L'île mystérieuse. English
Page 20
Chapter 20
The winter season set in with the month of June, which corresponds withthe month of December in the Northern Hemisphere. It began with showersand squalls, which succeeded each other without intermission. Thetenants of Granite House could appreciate the advantages of a dwellingwhich sheltered them from the inclement weather. The Chimneys would havebeen quite insufficient to protect them against the rigor of winter, andit was to be feared that the high tides would make another irruption.Cyrus Harding had taken precautions against this contingency, so asto preserve as much as possible the forge and furnace which wereestablished there.
During the whole of the month of June the time was employed in differentoccupations, which excluded neither hunting nor fishing, the larderbeing, therefore, abundantly supplied. Pencroft, so soon as he hadleisure, proposed to set some traps, from which he expected greatresults. He soon made some snares with creepers, by the aid of which thewarren henceforth every day furnished its quota of rodents. Neb employednearly all his time in salting or smoking meat, which insured theiralways having plenty of provisions. The question of clothes was nowseriously discussed, the settlers having no other garments than thosethey wore when the balloon threw them on the island. These clothes werewarm and good; they had taken great care of them as well as of theirlinen, and they were perfectly whole, but they would soon need to bereplaced. Moreover, if the winter was severe, the settlers would suffergreatly from cold.
On this subject the ingenuity of Harding was at fault. They must providefor their most pressing wants, settle their dwelling, and lay in astore of food; thus the cold might come upon them before the questionof clothes had been settled. They must therefore make up their minds topass this first winter without additional clothing. When the fine seasoncame round again, they would regularly hunt those musmons which had beenseen on the expedition to Mount Franklin, and the wool once collected,the engineer would know how to make it into strong warm stuff.... How?He would consider.
"Well, we are free to roast ourselves at Granite House!" said Pencroft."There are heaps of fuel, and no reason for sparing it."
"Besides," added Gideon Spilett, "Lincoln Island is not situated undera very high latitude, and probably the winters here are not severe. Didyou not say, Cyrus, that this thirty-fifth parallel corresponded to thatof Spain in the other hemisphere?"
"Doubtless," replied the engineer, "but some winters in Spain are verycold! No want of snow and ice; and perhaps Lincoln Island is just asrigorously tried. However, it is an island, and as such, I hope thatthe temperature will be more moderate."
"Why, captain?" asked Herbert.
"Because the sea, my boy, may be considered as an immense reservoir, inwhich is stored the heat of the summer. When winter comes, it restoresthis heat, which insures for the regions near the ocean a mediumtemperature, less high in summer, but less low in winter."
"We shall prove that," replied Pencroft. "But I don't want to bothermyself about whether it will be cold or not. One thing is certain, thatis that the days are already short, and the evenings long. Suppose wetalk about the question of light."
"Nothing is easier," replied Harding.
"To talk about?" asked the sailor.
"To settle."
"And when shall we begin?"
"To-morrow, by having a seal hunt."
"To make candles?"
"Yes."
Such was the engineer's project; and it was quite feasible, since he hadlime and sulphuric acid, while the amphibians of the islet would furnishthe fat necessary for the manufacture.
They were now at the 4th of June. It was Whit Sunday and they agreed toobserve this feast. All work was suspended, and prayers were offeredto Heaven. But these prayers were now thanksgivings. The settlers inLincoln Island were no longer the miserable castaways thrown on theislet. They asked for nothing more--they gave thanks. The next day, the5th of June, in rather uncertain weather, they set out for the islet.They had to profit by the low tide to cross the Channel, and it wasagreed that they would construct, for this purpose, as well as theycould, a boat which would render communication so much easier, andwould also permit them to ascend the Mercy, at the time of their grandexploration of the southwest of the island, which was put off till thefirst fine days.
The seals were numerous, and the hunters, armed with their iron-tippedspears, easily killed half-a-dozen. Neb and Pencroft skinned them, andonly brought back to Granite House their fat and skin, this skin beingintended for the manufacture of boots.
The result of the hunt was this: nearly three hundred pounds of fat, allto be employed in the fabrication of candles.
The operation was extremely simple, and if it did not yield absolutelyperfect results, they were at least very useful. Cyrus Harding wouldonly have had at his disposal sulphuric acid, but by heating this acidwith the neutral fatty bodies he could separate the glycerine; then fromthis new combination, he easily separated the olein, the margarin, andthe stearin, by employing boiling water. But to simplify the operation,he preferred to saponify the fat by means of lime. By this he obtained acalcareous soap, easy to decompose by sulphuric acid, which precipitatedthe lime into the state of sulphate, and liberated the fatty acids.
From these three acids-oleic, margaric, and stearic-the first, beingliquid, was driven out by a sufficient pressure. As to the two others,they formed the very substance of which the candles were to be molded.
This operation did not last more than four and twenty hours. The wicks,after several trials, were made of vegetable fibers, and dipped in theliquefied substance, they formed regular stearic candles, molded by thehand, which only wanted whiteness and polish. They would not doubtlesshave the advantages of the wicks which are impregnated with boracicacid, and which vitrify as they burn and are entirely consumed, butCyrus Harding having manufactured a beautiful pair of snuffers, thesecandles would be greatly appreciated during the long evenings in GraniteHouse.
During this month there was no want of work in the interior of their newdwelling. The joiners had plenty to do. They improved their tools, whichwere very rough, and added others also.
Scissors were made among other things, and the settlers were at lastable to cut their hair, and also to shave, or at least trim theirbeards. Herbert had none, Neb but little, but their companions werebristling in a way which justified the making of the said scissors.
The manufacture of a hand-saw cost infinite trouble, but at last aninstrument was obtained which, when vigorously handled, could divide theligneous fibers of the wood. They then made tables, seats, cupboards,to furnish the principal rooms, and bedsteads, of which all the beddingconsisted of grass mattresses. The kitchen, with its shelves, on whichrested the cooking utensils, its brick stove, looked very well, and Nebworked away there as earnestly as if he was in a chemist's laboratory.
But the joiners had soon to be replaced by carpenters. In fact, thewaterfall created by the explosion rendered the construction of twobridges necessary, one on Prospect Heights, the other on the shore. Nowthe plateau and the shore were transversely divided by a watercourse,which had to be crossed to reach the northern part of the island. Toavoid it the colonists had been obliged to make a considerable detour,by climbing up to the source of the Red Creek. The simplest thing was toestablish on the plateau, and on the shore, two bridges from twenty tofive and twenty feet in length. All the carpenter's work that was neededwas to clear some trees of their branches: this was a business of somedays. Directly the bridges were established, Neb and Pencroft profitedby them to go to the oyster-bed which had been discovered near thedowns. They dragged with them a sort of rough cart, which replaced theformer inconvenient hurdle, and brought back some thousands of oysters,which soon increased among the rocks and formed a bed at the mouth ofthe Mercy. These molluscs were of excellent quality, and the colonistsconsumed some daily.
It has been seen that Lincoln Island, although its inhabitants had asyet only explored a small portion of it, already contributed to almostall their wants. It was p
robable that if they hunted into its mostsecret recesses, in all the wooded part between the Mercy and ReptilePoint, they would find new treasures.
The settlers in Lincoln Island had still one privation. There was nowant of meat, nor of vegetable products; those ligneous roots whichthey had found, when subjected to fermentation, gave them an acid drink,which was preferable to cold water; they also made sugar, without canesor beet-roots, by collecting the liquor which distils from the "acersaceharinum," a sort of maple-tree, which flourishes in all the temperatezones, and of which the island possessed a great number; they madea very agreeable tea by employing the herbs brought from the warren;lastly, they had an abundance of salt, the only mineral which is used infood... but bread was wanting.
Perhaps in time the settlers could replace this want by some equivalent,it was possible that they might find the sago or the breadfruit treeamong the forests of the south, but they had not as yet met with theseprecious trees. However, Providence came directly to their aid, in aninfinitesimal proportion it is true, but Cyrus Harding, with all hisintelligence, all his ingenuity, would never have been able to producethat which, by the greatest chance, Herbert one day found in the liningof his waistcoat, which he was occupied in setting to rights.
On this day, as it was raining in torrents, the settlers were assembledin the great hall in Granite House, when the lad cried out all atonce,--
"Look here, captain--A grain of corn!"
And he showed his companions a grain--a single grain--which from a holein his pocket had got into the lining of his waistcoat.
The presence of this grain was explained by the fact that Herbert, whenat Richmond, used to feed some pigeons, of which Pencroft had made him apresent.
"A grain of corn?" said the engineer quickly.
"Yes, captain; but one, only one!"
"Well, my boy," said Pencroft, laughing, "we're getting on capitally,upon my word! What shall we make with one grain of corn?"
"We will make bread of it," replied Cyrus Harding.
"Bread, cakes, tarts!" replied the sailor. "Come, the bread that thisgrain of corn will make won't choke us very soon!"
Herbert, not attaching much importance to his discovery, was going tothrow away the grain in question; but Harding took it, examined it,found that it was in good condition, and looking the sailor full in theface--"Pencroft," he asked quietly, "do you know how many ears one grainof corn can produce?"
"One, I suppose!" replied the sailor, surprised at the question.
"Ten, Pencroft! And do you know how many grains one ear bears?"
"No, upon my word."
"About eighty!" said Cyrus Harding. "Then, if we plant this grain, atthe first crop we shall reap eight hundred grains which at the secondwill produce six hundred and forty thousand; at the third, five hundredand twelve millions; at the fourth, more than four hundred thousands ofmillions! There is the proportion."
Harding's companions listened without answering. These numbersastonished them. They were exact, however.
"Yes, my friends," continued the engineer, "such are the arithmeticalprogressions of prolific nature; and yet what is this multiplicationof the grain of corn, of which the ear only bears eight hundred grains,compared to the poppy-plant, which bears thirty-two thousand seeds; tothe tobacco-plant, which produces three hundred and sixty thousand? Ina few years, without the numerous causes of destruction, which arreststheir fecundity, these plants would overrun the earth."
But the engineer had not finished his lecture.
"And now, Pencroft," he continued, "do you know how many bushels fourhundred thousand millions of grains would make?"
"No," replied the sailor; "but what I do know is, that I am nothingbetter than a fool!"
"Well, they would make more than three millions, at a hundred and thirtythousand a bushel, Pencroft."
"Three millions!" cried Pencroft.
"Three millions."
"In four years?"
"In four years," replied Cyrus Harding, "and even in two years, if, as Ihope, in this latitude we can obtain two crops a year."
At that, according to his usual custom, Pencroft could not replyotherwise than by a tremendous hurrah.
"So, Herbert," added the engineer, "you have made a discovery of greatimportance to us. Everything, my friends, everything can serve us in thecondition in which we are. Do not forget that, I beg of you."
"No, captain, no, we shan't forget it," replied Pencroft; "and if everI find one of those tobacco-seeds, which multiply by three hundred andsixty thousand, I assure you I won't throw it away! And now, what mustwe do?"
"We must plant this grain," replied Herbert.
"Yes," added Gideon Spilett, "and with every possible care, for it bearsin itself our future harvests."
"Provided it grows!" cried the sailor.
"It will grow," replied Cyrus Harding.
This was the 20th of June. The time was then propitious for sowing thissingle precious grain of corn. It was first proposed to plant it ina pot, but upon reflection it was decided to leave it to nature, andconfide it to the earth. This was done that very day, and it is needlessto add, that every precaution was taken that the experiment mightsucceed.
The weather having cleared, the settlers climbed the height aboveGranite House. There, on the plateau, they chose a spot, well shelteredfrom the wind, and exposed to all the heat of the midday sun. The placewas cleared, carefully weeded, and searched for insects and worms;then a bed of good earth, improved with a little lime, was made; it wassurrounded by a railing; and the grain was buried in the damp earth.
Did it not seem as if the settlers were laying the first stone of someedifice? It recalled to Pencroft the day on which he lighted his onlymatch, and all the anxiety of the operation. But this time the thingwas more serious. In fact, the castaways would have been always ableto procure fire, in some mode or other, but no human power could supplyanother grain of corn, if unfortunately this should be lost!