They would not doubtless have the advantages of the wicks which are impregnated with boracic acid, and which vitrify as they burn and are entirely consumed, but Cyrus Harding having manu
Trang 1JULES VERNE THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND
CHAPTER 20
The winter season set in with the month of June, which corresponds with the month of December in the Northern Hemisphere It began with showers and squalls, which succeeded each other without intermission The tenants of Granite House could appreciate the advantages of a dwelling which
sheltered
them from the inclement weather The Chimneys would have been quite insufficient to protect them against the rigor of winter, and it was to be feared that the high tides would make another irruption Cyrus Harding had taken precautions against this contingency, so as to preserve as much as possible the forge and furnace which were established there
During the whole of the month of June the time was employed in different occupations, which excluded neither hunting nor fishing, the larder being, therefore, abundantly supplied Pencroft, so soon as he had leisure,
proposed to set some traps, from which he expected great results He soon made some snares with creepers, by the aid of which the warren henceforth every day furnished its quota of rodents Neb employed nearly all his time
in salting or smoking meat, which insured their always having plenty of provisions The question of clothes was now seriously discussed, the
settlers having no other garments than those they wore when the balloon
Trang 2threw them on the island These clothes were warm and good; they had taken
great care of them as well as of their linen, and they were perfectly
whole, but they would soon need to be replaced Moreover, if the winter was severe, the settlers would suffer greatly from cold
On this subject the ingenuity of Harding was at fault They must provide for their most pressing wants, settle their dwelling, and lay in a store of food; thus the cold might come upon them before the question of clothes had been settled They must therefore make up their minds to pass this first winter without additional clothing When the fine season came round again, they would regularly hunt those musmons which had been seen 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 under a very high latitude, and probably the winters here are not severe Did you not say, Cyrus, that this thirty-fifth parallel corresponded to that of
Spain in the other hemisphere?"
"Doubtless," replied the engineer, "but some winters in Spain are very
cold! No want of snow and ice; and perhaps Lincoln Island is just as
rigourously tried However, it is an island, and as such, I hope that the
Trang 3temperature will be more moderate."
"Why, captain?" asked Herbert
"Because the sea, my boy, may be considered as an immense reservoir, in which is stored the heat of the summer When winter comes, it restores this heat, which insures for the regions near the ocean a medium temperature, less high in summer, but less low in winter."
"We shall prove that," replied Pencroft "But I don't want to bother
myself about whether it will be cold or not One thing is certain, that is that the days are already short, and the evenings long Suppose we talk 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."
Trang 4Such was the engineer's project; and it was quite feasible, since he had lime and sulphuric acid, while the amphibians of the islet would furnish the fat necessary for the manufacture
They were now at the 4th of June It was Whit Sunday and they agreed to observe this feast All work was suspended, and prayers were offered to Heaven But these prayers were now thanksgivings The settlers in Lincoln Island were no longer the miserable castaways thrown on the islet They asked for nothing more they gave thanks The next day, the 5th 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 was agreed that they would
construct, for this purpose, as well as they could, a boat which would
render communication so much easier, and would also permit them to ascend
the Mercy, at the time of their grand exploration of the southwest of the island, which was put off till the first fine days
The seals were numerous, and the hunters, armed with their iron-tipped spears, easily killed half-a-dozen Neb and Pencroft skinned them, and only brought back to Granite House their fat and skin, this skin being intended for the manufacture of boots
The result of the hunt was this: nearly three hundred pounds of fat, all
to be employed in the fabrication of candles
The operation was extremely simple, and if it did not yield absolutely
Trang 5perfect results, they were at least very useful Cyrus Harding would only have had at his disposal sulphuric acid, but by heating this acid with the neutral fatty bodies he could separate the glycerine; then from this new combination, he easily separated the olein, the margarin, and the stearin,
by employing boiling water But to simplify the operation, he preferred to saponify the fat by means of lime By this he obtained a calcareous soap, easy to decompose by sulphuric acid, which precipitated the lime into the state of sulphate, and liberated the fatty acids
From these three acids-oleic, margaric, and stearic-the first, being
liquid, 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 the
liquefied substance, they formed regular stearic candles, molded by the hand, which only wanted whiteness and polish They would not doubtless have
the advantages of the wicks which are impregnated with boracic acid, and which vitrify as they burn and are entirely consumed, but Cyrus Harding having manufactured a beautiful pair of snuffers, these candles would be greatly appreciated during the long evenings in Granite House
During this month there was no want of work in the interior of their new dwelling The joiners had plenty to do They improved their tools, which were very rough, and added others also
Trang 6Scissors were made among other things, and the settlers were at last able
to cut their hair, and also to shave, or at least trim their beards
Herbert had none, Neb but little, but their companions were bristling in a way which justified the making of the said scissors
The manufacture of a hand-saw cost infinite trouble, but at last an
instrument was obtained which, when vigorously handled, could divide the ligneous fibers of the wood They then made tables, seats, cupboards, to furnish the principal rooms, and bedsteads, of which all the bedding
consisted of grass mattresses The kitchen, with its shelves, on which
rested the cooking utensils, its brick stove, looked very well, and Neb
worked 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, the
waterfall created by the explosion rendered the construction of two bridges necessary, one on Prospect Heights, the other on the shore Now the plateau and the shore were transversely divided by a watercourse, which had to be crossed to reach the northern part of the island To avoid 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 to establish on the
plateau, and on the shore, two bridges from twenty to five and twenty feet
in length All the carpenter's work that was needed was to clear some trees
of their branches: this was a business of some days Directly the bridges were established, Neb and Pencroft profited by them to go to the oyster-bed which had been discovered near the downs They dragged with them a sort
of
rough cart, which replaced the former inconvenient hurdle, and brought back
Trang 7some thousands of oysters, which soon increased among the rocks and formed
a bed at the mouth of the Mercy These molluscs were of excellent quality, and the colonists consumed some daily
It has been seen that Lincoln Island, although its inhabitants had as yet only explored a small portion of it, already contributed to almost all
their wants It was probable that if they hunted into its most secret
recesses, in all the wooded part between the Mercy and Reptile Point, they would find new treasures
The settlers in Lincoln Island had still one privation There was no want
of meat, nor of vegetable products; those ligneous roots which they had found, when subjected to fermentation, gave them an acid drink, which was preferable to cold water; they also made sugar, without canes or beet-
roots, by collecting the liquor which distils from the "acer saceharinum,"
a son of maple-tree, which flourishes in all the temperate zones, and of which the island possessed a great number; they made a very agreeable tea
by employing the herbs brought from the warren; lastly, they had an
abundance of salt, the only mineral which is used in food, 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 tree among the forests of the south, but they had not as yet met with these precious trees However, Providence came directly to their aid, in an infinitesimal proportion it is true, but Cyrus Harding, with all his intelligence, all
Trang 8his ingenuity, would never have been able to produce that which, by the greatest chance, Herbert one day found in the lining of his waistcoat,
which he was occupied in setting to rights
On this day, as it was raining in torrents, the settlers were assembled
in the great hall in Granite House, when the lad cried out all at once,
"Look here, captain A grain of corn!"
And he showed his companions a grain a single grain which from a hole
in his pocket had got into the lining of his waistcoat
The presence of this grain was explained by the fact that Herbert, when
at Richmond, used to feed some pigeons, of which Pencroft had made him a present
"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 this
grain of corn will make won't choke us very soon!"
Trang 9Herbert, not attaching much importance to his discovery, was going to
throw away the grain in question; but Harding took it, examined it, found that it was in good condition, and looking the sailor full in the face
"Pencroft," he asked quietly, "do you know how many ears one grain of 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, at the first crop we shall reap eight hundred grains which at the second will
produce six hundred and forty thousand; at the third, five hundred and
twelve millions; at the fourth, more than four hundred thousands of
millions! There is the proportion."
Harding's companions listened without answering These numbers
astonished
them They were exact, however
"Yes, my friends," continued the engineer, "such are the arithmetical
progressions of prolific nature; and yet what is this multiplication of the grain of corn, of which the ear only bears eight hundred grains, compared
to the poppy-plant, which bears thirty-two thousand seeds; to the tobacco-
Trang 10plant, which produces three hundred and sixty thousand? In a few years, without the numerous causes of destruction, which arrests their 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 four hundred thousand millions of grains would make?"
"No," replied the sailor; "but what I do know is, that I am nothing
better than a fool!"
"Well, they would make more than three millions, at a hundred and thirty thousand 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 I hope, in this latitude we can obtain two crops a year."
At that, according to his usual custom, Pencroft could not reply
otherwise than by a tremendous hurrah
Trang 11"So, Herbert," added the engineer, "you have made a discovery of great importance to us Everything, my friends, everything can serve us in the condition in which we are Do not forget that, I beg of you."
"No, captain, no, we shan't forget it," replied Pencroft; "and if ever I
find one of those tobacco-seeds, which multiply by three hundred and sixty thousand, I assure you I won't throw it away! And now, what must we do?"
"We must plant this grain," replied Herbert
"Yes," added Gideon Spilett, "and with every possible care, for it bears
in 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 this single precious grain of corn It was first proposed to plant it in a pot,
but upon reflection it was decided to leave it to nature, and confide it to the earth This was done that very day, and it is needless to add, that
every precaution was taken that the experiment might succeed
The weather having cleared, the settlers climbed the height above Granite House There, on the plateau, they chose a spot, well sheltered from the wind, and exposed to all the heat of the midday sun The place was cleared, carefully weeded, and searched for insects and worms; then a bed of good
Trang 12earth, improved with a little lime, was made; it was surrounded 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 some
edifice? It recalled to Pencroft the day on which he lighted his only
match, and all the anxiety of the operation But this time the thing was
more serious In fact, the castaways would have been always able to procure fire, in some mode or other, but no human power could supply another grain
of corn, if unfortunately this should be lost!