by Jules Verne
CHAPTER XIII
STONES HILL
When the decision was arrived at by the Gun Club, to thedisparagement of Texas, every one in America, where reading isa universal acquirement, set to work to study the geographyof Florida. Never before had there been such a sale for workslike "Bertram's Travels in Florida," "Roman's Natural History ofEast and West Florida," "William's Territory of Florida," and"Cleland on the Cultivation of the Sugar-Cane in Florida."It became necessary to issue fresh editions of these works.
Barbicane had something better to do than to read. He desiredto see things with his own eyes, and to mark the exact positionof the proposed gun. So, without a moment's loss of time, heplaced at the disposal of the Cambridge Observatory the fundsnecessary for the construction of a telescope, and entered intonegotiations with the house of Breadwill and Co., of Albany, forthe construction of an aluminum projectile of the required size.He then quitted Baltimore, accompanied by J. T. Maston, MajorElphinstone, and the manager of the Coldspring factory.
On the following day, the four fellow-travelers arrived atNew Orleans. There they immediately embarked on board the_Tampico_, a despatch-boat belonging to the Federal navy, whichthe government had placed at their disposal; and, getting upsteam, the banks of Louisiana speedily disappeared from sight.
The passage was not long. Two days after starting, the _Tampico_,having made four hundred and eighty miles, came in sight of thecoast of Florida. On a nearer approach Barbicane found himselfin view of a low, flat country of somewhat barren aspect.After coasting along a series of creeks abounding in lobstersand oysters, the _Tampico_ entered the bay of Espiritu Santo,where she finally anchored in a small natural harbor, formed bythe _embouchure_ of the River Hillisborough, at seven P.M., onthe 22d of October.
Our four passengers disembarked at once. "Gentlemen," saidBarbicane, "we have no time to lose; tomorrow we must obtainhorses, and proceed to reconnoiter the country."
Barbicane had scarcely set his foot on shore when three thousandof the inhabitants of Tampa Town came forth to meet him, anhonor due to the president who had signalized their country byhis choice.
Declining, however, every kind of ovation, Barbicane ensconcedhimself in a room of the Franklin Hotel.
On the morrow some of the small horses of the Spanish breed,full of vigor and of fire, stood snorting under his windows;but instead of four steeds, here were fifty, together withtheir riders. Barbicane descended with his three fellow-travelers; and much astonished were they all to find themselvesin the midst of such a cavalcade. He remarked that everyhorseman carried a carbine slung across his shoulders andpistols in his holsters.
On expressing his surprise at these preparations, he wasspeedily enlightened 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 escort you 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 kindattention; but it is time to be off."
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.This little river falls into Hillisborough Bay twelve miles aboveTampa Town. Barbicane and his escort coasted along its right bankto the eastward. Soon the waves of the bay disappeared behind abend of rising ground, and the Floridan "champagne" alone offereditself to view.
Florida, discovered on Palm Sunday, in 1512, by Juan Ponce deLeon, was originally named _Pascha Florida_. It little deservedthat designation, with its dry and parched coasts. But aftersome few miles of tract the nature of the soil gradually changesand the country shows itself worthy of the name. Cultivated plainssoon appear, where are united all the productions of the northernand tropical floras, terminating in prairies abounding withpineapples and yams, tobacco, rice, cotton-plants, and sugar-canes,which extend beyond reach of sight, flinging their riches broadcastwith careless prodigality.
Barbicane appeared highly pleased on observing the progressiveelevation of the land; and in answer to a question of J. T.Maston, replied:
"My worthy friend, we cannot do better than sink our Columbiadin these high grounds."
"To get nearer the moon, perhaps?" said the secretary of the Gun Club.
"Not exactly," replied Barbicane, smiling; "do you not see thatamong these elevated plateaus we shall have a much easier workof it? No struggles with the water-springs, which will save uslong expensive tubings; and we shall be working in daylightinstead of down a deep and narrow well. Our business, then, isto open our trenches upon ground some hundreds of yards abovethe 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 fertile plains succeeded a region of forests. There perfumesof the most varied kinds mingled together in tropical profusion.These almost impenetrable forests were composed of pomegranates,orange-trees, citrons, figs, olives, apricots, bananas, huge vines,whose blossoms and fruits rivaled each other in color and perfume.Beneath the odorous shade of these magnificent trees fluttered andwarbled a little world of brilliantly plumaged birds.
J. T. Maston and the major could not repress their admiration onfinding themselves in the presence of the glorious beauties ofthis wealth of nature. President Barbicane, however, lesssensitive to these wonders, was in haste to press forward;the very luxuriance of the country was displeasing to him.They hastened onward, therefore, and were compelled to fordseveral rivers, not without danger, for they were infestedwith huge alligators from fifteen to eighteen feet long.Maston courageously menaced them with his steel hook, but heonly succeeded in frightening some pelicans and teal, whiletall flamingos stared stupidly at the party.
At length these denizens of the swamps disappeared in theirturn; smaller trees became thinly scattered among less densethickets-- a few isolated groups detached in the midst ofendless plains over which ranged herds of startled deer.
"At last," cried Barbicane, rising in his stirrups, "here we areat the region of pines!"
"Yes! and of savages too," replied the major.
In fact, some Seminoles had just came in sight upon the horizon;they rode violently backward and forward on their fleet horses,brandishing their spears or discharging their guns with a dull report.These hostile demonstrations, however, had no effect upon Barbicaneand his companions.
They were then occupying the center of a rocky plain, which thesun scorched with its parching rays. This was formed by aconsiderable elevation of the soil, which seemed to offer to themembers of the Gun Club all the conditions requisite for theconstruction of their Columbiad.
"Halt!" said Barbicane, reining up. "Has this place anylocal 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 littleband, drawn up in the rear, watched his proceedings in profound silence.
At this moment the sun passed the meridian. Barbicane, after afew moments, rapidly wrote down the result of his observations,and said:
"This spot is situated eighteen hundred feet above the level ofthe sea, in 27@ 7' N. lat. and 5@ 7' W. long. of the meridianof Washington. It appears to me by its rocky and barren characterto offer all the conditions requisite for our experiment. On thatplain will be raised our magazines, workshops, furnaces, andworkmen's huts; and here, from this very spot," said he, stampinghis foot on the summit of Stones Hill, "hence shall our projectiletake its flight into the regions of the So
lar World."