L'île mystérieuse. English

by Jules Verne

  Chapter 14

  The next day, the 16th of April, and Easter Sunday, the settlers issuedfrom the Chimneys at daybreak, and proceeded to wash their linen. Theengineer intended to manufacture soap as soon as he could procure thenecessary materials--soda or potash, fat or oil. The important questionof renewing their wardrobe would be treated of in the proper time andplace. At any rate their clothes would last at least six months longer,for they were strong, and could resist the wear of manual labor. Butall would depend on the situation of the island with regard to inhabitedland. This would be settled to-day if the weather permitted.

  The sun rising above a clear horizon, announced a magnificent day, oneof those beautiful autumn days which are like the last farewells of thewarm season.

  It was now necessary to complete the observations of the evening beforeby measuring the height of the cliff above the level of the sea.

  "Shall you not need an instrument similar to the one which you usedyesterday?" said Herbert to the engineer.

  "No, my boy," replied the latter, "we are going to proceed differently,but in as precise a way."

  Herbert, wishing to learn everything he could, followed the engineer tothe beach. Pencroft, Neb, and the reporter remained behind and occupiedthemselves in different ways.

  Cyrus Harding had provided himself with a straight stick, twelve feetlong, which he had measured as exactly as possible by comparing it withhis own height, which he knew to a hair. Herbert carried a plumb-linewhich Harding had given him, that is to say, a simple stone fastenedto the end of a flexible fiber. Having reached a spot about twenty feetfrom the edge of the beach, and nearly five hundred feet from the cliff,which rose perpendicularly, Harding thrust the pole two feet intothe sand, and wedging it up carefully, he managed, by means of theplumb-line, to erect it perpendicularly with the plane of the horizon.

  That done, he retired the necessary distance, when, lying on the sand,his eye glanced at the same time at the top of the pole and the crest ofthe cliff. He carefully marked the place with a little stick.

  Then addressing Herbert--"Do you know the first principles of geometry?"he asked.

  "Slightly, captain," replied Herbert, who did not wish to put himselfforward.

  "You remember what are the properties of two similar triangles?"

  "Yes," replied Herbert; "their homologous sides are proportional."

  "Well, my boy, I have just constructed two similar right-angledtriangles; the first, the smallest, has for its sides the perpendicularpole, the distance which separates the little stick from the foot of thepole and my visual ray for hypothenuse; the second has for its sidesthe perpendicular cliff, the height of which we wish to measure, thedistance which separates the little stick from the bottom of thecliff, and my visual ray also forms its hypothenuse, which proves to beprolongation of that of the first triangle."

  "Ah, captain, I understand!" cried Herbert. "As the distance from thestick to the pole is to the distance from the stick to the base of thecliff, so is the height of the pole to the height of the cliff."

  "Just so, Herbert," replied the engineer; "and when we have measured thetwo first distances, knowing the height of the pole, we shall only havea sum in proportion to do, which will give us the height of the cliff,and will save us the trouble of measuring it directly."

  The two horizontal distances were found out by means of the pole, whoselength above the sand was exactly ten feet.

  The first distance was fifteen feet between the stick and the placewhere the pole was thrust into the sand.

  The second distance between the stick and the bottom of the cliff wasfive hundred feet.

  These measurements finished, Cyrus Harding and the lad returned to theChimneys.

  The engineer then took a flat stone which he had brought back from oneof his previous excursions, a sort of slate, on which it was easyto trace figures with a sharp shell. He then proved the followingproportions:--

  15:500::10:x

  500 x 10 = 5000

  5000 / 15 = 333.3

  From which it was proved that the granite cliff measured 333 feet inheight.

  Cyrus Harding then took the instrument which he had made the eveningbefore, the space between its two legs giving the angular distancebetween the star Alpha and the horizon. He measured, very exactly, theopening of this angle on a circumference which he divided into 360 equalparts. Now, this angle by adding to it the twenty-seven degrees whichseparated Alpha from the antarctic pole, and by reducing to the level ofthe sea the height of the cliff on which the observation had been made,was found to be fifty-three degrees. These fifty-three degrees beingsubtracted from ninety degrees--the distance from the pole to theequator--there remained thirty-seven degrees. Cyrus Harding concluded,therefore, that Lincoln Island was situated on the thirty-seventh degreeof the southern latitude, or taking into consideration through theimperfection of the performance, an error of five degrees, that it mustbe situated between the thirty-fifth and the fortieth parallel.

  There was only the longitude to be obtained, and the position of theisland would be determined, The engineer hoped to attempt this the sameday, at twelve o'clock, at which moment the sun would pass the meridian.

  It was decided that Sunday should be spent in a walk, or rather anexploring expedition, to that side of the island between the north ofthe lake and Shark Gulf, and if there was time they would push theirdiscoveries to the northern side of Cape South Mandible. They wouldbreakfast on the downs, and not return till evening.

  At half-past eight the little band was following the edge of thechannel. On the other side, on Safety Islet, numerous birds were gravelystrutting. They were divers, easily recognized by their cry, which muchresembles the braying of a donkey. Pencroft only considered them inan eatable point of view, and learnt with some satisfaction that theirflesh, though blackish, is not bad food.

  Great amphibious creatures could also be seen crawling on the sand;seals, doubtless, who appeared to have chosen the islet for a place ofrefuge. It was impossible to think of those animals in an alimentarypoint of view, for their oily flesh is detestable; however, CyrusHarding observed them attentively, and without making known his idea, heannounced to his companions that very soon they would pay a visit to theislet. The beach was strewn with innumerable shells, some of which wouldhave rejoiced the heart of a conchologist; there were, among others, thephasianella, the terebratual, etc. But what would be of more use, wasthe discovery, by Neb, at low tide, of a large oysterbed among therocks, nearly five miles from the Chimneys.

  "Neb will not have lost his day," cried Pencroft, looking at thespacious oyster-bed.

  "It is really a fortunate discovery," said the reporter, "and as it issaid that each oyster produces yearly from fifty to sixty thousand eggs,we shall have an inexhaustible supply there."

  "Only I believe that the oyster is not very nourishing," said Herbert.

  "No," replied Harding. "The oyster contains very little nitrogen, andif a man lived exclusively on them, he would have to eat not less thanfifteen to sixteen dozen a day."

  "Capital!" replied Pencroft. "We might swallow dozens and dozens withoutexhausting the bed. Shall we take some for breakfast?"

  And without waiting for a reply to this proposal, knowing that it wouldbe approved of, the sailor and Neb detached a quantity of the molluscs.They put them in a sort of net of hibiscus fiber, which Neb hadmanufactured, and which already contained food; they then continued toclimb the coast between the downs and the sea.

  From time to time Harding consulted his watch, so as to be prepared intime for the solar observation, which had to be made exactly at midday.

  All that part of the island was very barren as far as the pointwhich closed Union Bay, and which had received the name of Cape SouthMandible. Nothing could be seen there but sand and shells, mingled withdebris of lava. A few sea-birds frequented this desolate coast, gulls,great albatrosses, as well as wild duck, for which Pencroft had a greatfancy. He tried to knock some over w
ith an arrow, but without result,for they seldom perched, and he could not hit them on the wing.

  This led the sailor to repeat to the engineer,--

  "You see, captain, so long as we have not one or two fowling-pieces, weshall never get anything!"

  "Doubtless, Pencroft," replied the reporter, "but it depends on you.Procure us some iron for the barrels, steel for the hammers, saltpeter.coal and sulphur for powder, mercury and nitric acid for the fulminate,and lead for the shot, and the captain will make us first-rate guns."

  "Oh!" replied the engineer, "we might, no doubt, find all thesesubstances on the island, but a gun is a delicate instrument, and needsvery particular tools. However, we shall see later!"

  "Why," cried Pencroft, "were we obliged to throw overboard all theweapons we had with us in the car, all our implements, even ourpocket-knives?"

  "But if we had not thrown them away, Pencroft, the balloon would havethrown us to the bottom of the sea!" said Herbert.

  "What you say is true, my boy," replied the sailor.

  Then passing to another idea,--"Think," said he, "how astounded JonathanForster and his companions must have been when, next morning, they foundthe place empty, and the machine flown away!"

  "I am utterly indifferent about knowing what they may have thought,"said the reporter.

  "It was all my idea, that!" said Pencroft, with a satisfied air.

  "A splendid idea, Pencroft!" replied Gideon Spilett, laughing, "andwhich has placed us where we are."

  "I would rather be here than in the hands of the Southerners," cried thesailor, "especially since the captain has been kind enough to come andjoin us again."

  "So would I, truly!" replied the reporter. "Besides, what do we want?Nothing."

  "If that is not--everything!" replied Pencroft, laughing and shrugginghis shoulders. "But, some day or other, we shall find means of goingaway!"

  "Sooner, perhaps, than you imagine, my friends," remarked the engineer,"if Lincoln Island is but a medium distance from an inhabited island,or from a continent. We shall know in an hour. I have not a map of thePacific, but my memory has preserved a very clear recollection ofits southern part. The latitude which I obtained yesterday placed NewZealand to the west of Lincoln Island, and the coast of Chile to theeast. But between these two countries, there is a distance of at leastsix thousand miles. It has, therefore, to be determined what point inthis great space the island occupies, and this the longitude will giveus presently, with a sufficient approximation, I hope."

  "Is not the archipelago of the Pomoutous the nearest point to us inlatitude?" asked Herbert.

  "Yes," replied the engineer, "but the distance which separates us fromit is more than twelve hundred miles."

  "And that way?" asked Neb, who followed the conversation with extremeinterest, pointing to the south.

  "That way, nothing," replied Pencroft.

  "Nothing, indeed," added the engineer.

  "Well, Cyrus," asked the reporter, "if Lincoln Island is not more thantwo or three thousand miles from New Zealand or Chile?"

  "Well," replied the engineer, "instead of building a house we will builda boat, and Master Pencroft shall be put in command--"

  "Well then," cried the sailor, "I am quite ready to be captain--as soonas you can make a craft that's able to keep at sea!"

  "We shall do it, if it is necessary," replied Cyrus Harding.

  But while these men, who really hesitated at nothing, were talking,the hour approached at which the observation was to be made. What CyrusHarding was to do to ascertain the passage of the sun at the meridian ofthe island, without an instrument of any sort, Herbert could not guess.

  The observers were then about six miles from the Chimneys, not far fromthat part of the downs in which the engineer had been found after hisenigmatical preservation. They halted at this place and prepared forbreakfast, for it was half-past eleven. Herbert went for some freshwater from a stream which ran near, and brought it back in a jug, whichNeb had provided.

  During these preparations Harding arranged everything for hisastronomical observation. He chose a clear place on the shore, whichthe ebbing tide had left perfectly level. This bed of fine sand was assmooth as ice, not a grain out of place. It was of little importancewhether it was horizontal or not, and it did not matter much whether thestick six feet high, which was planted there, rose perpendicularly. Onthe contrary, the engineer inclined it towards the south, that is tosay, in the direction of the coast opposite to the sun, for it mustnot be forgotten that the settlers in Lincoln Island, as the island wassituated in the Southern Hemisphere, saw the radiant planet describe itsdiurnal arc above the northern, and not above the southern horizon.

  Herbert now understood how the engineer was going to proceed toascertain the culmination of the sun, that is to say its passing themeridian of the island or, in other words, determine due south. It wasby means of the shadow cast on the sand by the stick, a way which, forwant of an instrument, would give him a suitable approach to the resultwhich he wished to obtain.

  In fact, the moment when this shadow would reach its minimum of lengthwould be exactly twelve o'clock, and it would be enough to watch theextremity of the shadow, so as to ascertain the instant when, afterhaving successively diminished, it began to lengthen. By inclining hisstick to the side opposite to the sun, Cyrus Harding made the shadowlonger, and consequently its modifications would be more easilyascertained. In fact, the longer the needle of a dial is, the moreeasily can the movement of its point be followed. The shadow of thestick was nothing but the needle of a dial. The moment had come, andCyrus Harding knelt on the sand, and with little wooden pegs, which hestuck into the sand, he began to mark the successive diminutions of thestick's shadow. His companions, bending over him, watched the operationwith extreme interest. The reporter held his chronometer in his hand,ready to tell the hour which it marked when the shadow would be at itsshortest. Moreover, as Cyrus Harding was working on the 16th of April,the day on which the true and the average time are identical, the hourgiven by Gideon Spilett would be the true hour then at Washington, whichwould simplify the calculation. Meanwhile as the sun slowly advanced,the shadow slowly diminished, and when it appeared to Cyrus Harding thatit was beginning to increase, he asked, "What o'clock is it?"

  "One minute past five," replied Gideon Spilett directly. They had nowonly to calculate the operation. Nothing could be easier. It could beseen that there existed, in round numbers, a difference of five hoursbetween the meridian of Washington and that of Lincoln Island, that isto say, it was midday in Lincoln Island when it was already five o'clockin the evening in Washington. Now the sun, in its apparent movementround the earth, traverses one degree in four minutes, or fifteendegrees an hour. Fifteen degrees multiplied by five hours giveseventy-five degrees.

  Then, since Washington is 77deg 3' 11" as much as to say seventy-sevendegrees counted from the meridian of Greenwich which the Americanstake for their starting-point for longitudes concurrently with theEnglish--it followed that the island must be situated seventy-seven andseventy-five degrees west of the meridian of Greenwich, that is to say,on the hundred and fifty-second degree of west longitude.

  Cyrus Harding announced this result to his companions, and taking intoconsideration errors of observation, as he had done for the latitude, hebelieved he could positively affirm that the position of Lincoln Islandwas between the thirty-fifth and the thirty-seventh parallel, andbetween the hundred and fiftieth and the hundred and fifty-fifthmeridian to the west of the meridian of Greenwich.

  The possible fault which he attributed to errors in the observation was,it may be seen, of five degrees on both sides, which, at sixty milesto a degree, would give an error of three hundred miles in latitude andlongitude for the exact position.

  But this error would not influence the determination which it wasnecessary to take. It was very evident that Lincoln Island was at such adistance from every country or island that it would be too hazardous toattempt to reach one in a frail boat.

/>   In fact, this calculation placed it at least twelve hundred miles fromTahiti and the islands of the archipelago of the Pomoutous, more thaneighteen hundred miles from New Zealand, and more than four thousandfive hundred miles from the American coast!

  And when Cyrus Harding consulted his memory, he could not remember inany way that such an island occupied, in that part of the Pacific, thesituation assigned to Lincoln Island.