From the Earth to the Moon, Direct in Ninety-Seven Hours and Twenty Minutes: and a Trip Round It
Page 15
CHAPTER XIII.
STONES HILL.
When the decision was arrived at by the Gun Club, to the disparagement ofTexas, every one in America, where reading is an universal acquirement,set to work to study the geography of Florida. Never before had therebeen such a sale for works like _Bertram's Travels in Florida, Roman'sNatural History of East and West Florida, William's Territory of Florida,_and _Cleland on the Cultivation of the Sugar-Cane in Florida._ It becamenecessary to issue fresh editions of these works.
Barbicane had something better to do than to read. He desired to seethings with his own eyes, and to mark the exact position of the proposedgun. So, without a moment's loss of time, he placed at the disposal ofthe Cambridge Observatory the funds necessary for the construction of atelescope, and entered into negotiations with the house of Breadwill andCo., of Albany, for the construction of an aluminium projectile of therequired size. He then quitted Baltimore, accompanied by J. T. Maston,Major Elphinstone, and the manager of the Coldspring Factory.
On the following day, the four fellow-travellers arrived at New Orleans.There they immediately embarked on board the "Tampico," a despatch-boatbelonging to the Federal navy, which the Government had placed at theirdisposal; and, getting up steam, the banks of the Louisiana speedilydisappeared from sight.
The passage was not long. Two days after starting, the "Tampico,"having made four hundred and eighty miles, came in sight of the coast ofFlorida. On a nearer approach Barbicane found himself in view of a low,flat country of somewhat barren aspect. After coasting along a series ofcreeks abounding in lobsters and oysters, the "Tampico" entered the bayof Espiritu Santo, where she finally anchored in a small natural harbour,formed by the _embouchure_ of the River Hillisborough, at seven p.m., onthe 22d October.
Our four passengers disembarked at once. "Gentlemen," said Barbicane,"we have no time to lose; tomorrow we must obtain horses, and proceed toreconnoitre the country."
Barbicane had scarcely set his foot on shore when three thousand of theinhabitants of Tampa Town came forth to meet him, an honour due to thepresident who had signalized their country by his choice.
Declining, however, every kind of ovation, Barbicane ensconced himselfin a room of the Franklin Hotel.
On the morrow some of those small horses of the Spanish breed, full ofvigour and of fire, stood snorting under his windows; but instead of_four_ steeds, here were _fifty,_ together with their riders. Barbicanedescended with his three fellow-travellers; and much astonished were theyall to find themselves in the midst of such a cavalcade. He remarked thatevery horseman carried a carbine slung across his shoulders and pistolsin his holsters.
On expressing his surprise at these preparations, he was speedilyenlightened by a young Floridan, who quietly said,--
"Sir, there are Seminoles there."
"What do you mean by Seminoles?"
"Savages who scour the prairies. We thought it best, therefore, to escortyou on your road."
"Pooh!" cried J. T. Maston, mounting his steed.
"All right," said the Floridan; "but it is true enough, nevertheless."
"Gentlemen," answered Barbicane, "I thank you for your kind attention;but it is time to be off."
Illustration: TAMPA TOWN PREVIOUS TO THE UNDERTAKING.
It was five a.m. when Barbicane and his party, quitting Tampa Town,made their way along the coast in the direction of Alifia Creek. Thislittle river falls into Hillisborough Bay twelve miles above Tampa Town.Barbicane and his escort coasted along its right bank to the eastward.Soon the waves of the bay disappeared behind a bend of rising ground,and the Floridan "champagne" alone offered itself to view.
Florida, discovered on Palm Sunday, in 1512, by Juan Ponce de Leon, wasoriginally named _Pascha Florida_. It little deserved that designationwith its dry and parched coasts. But after some few miles of tract thenature of the soil gradually changes and the country shows itself worthyof the name. Cultivated plains soon appear, where are united all theproductions of the northern and tropical floras, terminating in prairiesabounding with pineapples and yams, tobacco, rice, cotton-plants, andsugar-canes, which extend beyond reach of sight, flinging their richesbroadcast with careless prodigality.
Barbicane appeared highly pleased on observing the progressive elevationof the land; and in answer to a question of J. T. Maston, replied,--
"My worthy friend, we cannot do better than sink our Columbiad in thesehigh grounds."
"To get nearer to the moon, perhaps?" said the secretary of the Gun Club.
"Not exactly," replied Barbicane, smiling; "do you not see that amongstthese elevated plateaus we shall have a much easier work of it? Nostruggles with the water-springs, which will save us long and expensivetubings; and we shall be working in daylight instead of down a deep andnarrow well. Our business, then, is to open our trenches upon ground somehundreds of yards above the level of the sea."
"You are right, sir," struck in Murchison, the engineer; "and, if Imistake not, we shall ere long find a suitable spot for our purpose."
"I wish we were at the first stroke of the pickaxe," said the president.
"And I wish we were at the _last_," cried J. T. Maston.
About ten a.m. the little band had crossed a dozen miles. To fertileplains succeeded a region of forests. There perfumes of the most variedkinds mingled together in tropical profusion. These almost impenetrableforests were composed of pomegranates, orange-trees, citrons, figs,olives, apricots, bananas, huge vines, whose blossoms and fruits rivalledeach other in colour and perfume. Beneath the odorous shade of thesemagnificent trees fluttered and warbled a little world of brilliantlyplumaged birds.
J. T. Maston and the major could not repress their admiration on findingthemselves in presence of the glorious beauties of this wealth ofnature. President Barbicane, however, less sensitive to these wonders,was in haste to press forward; the very luxuriance of the country wasdispleasing to him. They hastened onwards, therefore, and were compelledto ford several rivers, not without danger, for they were infested withhuge alligators from fifteen to eighteen feet long. Maston courageouslymenaced them with his steel hook, but he only succeeded in frighteningsome pelicans and teal, while tall flamingos stared stupidly at theparty.
At length these denizens of the swamps disappeared in their turn; smallertrees became thinly scattered among less dense thickets--a few isolatedgroups detached in the midst of endless plains over which ranged herdsof startled deer.
"At last," cried Barbicane, rising in his stirrups, "here we are at theregion of pines!"
"Yes! and of savages too," replied the major.
In fact, some Seminoles had just come in sight upon the horizon; theyrode violently backwards and forwards on their fleet horses, brandishingtheir spears or discharging their guns with a dull report. These hostiledemonstrations, however, had no effect upon Barbicane and his companions.
Illustration: THEY WERE COMPELLED TO FORD SEVERAL RIVERS.
They were then occupying the centre of a rocky plain, which the sunscorched with its parching rays. This was formed by a considerableelevation of the soil, which seemed to offer to the members of the GunClub all the conditions requisite for the construction of their Columbiad.
"Halt!" said Barbicane, reining up. "Has this place any local appellation?"
"It is called Stones Hill," replied one of the Floridans.
Barbicane, without saying a word, dismounted, seized his instruments,and began to note his position with extreme exactness. The little band,drawn up in rear, watched his proceedings in profound silence.
At this moment the sun passed the meridian. Barbicane, after a fewmoments, rapidly wrote down the result of his observations, and said,--
"This spot is situated 1800 feet above the level of the sea, in 27 deg.7' N. lat. and 5 deg. 7' W. long. of the meridian of Washington. Itappears to me by its rocky and barren character to offer all theconditions requisite for our experiment. On that plain will be raisedour magazines, workshops, furnaces, and workmen's
huts; and here, fromthis very spot," said he, stamping his foot on the summit of StonesHill, "hence shall our projectile take its flight into the regions ofthe Solar World."