Spilett discussed these things with the engineer, and it was
+agreed that they should direct the attention of their companions to
+the strange character of certain incidents which had occurred on the
+island, and of which the last was the most unaccountable.
+
+However, Harding, returning to the fact of a fire having been kindled
+on the shore by an unknown hand, could not refrain from repeating for
+the twentieth time to the reporter--
+
+"But are you quite sure of having seen it? Was it not a partial
+eruption of the volcano, or perhaps some meteor?"
+
+"No, Cyrus," answered the reporter; "it was certainly a fire lighted
+by the hand of man. Besides, question Pencroft and Herbert. They saw
+it as I saw it myself, and they will confirm my words."
+
+In consequence therefore, a few days after, on the 25th of April, in
+the evening, when the settlers were all collected on Prospect Heights,
+Cyrus Harding began by saying,--
+
+"My friends, I think it my duty to call your attention to certain
+incidents which have occurred in the island, on the subject of which I
+shall be happy to have your advice. These incidents are, so to speak,
+supernatural--"
+
+"Supernatural!" exclaimed the sailor, emitting a volume of smoke from
+his mouth. "Can it be possible that our island is supernatural?"
+
+"No, Pencroft, but mysterious, most certainly," replied the engineer;
+"unless you can explain that which Spilett and I have until now failed
+to understand."
+
+"Speak away, captain," answered the sailor.
+
+"Well, have you understood," then said the engineer, "how was it that
+after falling into the sea, I was found a quarter of a mile into the
+interior of the island, and that, without my having any consciousness
+of my removal there?"
+
+"Unless, being unconscious--" said Pencroft.
+
+"That is not admissible," replied the engineer. "But to continue. Have
+you understood how Top was able to discover your retreat five miles
+from the cave in which I was lying?"
+
+"The dog's instinct--" observed Herbert.
+
+"Singular instinct!" returned the reporter; "since notwithstanding the
+storm of rain and wind which was raging during that night, Top arrived
+at the Chimneys, dry and without a speck of mud!"
+
+"Let us continue," resumed the engineer. "Have you understood how our
+dog was so strangely thrown up out of the waters of the lake, after
+his struggle with the dugong?"
+
+"No! I confess, not at all," replied Pencroft; "and the wound which
+the dugong had in its side, a wound which seemed to have been made
+with a sharp instrument; that can't be understood either."
+
+"Let us continue again," said Harding. "Have you understood, my
+friends, how that bullet got into the body of the young peccary; how
+that case happened to be so fortunately stranded, without there being
+any trace of a wreck; how that bottle containing the document
+presented itself so opportunely, during our first sea-excursion; how
+our canoe, having broken its moorings, floated down the current of the
+Mercy and rejoined us precisely at the very moment we needed it; how
+after the ape invasion the ladder was so obligingly thrown down from
+Granite House; and lastly, how the document, which Ayrton asserts was
+never written by him, fell into our hands?"
+
+As Cyrus Harding thus enumerated, without forgetting one, the singular
+incidents which had occurred in the island, Herbert, Neb, and Pencraft
+stared at each other, not knowing what to reply, for this succession
+of incidents, grouped thus for the first time, could not but excite
+their surprise to the highest degree.
+
+"'Pon my word," said Pencroft at last, "you are right, captain, and it
+is difficult to explain all these things!"
+
+"Well, my friends," resumed the engineer, "a last fact has just been
+added to these, and it is no less incomprehensible than the others!"
+
+"What is it, captain?" asked Herbert quickly.
+
+"When you were returning from Tabor Island, Pencroft," continued the
+engineer, "you said that a fire appeared on Lincoln Island?"
+
+"Certainly," answered the sailor.
+
+"And you are quite certain of having seen this fire?"
+
+"As sure as I see you now."
+
+"You also, Herbert?"
+
+"Why, captain," cried Herbert, "that fire was blazing like a star of
+the first magnitude!"
+
+"But was it not a star?" urged the engineer.
+
+"No," replied Pencroft, "for the sky was covered with thick clouds,
+and at any rate a star would not have been so low on the horizon. But
+Mr. Spilett saw it as well as we, and he will confirm our words."
+
+"I will add," said the reporter, "that the fire was very bright, and
+that it shot up like a sheet of lightning."
+
+"Yes, yes! exactly," added Herbert, "and it was certainly placed on
+the heights of Granite House."
+
+"Well, my friends," replied Cyrus Harding, "during the night of the
+19th of October, neither Neb nor I lighted any fire on the coast."
+
+"You did not!" exclaimed Pencroft, in the height of his astonishment,
+not being able to finish his sentence.
+
+"We did not leave Granite House," answered Cyrus Harding, "and if a
+fire appeared on the coast, it was lighted by another hand than ours!"
+
+Pencraft, Herbert, and Neb were stupefied. No illusion could be
+possible, and a fire had actually met their eyes during the night of
+the 19th of October.
+
+Yes! they were obliged to acknowledge it, a mystery existed! An
+inexplicable influence, evidently favourable to the colonists, but
+very irritating to their curiosity, was executed always in the nick of
+time on Lincoln Island. Could there be some being hidden in its
+profoundest recesses? It was necessary at any cost to ascertain this.
+
+Harding also reminded his companions of the singular behaviour of Top
+and Jup when they prowled round the mouth of the well, which placed
+Granite House in communication with the sea, and he told them that he
+had explored the well, without discovering anything suspicious. The
+final resolve taken, in consequence of this conversation, by all the
+members of the colony, was that as soon as the fine season returned
+they would thoroughly search the whole of the island.
+
+But from that day, Pencroft appeared to be anxious. He felt as if the
+island which he had made his own personal property belonged to him
+entirely no longer, and that he shared it with another master, to whom
+whether willing or not, he felt subject. Neb and he often talked of
+those unaccountable things, and both, their natures inclining them to
+the marvellous, were not far from believing that Lincoln Island was
+under the dominion of some supernatural power.
+
+In the meanwhile, the bad weather came with the month of May, the
+November of the northern zones. It appeared that the winter would be
+severe and forward. The preparations for the winter season were
+therefore commenced without delay.
+
+[Illustration: RETURNING FROM A SPORTING EXCURSION]
+
+Nevertheless, the colonists were well prepared to meet the winter,
+however hard it might be. They had plenty of felt clothing, and the
+musmons, very numerous by this time, had furnished an abundance of the
+wool necessary for the manufacture of this warm material.
+
+It is unnecessary to say that Ayrton had been provided with this
+comfortable clothing. Cyrus Harding proposed that he should come to
+spend the bad season with them in Granite House, where he would be
+better lodged than at the corral, and Ayrton promised to do so, as
+soon as the last work at the corral was finished. He did this towards
+the middle of April. From that time Ayrton shared the common life, and
+made himself useful on all occasions; but still humble and sad, he
+never took part in the pleasures of his companions.
+
+For the greater part of this, the third winter which the settlers
+passed in Lincoln Island, they were confined to Granite House. There
+were many violent storms and frightful tempests, which appeared to
+shake the rocks to their very foundations. Immense waves threatened to
+overwhelm the island, and certainly any vessel anchored near the shore
+would have been dashed to pieces. Twice, during one of these
+hurricanes, the Mercy swelled to such a degree as to give reason to
+fear that the bridges would be swept away, and it was necessary to
+strengthen those on the shore, which disappeared under the foaming
+waters, when the sea beat against the beach.
+
+It may well be supposed that such storms, comparable to water-spouts
+in which were mingled rain and snow, would cause great havoc on the
+plateau of Prospect Heights. The mill and the poultry-yard
+particularly suffered. The colonists were often obliged to make
+immediate repairs, without which the safety of the birds would have
+been seriously threatened.
+
+[Illustration: THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVE]
+
+During the worst weather, several jaguars and troops of quadrumana
+ventured to the edge of the plateau, and it was always to be feared
+that the most active and audacious would, urged by hunger, manage to
+cross the stream, which besides, when frozen, offered them an easy
+passage. Plantations and domestic animals would then have been
+infallibly destroyed, without a constant watch, and it was often
+necessary to make use of the guns to keep those dangerous visitors at
+a respectful distance. Occupation was not wanting to the colonists,
+for without reckoning their out-door cares, they had always a thousand
+plans for the fitting up of Granite House.
+
+They had also some fine sporting excursions, which were made during
+the frost in the vast Tadorn marsh. Gideon Spilett and Herbert, aided
+by Jup and Top, did not miss a shot in the midst of the myriads of
+wild-duck, snipe, teal, and others. The access to these
+hunting-grounds was easy; besides, whether they reached them by the
+road to Port Balloon, after having passed the Mercy Bridge, or by
+turning the rocks from Flotsam Point, the hunters were never distant
+from Granite House more than two or three miles.
+
+Thus passed the four winter months, which were really rigorous, that
+is to say, June, July, August, and September. But, in short, Granite
+House did not suffer much from the inclemency of the weather, and it
+was the same with the corral, which, less exposed than the plateau,
+and sheltered partly by Mount Franklin, only received the remains of
+the hurricanes, already broken by the forests and the high rocks of
+the shore. The damages there were consequently of small importance,
+and the activity and skill of Ayrton promptly repaired them, when some
+time in October he returned to pass a few days in the corral.
+
+During this winter, no fresh inexplicable incident occurred. Nothing
+strange happened, although Pencroft and Neb were on the watch for the
+most insignificant facts to which they attached any mysterious cause.
+Top and Jup themselves no longer growled round the well or gave any
+signs of uneasiness. It appeared, therefore, as if the series of
+supernatural incidents was interrupted, although they often talked of
+them during the evenings in Granite House, and they remained
+thoroughly resolved that the island should be searched, even in those
+parts the most difficult to explore. But an event of the highest
+importance, and of which the consequence might be terrible,
+momentarily diverted from their projects Cyrus Harding and his
+companions.
+
+It was the month of October. The fine season was swiftly returning.
+Nature was reviving; and among the evergreen foliage of the coniferĉ
+which formed the border of the wood, already appeared the young leaves
+of the banksias, deodars, and other trees.
+
+It may be remembered that Gideon Spilett and Herbert had, at different
+times, taken photographic views of Lincoln Island.
+
+Now, on the 17th of this month of October, towards three o'clock in
+the afternoon, Herbert, enticed by the charms of the sky, thought of
+reproducing Union Bay, which was opposite to Prospect Heights, from
+Cape Mandible to Claw Cape.
+
+The horizon was beautifully clear, and the sea, undulating under a
+soft breeze, was as calm as the waters of a lake, sparkling here and
+there under the sun's rays.
+
+The apparatus had been placed at one of the windows of the dining-room
+at Granite House, and consequently overlooked the shore and the bay.
+Herbert proceeded as he was accustomed to do, and the negative
+obtained, he went away to fix it by means of the chemicals deposited
+in a dark nook of Granite House.
+
+Returning to the bright light, and examining it well, Herbert
+perceived on his negative an almost imperceptible little spot on the
+sea horizon. He endeavoured to make it disappear by reiterated
+washing, but could not accomplish it.
+
+"It is a flaw in the glass," he thought.
+
+And then he had the curiosity to examine this flaw with a strong
+magnifier which he unscrewed from one of the telescopes.
+
+But he had scarcely looked at it, when he uttered a cry, and the glass
+almost fell from his hands.
+
+Immediately running to the room in which Cyrus Harding then was, he
+extended the negative and magnifier towards the engineer, pointing out
+the little spot.
+
+Harding examined it; then seizing his telescope he rushed to the
+window.
+
+The telescope, after having slowly swept the horizon, at last stopped
+on the looked-for spot, and Cyrus Harding lowering it, pronounced one
+word only,--
+
+"A vessel!"
+
+And in fact a vessel was in sight, off Lincoln Island!
+
+
+ THE TEMPLE PRESS, PRINTERS, LETCHWORTH
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
+
+
+1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.
+
+2. Images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the
+closest paragraph break.
+
+3. Due to the poor scan quality of the original, text was found to be
+missing at some places. Most prominent were the missing periods which
+have been added for the sake of clarity. Also few missing punctuation
+marks like commas, quotes, etc. have been added where obvious need was
+felt. Apart from that, some missing text has also been added after
+verification from other sources.
+
+4. The words manoeuvred & manoeuvre have oe ligature in the original.
+
+5. The following misprints have been corrected:
+ "Ned" corrected to "Neb" (page 13)
+ "cruciferae" corrected to "cruciferĉ" (page 25)
+ "thoughfully" corrected to "thoughtfully" (page 182)
+ "pronouced" corrected to "pronounced" (page 199)
+ "resoved" corrected to "resolved" (page 205)
+
+6. Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies
+in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Abandoned, by Jules Verne
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