L'île mystérieuse. English

by Jules Verne

  Chapter 2

  On the 9th of October the bark canoe was entirely finished. Pencrofthad kept his promise, and a light boat, the shell of which was joinedtogether by the flexible twigs of the crejimba, had been constructed infive days. A seat in the stern, a second seat in the middle to preservethe equilibrium, a third seat in the bows, rowlocks for the two oars, ascull to steer with, completed the little craft, which was twelve feetlong, and did not weigh more than two hundred pounds. The operation oflaunching it was extremely simple. The canoe was carried to the beachand laid on the sand before Granite House, and the rising tide floatedit. Pencroft, who leaped in directly, maneuvered it with the scull anddeclared it to be just the thing for the purpose to which they wished toput it.

  "Hurrah!" cried the sailor, who did not disdain to celebrate thus hisown triumph. "With this we could go round--"

  "The world?" asked Gideon Spilett.

  "No, the island. Some stones for ballast, a mast and a sail, which thecaptain will make for us some day, and we shall go splendidly! Well,captain--and you, Mr. Spilett; and you, Herbert; and you, Neb--aren'tyou coming to try our new vessel? Come along! we must see if it willcarry all five of us!"

  This was certainly a trial which ought to be made. Pencroft soon broughtthe canoe to the shore by a narrow passage among the rocks, and it wasagreed that they should make a trial of the boat that day by followingthe shore as far as the first point at which the rocks of the southended.

  As they embarked, Neb cried,--

  "But your boat leaks rather, Pencroft."

  "That's nothing, Neb," replied the sailor; "the wood will get seasoned.In two days there won't be a single leak, and our boat will have no morewater in her than there is in the stomach of a drunkard. Jump in!"

  They were soon all seated, and Pencroft shoved off. The weather wasmagnificent, the sea as calm as if its waters were contained withinthe narrow limits of a lake. Thus the boat could proceed with as muchsecurity as if it was ascending the tranquil current of the Mercy.

  Neb took one of the oars, Herbert the other, and Pencroft remained inthe stern in order to use the scull.

  The sailor first crossed the channel, and steered close to the southernpoint of the islet. A light breeze blew from the south. No roughness wasfound either in the channel or the green sea. A long swell, which thecanoe scarcely felt, as it was heavily laden, rolled regularly over thesurface of the water. They pulled out about half a mile distant from theshore, that they might have a good view of Mount Franklin.

  Pencroft afterwards returned towards the mouth of the river. The boatthen skirted the shore, which, extending to the extreme point, hid allTadorn's Fens.

  This point, of which the distance was increased by the irregularity ofthe coast, was nearly three miles from the Mercy. The settlers resolvedto go to its extremity, and only go beyond it as much as was necessaryto take a rapid survey of the coast as far as Claw Cape.

  The canoe followed the windings of the shore, avoiding the rockswhich fringed it, and which the rising tide began to cover. The cliffgradually sloped away from the mouth of the river to the point. This wasformed of granite rocks, capriciously distributed, very different fromthe cliff at Prospect Heights, and of an extremely wild aspect. It mighthave been said that an immense cartload of rocks had been emptied outthere. There was no vegetation on this sharp promontory, which projectedtwo miles from the forest, and it thus represented a giant's armstretched out from a leafy sleeve.

  The canoe, impelled by the two oars, advanced without difficulty. GideonSpilett, pencil in one hand and notebook in the other, sketched thecoast in bold strokes. Neb, Herbert, and Pencroft chatted, whileexamining this part of their domain, which was new to them, and, inproportion as the canoe proceeded towards the south, the two MandibleCapes appeared to move, and surround Union Bay more closely.

  As to Cyrus Harding, he did not speak; he simply gazed, and by themistrust which his look expressed, it appeared that he was examiningsome strange country.

  In the meantime, after a voyage of three-quarters of an hour, thecanoe reached the extremity of the point, and Pencroft was preparing toreturn, when Herbert, rising, pointed to a black object, saying,--

  "What do I see down there on the beach?"

  All eyes turned towards the point indicated.

  "Why," said the reporter, "there is something. It looks like part of awreck half buried in the sand."

  "Ah!" cried Pencroft, "I see what it is!"

  "What?" asked Neb.

  "Barrels, barrels, which perhaps are full," replied the sailor.

  "Pull to the shore, Pencroft!" said Cyrus.

  A few strokes of the oar brought the canoe into a little creek, and itspassengers leaped on shore.

  Pencroft was not mistaken. Two barrels were there, half buried in thesand, but still firmly attached to a large chest, which, sustained bythem, had floated to the moment when it stranded on the beach.

  "There has been a wreck, then, in some part of the island," saidHerbert.

  "Evidently," replied Spilett.

  "But what's in this chest?" cried Pencroft, with very naturalimpatience. "What's in this chest? It is shut up, and nothing to open itwith! Well, perhaps a stone--"

  And the sailor, raising a heavy block, was about to break in one of thesides of the chest, when the engineer arrested his hand.

  "Pencroft," said he, "can you restrain your impatience for one houronly?"

  "But, captain, just think! Perhaps there is everything we want inthere!"

  "We shall find that out, Pencroft," replied the engineer; "but trustto me, and do not break the chest, which may be useful to us. We mustconvey it to Granite House, where we can open it easily, and withoutbreaking it. It is quite prepared for a voyage; and since it has floatedhere, it may just as well float to the mouth of the river."

  "You are right, captain, and I was wrong, as usual," replied the sailor.

  The engineer's advice was good. In fact, the canoe probably would nothave been able to contain the articles possibly enclosed in the chest,which doubtless was heavy, since two empty barrels were required to buoyit up. It was, therefore, much better to tow it to the beach at GraniteHouse.

  And now, whence had this chest come? That was the important question.Cyrus Harding and his companions looked attentively around them, andexamined the shore for several hundred steps. No other articles orpieces of wreck could be found. Herbert and Neb climbed a high rockto survey the sea, but there was nothing in sight--neither a dismastedvessel nor a ship under sail.

  However, there was no doubt that there had been a wreck. Perhaps thisincident was connected with that of the bullet? Perhaps strangers hadlanded on another part of the island? Perhaps they were still there?But the thought which came naturally to the settlers was, that thesestrangers could not be Malay pirates, for the chest was evidently ofAmerican or European make.

  All the party returned to the chest, which was of an unusually largesize. It was made of oak wood, very carefully closed and covered witha thick hide, which was secured by copper nails. The two great barrels,hermetically sealed, but which sounded hollow and empty, were fastenedto its sides by strong ropes, knotted with a skill which Pencroftdirectly pronounced sailors alone could exhibit. It appeared to be in aperfect state of preservation, which was explained by the fact that ithad stranded on a sandy beach, and not among rocks. They had no doubtwhatever, on examining it carefully, that it had not been long in thewater, and that its arrival on this coast was recent. The water didnot appear to have penetrated to the inside, and the articles which itcontained were no doubt uninjured.

  It was evident that this chest had been thrown overboard from somedismasted vessel driven towards the island, and that, in the hopethat it would reach the land, where they might afterwards find it,the passengers had taken the precaution to buoy it up by means of thisfloating apparatus.

  "We will tow this chest to Granite House," said the engineer, "where wecan make an inventory of its contents; then, if we discover any of thes
urvivors from the supposed wreck, we can return it to those to whom itbelongs. If we find no one--"

  "We will keep it for ourselves!" cried Pencroft. "But what in the worldcan there be in it?"

  The sea was already approaching the chest, and the high tide wouldevidently float it. One of the ropes which fastened the barrels waspartly unlashed and used as a cable to unite the floating apparatus withthe canoe. Pencroft and Neb then dug away the sand with their oars, soas to facilitate the moving of the chest, towing which the boat soonbegan to double the point, to which the name of Flotsam Point was given.

  The chest was heavy, and the barrels were scarcely sufficient to keepit above water. The sailor also feared every instant that it would getloose and sink to the bottom of the sea. But happily his fears were notrealized, and an hour and a half after they set out--all that time hadbeen taken up in going a distance of three miles--the boat touched thebeach below Granite House.

  Canoe and chest were then hauled up on the sands; and as the tide wasthen going out, they were soon left high and dry. Neb, hurrying home,brought back some tools with which to open the chest in such a way thatit might be injured as little as possible, and they proceeded to itsinventory. Pencroft did not try to hide that he was greatly excited.

  The sailor began by detaching the two barrels, which, being in goodcondition, would of course be of use. Then the locks were forced with acold chisel and hammer, and the lid thrown back. A second casing of zinclined the interior of the chest, which had been evidently arrangedthat the articles which it enclosed might under any circumstances besheltered from damp.

  "Oh!" cried Neb, "suppose it's jam!

  "I hope not," replied the reporter.

  "If only there was--" said the sailor in a low voice.

  "What?" asked Neb, who overheard him.

  "Nothing!"

  The covering of zinc was torn off and thrown back over the sides of thechest, and by degrees numerous articles of very varied character wereproduced and strewn about on the sand. At each new object Pencroftuttered fresh hurrahs, Herbert clapped his hands, and Neb danced up anddown. There were books which made Herbert wild with joy, and cookingutensils which Neb covered with kisses!

  In short, the colonists had reason to be extremely satisfied, for thischest contained tools, weapons, instruments, clothes, books; and thisis the exact list of them as stated in Gideon Spilett's note-book:--Tools:--3 knives with several blades, 2 woodmen's axes, 2 carpenter'shatchets, 3 planes, 2 adzes, 1 twibil or mattock, 6 chisels, 2 files,3 hammers, 3 gimlets, 2 augers, 10 bags of nails and screws, 3 saws ofdifferent sizes, 2 boxes of needles.

  Weapons:--2 flint-lock guns, 2 for percussion caps, 2 breach-loadercarbines, 5 boarding cutlasses, 4 sabers, 2 barrels of powder, eachcontaining twenty-five pounds; 12 boxes of percussion caps.

  Instruments:--1 sextant, 1 double opera-glass, 1 telescope, 1 box ofmathematical instruments, 1 mariner's compass, 1 Fahrenheit thermometer,1 aneroid barometer, 1 box containing a photographic apparatus,object-glass, plates, chemicals, etc.

  Clothes:--2 dozen shirts of a peculiar material resembling wool, butevidently of a vegetable origin; 3 dozen stockings of the same material.

  Utensils:--1 iron pot, 6 copper saucepans, 3 iron dishes, 10 metalplates, 2 kettles, 1 portable stove, 6 table-knives.

  Books:--1 Bible, 1 atlas, 1 dictionary of the different Polynesianidioms, 1 dictionary of natural science, in six volumes; 3 reams ofwhite paper, 2 books with blank pages.

  "It must be allowed," said the reporter, after the inventory had beenmade, "that the owner of this chest was a practical man! Tools, weapons,instruments, clothes, utensils, books--nothing is wanting! It mightreally be said that he expected to be wrecked, and had prepared for itbeforehand."

  "Nothing is wanting, indeed," murmured Cyrus Harding thoughtfully.

  "And for a certainty," added Herbert, "the vessel which carried thischest and its owner was not a Malay pirate!"

  "Unless," said Pencroft, "the owner had been taken prisoner bypirates--"

  "That is not admissible," replied the reporter. "It is more probablethat an American or European vessel has been driven into this quarter,and that her passengers, wishing to save necessaries at least, preparedthis chest and threw it overboard."

  "Is that your opinion, captain?" asked Herbert.

  "Yes, my boy," replied the engineer, "that may have been the case. Itis possible that at the moment, or in expectation of a wreck, theycollected into this chest different articles of the greatest use inhopes of finding it again on the coast--"

  "Even the photographic box!" exclaimed the sailor incredulously.

  "As to that apparatus," replied Harding, "I do not quite see the use ofit; and a more complete supply of clothes or more abundant ammunitionwould have been more valuable to us as well as to any other castaways!"

  "But isn't there any mark or direction on these instruments, tools, orbooks, which would tell us something about them?" asked Gideon Spilett.

  That might be ascertained. Each article was carefully examined,especially the books, instruments and weapons. Neither the weapons northe instruments, contrary to the usual custom, bore the name of themaker; they were, besides, in a perfect state, and did not appear tohave been used. The same peculiarity marked the tools and utensils; allwere new, which proved that the articles had not been taken by chanceand thrown into the chest, but, on the contrary, that the choice ofthings had been well considered and arranged with care. This was alsoindicated by the second case of metal which had preserved them fromdamp, and which could not have been soldered in a moment of haste.

  As to the dictionaries of natural science and Polynesian idioms, bothwere English; but they neither bore the name of the publisher nor thedate of publication.

  The same with the Bible printed in English, in quarto, remarkable from atypographic point of view, and which appeared to have been often used.

  The atlas was a magnificent work, comprising maps of every country inthe world, and several planispheres arranged upon Mercator's projection,and of which the nomenclature was in French--but which also bore neitherdate nor name of publisher.

  There was nothing, therefore, on these different articles by whichthey could be traced, and nothing consequently of a nature to show thenationality of the vessel which must have recently passed these shores.

  But, wherever the chest might have come from, it was a treasure to thesettlers on Lincoln Island. Till then, by making use of the productionsof nature, they had created everything for themselves, and, thanks totheir intelligence, they had managed without difficulty. But did it notappear as if Providence had wished to reward them by sending them theseproductions of human industry? Their thanks rose unanimously to Heaven.

  However, one of them was not quite satisfied: it was Pencroft. Itappeared that the chest did not contain something which he evidentlyheld in great esteem, for in proportion as they approached the bottomof the box, his hurrahs diminished in heartiness, and, the inventoryfinished, he was heard to mutter these words:--"That's all very fine,but you can see that there is nothing for me in that box!"

  This led Neb to say,--

  "Why, friend Pencroft, what more do you expect?"

  "Half a pound of tobacco," replied Pencroft seriously, "and nothingwould have been wanting to complete my happiness!"

  No one could help laughing at this speech of the sailor's.

  But the result of this discovery of the chest was, that it was now morethan ever necessary to explore the island thoroughly. It was thereforeagreed that the next morning at break of day, they should set out, byascending the Mercy so as to reach the western shore. If any castawayshad landed on the coast, it was to be feared they were withoutresources, and it was therefore the more necessary to carry help to themwithout delay.

  During the day the different articles were carried to Granite House,where they were methodically arranged in the great hall. This day--the29th of October--happened to be a Sunday, and, before going to bed,Herbert asked the engineer if h
e would not read them something from theGospel.

  "Willingly," replied Cyrus Harding.

  He took the sacred volume, and was about to open it, when Pencroftstopped him, saying,--"Captain, I am superstitious. Open at randomand read the first verse which, your eye falls upon. We will see if itapplies to our situation."

  Cyrus Harding smiled at the sailor's idea, and, yielding to his wish, heopened exactly at a place where the leaves were separated by a marker.

  Immediately his eyes were attracted by a cross which, made with apencil, was placed against the eighth verse of the seventh chapter ofthe Gospel of St. Matthew. He read the verse, which was this:--

  "For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth."