A Journey in Other Worlds: A Romance of the Future

by John Jacob Astor

  CHAPTER V.

  EXPLORATION AND EXCITEMENT.

  When they awoke, the flowers were singing with the volume of acathedral organ, the chant rising from all around them, and thesun was already above the horizon. Finding a deep naturalspring, in which the water was at about blood-heat, they preparedfor breakfast by taking a bath, and then found they had broughtnothing to eat.

  "It was stupid of us not to think of it," said Bearwarden, "yetit will be too much out of our way to return to the Callisto."

  "We have two rifles and a gun," said Ayrault, "and have alsoplenty of water, and wood for a fire. All we need is game."

  "The old excuse, that it has been already shot out, cannot holdhere," said Cortlandt.

  "Seeing that we have neither wings nor pneumatic legs, and notknowing the advantage given us by our rifles," added Bearwarden,"it should not be shy either. So far," he continued, "we haveseen nothing edible, though just now we should not be tooparticular; but near a spring like this that kind must exist."

  "The question is," said the professor, "whether the game likewarm water. If we can follow this stream till it has been on thesurface for some time, or till it spreads out, we shall doubtlessfind a huntsman's paradise."

  "A bright idea," said Bearwarden. "Let's have our guns ready,and, as old Deepwaters would say, keep our weather eye open."

  The stream flowed off in a southeasterly direction, so that byfollowing it they went towards the volcanoes.

  "It is hard to realize," said the professor, "that thosemountains must be several hundred miles away, for the reason thatthey are almost entirely above the horizon. This apparentflatness and wide range of vision is of course the result ofJupiter's vast size. With sufficiently keen sight, or aided by agood glass, there is no reason why one should not see at leastfive hundred miles, with but a slight elevation."

  "It is surprising," said Ayrault, "that in what is evidentlyJupiter's Carboniferous period the atmosphere should be so clear.Our idea has been that at that time on earth the air was heavyand dense."

  "So it was, and doubtless is here," replied Cortlandt; "but youmust remember that both those qualities would be given it bycarbonic-acid gas, which is entirely invisible and transparent.No gas that would be likely to remain in the air would interferewith sight; water vapour is the only thing that could; and thoughthe crust of this planet, even near the surface, is still hot,the sun being so distant, the vapour would not be, raised much.By avoiding low places near hot springs, we shall doubtless havevery nearly as clear an atmosphere as on earth. What doessurprise me is the ease with which we breathe. I can account forit only by supposing that, the Carboniferous period being alreadywell advanced, most of the carbonic acid is already locked up inthe forests or in Jupiter's coal-beds."

  "How, asked Bearwarden, "do you account for the 'great red spot'that appeared here in 1878, lasted several years, and thengradually faded? It was taken as unmistakable evidence thatJupiter's atmosphere was filled with impenetrable banks of cloud.In fact, you remember many of the old books said we had probablynever seen the surface."

  "That has puzzled me very much," replied Cortlandt, "but I neverbelieved the explanation then given was correct. TheCarboniferous period is essentially one of great forest growth;so there would be nothing out of the way in supposing the spot,notwithstanding its length of twenty-seven thousand miles and itsbreadth of eight thousand miles, to have been forest. Itoccurred in what would correspond to the temperate region onearth. Now, though the axis of this planet is practicallystraight, the winds of course change their direction, and so thetemperature does vary from day to day. What is more probablethan that, owing perhaps to a prolonged norther or cold spell, along strip of forest lying near the frost line was brought a fewdegrees below it, so that the leaves changed their colours asthey do on earth? It would, it seems to me, be enough to givethe surface a distinct colour; and the fact that the spot'sgreatest length was east and west, or along the lines oflatitude, so that the whole of that region might have beenexposed to the same conditions of temperature, strengthens thishypothesis. The strongest objection is, that the spot is said tohave moved; but the motion--five seconds--was so slight that itmight easily have been an error in observation, or the first areaaffected by the cold may have been enlarged on one side. Itseems to me that the stability the spot DID have would make thecloud theory impossible on earth, and much more so here, with thefar more rapid rotation and more violent winds. It may also havebeen a cloud of smoke from a volcano in eruption, such as we sawon our arrival, though it is doubtful whether in that case itwould have remained nearly stationary while going through itsgreatest intensity and fading, which would look as though theturned leaves had fallen off and been gradually replaced by newones; and, in addition to this, the spot since it was firstnoticed has never entirely disappeared, which might mean avolcanic region constantly emitting smoke, or that the surface,doubtless from some covering whose colour can change, is normallyof a different shade from the surrounding region. In any case,we have as yet seen nothing that would indicate a permanentlyclouded atmosphere."

  Though they had walked a considerable distance, the water was notmuch cooled; and though the stream's descent was so slight thaton earth its current would have been very slow, here it rushedalong like a mountain torrent, the reason, of course, being thata given amount of water on Jupiter would depress a spring balance2.55 times as much as on the earth.

  "It is strange," said Ayrault, "that, notwithstanding its greatspeed, the water remains so hot; you would think its motion wouldcool it."

  "So it does," answered the professor. "It of course coolsconsiderably more in a given period--as, for instance, oneminute--than if it were moving more slowly, but on account of itsspeed it has been exposed to the air but a very short time sinceleaving the spring."

  Just before them the stream now widened into a narrow lake, whichthey could see was straight for some distance.

  "The fact is," said Bearwarden, "this water seems in such hasteto reach the ocean that it turns neither to right nor to left,and does not even seem to wish to widen out."

  As the huge ferns and palms grew to the water's edge, theyconcluded the best way to traverse the lake would be on a raft.Accordingly, choosing a large overhanging palm, Bearwarden andAyrault fired each an explosive ball into its trunk, abouteighteen inches from the ground. One round was enough to put itin the water, each explosion removing several cubic feet of wood.By repeating this process on other trees they soon had enoughlarge timber for buoyancy, so that they had but to superimposelighter cross-logs and bind the whole together with pliablebranches and creepers to form a substantial raft. The doctorclimbed on, after which Bearwarden and Ayrault cast off, havingprepared long poles for navigating. With a little care they kepttheir bark from catching on projecting roots, and as the streamcontinued to widen till it was about one hundred yards across,their work became easy. Carried along at a speed of two or threemiles an hour, they now saw that the water and the banks theypassed were literally alive with reptiles and all sorts ofamphibious creatures, while winged lizards sailed from everyoverhanging branch into the water as they approached. Theynoticed also many birds similar to storks and cranes, about thesize of ostriches, standing on logs in the water, whose billswere provided with teeth.

  "We might almost think we were on earth," said Ayrault, "from thelooks of those storks standing on one leg, with the other drawnup, were it not for their size."

  "How do you suppose they defend themselves," asked Bearwarden,"from the snakes with which the water is filled?"

  "I suspect they can give a pretty good account of themselves,"replied Cortlandt, "with those teeth. Besides, with only one legexposed, there is but a very small object for a snake to strikeat. For their number and size, I should say their struggle forexistence was comparatively mild. Doubtless non-poisonous, or,for that matter, poisonous snakes, form a great part of theirdiet."

  On passing t
he bend in the lake they noticed that the banks wereslightly higher, while palms, pine-trees, and rubber plantssucceeded the ferns. In the distance they now heard a tremendouscrashing, which grew louder as the seconds passed. It finallysounded like an earthquake. Involuntarily they held their breathand grasped their weapons. Finally, at some distance in thewoods they saw a dark mass moving rapidly and approaching theriver obliquely. Palms and pine-trees went down before it likestraws, while its head was continually among the upper branches.As the monster neared the lake, the water at the edges quivered,showing how its weight shook the banks at each stride, whilestumps and tree-trunks on which it stepped were pressed out ofsight in the ground. A general exodus of the other inhabitantsfrom his line of march began; the moccasins slid into the waterwith a low splash, while the boa-constrictors and the tree-snakesmoved off along the ground when they felt it tremble, and anumber of night birds retreated into the denser woods with loudcries at being so rudely disturbed. The huge beast did not stoptill he reached the bank, where lie switched his tail, raised hisproboscis, and sniffed the air uneasily, his height being fullythirty feet and his length about fifty. On seeing the raft andits occupants, he looked at them stupidly and threw back hishead.

  "He seems to be turning up his nose at us," said Bearwarden."All the same, he will do well for breakfast."

  As the creature moved, his chest struck a huge overhanging palm,tearing it off as though it had been a reed. Brushing it asidewith his trunk, he was about to continue his march, when tworifle reports rang out together, rousing the echoes and a numberof birds that screeched loudly.