The Incredible Science Fiction Tales of Jules Verne (Illustrated Edition). Жюль Верн

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СКАЧАТЬ and the sheep in the corral furnished daily the milk necessary to the colony. The cart, or rather a sort of light carriole which had replaced it, made frequent journeys to the corral, and when it was Pencroft's turn to go he took Jup, and let him drive, and Jup, cracking his whip, acquitted himself with his customary intelligence.

      Everything prospered, as well in the corral as in Granite House and certainly the settlers, if it had not been that they were so far from their native land, had no reason to complain. They were so well suited to this life, and were, besides, so accustomed to the island, that they could not have left its hospitable soil without regret!

      And yet so deeply is the love of his country implanted in the heart of man, that if a ship had unexpectedly come in sight of the island, the colonists would have made signals, would have attracted her attention, and would have departed!

      It was the 1st of April, a Sunday, Easter Day, which Harding and his companions sanctified by rest and prayer. The day was fine, such as an October day in the northern hemisphere might be.

      All, towards the evening after dinner, were seated under the verandah on the edge of Prospect Heights, and they were watching the darkness creeping up from the horizon. Some cups of the infusion of elder berries, which took the place of coffee, had been served by Neb. They were speaking of the island and of its isolated situation in the Pacific, which led Gideon Spilett to say,—

      "My dear Cyrus, have you ever, since you possessed the sextant found in the case, again taken the position of our island?"

      "No," replied the engineer

      "But it would perhaps be a good thing to do it with this instrument, which is more perfect than that which you before used."

      "What is the good?" said Pencroft. "The island is quite comfortable where it is!"

      "Well, who knows," returned the reporter, "who knows but that we may be much nearer inhabited land than we think?"

      "We shall know to morrow," replied Cyrus Harding, "and if it had not been for the occupations which left me no leisure, we should have known it already."

      "Good!" said Pencroft. "The captain is too good an observer to be mistaken, and, if it has not moved from its place, the island is just where he put it."

      "We shall see."

      On the next day, therefore, by means of the sextant, the engineer made the necessary observations to verify the position which he had already obtained, and this was the result of his operation. His first observation had given him for the situation of Lincoln Island,—

      In west longitude: from 150° to 155°;

       In south latitude: from 30° to 35°.

      The second gave exactly:

      In longitude: 150° 30´;

       In south latitude: 34° 57´.

      So then, notwithstanding the imperfection of his apparatus, Cyrus Harding had operated with so much skill that his error did not exceed five degrees.

      "Now," said Gideon Spilett, "since we possess an atlas as well as a sextant, let us see, my dear Cyrus, the exact position which Lincoln Island occupies in the Pacific."

      Herbert fetched the atlas, and the map of the Pacific was opened, and the engineer, compass in hand, prepared to determine their position.

      Suddenly the compasses stopped, and he exclaimed,—

      "But an island exists in this part of the Pacific already!"

      "An island?" cried Pencroft.

      "Tabor Island."

      "An important island?"

      "No, an islet lost in the Pacific, and which perhaps has never been visited."

      "Well, we will visit it," said Pencroft.

      "We?"

      "Yes, captain. We will build a decked boat, and I will undertake to steer her. At what distance are we from this Tabor Island?"

      "About a hundred and fifty miles to the north-east," replied Harding.

      "A hundred and fifty miles! And what's that?" returned Pencroft. "In forty-eight hours, with a good wind, we should sight it!"

      And, on this reply, it was decided that a vessel should be constructed in time to be launched towards the month of next October, on the return of the fine season.

      CHAPTER X

       Table of Contents

      Boat-building—Second Crop of Corn—Hunting Koalas—A new Plant, more Pleasant than Useful—Whale in Sight—A Harpoon from the Vineyard—Cutting up the Whale—Use for the Bones—End of the Month of May—Pencroft has nothing left to wish for.

      When Pencroft had once got a plan into his head, he had no peace till it was executed. Now he wished to visit Tabor Island, and as a boat of a certain size was necessary for this voyage, he determined to build one.

      What wood should be employed? Elm or fir, both of which abounded in the island? They decided for the fir, as being easy to work, but which stands water as well as the elm.

      These details settled, it was agreed that since the fine season would not return before six months, Cyrus Harding and Pencroft should work alone at the boat. Gideon Spilett and Herbert were to continue to hunt, and neither Neb nor Master Jup his assistant were to leave the domestic duties which had devolved upon them.

      Directly the trees were chosen, they were felled, stripped of their branches, and sawn into planks as well as sawyers would have been able to do it. A week after, in the recess between the Chimneys and the cliff, a dockyard was prepared, and a keel five-and-thirty feet long, furnished with a stern-post at the stern and a stem at the bows, lay along the sand.

      Cyrus Harding was not working in the dark at this new trade. He knew as much about ship-building as about nearly everything else, and he had at first drawn the model of his ship on paper. Besides, he was ably seconded by Pencroft, who, having worked for several years in a dockyard at Brooklyn, knew the practical part of the trade. It was not until after careful calculation and deep thought that the timbers were laid on the keel.

      Pencroft, as may be believed, was all eagerness to carry out his new enterprise, and would not leave his work for an instant.

      A single thing had the honour of drawing him, but for one day only, from his dockyard. This was the second wheat-harvest, which was gathered in on the 15th of April. It was as much a success as the first, and yielded the number of grains which had been predicted.

      "Five bushels, captain," said Pencroft, after having scrupulously measured his treasure.

      "Five bushels," replied the engineer; "and a hundred and thirty thousand grains a bushel will make six hundred and fifty thousand grains."

      "Well, we will sow them all this time," said the sailor, "except a little in reserve."

      "Yes, СКАЧАТЬ