Proposal to return by the Southern Shore -- Configuration of
the Coast -- Searching for the supposed Wreck -- A Wreck in
the Air -- Discovery of a small Natural Port -- At Midnight
on the Banks of the Mercy -- The Canoe Adrift.
Cyrus Harding and his companions slept like innocent marmots in the
cave which the jaguar had so politely left at their disposal.
At sunrise all were on the shore at the extremity of the promontory,
and their gaze was directed towards the horizon, of which two-thirds
of the circumference were visible. For the last time the engineer
could ascertain that not a sail nor the wreck of a ship was on the
sea, and even with the telescope nothing suspicious could be
discovered.
There was nothing either on the shore, at least, in the straight line
of three miles which formed the south side of the promontory, for
beyond that, rising ground hid the rest of the coast, and even from
the extremity of the Serpentine Peninsula Cape Claw could not be seen.
The southern coast of the island still remained to be explored. Now
should they undertake it immediately, and devote this day to it?
This was not included in their first plan. In fact, when the boat was
abandoned at the sources of the Mercy, it had been agreed that after
having surveyed the west coast, they should go back to it, and return
to Granite House by the Mercy. Harding then thought that the western
coast would have offered refuge, either to a ship in distress, or to a
vessel in her regular course; but now, as he saw that this coast
presented no good anchorage, he wished to seek on the south what they
had not been able to find on the west.
Gideon Spilett proposed to continue the exploration, that the question
of the supposed wreck might be completely settled, and he asked at
what distance Claw Cape might be from the extremity of the peninsula.
"About thirty miles," replied the engineer, "if we take into
consideration the curvings of the coast."
"Thirty miles!" returned Spilett. "That would be a long day's march.
Nevertheless, I think that we should return to Granite House by the
south coast."
"But," observed Herbert, "from Claw Cape to Granite House there must
be at least another ten miles."
"Make it forty miles in all," replied the engineer, "and do not
hesitate to do it. At least we should survey the unknown shore, and
then we shall not have to begin the exploration again."
"Very good," said Pencroft. "But the boat?"
"The boat has remained by itself for one day at the sources of the
Mercy," replied Gideon Spilett; "it may just as well stay there two
days! As yet, we have had no reason to think that the island is
infested by thieves!"
"Yet," said the sailor, "when I remember the history of the turtle, I
am far from confident of that."
"The turtle! the turtle!" replied the reporter. "Don't you know that
the sea turned it over?"
"Who knows?" murmured the engineer.
"But--" said Neb.
Neb had evidently something to say, for he opened his mouth to speak
and yet said nothing.
"What do you want to say, Neb?" asked the engineer.
"If we return by the shore to Claw Cape," replied Neb, "after having
doubled the Cape, we shall be stopped--"
"By the Mercy! of course," replied Herbert, "and we shall have neither
bridge nor boat by which to cross."
"But, captain," added Pencroft, "with a few floating trunks we shall
have no difficulty in crossing the river."
"Never mind," said Spilett, "it will be useful to construct a bridge
if we wish to have an easy access to the Far West!"
"A bridge!" cried Pencroft. "Well, is not the captain the best
engineer in his profession? He will make us a bridge when we want one.
As to transporting you this evening to the other side of the Mercy,
and that without wetting one thread of your clothes, I will take care
of that. We have provisions for another day, and besides we can get
plenty of game. Forward!"
The reporter's proposal, so strongly seconded by the sailor, received
general approbation, for each wished to have their doubts set at rest,
and by returning by Claw Cape the exploration would be ended. But
there was not an hour to lose, for forty miles was a long march, and
they could not hope to reach Granite House before night.
At six o'clock in the morning the little band set out. As a precaution
the guns were loaded with ball, and Top, who led the van, received
orders to beat about the edge of the forest.
From the extremity of the promontory which formed the tail of the
peninsula the coast was rounded for a distance of five miles, which
was rapidly passed over, without even the most minute investigations
bringing to light the least trace of any old or recent landings; no
_debris_, no mark of an encampment, no cinders of a fire, nor even a
footprint!
From the point of the peninsula on which the settlers now were their
gaze could extend along the south-west. Twenty-five miles off the
coast terminated in the Claw Cape, which loomed dimly through the
morning mists, and which, by the phenomenon of the mirage, appeared as
if suspended between land and water.
Between the place occupied by the colonists and the other side of the
immense bay, the shore was composed, first, of a tract of low land,
bordered in the background by trees; then the shore became more
irregular, projecting sharp points into the sea, and finally ended in
the black rocks which, accumulated in picturesque disorder, formed
Claw Cape.
Such was the development of this part of the island, which the
settlers took in at a glance, whilst stopping for an instant.
"If a vessel ran in here," said Pencroft, "she would certainly be
lost. Sandbanks and reefs everywhere! Bad quarters!"
"But at least something would be left of the ship," observed the
reporter.
"There might be pieces of wood on the rocks, but nothing on the
sands," replied the sailor.
"Why?"
"Because the sands are still more dangerous than the rocks, for they
swallow up everything that is thrown on them. In a few days the hull
of a ship of several hundred tons would disappear entirely in there!"
"So, Pencroft," asked the engineer, "if a ship has been wrecked on
these banks, is it not astonishing that there is now no trace of her
remaining?"
"No, captain, with the aid of time and tempest. However, it would be
surprising, even in this case, that some of the masts or spars should
not have been thrown on the beach, out of reach of the waves."
"Let us go on with our search, then," returned Cyrus Harding.
At one o'clock the colonists arrived at the other side of Washington
Bay, they having now gone a distance of twenty miles.
They then halted for breakfast.
Here began the irregular coast, covered with lines of rocks and
sandbanks. The long sea-swell could be seen breaking over the rocks in
the bay, forming a foamy fringe. From this point to Claw Cape the
beach was very narrow between the edge of the forest and the reefs.
Walking was now more difficult, on account of the numerous rocks which
encumbered the beach. The granite cliff also gradually increased in
height, and only the green tops of the trees which crowned it could be
seen.
After half an hour's rest, the settlers resumed their journey, and not
a spot among the rocks was left unexamined. Pencroft and Neb even
rushed into the surf whenever any object attracted their attention.
But they found nothing, some curious formations of the rocks having
deceived them. They ascertained, however, that eatable shell-fish
abounded there, but these could not be of any great advantage to them
until some easy means of communication had been established between
the two banks of the Mercy, and until the means of transport had been
perfected.
Nothing therefore which threw any light on the supposed wreck could be
found on this shore, yet an object of any importance, such as the hull
of a ship, would have been seen directly, or any of her masts and
spars would have been washed on shore, just as the chest had been,
which was found twenty miles from here. But there was nothing.
Towards three o'clock Harding and his companions arrived at a snug
little creek. It formed quite a natural harbour, invisible from the
sea, and was entered by a narrow channel. At the back of this creek
some violent convulsion had torn up the rocky border, and a cutting,
by a gentle slope, gave access to an upper plateau, which might be
situated at least ten miles from Claw Cape, and consequently four
miles in a straight line from Prospect Heights. Gideon Spilett
proposed to his companions that they should make a halt here. They
agreed readily, for their walk had sharpened their appetites; and
although it was not their usual dinner-hour, no one refused to
strengthen himself with a piece of venison. This luncheon would
sustain them till their supper, which they intended to take at Granite
House. In a few minutes the settlers, seated under a clump of fine
sea-pines, were devouring the provisions which Neb produced from his
bag.
This spot was raised from fifty to sixty feet above the level of the
sea. The view was very extensive, but beyond the cape it ended in
Union Bay. Neither the islet nor Prospect Heights were visible, and
could not be from thence, for the rising ground and the curtain of
trees closed the northern horizon.
It is useless to add that notwithstanding the wide extent of sea which
the explorers could survey, and though the engineer swept the horizon
with his glass, no vessel could be found.
The shore was of course examined with the same care from the edge of
the water to the cliff, and nothing could be discovered even with the
aid of the instrument.
"Well," said Gideon Spilett, "it seems we must make up our minds to
console ourselves with thinking that no one will come to dispute with
us the possession of Lincoln Island!"
"But the bullet," cried Herbert. "That was not imaginary, I suppose!"
"Hang it, no!" exclaimed Pencroft, thinking of his absent tooth.
"Then what conclusion may be drawn?" asked the reporter.
"This," replied the engineer, "that three months or more ago, a
vessel, either voluntarily or not, came here."
"What! then you admit, Cyrus, that she was swallowed up without
leaving any trace?" cried the reporter.
"No, my dear Spilett, but you see that if it is certain that a human
being set foot on the island, it appears no less certain that he has
now left it."
"Then, if I understand you right, captain," said Herbert, "the vessel
has left again?"
"Evidently."
"And we have lost an opportunity to get back to our country?" said
Neb.
"I fear so."
"Very well, since the opportunity is lost, let us go on, it can't be
helped," said Pencroft, who felt home sickness for Granite House.
But just as they were rising, Top was heard loudly barking; and the
dog issued from the wood, holding in his mouth a rag soiled with mud.
Neb seized it. It was a piece of strong cloth!
Top still barked, and by his going and coming, seemed to invite his
master to follow him into the forest.
"Now there's something to explain the bullet!" exclaimed Pencroft.
"A castaway!" replied Herbert.
"Wounded, perhaps!" said Neb.
"Or dead!" added the reporter.
All ran after the dog, among the tall pines on the border of the
forest. Harding and his companions made ready their fire-arms, in case
of an emergency.
They advanced some way into the wood, but to their great
disappointment, they as yet saw no signs of any human being having
passed that way. Shrubs and creepers were uninjured, and they had even
to cut them away with the axe, as they had done in the deepest
recesses of the forest. It was difficult to fancy that any human
creature had ever passed there, but yet Top went backwards and
forwards, not like a dog who searches at random, but like a being
endowed with a mind, who is following up an idea.
In about seven or eight minutes Top stopped in a glade surrounded with
tall trees. The settlers gazed around them, but saw nothing, neither
under the bushes nor among the trees.
"What is the matter, Top?" said Cyrus Harding.
Top barked louder, bounding about at the foot of a gigantic pine. All
at once Pencroft shouted,--
[Illustration: "NOW THERE'S SOMETHING TO EXPLAIN THE BULLET!"
EXCLAIMED PENCROFT]
"Ho, splendid! capital!"
"What is it?" asked Spilett
"We have been looking for a wreck at sea or on land!"
"Well?"
"Well, and here we've found one in the air!"
And the sailor pointed to a great white rag, caught in the top of a
pine, a fallen scrap of which the dog had brought to them.
"But that is not a wreck!" cried Gideon Spilett.
"I beg your pardon!" returned Pencroft.
"Why? is it--?"
"It is all that remains of our airy boat, of our balloon, which has
been caught up aloft there, at the top of that tree!"
Pencroft was not mistaken, and he gave vent to his feelings in a
tremendous hurrah, adding,--
"There is good cloth! There is what will furnish us with linen for
years. There is what will make us handkerchiefs and shirts! Ha, ha, Mr
Spilett, what do you say to an island where shirts grow on the trees?"
It was certainly a lucky circumstance for the settlers in Lincoln
Island that the balloon, after having made its last bound into the
air, had fallen on the island and thus given them the opportunity of
finding it again, whether they kept the case under its present form,
or whether they wished to attempt another escape by it, or whether
they usefully employed the several hundred yards of cotton, which was
of fine quality. Pencroft's joy was therefore shared by all.
But it was necessary to bring down the remains of the balloon from the
tree, to place it in security, and this was no slight task. Neb,
Herbert, and the sailor, climbing to the summit of the tree, used all
their skill to disengage the now reduced balloon.
The operation lasted two hours, and then not only the case, with its
valve, its springs, its brasswork, lay on the ground, but the net,
that is to say a considerable quantity of ropes and cordage, and the
circle and the anchor. The case, except for the fracture, was in good
condition, only the lower portion being torn.
[Illustration: A WRECK IN THE AIR]
It was a fortune which had fallen from the sky. "All the same,
captain," said the sailor, "if we ever decide to leave the island, it
won't be in a balloon, will it? These air-boats won't go where we want
them to go, and we have had some experience in that way! Look here, We
will build a craft of some twenty tons, and then we can make a
main-sail, a fore-sail, and a jib out of that cloth. As to the rest of
it, that will help to dress us."
"We shall see, Pencroft," replied Cyrus Harding; "we shall see."
"In the meantime, we must put it in a safe place," said Neb.
They certainly could not think of carrying this load of cloth, ropes,
and cordage, to Granite House, for the weight of it was very
considerable, and whilst waiting for a suitable vehicle in which to
convey it, it was of importance that this treasure should not be left
longer exposed to the mercies of the first storm. The settlers uniting
their efforts managed to drag it as far as the shore, where they
discovered a large rocky cavity, which owing to its position could not
be visited either by the wind or rain.
"We needed a locker, and now we have one," said Pencroft; "but as we
cannot lock it up, it will be prudent to hide the opening. I don't
mean from two-legged thieves, but; from those with four paws!"
At six o'clock, all was stowed away, and after having given the creek
the very suitable name of "Port Balloon," the settlers pursued their
way along Claw Cape. Pencroft and the engineer talked of the different
projects which it was agreed to put into execution with the briefest
possible delay. It was necessary first of all to throw a bridge over
the Mercy, so as to establish an easy communication with the south of
the island; then the cart must be taken to bring back the balloon, for
the canoe alone could not carry it, then they would build a decked
boat, and Pencroft would rig it as a cutter, and they would be able to
undertake voyages of circumnavigation round the island, etc.
In the meanwhile night came on, and it was already dark when the
settlers reached Flotsam Point, the place where they had discovered
the precious chest.
The distance between Flotsam Point and Granite House was another four
miles, and it was midnight when, after having followed the shore to
the mouth of the Mercy, the settlers arrived at the first angle formed
by the Mercy.
There the river was eighty feet in breadth, which was awkward to
cross, but as Pencroft had taken upon himself to conquer this
difficulty, he was compelled to do it. The settlers certainly had
reason to be pretty tired. The journey had been long, and the task of
getting down the balloon had not rested either their arms or legs.
They were anxious to reach Granite House to eat and sleep, and if the
bridge had been constructed, in a quarter of an hour they would have
been at home.
The night was very dark. Pencroft prepared to keep his promise by
constructing a sort of raft, on which to make the passage of the
Mercy. He and Neb, armed with axes, chose two trees near the water,
and began to attack them at the base.
Cyrus Harding and Spilett, seated on the bank, waited till their
companions were ready for their help, whilst Herbert roamed about,
though without going to any distance. All at once, the lad, who had
strolled by the river, came running back, and, pointing up the Mercy,
exclaimed,--
"What is floating there?"
Pencroft stopped working, and seeing an indistinct object moving
through the gloom,--
"A canoe!" cried he.
All approached, and saw to their extreme surprise, a boat floating
down the current.
"Boat ahoy!" shouted the sailor, without thinking that perhaps it
would be best to keep silence.
No reply. The boat still drifted onwards, and it was not more than
twelve feet off, when the sailor exclaimed--
"But it is our own boat! she has broken her moorings, and floated down
the current. I must say she has arrived very opportunely."
"Our boat?" murmured the engineer.
Pencroft was right. It was indeed the canoe, of which the rope had
undoubtedly broken, and which had come alone from the sources of the
Mercy. It was very important to seize it before the rapid current
should have swept it away out of the mouth of the river, but Neb and
Pencroft cleverly managed this by means of a long pole.
The canoe touched the shore. The engineer leapt in first, and found,
on examining the rope, that it had been really worn through by rubbing
against the rocks.
"Well," said the reporter to him, in a low voice, "this is a strange
thing."
"Strange indeed!" returned Cyrus Handing.
Strange or not, it was very fortunate. Herbert, the reporter, Neb, and
Pencroft, embarked in turn. There was no doubt about the rope having
been worn through, but the astonishing part of the affair was, that
the boat should have arrived just at the moment when the settlers were
there to seize it on its way, for a quarter of an hour earlier or
later it would have been lost in the sea.
If they had been living in the time of genii, this incident would have
given them the right to think that the island was haunted by some
supernatural being, who used his power in the service of the
castaways!
A few strokes of the oar brought the settlers to the mouth of the
Mercy. The canoe was hauled up on the beach near the Chimneys, and all
proceeded towards the ladder of Granite House.
But at that moment, Top barked angrily, and Neb, who was looking for
the first steps, uttered a cry.
There was no longer a ladder!
[Illustration: THERE WAS NO LONGER A LADDER!]