The Mysterious Island (39 page)

As to the health of the members of the colony, bipeds or bimana,
quadrumana or quadrupeds, it left nothing to be desired. With their life
in the open air, on this salubrious soil, under that temperate zone,
working both with head and hands, they could not suppose that illness
would ever attack them.

All were indeed wonderfully well. Herbert had already grown two inches
in the year. His figure was forming and becoming more manly, and he
promised to be an accomplished man, physically as well as morally.
Besides he improved himself during the leisure hours which manual
occupations left to him; he read the books found in the case; and after
the practical lessons which were taught by the very necessity of their
position, he found in the engineer for science, and the reporter for
languages, masters who were delighted to complete his education.

The tempest ended about the 9th of March, but the sky remained covered
with clouds during the whole of this last summer month. The atmosphere,
violently agitated by the electric commotions, could not recover its
former purity, and there was almost invariably rain and fog, except for
three or four fine days on which several excursions were made. About
this time the female onager gave birth to a young one which belonged to
the same sex as its mother, and which throve capitally. In the corral,
the flock of musmons had also increased, and several lambs already
bleated in the sheds, to the great delight of Neb and Herbert, who had
each their favorite among these newcomers. An attempt was also made
for the domestication of the peccaries, which succeeded well. A sty was
constructed under the poultry-yard, and soon contained several young
ones in the way to become civilized, that is to say, to become fat
under Neb's care. Master Jup, entrusted with carrying them their
daily nourishment, leavings from the kitchen, etc., acquitted himself
conscientiously of his task. He sometimes amused himself at the expense
of his little pensioners by tweaking their tails; but this was mischief,
and not wickedness, for these little twisted tails amused him like a
plaything, and his instinct was that of a child. One day in this month
of March, Pencroft, talking to the engineer, reminded Cyrus Harding of a
promise which the latter had not as yet had time to fulfil.

"You once spoke of an apparatus which would take the place of the long
ladders at Granite House, captain," said he; "won't you make it some
day?"

"Nothing will be easier; but is this a really useful thing?"

"Certainly, captain. After we have given ourselves necessaries, let us
think a little of luxury. For us it may be luxury, if you like, but
for things it is necessary. It isn't very convenient to climb up a long
ladder when one is heavily loaded."

"Well, Pencroft, we will try to please you," replied Cyrus Harding.

"But you have no machine at your disposal."

"We will make one."

"A steam machine?"

"No, a water machine."

And, indeed, to work his apparatus there was already a natural force
at the disposal of the engineer which could be used without great
difficulty. For this, it was enough to augment the flow of the little
stream which supplied the interior of Granite House with water. The
opening among the stones and grass was then increased, thus producing
a strong fall at the bottom of the passage, the overflow from which
escaped by the inner well. Below this fall the engineer fixed a cylinder
with paddles, which was joined on the exterior with a strong cable
rolled on a wheel, supporting a basket. In this way, by means of a long
rope reaching to the ground, which enabled them to regulate the motive
power, they could rise in the basket to the door of Granite House.

It was on the 17th of March that the lift acted for the first time, and
gave universal satisfaction. Henceforward all the loads, wood, coal,
provisions, and even the settlers themselves, were hoisted by this
simple system, which replaced the primitive ladder, and, as may be
supposed, no one thought of regretting the change. Top particularly was
enchanted with this improvement, for he had not, and never could have
possessed Master Jup's skill in climbing ladders, and often it was on
Neb's back, or even on that of the orang that he had been obliged to
make the ascent to Granite House. About this time, too, Cyrus Harding
attempted to manufacture glass, and he at first put the old pottery-kiln
to this new use. There were some difficulties to be encountered; but,
after several fruitless attempts, he succeeded in setting up a glass
manufactory, which Gideon Spilett and Herbert, his usual assistants, did
not leave for several days. As to the substances used in the composition
of glass, they are simply sand, chalk, and soda, either carbonate or
sulphate. Now the beach supplied sand, lime supplied chalk, sea-weeds
supplied soda, pyrites supplied sulphuric acid, and the ground supplied
coal to heat the kiln to the wished-for temperature. Cyrus Harding thus
soon had everything ready for setting to work.

The tool, the manufacture of which presented the most difficulty, was
the pipe of the glass-maker, an iron tube, five or six feet long, which
collects on one end the material in a state of fusion. But by means of
a long, thin piece of iron rolled up like the barrel of a gun, Pencroft
succeeded in making a tube soon ready for use.

On the 28th of March the tube was heated. A hundred parts of sand,
thirty-five of chalk, forty of sulphate of soda, mixed with two or three
parts of powdered coal, composed the substance, which was placed in
crucibles. When the high temperature of the oven had reduced it to a
liquid, or rather a pasty state, Cyrus Harding collected with the tube
a quantity of the paste: he turned it about on a metal plate, previously
arranged, so as to give it a form suitable for blowing, then he passed
the tube to Herbert, telling him to blow at the other extremity.

And Herbert, swelling out his cheeks, blew so much and so well into the
tube-taking care to twirl it round at the same time—that his breath
dilated the glassy mass. Other quantities of the substance in a state
of fusion were added to the first, and in a short time the result was a
bubble which measured a foot in diameter. Harding then took the tube
out of Herbert's hands, and, giving it a pendulous motion, he ended by
lengthening the malleable bubble so as to give it a cylindroconic shape.

The blowing operation had given a cylinder of glass terminated by two
hemispheric caps, which were easily detached by means of a sharp iron
dipped in cold water; then, by the same proceeding, this cylinder was
cut lengthways, and after having been rendered malleable by a second
heating, it was extended on a plate and spread out with a wooden roller.

The first pane was thus manufactured, and they had only to perform this
operation fifty times to have fifty panes. The windows at Granite House
were soon furnished with panes; not very white, perhaps, but still
sufficiently transparent.

As to bottles and tumblers, that was only play. They were satisfied with
them, besides, just as they came from the end of the tube. Pencroft had
asked to be allowed to "blow" in his turn, and it was great fun for
him; but he blew so hard that his productions took the most ridiculous
shapes, which he admired immensely.

Cyrus Harding and Herbert, while hunting one day, had entered the forest
of the Far West, on the left bank of the Mercy, and, as usual, the
lad was asking a thousand questions of the engineer, who answered them
heartily. Now, as Harding was not a sportsman, and as, on the other
side, Herbert was talking chemistry and natural philosophy, numbers of
kangaroos, capybaras, and agouties came within range, which, however,
escaped the lad's gun; the consequence was that the day was already
advanced, and the two hunters were in danger of having made a
useless excursion, when Herbert, stopping, and uttering a cry of joy,
exclaimed,—

"Oh, Captain Harding, do you see that tree?" and he pointed to a shrub,
rather than a tree, for it was composed of a single stem, covered with a
scaly bark, which bore leaves streaked with little parallel veins.

"And what is this tree which resembles a little palm?" asked Harding.

"It is a 'cycas revoluta,' of which I have a picture in our dictionary
of Natural History!" said Herbert.

"But I can't see any fruit on this shrub!" observed his companion.

"No, captain," replied Herbert; "but its stem contains a flour with
which nature has provided us all ready ground."

"It is, then, the bread-tree?"

"Yes, the bread-tree."

"Well, my boy," replied the engineer, "this is a valuable discovery,
since our wheat harvest is not yet ripe; I hope that you are not
mistaken!"

Herbert was not mistaken: he broke the stem of a cycas, which was
composed of a glandulous tissue, containing a quantity of floury pith,
traversed with woody fiber, separated by rings of the same substance,
arranged concentrically. With this fecula was mingled a mucilaginous
juice of disagreeable flavor, but which it would be easy to get rid of
by pressure. This cellular substance was regular flour of a superior
quality, extremely nourishing; its exportation was formerly forbidden by
the Japanese laws.

Cyrus Harding and Herbert, after having examined that part of the Far
West where the cycas grew, took their bearings, and returned to Granite
House, where they made known their discovery.

The next day the settlers went to collect some, and returned to Granite
House with an ample supply of cycas stems. The engineer constructed a
press, with which to extract the mucilaginous juice mingled with the
fecula, and he obtained a large quantity of flour, which Neb soon
transformed into cakes and puddings. This was not quite real wheaten
bread, but it was very like it.

Now, too, the onager, the goats, and the sheep in the corral furnished
daily the milk necessary to the colony. The cart, or rather a sort of
light carriole which had replaced it, made frequent journeys to the
corral, and when it was Pencroft's turn to go he took Jup, and let him
drive, and Jup, cracking his whip, acquitted himself with his customary
intelligence.

Everything prospered, as well in the corral as in Granite House, and
certainly the settlers, if it had not been that they were so far from
their native land, had no reason to complain. They were so well suited
to this life, and were, besides, so accustomed to the island, that they
could not have left its hospitable soil without regret!

And yet so deeply is the love of his country implanted in the heart of
man, that if a ship had unexpectedly come in sight of the island, the
colonists would have made signals, would have attracted her attention,
and would have departed!

It was the 1st of April, a Sunday, Easter Day, which Harding and his
companions sanctified by rest and prayer. The day was fine, such as an
October day in the Northern Hemisphere might be.

All, towards the evening after dinner, were seated under the veranda
on the edge of Prospect Heights, and they were watching the
darkness creeping up from the horizon. Some cups of the infusion of
elder-berries, which took the place of coffee, had been served by Neb.
They were speaking of the island and of its isolated situation in the
Pacific, which led Gideon Spilett to say,—

"My dear Cyrus, have you ever, since you possessed the sextant found in
the case, again taken the position of our island?"

"No," replied the engineer.

"But it would perhaps be a good thing to do it with this instrument,
which is more perfect than that which you before used."

"What is the good?" said Pencroft. "The island is quite comfortable
where it is!"

"Well, who knows," returned the reporter, "who knows but that we may be
much nearer inhabited land than we think?"

"We shall know to-morrow," replied Cyrus Harding, "and if it had not
been for the occupations which left me no leisure, we should have known
it already."

"Good!" said Pencroft. "The captain is too good an observer to be
mistaken, and, if it has not moved from its place, the island is just
where he put it."

"We shall see."

On the next day, therefore, by means of the sextant, the engineer made
the necessary observations to verify the position which he had
already obtained, and this was the result of his operation. His first
observation had given him the situation of Lincoln Island,—

In west longitude: from 1500 to 1550;

In south latitude: from 300 to 350

The second gave exactly:

In longitude: 1500 30'

In south latitude: 340 57'

So then, notwithstanding the imperfection of his apparatus, Cyrus
Harding had operated with so much skill that his error did not exceed
five degrees.

"Now," said Gideon Spilett, "since we possess an atlas as well as a
sextant, let us see, my dear Cyrus, the exact position which Lincoln
Island occupies in the Pacific."

Herbert fetched the atlas, and the map of the Pacific was opened, and
the engineer, compass in hand, prepared to determine their position.

Suddenly the compasses stopped, and he exclaimed,

"But an island exists in this part of the Pacific already!"

"An island?" cried Pencroft.

"Tabor Island."

"An important island?"

"No, an islet lost in the Pacific, and which perhaps has never been
visited."

"Well, we will visit it," said Pencroft.

"We?"

"Yes, captain. We will build a decked boat, and I will undertake to
steer her. At what distance are we from this Tabor Island?"

"About a hundred and fifty miles to the northeast," replied Harding.

"A hundred and fifty miles! And what's that?" returned Pencroft. "In
forty-eight hours, with a good wind, we should sight it!"

And, on this reply, it was decided that a vessel should be constructed
in time to be launched towards the month of next October, on the return
of the fine season.