ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND º º º º by º º º º JULES VERNE º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º Unabridged translation º º from the French by º º Sidney Kravitz º º º º º º º º º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º On this disk º º File M1 contains pages 1 to 33 º º File M2 contains pages 34 to 70 º º File M3 contains pages 71 to 106 º º File M4 contains pages 107 to 140 º º File M5 contains pages 141 to 178 º º File M6 contains pages 179 to 216 º º File M7 contains pages 217 to 254 º º File M8 contains pages 255 to 291 º º File M9 contains pages 292 to 328 º º File M10 contains pages 329 to 366 º º File M11 contains pages 367 to 403 º º File M12 contains pages 404 to 416 º º ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ º º ³This translation may be distributed and copied ³ º º ³freely, in its entirety, for personal use. ³ º º ³All original translator and copyright information³ º º ³must remain intact. Any sales or other uses ³ º º ³of this document are expressly forbidden ³ º º ³without the specific consent of the translator ³ º º ³and copyright owner. ³ º º ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º Translation º º Copyright (c) 1992 by º º Sidney Kravitz º º 592 Herrick Drive º º Dover, New Jersey º º 07801-2013 º º º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ FIRST PART THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY CHAPTER I The storm of 1865 - Crisis in the sky - A balloon swept along in a waterspout - The torn casing - Nothing but the sea in sight - Five passengers - What occurred in the basket - A coast on the horizon - The denouement of the drama. "Are we rising?" "No! On the contrary! We are descending!" "Worse than that, Mister Cyrus! We are falling!" "For heaven's sake, throw out the ballast!" "There. The last sack is overboard!" "Does the balloon rise?" "No!" "I hear the clacking of waves!" "The sea is under the basket!" "It cannot be five hundred feet from us!" Then a powerful voice rent the air and these words resounded: "Overboard with everything heavy!... Everything! We are in God's hands!" Such were the words which erupted in the sky above the vast watery desert of the Pacific about four o'clock in the evening of the 23rd of March 1865. Without doubt no one can forget the terrible northeast storm that burst forth during the equinox of that year when the barometer fell to seven hundred ten millimeters. It was a storm that lasted from the 18th to the 26th of March without letup. It ravaged America, Europe and Asia over a broad zone of eighteen hundred miles around a line oblique to the equator, from the thirty fifth north parallel to the fortieth south parallel. Towns overthrown, forests uprooted, shores devastated by the mountains of water which fell upon them as tidal waves, record bureaus counting hundreds of vessels thrown on the coast, entire territories leveled by the waterspouts which pulverized everything in their path, several thousand people crushed on land or swallowed by the sea, these were the marks of fury left behind by this formidable storm. It surpassed the disasters which so frightfully ravaged Havana and Guadalupe, one on the 25th of October 1810, the other on the 26th of July 1825. At the very moment when so many catastrophes were taking place on land and on sea a drama no less startling was being enacted in the agitated skies. 1 2 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ In fact a balloon, carried like a ball at the top of a waterspout and caught by the gyratory motion of a column of air, was traveling through space with a velocity of ninety miles per hour (1) turning around itself as if it had been seized by an aerial whirlpool. A basket oscillated beneath the lower appendage of the balloon. It contained five passengers, barely visible in this thick fog mixed with pulverized water which extended down to the ocean's surface. From whence came this balloon, this veritable plaything of the frightful tempest? From which point on the earth's surface did it take off? Evidently it could not have left during the storm. But the storm had already lasted for five days and its first symptoms were manifested on the 18th. Wouldn't one be justified in believing that this balloon came from quite a distance, because it had not traversed less than two thousand miles in twenty four hours? In any case the passengers had no means of guessing at the route traversed since the departure because all points of reference were lacking. This curious fact also resulted, that carried about in the midst of the storm's violence, they did not suffer from it. They were displaced and turned round and round without sensing any of this rotation nor their horizontal movement. Their eyes could not pierce the thick fog that had gathered under the basket. Around them everything was obscure. Such was the opacity of the clouds that they could not say if it was day or night. No reflection of light, no noise from the inhabited world, no bellowing of the ocean could reach them through this immense obscurity, as long as they remained at the higher altitudes. Their rapid descent alone alerted them to the dangers that they faced above the waves. However, relieved of heavy objects such as munitions, arms and provisions, the balloon rose to a height of four thousand five hundred feet. The passengers, after having realized that the sea was under the basket, and finding the dangers from above less formidable than those from below, did not hesitate to throw overboard even the most useful objects as they sought to lose no more of this fluid, this soul of their apparatus, which sustained them above the abyss. The night passed in the midst of anxieties that would have been mortal for less energetic souls. Then day reappeared and with the day the storm showed a tendency to moderate. From the beginning of this day of the 24th of March it showed some symptoms of abatement. At dawn the clouds, now more vesicular, rose higher in the sky. In several hours the waterspout widened and broke up. The wind, no longer a hurricane, changed to "very brisk", that is to say that the translational velocity of the atmospheric layers was reduced by half. It was still what sailors call "a breeze for three reefs," but the improvement in the disturbance of the elements was none the less considerable. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ (1) Equal to 40 meters per second or 144 kilometers per hour (nearly 36 leagues based on a league of 4 kilometers). THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 3 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ About eleven o'clock the lower atmosphere became noticeably clearer. It threw off this dampness that is seen and even felt after the passage of large meteors. It did not seem that the storm had gone further west. It appeared to be dying of its own accord. Perhaps it was dispersing into electrical layers as sometimes happens to the typhoons of the Indian Ocean after the rupture of a waterspout. But about this time it was again obvious that the balloon was slowly but continually falling to a lower altitude. It even seemed that it was deflating little by little and that its envelope was elongating and distending, passing from a spherical shape to the ovoid. About noon the balloon did not hover more than two thousand feet above the sea. It contained fifty thousand cubic feet (1) and thanks to its capacity it had evidently been able to maintain itself a long while in the air regardless of whether it attained a high altitude or whether it was moving in a horizontal direction. At this time the passengers threw out the last objects which still weighed down the basket, several provisions they had kept, everything, even the small knick-knacks in their pockets. Helping each other, they hoisted themselves onto the ring to which the ropes were attached, all the while looking for solid ground beneath the balloon. It was evident that the passengers could not keep the balloon at a high altitude and that their gas was failing them. They would perish! In fact there was no continent, not even an island, beneath them. There was no single spot on which to land, no solid surface which their anchor could touch. It was an immense ocean whose waves still hurled about with incomparable violence. It was an ocean without visible limits even though they could see over a radius of forty miles from their altitude. It was a liquid plain, battered without mercy and lashed by the storm. It seemed like an overlap of dishevelled waves on which had been thrown a vast network of white crests. No land in sight, not even a vessel. It was necessary, at any price, to stop the balloon's descent and to impede it from being engulfed by the waves, and it was evidently this urgent need which occupied the passengers of the basket. But in spite of their exertions, the balloon kept falling, sometimes even at a good speed, all the while following the direction of the wind, that is to say from the northeast to the southwest. It was a terrible situation for these unfortunates. They were evidently no longer masters of the balloon. Their efforts had no effect. The envelope of the balloon elongated itself more and more. The fluid escaped and they could do nothing to hold it in. Their descent was visibly accelerating and at one o'clock in the afternoon the basket was suspended not more than six hundred feet above the ocean. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ (1) Approximately 1400 cubic meters. 4 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ In fact it was impossible to prevent the loss of gas which was freely escaping through a rip in the apparatus. By throwing away everything in the basket the passengers were able to keep it in the air for several more hours. But the inevitable catastrophe could not be prevented and if land did not show itself before night, passengers, basket and balloon would definitely disappear beneath the waves. They now executed the only maneuver still left to them. The balloon passengers were evidently energetic men who knew how to look death in the face. Not a single murmur escaped their lips. They had decided to struggle to the last second and to do everything to delay their fall. The basket was only a wicker box, not intended for floating, and there was no possibility of maintaining it on the surface of the sea if it should fall there. At two o'clock the balloon was scarcely four hundred feet above the waves. At this moment a virile voice - the voice of a man whose heart was inaccessible to fear - made itself heard. To this voice responded other voices no less energetic. "Is everything thrown out?" "No! There are still ten thousand francs in gold!" A weighty sack fell at once into the sea. "Does the balloon rise?" "A little, but it won't be long before it falls again!" "Is there anything left to throw out?" "Nothing!" "Yes!... the basket!" "Let us hang on to the ropes and throw the basket into the sea!" It was in fact the only and last means of making the balloon lighter. The cords which connected the basket to the ring were slashed and the balloon rose to two thousand feet. The five passengers were hoisted on the ropes above the ring, and holding on to the meshes they looked at the abyss. The static sensitivity of balloons is well known. Throwing out the lightest objects suffices to induce a vertical displacement. The apparatus, floating in the air, behaves like an accurate mathematical balance. One can therefore understand why it is that when it is relieved of a considerable weight its displacement is significant and immediate. So it was on this occasion. But after holding in equilibrium for an instant at a higher altitude, the balloon began to fall again. The gas was escaping through a tear that was impossible to repair. The passengers had done all that they could do. No human means could save them now. They could no longer count on any help except from heaven. At four o'clock the balloon was not more than five hundred feet above the water's surface. A barking was heard. A dog accompanied the passengers and was hanging on to the meshes near his master. "Top has seen something!" shouted one of the passengers. Then at once a firm voice was heard: "Land! Land!" THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 5 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The balloon, which the wind had been carrying toward the southwest, had covered hundreds of miles since dawn and a rather elevated land in fact appeared in this direction. But this land was still more than thirty miles windward. More than a full hour was needed to reach it assuming they did not deviate from their path. One hour! Wouldn't the balloon be emptied of all its fluid before then? Such was the horrible question. The passengers could distinctly see this solid point that they must reach at all cost. They were ignorant of what it was, whether island or continent, because they hardly knew toward which part of the world the storm had driven them. But they must reach this land whether inhabited or not, whether hospitable or not. Now, at four o'clock, they could see that the balloon could no longer sustain itself. It grazed the surface of the sea. Several times already the crests of enormous waves licked the bottom of the ropes making it still heavier. Like a bird with a wounded wing the balloon could barely half rise again. A half hour later land was only a mile away but the balloon, exhausted, flabby, distended, crumpled in large wrinkles, had no gas except in its upper part. The passengers, holding on to the ropes, were too heavy for it and soon, half immersed in the sea, they were battered by furious waves. The casing of the balloon made an air pocket which the wind engulfed and pushed like a vessel with its back to the wind. Perhaps they could reach the coast this way. They were now only two cables away when four horrible cries were heard simultaneously. The balloon, which seemed like it would never rise again, made an unexpected bound after being struck by a large wave. As if it had suddenly lost another of its weights it rose to a height of fifteen hundred feet and there it met a swirl of wind which, instead of bringing it directly to the coast, followed an almost parallel direction. Finally, two minutes later, it approached obliquely, definitely falling down on the sand of the shore out of reach of the waves. The passengers, helping one another, succeeded in disengaging themselves from the meshes of the ropes. The balloon, relieved of their weight, again became airborne, and like a wounded bird that revives for a moment, it disappeared into space. The basket had contained five passengers plus a dog, but the balloon threw only four on the shore. The missing passenger had evidently been swept away by the wave that struck the ropes. This allowed the lightened balloon to rise again for a last time and reach land a few moments later. Hardly had the four castaways - we will call them by this name - set foot on the ground when all, thinking of the missing one, shouted: "Perhaps he is trying to swim. Let us save him! Let us save him!" 6 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Chapter II An episode of the Civil War - The engineer Cyrus Smith - Gideon Spilett - The Negro Neb - The sailor Pencroff - Young Herbert - An unexpected proposition - Rendez-vous at ten o'clock in the evening - Departure in the storm. Those whom the storm had thrown on this coast were neither professional aeronauts nor amateurs of aerial expeditions. They were prisoners of war whose audacity had induced them to flee under these extraordinary circumstances. A hundred times they should have perished! A hundred times their torn balloon should have fallen into the abyss! But Heaven reserved a strange destiny for them and on the twenty fourth of March, after having fled Richmond, which was besieged by the troops of General Ulysses Grant, they found themselves seven thousand miles from the capitol of Virginia, the principal stronghold of the rebels during the dreadful Civil War. Their aerial journey had lasted five days. These are the curious circumstances which resulted in the prisoners' escape - an escape which ended in the catastrophe just related. In this same year, in the month of February 1865, during one of those bold actions in which General Grant tried unsuccessfully to capture Richmond, some of his officers fell into enemy hands and were interned in the city. One of the most distinguished of those that were captured was a staff officer by the name of Cyrus Smith. Cyrus Smith, a native of Massachusetts, was an engineer and a scientist of the first rank. During the war the Union government had entrusted him with the management of the railroads whose strategic role was considerable. A true northerner, he was lean, bony, lanky, and about forty five years of age. His hair was already graying, and as to a beard, he had only a thick moustache. He had one of those handsome "numismatic" heads that looked like they were made to be stamped on medals, with fiery eyes, a serious mouth and the physionogomy of a scientist of the military school. He was one of those engineers who want to begin by handling the hammer and the pick, like those generals who wish to begin as simple soldiers. In addition to an ingenuity of the mind, he also possessed supreme manual ability. His muscles were remarkably well developed. Truly a man of action as well as a man of thought, he worked without effort, having a vitality that defied all hard luck. Very informed, very practical, able to disentangle himself from any difficulty, he had a superb temperament because he always remained master of himself whatever the circumstances. He had in a very large degree the three conditions whose combination determines human energy: activity of mind and body, impetuosity of the desires, and power of the will. And his motto could have been that of Guillaume of Orange of the seventeenth century: "I have no need of hope in order to undertake, nor of success in order to persevere." THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 7 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ At the same time Cyrus Smith was courage personified. He had been in all the battles of the Civil War. After having begun under Ulysses Grant with the volunteers of Illinois he fought at Paducah, at Belmont, at Pittsburg Landing, at the siege of Corinth, at Port Gibson, at Black River, at Chattanooga, at Wilderness, and on the Potomac, everywhere and valiantly, a soldier worthy of the general who said "I never count my dead!" And a hundred times Cyrus Smith should have been in the number of those not counted by the terrible Grant, but in these combats, where he hardly spared himself, chance favored him as always, up to the moment when he was wounded and captured on the Richmond battlefield. At the same time as Cyrus Smith and on the same day another important personage fell into the power of the Southerners. It was none other than the honorable Gideon Spilett, "reporter" for the New York Herald, who had been charged to follow the vicissitudes of the war in the midst of the northern armies. Gideon Spilett was of the race of those astonishing English or American reporters, such as Stanley and others, who recoil at nothing in order to obtain exact information and to transmit it to their journal with the briefest delay. The journals of the Union, such as the New York Herald, are very influential and their reporters are representatives that can be counted on. Gideon Spilett marked the first rank of these representatives. A man of great merit, energetic, prompt and ready for anything, full of ideas, having traveled the entire world, soldier and artist, hot-headed in advice, resolute in action, counting neither pain nor fatigue nor dangers when gathering news for himself first and then for his journal, a true hero of curiosity, information, the unpublishable, the unknown, the impossible, he was one of those intrepid observers who write under fire, chronically in the line of fire, and for whom all perils are good fortune. He too had been in all the battles, on the front lines, revolver in one hand, notebook in the other, and grapeshot did not make his hand tremble. He did not burden the telegraph wires incessantly, like those who speak when they have nothing to say, but each of his notes, short, candid and clear, brought light to bear on an important point. Moreover, "humor" did not fail him. It was he who, after the affair of Black River, wishing at any price to keep his place at the wicket of the telegraph office in order to announce to his journal the result of the battle, telegraphed for two hours the first chapters of the bible. It cost the New York Herald two thousand dollars but the New York Herald was the first to be informed. Gideon Spilett had a tall stature. He was forty years old at most. Light side whiskers, somewhat red, surrounded his face. His eye was calm, quick and rapid in its movements. It was the eye of a man who was accustomed to quickly perceive all the details of a scene. Of solid frame, he was tempered in all climates like a bar of steel in ice water. 8 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ For ten years Gideon Spilett had been an accredited reporter of the New York Herald which he enriched with his articles and his drawings because he was as skilled with the pencil as with the pen. When he was captured he was in the act of describing and sketching the battle. The last words written in his notebook were these: "A Southerner is taking aim at me and..." And the shot missed its mark and following his usual luck, Gideon Spilett came out of the affair without a scratch. Cyrus Smith and Gideon Spilett, who did not know each other except by reputation, were both taken to Richmond. The engineer rapidly recovered from his wound and it was during his convalescence that he made the acquaintance of the reporter. These two men got along and learned to appreciate each other. Soon their common life had only one goal, to escape and rejoin Grant's army, and to fight again in its ranks for federal unity. The two Americans decided to profit from any occasion; but although they were left at liberty in the city, Richmond was so severely guarded that an escape could be regarded as impossible. At this time Cyrus Smith was joined by a servant who was devoted to him in life and in death. This fearless person was a Negro born of slave parents into the engineer's estate but Cyrus Smith, who was an abolitionist from conviction and from the heart, had long since emancipated him. The slave, on becoming free, did not wish to leave his master. He loved him to the death. He was thirty years old, vigorous, agile, skilful, intelligent, gentle and calm, naive at times, always smiling, helpful and kind. He was called Nebuchadnezzar which was abbreviated to the familiar Neb. When Neb learned that his master had been made prisoner he left Massachusetts without hesitating, arrived before Richmond, and with shrewdness and ruses, after having risked his life twenty times, he succeeded in penetrating into the besieged city. Cyrus Smith's pleasure in seeing his servant again and Neb's joy on finding his master cannot be expressed. But if Neb was able to get into Richmond it was, on the other hand, difficult to get out because the Federal prisoners were under close surveillance. It would take an extraordinary occasion to enable them to escape with some chance of success, and this occasion not only did not present itself, but it did not seem that it ever would. Meanwhile Grant continued his energetic operations. The victory at Petersburg had been very dearly fought. His forces, united with those of Butler, could still not obtain a decisive outcome in front of Richmond so that the release of the prisoners was not at hand. The reporter, who found his captivity tedious, could not find a single detail worth noting and could no longer endure it. He had but one idea: to leave Richmond at any price. Several times he had even attempted it but was stopped by insurmountable obstacles. However the siege continued and if the prisoners were in a hurry to escape to rejoin Grant's army, some of the besieged were no less in a hurry to flee in order to rejoin the rebel army, among them a certain Jonathan Forster, a rabid THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 9 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Southerner. In fact, if the Federal prisoners could not leave the city neither could the confederates because the Northern army invested it. The governor of Richmond had not been able to communicate with General Lee for some time. It was of upmost importance to make the city's situation known in order to hasten the march of the relief army. This Jonathan Forster had the idea of floating a balloon in order to cross the besieged lines and thus reach the rebel camp. The governor authorized the attempt. A balloon was fabricated and placed at the disposal of Jonathan Forster and five of his companions who would follow him into the skies. It was furnished with munitions in case they had to defend themselves on landing, and with provisions in case their aerial voyage was prolonged. The departure of the balloon was fixed for 18th of March. It would take place during the night and, with a moderate northwest wind the aeronauts could count on arriving at General Lee's quarters in a few hours. But this northwest wind was not a simple breeze. From the 18th on one could see that it was turning into a storm. Before long the tempest was such that the departure of Forster had to be postponed because it was impossible to risk the balloon and those that it would carry into the unchained elements. The balloon, inflated in the main square of Richmond, remained there ready to leave at the first break in the wind. They were very impatient when they saw no break in the weather. The 18th and the 19th passed without any change in the storm. It even proved very difficult to preserve the balloon which gusts of wind threw to the ground. The night of the 19th to the 20th passed but in the morning the fury of the storm increased. Departure was impossible. On that day the engineer Cyrus Smith was accosted in one of the streets of Richmond by a man he did not know. He was a sailor called Pencroff, between thirty five and forty years of age, with a vigorous frame, very sunburnt, sharp and blinking eyes, but with a good shape. This Pencroff was a Northerner who had traversed all the seas of the globe and who had experienced all the adventures that could befall a being with two feet and no feathers. Needless to say he had an enterprising nature, ready to venture anything and astonished at nothing. Pencroff came to Richmond at the beginning of the year on business with a fifteen year old boy, Herbert Brown of New Jersey, the son of his captain, an orphan whom he loved like his own child. Not being able to leave the city before the first operations of the siege, he found himself confined there to his great displeasure and he too had but one idea, to escape by all possible means. He knew of Cyrus Smith's reputation. He knew of the impatience that this determined man endured under restraint. On this day he therefore did not hesitate to approach him saying without thinking: "Mister Smith, have you had enough of Richmond?" The engineer stared at the man who spoke to him in this way, who added in a low voice: 10 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ "Mister Smith, would you like to escape?" "When?"... the engineer replied briskly. This response escaped him before he could examine the person speaking to him. But after giving the sailor a penetrating look he did not doubt that he had an honest man before him. "Who are you?" he asked briefly. Pencroff made himself known. "Good," replied Cyrus Smith, "and by what means do you propose to escape?" "By that lazy balloon which lies there doing nothing and which seems to be waiting just for us..." The sailor had no need to finish. The engineer understood from the first word. He seized Pencroff by the arms and led him to his dwelling. There the sailor developed his project, really a simple one. They risked nothing in its execution but their lives, The storm was at its height, it was true, but an engineer as skilful as Cyrus Smith would know how to navigate a balloon. If he, Pencroff, knew how to maneuver it he would not have hesitated to leave with Herbert of course. He had seen better storms than this, and he could reckon with a tempest. Cyrus Smith listened to the sailor without saying a word but his eyes lit up. This was the occasion. He was not a man to let it pass. The project was very dangerous, but it was feasible. At night they could board the balloon in spite of the surveillance, slip into the basket and cut the lines that held it. Certainly they risked being killed but on the other hand they could succeed, and without this storm... but without this storm the balloon would already have left and this long sought opportunity would not have presented itself at this time. "I am not alone!..." Cyrus Smith finally said. "How many people do you wish to take?" asked the sailor. "Two: my friend Spilett and my servant Neb." "That makes three," replied Pencroff, "and with Herbert and I, five. Now the balloon can carry six..." "That is sufficient. We will leave!" said Cyrus Smith. This "we" included the reporter who was not a man to back out. When told about the project, he approved it without reservations. What astonished him was that they had not already thought of so simple an idea. As to Neb, he followed his master wherever his master wished to go. "This evening then," said Pencroff, "the five of us will stroll along there pretending curiosity." "This evening at ten o'clock," replied Cyrus Smith, "and pray to Heaven that this storm will not abate before our departure." Pencroff took leave of the engineer and returned to his lodging where young Herbert Brown had remained. This courageous lad knew of the sailor's plan and waited with anxiety for the results of the steps taken with the engineer. As we know, it was that five determined men would hurl themselves into the full storm! No! The storm did not abate. Neither Jonathan Forster nor his companions could dream of confronting it in the frail THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 11 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ basket. The day was terrible. The engineer feared but one thing: it was that the balloon, held to the ground and leveled by the wind, would be torn into a thousand pieces. For several hours he prowled around the nearly deserted square surveying the apparatus. Pencroff on his side did likewise, his hands in his pockets, about to yawn, like a man who doesn't know how to kill time, but also fearing that the balloon would be torn or even that it would break its lines and escape into the sky. Evening came. The night was very gloomy. A thick mist came on with clouds at ground level. Rain fell mixed with snow. It was cold. A sort of fog settled over Richmond. It seemed that the violent tempest forced a truce between the besiegers and the besieged and that the cannon wished to be silent before the formidable detonations of the storm. The streets of the city were deserted. In this horrible weather it did not even seem necessary to guard the square in which the balloon was floundering. Evidently everything favored the departure of the prisoners; but this voyage in an unleashed storm!... "Nasty weather," Pencroff said to himself, adjusting his hat with his fist while the wind was trying to dislodge it from his head. "Oh well! We will succeed all the same!" At half past nine Cyrus Smith and his companions glided in from different corners of the square which the gas lanterns, extinguished by the wind, left in deep darkness. They could not even see the enormous balloon which was almost completely thrown to the ground. Independent of the sacks of ballast which held the ropes, the basket was restrained by a strong cable which passed through a ring in the pavement and doubled back on board. The five prisoners met near the basket. They had not been seen. In the obscurity they could not even see each other. Without saying a word Cyrus Smith, Gideon Spilett, Neb and Herbert took their place in the basket, while Pencroff on an order from the engineer, successively detached the bags of ballast. This took but a few moments and the sailor rejoined his companions. The balloon was then held only by the doubled cable and Cyrus Smith had only to give the order to depart. At that moment a dog dashed toward the basket. It was Top, the engineer's dog, who having broken his chain, had followed his master. The engineer, fearing the excess weight, wanted to send the animal away. "Bah! What's one more," said Pencroff, relieving the basket of two sacks of sand. Then he cast off the doubled cable and the balloon left in an oblique direction and disappeared after the basket hurled itself against two chimneys in the fury of its departure. The storm then unleashed itself with a frightful violence. During the night the engineer could not think of descending and when day returned all sight of ground was obscured by the clouds. It was only after five days that a clearing let them see the immense ocean beneath the balloon, which the wind had driven on at a frightful speed. We know that five men left on the 20th of March and that four of them were thrown, on the 24th of March, on a deserted 12 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ coast more than six thousand miles from their country (1). It was their natural chief, the engineer Cyrus Smith, who was missing. The first thought of the four balloon survivors was to rescue him. Chapter III Five o'clock in the evening - The missing person - Neb's despair - Search to the north - The islet - A wretched night of anguish - The morning fog - Neb swims - View of the land - Fording the channel. The engineer was carried off by a wave through the mesh of rope which had given way. His dog had also disappeared. The faithful animal had voluntarily thrown himself in to help his master. "Forward!" shouted the reporter. And all four, Gideon Spilett, Herbert, Pencroff and Neb, forgetting their exhaustion and fatigue, began their search. Poor Neb cried with rage and despair at the same time at the thought of having lost all that he loved in the world. Two minutes had not passed from the moment when Cyrus Smith had disappeared to the instant when his companions touched land. They could therefore hope to arrive in time to save him. "Let us search! Let us search!" shouted Neb. "Yes, Neb," replied Gideon Spilett, "and we will find him!" "Living?" "Living!" "Does he know how to swim?" asked Pencroff. "Yes," replied Neb, "and besides, Top is there..." The sailor, listening to the sea roar, shook his head. It was on the coast to the north, about a half mile from the spot where the castaways had landed, that the engineer had disappeared. If he could reach the nearest point on the shoreline he would be at most a half mile from them. It was then nearly six o'clock. A fog came on making the night very obscure. The castaways proceeded northward on the eastern coastline of this land upon which chance had thrown them, an unknown land whose geographical location they could not even guess at. They trampled on sandy soil, mixed with stones, which seemed to be deprived of every species of vegetation. This soil, very uneven and rugged, seemed in certain spots to be riddled with small potholes which made their progress very painful. From these holes, heavy birds of sluggish flight escaped at each instant, flying off in all directions into the obscurity. Other more agile ones rose and ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ (1) On the 5th of April, Richmond fell into Grant's hands and the revolt of the rebels was suppressed. Lee retired to the west and the cause of American unity triumphed. THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 13 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ passed overhead in flocks like clouds. The sailor thought he recognized sea gulls and sea mews whose sharp cries contended with the roars from the sea. From time to time the castaways stopped to shout and listen for some sound not made by the ocean. It was possible that if they were near the place where the engineer had landed they might hear Top's barking in case Cyrus Smith was unable to give some sign of his existence. But no cry was heard above the roar of the waves and the clash of the surf. Then the small troop resumed their forward march and searched every crevice of the shoreline. After a walk of twenty minutes the four castaways were suddenly stopped by the foaming waves. Solid ground vanished. They found themselves at the extremity of a sharp point against which the sea broke with fury. "It is a promontory," said the sailor. "We must retrace our steps keeping to our right and in this way we will get to the mainland." "But what if he is there!" replied Neb, pointing to the ocean, whose enormous waves whitened the darkness. "Then let us call him!" And they all shouted together vigorously but there was no response. They waited for a lull. They shouted again. Again nothing. The castaways then went back on the opposite side of the promontory on soil just as sandy and rocky. However Pencroff noted that this shoreline was more abrupt, and the ground more elevated and he assumed that it was joined by an elongated ramp to a high coast that he could barely make out. The birds were less numerous on this part of the shore. The sea also surged less here and was less noisy. It was also remarkable that there was less agitation in the waves. They could barely hear the noise of the surf. Doubtless this side of the promontory formed a semi-circular cove with a sharp point that protected it from the waves of the open sea. But in going in this direction they were moving toward the south away from that part of the coast where Cyrus Smith might have set foot. For a mile and a half the shoreline did not present any turn that would permit them to head north again. Though they had turned the point, the promontory should be connected to the mainland. In spite of their exhaustion the castaways continued to move forward courageously hoping at each moment to find a sharp turn that would put them back in the original direction. Imagine their disappointment when, after about two miles, they found themselves once again stopped by the sea on a somewhat elevated group of slippery rocks. "We are on an islet," said Pencroff, "and we have surveyed it from one extremity to the other." The sailor's observation was justified. The castaways had been thrown not on an continent, not even on an island, but on an islet that did not measure more than two miles in length and whose width was evidently considerably less. But was this barren islet, scattered with rocks, without vegetation, this desolate refuge for several sea birds, was it 14 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ part of an important archipelago? They could not say. When the balloon passengers were in the basket they could see land only indistinctly through the fog. They were not able to judge its size. However, Pencroff, whose sailor's eyes were accustomed to pierce the haze, believed that he could distinguish confused masses in the west which would signify an elevated coast. But then, because of the obscurity, they could not determine if the islet had a simple or a complex appearance. They could not even leave it because the sea surrounded it. They must put off until the next day the search for the engineer who alas had not signaled his presence by any cry. "The silence of Cyrus proves nothing," said the reporter. "He may have fainted or be injured and momentarily in no condition to respond, but let us not despair." The reporter then got the idea of lighting a fire at the point of the islet to serve as a signal to the engineer. They looked in vain for dry wood or brushwood. Sand and stones, there was nothing else. One can understand the grief of Neb and his companions who were keenly attached to this intrepid Cyrus Smith. It was quite evident that they were powerless to help him. They must await the day. Either the engineer had been able to save himself and had already found refuge at some point on the coast, or he was lost forever! These were long and painful hours to pass. The cold was sharp. The castaways suffered cruelly but they scarcely felt it. It did not occur to them to rest for a moment. Forgetting themselves for their chief, hoping, always wanting to hope, they went back and forth on the barren islet, always coming back to its north point, closest to the place of the catastrophe. They listened, they shouted, they tried to detect some supreme call. Their voices should have carried far because a certain calm then prevailed in the atmosphere and the noise of the sea began to fall with the billows. One of Neb's cries even seemed, for a moment, to produce an echo. Herbert brought this to Pencroff's attention, adding: "This proves that there is a shoreline not too far to the west." They sailor made an affirmative sign. Besides, his eyes could not deceive him. If he had distinguished land however faintly, it was because land was there. But this remote echo was the only response provoked by Neb's cries and all else on the east part of the islet remained silent. However, little by little the sky cleared. Toward midnight some stars were shining and if the engineer had been there near his companions he would have remarked that these stars were no longer those of the northern hemisphere. In fact the pole star did not appear above this new horizon and the polar constellations were no longer those usually observed in North America. It was the Southern Cross which was shining at the south pole of the sky. The night passed. About five o'clock in the morning, the 25th of March, the higher levels of the atmosphere changed slightly. The horizon was still dark but with the first light THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 15 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ of day an opaque fog rose from the sea so that visibility did not extend more than about twenty feet. The fog spread out in large volutes that moved clumsily. It was a disappointment. The castaways could not distinguish anything around them. While Neb and the reporter looked toward the ocean, the sailor and Herbert looked for a coastline in the west but not a bit of land was visible. "No matter," said Pencroff, "if I do not see the coastline, I can feel it... It is there... there... just as surely as we are no longer in Richmond." But the haze was not long in lifting. It was nothing but a fine weather haze. A good sun warmed the upper layers and this heat sifted to the surface of the islet. In fact about half past six, three quarters of an hour after sunrise, the fog became more transparent. It persisted above but dissipated below. Soon the entire islet appeared as if it had descended from a cloud. The sea showed itself in a circular form, infinite in the east but bounded by an elevated and abrupt coast in the west. Yes! Land was there. Their safety was at least provisionally assured. Between the islet and the coast, separated by an open channel a half mile in width, ran a noisy rapid current. However, one of the castaways, consulting only his heart, immediately threw himself into the current, without asking the opinions of his companions and without even saying a single word. It was Neb. He was in a hurry to be on this coast and to rush northward. No one could hold him back. Pencroff called to him but in vain. The reporter was inclined to follow Neb. Pencroff then went to him: "Do you want to cross this channel?" he asked. "Yes," replied Gideon Spilett. "Well then listen, believe me," said the sailor, "Neb is well able to bring help to his master. If we throw ourselves into this channel we will risk being carried to the open sea by an extremely violent current. Now, if I am not mistaken, it is an ebbing current. See the sea is going down on the beach. Let us have patience and at low tide it is possible that we will find a fordable passage..." "You are right," replied the reporter. "Let us not separate any more than we have to..." During this time Neb was vigorously struggling against the current. He crossed it in an oblique direction. They saw his black shoulders emerge at each stroke. He was swept on at an extreme speed but he also got closer to the shore. It took him a half hour to cross the half mile that separated the islet from the mainland. He reached the opposite shore several thousand feet downstream from the point on the islet where he started. Neb set foot at the base of a high granite wall and shook himself vigorously, then running he soon disappeared behind a point of rocks that projected into the sea at about the same distance as the northern extremity of the islet. 16 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Neb's companions anxiously followed his daring endeavor. When he was out of sight they turned their attention to this land on which they would be taking refuge, while eating some shellfish which were scattered on the sand. It was a meager repast but it was something. The opposite coast formed a vast bay, terminated in the south by a very sharp point which was devoid of all vegetation and of a very savage aspect. This point was joined to the shore by a rather capricious pattern and was braced up against high granite rocks. Toward the north, on the other hand, a wide bay formed a more rounded coast, running from southwest to northeast and ending with a sharp cape. Between these two extreme points of the bay's arc the distance was perhaps eight miles. A half mile from shore the islet occupied a narrow strip of the sea resembling an enormous cetacean whose body it represented on a large scale. Its largest width was not more than a quarter of a mile. Opposite the island, the shore in the foreground was composed of sand scattered with blackish rocks which, at the moment, were reappearing little by little with the ebbing tide. Behind that was a sort of smooth granite facade crowned by a capricious ridge at a height of three hundred feet. It ran thus for a length of three miles and ended abruptly at the right with a slanted corner that one would think was made by the hand of man. On the left, on the other hand, beyond the promontory, this sort of irregular cliff broke into prismatic fragments made of a conglomerate of rocks, sloping downward by an elongated ramp which gradually blended with the rocks at the southern point. There was not one tree on the upper plateau of the coast. It was a flat plateau like the one which overlooks Capetown at the Cape of Good Hope but with much reduced proportions. At least so it appeared as seen from the islet. Nevertheless, vegetation was not lacking to the right, behind the slanted corner. They could easily distinguish a confused mass of large trees to the limit of their view. This verdure gladdened eyes saddened by the lines of the granite face. Lastly, to the rear beyond the plateau in a northwesterly direction and at a distance of at least seven miles, glittered a white peak reflecting the sun's rays. It was a hat of snow capping some distant mountain. They could not say if the land formed an island or if it was part of a continent. But looking at the convulsed rocks piled up on the left, a geologist would have not hesitated to give them a volcanic origin, because they were incontestably the result of plutonic activity. Gideon Spilett, Pencroff and Herbert carefully observed this land on which they would perhaps spend many long years, even die on it if they were not on the ship lanes. "Well," asked Herbert, "what do you say, Pencroff?" "Well," replied the sailor, "there is good here and bad as in everything. We will see. But now the ebb is being felt. In three hours we will try to cross and once there we will try to organize ourselves to search for Mister Smith. THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 17 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Pencroff was not wrong in his prediction. Three hours later, at low tide, most of the sand that formed the bed of the canal was uncovered. Between the shore and the islet there remained only a narrow channel which would doubtless be easy to cross. In fact about ten o'clock Gideon Spilett and his two companions took off their clothing, placed them in bundles over their heads and ventured into the channel whose depth was not more than five feet. Herbert, for whom the water was too high, swam like a fish and managed wonderfully. All arrived without difficulty on the other side. There the sun rapidly dried them, they put on their clothes which they had preserved from contact with the water, and they discussed the next step. CHAPTER IV Lithodomes - The river's mouth - The "Chimneys" - Continuation of the search - Evergreen forest - Providing fuel - Waiting for the ebb - On the heights - The raft of wood - Return to the shore. All at once the reporter told the sailor to wait for him in this very place where he would rejoin him, and without losing an instant he ascended the coast in the direction followed by the negro Neb several hours earlier. Then he rapidly disappeared behind a corner of the coast, so anxious was he for news about the engineer. Herbert wanted to accompany him. "Stay here, my boy," the sailor said to him. "We have to prepare an encampment and to see if it is possible to find something more substantial for the appetite than shellfish. Our friends will need to recuperate on their return. Each to his task." "I am ready, Pencroff," replied Herbert. "Good!" replied the sailor. "That will do. Let us proceed methodically. We are tired, we are cold, we are hungry. Hence we must find shelter, fire and nourishment. The forest has wood, the nests have eggs; it remains to find a house." "Very well," replied Herbert, "I will look for a cave among these rocks and I will surely discover some hole in which we can hide." "That's that," replied Pencroff. "Let's go, my boy." And they both walked to the foot of the enormous wall on this beach that the receding tide had largely uncovered. But instead of going toward the north they went to the south. Several hundred feet from where they had landed, Pencroff noted that the coastline presented a narrow opening which, in his opinion, could be the mouth of a river or a brook. Now, on the one hand, it was important to establish themselves in the neighborhood of a potable watercourse, and on the other hand, it was not impossible that the current had thrown Cyrus Smith on this shore. 18 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The high wall, as has been said, rose to a height of three hundred feet but the block was solid throughout, and even at its base, barely washed by the sea, it did not present the smallest fissure which could serve as a temporary dwelling. It was a perpendicular wall, made of a very hard granite which the waves had never eroded. Near the summit all kinds of sea birds fluttered about in particular various web- footed species with long compressed pointed beaks - squalling, and hardly afraid of the presence of man who, for the first time no doubt, was thus disturbing their solitude. Among these web-footers Pencroff recognized several skua, a sort of sea gull which is sometimes called stercorarius and also the voracious little sea mews which nested in the crevices of the granite. A gunshot fired into this swarm of birds would have killed a great number; but to fire a gunshot, a gun was needed and neither Pencroff nor Herbert had one. Besides these sea mews and these skua are scarcely edible and even their eggs have a detestable taste. Meanwhile Herbert, who had gone a little more to the left, soon noted several seaweed covered rocks which the high tide would cover again several hours later. On these rocks, amid slippery seaweed, bivalve shellfish abounded which hungry people could not disdain. Herbert called Pencroff, who quickly ran up. "Ah! These are mussels!" shouted the sailor. "Here is something to replace the eggs that we don't have!" "These are not mussels!" replied young Herbert, who carefully examined the mollusks attached to the rocks, "they are lithodomes." "And are they edible?" asked Pencroff. "Perfectly so." "Then let us eat lithodomes." The sailor could rely on Herbert. The young boy was very strong in natural history and always had a veritable passion for this science. His father had encouraged him in this line by letting him attend the courses of the best Boston professors who were fond of this intelligent and industrious lad. Moreover, his instincts as a naturalist would afterwards be utilized more than once and on this outset they did not deceive him. These lithodomes were oblong shells, tightly attached in clusters to the rocks. They belonged to that species of molluscous perforators which bore holes in the hardest stones. Their shell is rounded at both ends, a feature not to be found in the ordinary mussel. Pencroff and Herbert made a good meal of these lithodomes which were then half opened to the sun. They ate them like oysters, and found them to have a strong peppery taste which consoled them for not having either pepper nor any other sort of condiment. Their hunger was thus appeased for the moment, but not their thirst, which increased after their consumption of these naturally spiced mollusks. They would have to find fresh water and it was not likely that it would be lacking in a region so randomly capricious. Pencroff and Herbert filled their pockets and handkerchiefs with an ample supply of lithodomes. They then went back to the foot of the high land. THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 19 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Two hundred feet further they arrived at this indentation in the coastline where, if Pencroff guessed correctly, a small river should be flowing. At this spot the wall appeared to have been separated by some violent subterranean action. At its base a cove was hollowed out, the far end forming a very sharp angle. The watercourse at that point measured one hundred feet in breadth, and its two banks on each side were barely twenty feet wide. The watercourse ran almost directly between the two walls of granite which were not as high upstream; then it turned abruptly and disappeared under some brushwood at a distance of half a mile. "Here is water! There is wood!" said Pencroff. "Well now, Herbert, all we need is the house!" The water of the river was clear. The sailor knew that at this moment of low tide the ocean had not reached here, and the water would be sweet. This important point established, Herbert looked for some cavity which would serve as a retreat but it was useless. Everywhere the wall was smooth, flat and perpendicular. However, at the very mouth of the river, above the line of high tide, there had formed, not a grotto, but a pile of enormous fallen rocks, such as are often met with in granite countries and which are called "Chimneys." Pencroff and Herbert went rather far in among the rocks, in sandy passages where light was not wanting because it entered by openings among the granite rocks, some of which were supported only by a miracle of equilibrium. But with the light the wind also entered - really a corridor wind - and with the wind the sharp cold from the outside. However, the sailor thought that by obstructing certain portions of these passages, by closing some openings with a mixture of stones and sand, they could make the "Chimneys" habitable. The geometrical design of the "Chimneys" resembled the typographical sign "&" which signifies "et cetera" abbreviated. Now, by isolating the upper loop of the sign, through which the wind blew from the south and from the west, they would doubtless succeed in putting the lower part to use. "Here's our work," said Pencroff, "and if we ever see Mr. Smith again he will know what to make of this labyrinth." "We will see him again, Pencroff," cried Herbert, "and when he returns he must find a halfway decent dwelling here. It will be so if we can build a fireplace in the left passage and keep an opening for the smoke." "We can do it, my boy," replied the sailor, "and these chimneys" - that was the name that Pencroff kept for this temporary home - "will serve us. But first let us get a stock of fuel. I imagine that the wood will not be useless in stopping up these holes through which the very devil himself is blowing his trumpet." Herbert and Pencroff left the Chimneys and turning a corner, they began to ascend the left bank of the river. The current was rather rapid and carried some dead wood. The rising tide - and it could already be felt at this time - must drive it back with force to a rather considerable distance. It occurred to the sailor that they could use this ebb and flow to transport heavy objects. 20 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ After walking for a quarter of an hour the sailor and the young boy reached the sharp bend which the river made in turning to the left. From this point its course passed through a forest of magnificent trees. These trees had kept their verdure in spite of the advanced season because they belonged to the family of conifers which grow in all regions of the globe, from the frigid climates to the tropics. The young naturalist recognized especially the "deodars," a species very numerous in the Himalayan zone, which emit an agreeable odor. Among these fine trees grew clusters of fir trees whose opaque parasol boughs spread wide around. In the midst of the tall grass, Pencroff felt his feet crushing dry branches which crackled like fireworks. "Good, my boy," he said to Herbert, "if the name of these trees escapes me, I know at least to classify them in the category of 'firewood' and, for the moment it is the only category that we need!" "Let us get some," replied Herbert, who got to work at once. The collection was easy. It was not even necessary to break the branches off the trees because enormous quantities of dead wood were lying at their feet. But if the fuel was not wanting, the means of transportation left something to be desired. This wood, being very dry, would burn rapidly. It would therefore be necessary to carry a considerable quantity to the Chimneys and the load of two men would not suffice. Herbert noted this. "Well my boy," replied the sailor, "there must be some way of moving this wood. There is always a way to do everything! If we had a cart or a boat it would be quite easy." "But we have the river!" said Herbert. "Right" replied Pencroff. "The river will be for us a road which moves itself and rafts were not invented for nothing." "Only" observed Herbert, "at the moment our road is going the wrong way since the tide is rising." "We will wait till it ebbs," replied the sailor, "and then it will be responsible for transporting our fuel to the Chimneys. Anyhow, let us prepare our raft." The sailor, followed by Herbert, went towards the bend that the edge of the forest made with the river. In proportion to his strength, each carried a load of wood tied in faggots. On the river's bank a large quantity of dead branches was also found among grass where the foot of man had probably never trod. Pencroff began at once to put his raft together. In a sort of eddy produced at one point of the bank, which broke the current, the sailor and the young boy placed some rather large pieces of wood which they had attached together with dried vines. It thus formed a sort of raft on which they successively piled up all the collection of wood, a load for at least twenty men. In an hour the work was finished and the raft, moored to the bank, waited for the change in tide. THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 21 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ They had several hours to kill and by common agreement Pencroff and Herbert resolved to climb to the upper plateau in order to examine the country for a more extended radius. Two hundred feet beyond the bend formed by the river the wall, terminated by a pile of rocks, sloped away gently to the border of the forest. It was like a natural staircase. Herbert and the sailor began their climb. Thanks to the strength of their knees they reached the crest in a few moments and they positioned themselves at the corner above the mouth of the river. On arriving their first glance was toward this ocean that they had crossed under such terrible conditions! They observed with emotion all of the coastline to the north where the catastrophe had occurred. It was there that Cyrus Smith had disappeared. They searched to see if some wreakage of their balloon, which a man could hang onto, was still floating. Nothing! The sea was a vast desert of water. As to the coast it too was deserted. Neither the reporter nor Neb could be seen there but it was possible that at this moment they were too far away. "Something tells me," cried Herbert, "that a man as energetic as Mr. Cyrus would not allow himself to drown like a new born babe. He must have reached some point on the shore. Isn't it so, Pencroff?" The sailor sadly shook his head. He hardly expected to see Cyrus Smith again, but he wanted to give Herbert something to hope for. "Without doubt, without doubt," he said, "our engineer is a man able to get out of a situation where all others would succumb!..." However he observed the coast very carefully. Beneath them was the sandy shore bounded to the right of the river's mouth by a line of breakers. These rocks, still emerged, resembled groups of amphibians lying in the surf. Beyond the strip of reefs the sea sparkled under the rays of the sun. In the south, a sharp point hid the horizon and one could not say if the land was extended in this direction, or if it oriented itself from southeast to southwest which would have made this coast a sort of elongated peninsula. Up to the extreme north of the bay the outline of the shore followed a more rounded contour. There the shore was low, flat, without cliffs, and with large sandy beaches which the ebbing tide had uncovered. Pencroff and Herbert then turned to the west. First they saw a mountain topped by snow which rose at the distance of six or seven miles. Vast woods extended from the foothills of this mountain to within two miles of the coast enhanced by large green patches due to the presence of evergreens. Then, from the edge of this forest to the coast itself groups of trees were scattered randomly over a broad plateau. On the left they saw the waters of a small river sparkle trough several glades. It seemed that the river's rather sinuous course led it back toward its source near the spurs of the mountain. At the spot where the sailor had left his raft of wood the watercourse began to flow between the two high granite walls. If, on the left bank, the wall remained sharp 22 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ and abrupt, on the right bank, on the contrary, it sank little by little, the blocks changing to isolated rocks, the rocks to stones, the stones to pebbles up to the extremity of the point. "Are we on an island?" murmured the sailor. "In any case it seems to be rather vast!" replied the young lad. "An island, however vast, will never be anything but an island!" said Pencroff. But this important question could not yet be resolved. The answer would have to wait for another time. As to the land itself, island or continent, it seemed to be fertile, with a pleasant appearance and with a varied output. "That is fortunate," Pencroff noted, "and in our misfortune we should give thanks to Providence." "God be praised!" responded Herbert, whose pious heart was full of gratitude to the Author of all things. For a long while Pencroff and Herbert examined this country on which destiny had thrown them but it was difficult to guess from this quick inspection what the future had in store for them. Then they returned following the southern crest of the granite plateau, bordered by capricious rocks with bizarre shapes. Several hundred birds lived there nested in holes of the stone. Herbert, hopping over the rocks, made a large flock of these winged creatures fly away. "Ah," he cried, "These are neither sea gulls nor sea mews!" "Then what are these birds?" asked Pencroff. "Upon my word, one would say pigeons." "Quite so, but these are wild pigeons or rock pigeons," replied Herbert. "I recognize them by the double black band on their wing, by their white rump, and their ashen blue plumage. Now, if the rock pigeon is good to eat their eggs must be excellent if there are still some in their nests!..." "We will not give them time to hatch if it isn't in the shape of an omelette!" replied Pencroff gleefully. "But in what will you make your omelette?" asked Herbert, "In your hat?" "Well," replied the sailor, "I am not enough of a wizard for that. We are forced to use eggs in the shell, my boy, and I will be in charge of disposing of the hardest of them." Pencroff and the young lad carefully examined the crevices in the granite and they did in fact find eggs in some of the cavities. Several dozens were collected, then placed in the sailor's handkerchief and since it was almost high tide they began to descend to the watercourse. When they arrived at the bend in the river it was one o'clock in the afternoon. The current had already reversed itself. It was necessary therefore to profit from the ebb to bring the raft of wood to the river's mouth. Pencroff had no intention of letting the raft float in the current at random nor did he intend to board it in order to steer it. But a sailor is never at a loss when it is a question of cables or ropes, and Pencroff quickly braided a long rope several THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 23 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ fathoms long by means of dried vines. This vegetable cable was attached to the back of the raft. The sailor wiggled his hand while Herbert pushed the raft back with a long pole, keeping it in the current. The procedure succeeded as hoped. The large load of wood, which the sailor held on to while walking on the bank, followed the current. The bank was even and there was no reason to fear that the raft would run aground. Before two o'clock they arrived at the mouth of the river several paces from the Chimneys. CHAPTER V Arrangement of the Chimneys - The important question of fire - The box of matches - Search on the shore - Return of the reporter and Neb - A single match! - A crackling fireplace - The first supper - The first night on land. After the raft of wood was unloaded Pencroff's first concern was to make the Chimneys habitable by obstructing those passages through which the wind blew. Some sand, stones, intertwined branches and mud hermetically sealed the corridors of the "&c" which were open to the winds from the south, thus isolating the upper loop. One passageway only, narrow and winding, opening on one side, was kept in order to conduct the smoke outside and to induce a draft from the fireplace. The Chimneys were thus divided into three or four rooms, if one could give this name to such gloomy dens with which a wild beast would hardly be content. But it was dry and one could stand up, at least in the main room which occupied the center. A fine sand covered the ground and everything taken into account, they would have to manage until they could find something better. While working Herbert and Pencroff chatted. "Perhaps," said Herbert, "our companions have found a better accommodation than ours?" "That is possible," replied the sailor, "but doubtful, so don't hold your breath! It is better to have one string too many in your bow than no string at all!" "Ah!" repeated Herbert, "if they could only bring back Mr. Smith when they return, how we would thank Heaven!" "Yes," murmured Pencroff. "That was truly a man!" "Was..." said Herbert. "Do you despair of ever seeing him again?" "God forbid!" replied the sailor. The arrangements were quickly completed and Pencroff was quite satisfied with them. "Now," he said, "our friends can return. They will find a suitable shelter." 24 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ It remained to build a fireplace and to prepare a meal, really a simple and easy task. Some large flat stones were placed on the ground in the first corridor on the left at the entrance of the narrow passageway which had been reserved for this purpose. If the smoke did not draw out too much heat this would evidently be sufficient to maintain a proper temperature inside. A load of wood was stored in one of the rooms and the sailor placed several logs and small pieces of wood on the rocks of the fireplace. The sailor was engaged in this work when Herbert asked him if he had any matches. "Certainly," replied Pencroff, "and I will add, fortunately, because without matches or tinder we would have quite a problem!" "We could always make fire the way the savages do," replied Herbert, "by rubbing two pieces of dry wood against each other." "Well, my boy, try it and then see if you can find a better way to break your arms." "Nevertheless it is a very simple procedure and is often used on the islands of the Pacific." "I do not say no," replied Pencroff, "but I believe that the savages know just how to do it or that they use a particular wood because more than once I have tried to make a fire in this way and I have never succeeded at it. I admit that I much prefer matches. By the way, where are my matches?" Pencroff searched in his vest for the match box that was always with him because he was a confirmed smoker. He did not find it. He rummaged through his pants pockets and to his amazement he could not find the box in question. "This is stupid! It's more than stupid!" he said looking at Herbert. "This box must have fallen out of my pocket and I have lost it! But you, Herbert, do you have a tinder box or anything that we can use to make a fire?" "No, Pencroff." The sailor went out scratching his forehead followed by the young boy. Both searched with the greatest care on the beach, among the rocks, near the bank of the river, but to no avail. The box was made of copper and should not have escaped their attention. "Pencroff," asked Herbert, "didn't you throw the box out of the basket?" "I kept my mind on it," replied the sailor, "but when one has been tossed about like we were, so small an object can easily disappear. Even my pipe is gone. Where can the damn box be?" "Well, the tide is going down," said Herbert, "let us go round to the spot where we landed." There was little chance that they would recover this box that the waves had tossed among the rocks at high tide but it was worth a try under the circumstances. Herbert and Pencroff ran to the spot where they had landed earlier about two hundred feet from the Chimneys. There, among the pebbles, in the cavities of the rocks, they searched carefully. The result: nothing. If the box had THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 25 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ fallen in this vicinity it must have been swept away by the waves. As the sea went down the sailor searched every crevice in the rocks without finding anything. It was a serious loss under the circumstances and for the moment irreparable. Pencroff found it hard to hide his disappointment. His brow wrinkled up. He didn't say a word. Herbert wanted to console him by observing that, very likely, the matches would have been wet from the sea water and would have been useless. "But no, my boy," replied the sailor. "They were in a tightly closed copper box! And now what are we to do?" "We will certainly find some means of making fire," said Herbert. "Mr. Smith or Mr. Spilett would not be at a loss like we are." "Yes," replied Pencroff, "but meanwhile we are without fire and our companions will find a sorry meal on their return." "But," said Herbert briskly, "isn't it possible that they have tinder or matches?" "I doubt it," replied the sailor shaking his head. "First of all Neb and Mr. Smith do not smoke, and I really believe that Mr. Spilett would rather save his notebook than his box of matches." Herbert did not reply. The loss of the box was obviously a regrettable thing. However, the lad counted on making a fire by one means or another. Pencroff, who was more experienced, did not think so, though he was not a man to be bothered by a small or a large inconvenience. In any event, there was only one course to take: wait for the return of Neb and of the reporter. But it was necessary to forget about the meal of hard eggs that they had wanted to prepare for them and a diet of raw meat either for themselves or for the others did not appear to be an agreeable prospect. Before returning to the Chimneys the sailor and Herbert collected a new batch of lithodomes in the event that there definitely would be no fire. They went back silently on the path to their dwelling. Pencroff, his eyes fixed on the ground, was still looking for the lost box. He even ascended again the left bank of the river from the mouth to the bend where the raft of wood had been moored. He returned to the upper plateau. He went over it in every direction, he searched among the tall grass along the border of the forest - all in vain. It was five o'clock in the evening when Herbert and he returned to the Chimneys. Needless to say they rummaged through the darkest corners of the passageways but they definitely had to give up. About six o'clock, at the time when the sun was disappearing behind the highlands of the west, Herbert, who was pacing back and forth on the shore, signaled the return of Neb and of Gideon Spilett. They were returning alone!... His heart skipped a beat. The sailor had not been deceived by his misgivings. The engineer Cyrus Smith had not been found! On arriving the reporter sat down on a rock without saying a word. Exhausted and dying of hunger he did not have the strength to say a word. 26 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ As to Neb his red eyes showed that he had cried and the new tears that he could not hold back showed only too clearly that he had lost all hope! The reporter told them about the search that they had undertaken to find Cyrus Smith. Neb and he had followed the coastline for a distance of more than eight miles and consequently well beyond the point where the next to the last fall of the balloon occurred, the fall that was followed by the disappearance of the engineer and the dog Top. The shore was deserted. Not a trace, not a single footprint. Not a stone recently overturned, not a sign on the sand, no mark of the human foot on all of this part of the coast. It was evident that no inhabitant ever frequented this portion of the shore. The ocean was just as deserted as the beach and it was there, several hundred feet from shore, that the engineer had met his fate. Then Neb got up and voiced the sentiments of hope that were bottled up within him: "No!" he shouted. "No! He is not dead! No! That cannot be! He! Come now! It might happen to me or anyone else but him! Never! He could get out of any scrape!..." Then his strength left him. "Ah!, I can do no more," he murmured. Herbert ran to him. "Neb," said the lad, "we will find him! God will return him! But now you are hungry. Eat, eat a little, I beg you." And, while speaking, he offered the poor negro a handful of shellfish, a meager and insufficient nourishment. Neb had not eaten for many hours but he refused. Deprived of his master he could not, he did not want to live! As to Gideon Spilett, he devoured these mollusks. Then he lay down on the sand in front of a rock. He was worn out but calm. Herbert came up to him and offered him his hand: "Sir," he said, "we have discovered a shelter where you will be better off than here. It is getting dark. Get some rest. Tomorrow we will see..." The reporter got up and, guided by the lad, he went toward the Chimneys. Pencroff came over to him and asked him in a casual voice if by chance he had a match on him. The reporter stopped, looked in his pockets, and didn't find any. He said, "I had some but I must have thrown them away..." The sailor then spoke to Neb. He asked the same question and got the same reply. "Damn it!" cried the sailor, who could not hold back this word. The reporter heard him and going to Pencroff he said, "You have no matches?" "Not a single one, and consequently we have no fire!" "Ah!" shouted Neb, "If my master were here he would know how to make it!" The four castaways stood there and looked at each other not without some uneasiness. It was Herbert who first broke the silence by saying: THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 27 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ "Mister Spilett, you are a smoker. You always have matches on you. Perhaps you have not looked thoroughly. Look again. A single match will suffice." The reporter rummaged again through his pants pockets, his waistcoat, his overcoat and finally to Pencroff's great joy as well as to his own surprise he felt a piece of wood caught in the lining of his waistcoat. His fingers seized this small piece of wood through the fabric but he could not get it out. Since this was only one match they must not rub the phosphorous. "Will you let me try it?" the lad asked him. Very skillfully, without breaking it, he succeeded in removing this small piece of wood, this wretched and precious flare which for these poor people was of such importance. It was intact. "A match!" shouted Pencroff. "Ah! It's as if we had a whole cargo!" He took the match and followed by his companions he went back to the Chimneys. This small piece of wood which in civilized countries is lavished with indifference and has no value would have to be used here with extreme care. The sailor assured himself that it was really dry. That done he said, "We need some paper. "Here," replied Gideon Spilett, who tore out a leaf from his notebook after some hesitation. Pencroff took the piece of paper that the reporter gave him and he squatted in front of the fireplace. There several handfuls of grass, leaves and dry moss were placed under the faggots and arranged so that the air could easily circulate and the dead wood would catch fire quickly. Then Pencroff folded the paper in the form of a cone, as smokers do in a high wind, and placed it among the mosses. Next taking a rather flat stone he wiped it with care. With his heart beating fast he gently rubbed the stone without breathing. The first rubbing produced no effect. Pencroff had not applied enough pressure fearing that he would scratch the phosphorous. "No, I can't do it," he said, "my hand trembles... The match did not catch fire... I cannot... I don't want to," and getting up he asked Herbert to take his place. Certainly in all his life the lad had not been so nervous. His heart beat fast. Prometheus going to steal fire from Heaven had not been more anxious. He did not hesitate however and quickly rubbed the stone. They heard a sputter then a weak blue flame spurted out producing a sharp flame. Herbert gently turned the match so as to feed the flame, then he slipped it into the paper cone. The paper caught fire in a few seconds and the moss also caught. Several moments later the dry wood crackled and a joyful flame, activated by the sailor's vigorous breath, developed in the midst of the obscurity. "Finally," shouted Pencroff, getting up. "I was never so nervous in my life!" 28 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The fire certainly burned well on the fireplace of flat stones. The smoke went easily through the narrow passage, the chimney drew the smoke and a pleasant warmth spread out. As to the fire, they had to take care not to let it burn out and to always keep some embers under the ashes. But this was merely a matter of care and attention since there was no shortage of wood and their supply could always be renewed at their convenience. Pencroff first intended to use the fireplace to prepare a supper more nourishing than a dish of lithodomes. Herbert brought over two dozen eggs. The reporter, resting in a corner, watched these preparations without saying a word. Three thoughts were on his mind. Was Cyrus still alive? If he was alive where could he be? If he had survived his fall why had he not made his existence known? As to Neb, he prowled the beach. He was a body without a soul. Pencroff, who knew fifty two ways to make eggs, had no options at the moment. He had to be content to introduce them among the warm cinders and to let them harden at a low heat. In several minutes the baking took effect and the sailor invited the reporter to take his share of the supper. Such was the first meal of the castaways on this unknown shore. These hard eggs were excellent and since the egg contains all the elements needed for man's nourishment these poor people found themselves well off and felt strengthened. Ah! If only one of them had not been missing at this meal! If the five prisoners who escaped from Richmond could all have been there under this pile of rocks in front of this bright crackling fire on this dry sand, what thanks they would have given to Heaven! But the most ingenious, also the wisest, he who was their unquestioned chief, Cyrus Smith, was missing alas and his body had not even had a decent burial! Thus passed the day of March 25. Night came. Outside they heard the wind whistling and the monotonous surf beating against the shore. The pebbles, tossed around by the waves, rolled about with a deafening noise. The reporter retired on the floor of one of the corridors after having quickly noted the incidents of the day: the first appearance of this new land, the disappearance of the engineer, the exploration of the coast, the incident with the matches, etc.; and aided by fatigue he succeeded in finding some sleep. Herbert slept well. As to the sailor, he spent the night with one eye on the fire and spared no fuel. Only one of the castaways did not rest in the Chimneys. It was Neb, forlorn and without hope, who for the entire night, in spite of the pleadings of his companions to take some rest, wandered on the shore calling for his master! THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 29 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ CHAPTER VI The inventory of the castaways - Nothing - Burnt linen - An excursion in the forest - Evergreen flora - The jacamar escapes - Trace of wild beasts - The couroucous - Grouse - A curious fishing line. The inventory of the objects possessed by these castaways from the sky, thrown on a coast that appeared to be uninhabited, could be promptly established. They had nothing except for the clothes on their backs at the moment of the catastrophe. We should however mention a notebook and a watch that Gideon Spilett had saved inadvertently no doubt, but not a weapon, not a tool, not even a pocket knife. The balloon passengers had thrown everything overboard in order to lighten it. The imaginary heros of Daniel de Foe or of Wyss, as well as Selkirk and Raynal, castaways at Juan-Fernandez or the archipelago of Auckland, never found themselves so absolutely helpless. They had abundant resources drawn from their stranded vessels whether in grain, animals, tools, munitions, or else some wreckage had reached the shore which allowed them to provide for the primary needs of life. At the start they did not find themselves absolutely disarmed in the face of nature. But here, no instrument whatsoever, not a utensil. Nothing, they must obtain everything! If however, Cyrus Smith had been with them, if the engineer had been able to put his practical science, his inventive spirit to the service of this situation, perhaps all hope would not have been lost. Alas! They could not count on seeing Cyrus Smith again. The castaways could depend on no one but themselves and on Providence who never abandons those whose faith is sincere. But before all else should they settle themselves on this part of the shore without trying to find out what continent it belonged to, if it was inhabited or if this coast was only the beach of a deserted island? It was an important question to be resolved with the briefest delay. The measures to be taken would depend on the answer. However it was Pencroff's advice that it would be better to wait several days before undertaking an exploration. In fact it was necessary to prepare provisions and to obtain food more substantial than only eggs and mollusks. The explorers, having endured long fatigue, without a shelter for sleeping, would have to refresh themselves before doing anything else. The Chimneys offered a sufficient retreat for the time being. The fire was lit and it would be easy to save the cinders. For the moment there was no lack of mollusks and eggs among the rocks and on the beach. They would surely find the means to kill some of these pigeons that flew about by the hundreds at the crest of the plateau using sticks or stones. Perhaps the trees of the nearby forest would give them edible fruit? Finally sweet water was there. It was therefore agreed 30 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ that for the next few days they would remain at the Chimneys in order to prepare there for an exploration either of the coastline or of the interior of the country. This plan particularly suited Neb. As stubborn in his ideas as in his forebodings he was in no hurry to leave this part of the coast, the scene of the catastrophe. He did not believe, he did not want to believe that Cyrus Smith was lost. No, it didn't seem possible that such a man met his end in so vulgar a fashion, carried off by a wave, drowned in the sea only a few hundred feet from shore. As long as the waves had not thrown up the body of the engineer, as long as he, Neb, had not seen with his own eyes, touched with his own hands the corpse of his master, he would not believe that he was dead. And this idea took root in his obstinate heart more than ever. Illusion perhaps but a respected illusion nevertheless which the sailor did not wish to destroy. For him there was no more hope and the engineer had indeed perished in the waves but with Neb there was nothing to discuss. He was like a dog that will not leave the place where his master died and his grief was such that he probably would not survive him. On the morning of March 26th, at dawn, Neb went back to the shore in a northerly direction, returning to where the sea had doubtless closed in on the unfortunate Smith. Breakfast on this day was composed only of pigeon eggs and of lithodomes. Herbert had found some salt left behind in the crevices of the rocks by evaporation and this mineral substance was put to good use. The meal finished, Pencroff asked the reporter if he wanted to accompany them to the forest where Herbert and he would try to hunt. However, on further reflection it was decided that someone should stay behind to look after the fire and in the unlikely event that Neb would need help. The reporter would therefore stay behind. "To the hunt, Herbert," said the sailor. "We will find our munitions along the way and we will fire our guns in the forest." But, when they were about to leave, Herbert noted that since they had no tinder it would perhaps be prudent to replace it with another substance. "What?" asked Pencroff. "Burnt linen," replied the lad. "In a pinch it can serve as tinder." The sailor found that this advice made sense except that it was inconvenient since it meant the sacrifice of a piece of handkerchief. Nevertheless it was worth the trouble and so a piece of Pencroff's large square handkerchief was soon reduced to a half burnt rag. This inflammable material was placed in the central chamber at the bottom of a small cavity in a rock completely sheltered from wind and dampness. It was then nine o'clock in the morning. The weather was threatening and the wind blew from the southeast. Herbert and Pencroff turned the corner of the Chimneys not without having thrown a glance at the smoke which was twirling around from the rocks; then they went up the left bank of the river. THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 31 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Arriving at the forest, Pencroff first broke off two sturdy branches which he transformed into sticks and which Herbert ground down to a point on a rock. Ah! If they only had a knife! Then the two hunters advanced among the tall grass following the riverbank. On leaving the bend that changed its course to the southwest, the river grew narrower little by little and its banks formed a channel enclosed by a double arc of trees. Pencroff, not wanting to get lost, resolved to follow the water's course which would always return him to his starting point. But the bank was not without several obstacles, here trees whose flexible branches bent to the level of the water, there creepers or thorn bushes which they had to break with their sticks. Often Herbert glided among the broken stumps with the agility of a young cat and he disappeared into the brushwood. But Pencroff recalled him immediately begging him not to go too far. However, the sailor carefully noted the nature of the surroundings. On the left bank the soil was level and rose imperceptibly toward the interior. Sometimes moist, it then took on a marshy appearance. Everywhere they felt an underground network of streams which, by some subterranean fault, flowed toward the river. Also at some places a brook flowed through the brushwood which they crossed without difficulty. The opposite bank seemed to be more varied and the valley, of which the river occupied the center, was more sharply patterned. The hill, covered by trees of various sizes, formed a curtain which obstructed vision. On the right bank walking would have been difficult because of the cavities in the ground and because of the trees which, curved to the surface of the water, were held in place only by their roots. Needless to say this forest as well as the bank already travelled over, showed no sign of any human touch. Pencroff noted the recent footprints of quadrupedes of a species he did not recognize. Most certainly - and this was also Herbert's opinion - they had been left by formidable wild beasts which they would have to contend with doubtless; but nowhere the mark of a hatchet on a tree trunk nor the remains of an extinguished fire nor a footprint. They should perhaps congratulate themselves because in this part of the Pacific the presence of man was perhaps more to be feared than desired. Herbert and Pencroff scarcely spoke because of the great difficulties along the path. They advanced very slowly and after an hour they had scarcely gone a mile. Until then the hunt had not been productive. However, several birds were chirping and flying about under the branches showing themselves to be very timid as if man instinctively inspired them with a justifiable fear. Among other winged creatures Herbert noted, in a marshy part of the forest, a bird with a sharp and elongated beak which anatomically resembled a kingfisher. However it was distinguished by its rather rugged plummage which was coated with a metallic brilliance. "This must be a 'Jacamar'," said Herbert, trying to close in on the animal. 32 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ "It will be quite an occasion to taste jacamar," replied the sailor, "if this bird is in a humor to let himself be roasted." At this moment a stone, skillfully and vigorously thrown by the lad, struck the creature as it was about to fly off but this was not enough because the jacamar flew away at full speed and disappeared in an instant. "How clumsy I am," cried Herbert. "Not at all, my boy," replied the sailor. "It was a good throw and more than one person would have missed the bird completely. Come! Do not feel frustrated. We will catch it another day." The exploration continued. As the hunters made headway the trees became more spacious and magnificent but none produced any edible fruit. Pencroff looked in vain for a few of those precious palm trees which have so many uses in domestic life and which are found as far as the fortieth parallel in the northern hemisphere and down to only the thirty fifth parallel in the southern hemisphere. But this forest was composed only of conifers such as the deodars, already recognized by Herbert, of Douglas pines, resembling those growing on the northwest coast of America, and of admirable spruce measuring a hundred fifty feet in height. At this moment a flock of small birds with a pretty plumage, with a long and sparkling tail, scattered themselves among the branches, spreading their weakly attached feathers which covered the ground with a fine down. Herbert picked up a few of these feathers and after having examined them: "These are 'couroucous'," he said. "I would prefer a guinea fowl or a grouse cock," replied Pencroff, "but are they good to eat?" "They are good to eat and their flesh is even tender," replied Herbert. "Besides, if I am not mistaken, it is easy to approach them and kill them with a stick." The sailor and the lad glided among the grass arriving at the foot of a tree whose lower branches were covered with small birds. The couroucous were waiting for the passage of insects, which served as their nourishment. One could see their feathered feet strongly clenching the sprouts which served to support them. The hunters then straightened themselves up and moving their sticks like a scythe, they grazed entire rows of these couroucous who did not think of flying away and stupidly allowed themselves to be beaten. A hundred littered the ground when the others decided to fly. "Well," said Pencroff, "here is game made for hunters such as ourselves. We have only to reach out for it." On a flexible stick the sailor strung up the couroucous like larks and the exploration continued. They noted that the watercourse took a gentle turn southward but this detour could not really be a prolonged one because the river's source was in the mountain and was fed by the melting snow which covered the sides of the central cone. THE CASTAWAYS FROM THE SKY 33 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The particular object of this excursion, as we know, was to procure for the hosts of the Chimneys the largest possible quantity of game. One could not say that this goal had been attained up to now. The sailor actively pursued his search and how he raved when some animal that he did not even have time to recognize, escaped among the tall grass. If only they had had the dog Top. But Top had disappeared at the same time as his master and had probably perished with him. About three o'clock in the afternoon they caught a glimpse of new flocks of birds who were pecking at the aromatic berries of certain trees, junipers among others. Suddenly, the real sound of a trumpet was heard in the forest. It was the strange and loud fanfare made by gallinules which are called "grouse" in the United States. Soon they saw several couples, with a variety of brown and fawn colored plumage, and with a brown tail. Herbert recognized the males by the two pointed fins formed by feathers raised on their neck. Pencroff judged it indispensable to get hold of one of these gallinules, as big as a hen, and whose flesh is like that of a prairie chicken. But this was difficult because they would not allow themselves to be approached. After several fruitless attempts, which had no other result than to frighten the grouse, the sailor said to the lad: "Decidedly, since we can't kill them in flight, we will try to take them with a line." "Like a fish?" cried Herbert, very surprised at this suggestion. "Like a fish," the sailor replied seriously. Pencroff found among the grass a half dozen of the grouse's nests, each having two or three eggs. He took great care not to touch these nests to which their proprietors would not fail to return. It was around these nests that he intended to stretch his lines - not collar traps but real hook lines. He took Herbert some distance away from the nests and there he prepared his strange contraption with the care appropriate to a disciple of Isaac Walton.(1) Herbert followed this activity with an interest easy to understand, while doubting its success. The lines were made of thin creepers fastened to one another to a length of fifteen to twenty feet. Some large strong thorns with bent points, furnished by a dwarf acacia bush, were tied to the ends of the creepers to take the place of hooks. As an allurement some large red worms, which were crawling on the ground, were put on the thorns. That done, Pencroff moved among the grass skillfully concealing himself, placing the end of his lines with baited hooks near the grouse's nests. Then he returned taking the other end and concealing himself with Herbert behind a large tree. Both then waited patiently. Herbert, it should be said, did not count much on the success of the inventive Pencroff. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ (1) Celebrated author of a treatise on fishing with a line.