Part 1 - Dropped from the Clouds: Chapter 4

by Jules Verne

　　All at once the reporter sprang up, and telling the sailor that he wouldrejoin them at that same place, he climbed the cliff in the direction whichthe Negro Neb had taken a few hours before. Anxiety hastened his steps, forhe longed to obtain news of his friend, and he soon disappeared round anangle of the cliff. Herbert wished to accompany him.

　　"Stop here, my boy," said the sailor; "we have to prepare an encampment,and to try and find rather better grub than these shell-fish. Our friendswill want something when they come back. There is work for everybody."

　　"I am ready," replied Herbert.

　　"All right," said the sailor; "that will do. We must set about itregularly. We are tired, cold, and hungry; therefore we must have shelter,fire, and food. There is wood in the forest, and eggs in nests; we haveonly to find a house."

　　"Very well," returned Herbert, "I will look for a cove among the rocks,and I shall be sure to discover some hole into which we can creep."

　　"All right," said Pencroft; "go on, my boy."

　　They both walked to the foot of the enormous wall over the beach, farfrom which the tide had now retreated; but instead of going towards thenorth, they went southward. Pencroft had remarked, several hundred feetfrom the place at which they landed, a narrow cutting, out of which hethought a river or stream might issue. Now, on the one hand it wasimportant to settle themselves in the neighborhood of a good stream ofwater, and on the other it was possible that the current had thrown CyrusHarding on the shore there.

　　The cliff, as has been said, rose to a height of three hundred feet, butthe mass was unbroken throughout, and even at its base, scarcely washed bythe sea, it did not offer the smallest fissure which would serve as adwelling. It was a perpendicular wall of very hard granite, which even thewaves had not worn away. Towards the summit fluttered myriads of sea-fowl,and especially those of the web-footed species with long, flat, pointedbeaks--a clamorous tribe, bold in the presence of man, who probably for thefirst time thus invaded their domains. Pencroft recognized the skua andother gulls among them, the voracious little sea-mew, which in greatnumbers nestled in the crevices of the granite. A shot fired among thisswarm would have killed a great number, but to fire a shot a gun wasneeded, and neither Pencroft nor Herbert had one; besides this, gulls andsea-mews are scarcely eatable, and even their eggs have a detestable taste.However, Herbert, who had gone forward a little more to the left, soon cameupon rocks covered with sea-weed, which, some hours later, would be hiddenby the high tide. On these rocks, in the midst of slippery wrack, aboundedbivalve shell-fish, not to be despised by starving people. Herbert calledPencroft, who ran up hastily.

　　"Here are mussels!" cried the sailor; "these will do instead of eggs!"

　　"They are not mussels," replied Herbert, who was attentively examiningthe molluscs attached to the rocks; "they are lithodomes."

　　"Are they good to eat?" asked Pencroft.

　　"Perfectly so."

　　"Then let us eat some lithodomes."

　　The sailor could rely upon Herbert; the young boy was well up in naturalhistory, and always had had quite a passion for the science. His father hadencouraged him in it, by letting him attend the lectures of the bestprofessors in Boston, who were very fond of the intelligent, industriouslad. And his turn for natural history was, more than once in the course oftime, of great use, and he was not mistaken in this instance. Theselithodomes were oblong shells, suspended in clusters and adhering verytightly to the rocks. They belong to that species of molluscous perforatorswhich excavate holes in the hardest stone; their shell is rounded at bothends, a feature which is not remarked in the common mussel.

　　Pencroft and Herbert made a good meal of the lithodomes, which were thenhalf opened to the sun. They ate them as oysters, and as they had a strongpeppery taste, they were palatable without condiments of any sort.

　　Their hunger was thus appeased for the time, but not their thirst, whichincreased after eating these naturally-spiced molluscs. They had then tofind fresh water, and it was not likely that it would be wanting in such acapriciously uneven region. Pencroft and Herbert, after having taken theprecaution of collecting an ample supply of lithodomes, with which theyfilled their pockets and handkerchiefs, regained the foot of the cliff.

　　Two hundred paces farther they arrived at the cutting, through which, asPencroft had guessed, ran a stream of water, whether fresh or not was to beascertained. At this place the wall appeared to have been separated by someviolent subterranean force. At its base was hollowed out a little creek,the farthest part of which formed a tolerably sharp angle. The watercourseat that part measured one hundred feet in breadth, and its two banks oneach side were scarcely twenty feet high. The river became strong almostdirectly between the two walls of granite, which began to sink above themouth; it then suddenly turned and disappeared beneath a wood of stuntedtrees half a mile off.

　　"Here is the water, and yonder is the wood we require!" said Pencroft."Well, Herbert, now we only want the house."

　　The water of the river was limpid. The sailor ascertained that at thistime--that is to say, at low tide, when the rising floods did not reach it--it was sweet. This important point established, Herbert looked for somecavity which would serve them as a retreat, but in vain; everywhere thewall appeared smooth, plain, and perpendicular.

　　However, at the mouth of the watercourse and above the reach of the hightide, the convulsions of nature had formed, not a grotto, but a pile ofenormous rocks, such as are often met with in granite countries and whichbear the name of "Chimneys."

　　Pencroft and Herbert penetrated quite far in among the rocks, by sandypassages in which light was not wanting, for it entered through theopenings which were left between the blocks, of which some were onlysustained by a miracle of equilibrium; but with the light came also air--aregular corridor-gale--and with the wind the sharp cold from the exterior.However, the sailor thought that by stopping-up some of the openings with amixture of stones and sand, the Chimneys could be rendered habitable. Theirgeometrical plan represented the typographical sign "&," which signifies"et cetera" abridged, but by isolating the upper mouth of the sign, throughwhich the south and west winds blew so strongly, they could succeed inmaking the lower part of use.

　　"Here's our work," said Pencroft, "and if we ever see Captain Hardingagain, he will know how to make something of this labyrinth."

　　"We shall see him again, Pencroft," cried Herbert, "and when be returnshe must find a tolerable dwelling here. It will be so, if we can make afireplace in the left passage and keep an opening for the smoke."

　　"So we can, my boy," replied the sailor, "and these Chimneys will serveour turn. Let us set to work, but first come and get a store of fuel. Ithink some branches will be very useful in stopping up these openings,through which the wind shrieks like so many fiends."

　　Herbert and Pencroft left the Chimneys, and, turning the angle, theybegan to climb the left bank of the river. The current here was quiterapid, and drifted down some dead wood. The rising tide--and it couldalready be perceived--must drive it back with force to a considerabledistance. The sailor then thought that they could utilize this ebb and flowfor the transport of heavy objects.

　　After having walked for a quarter of an hour, the sailor and the boyarrived at the angle which the river made in turning towards the left. Fromthis point its course was pursued through a forest of magnificent trees.These trees still retained their verdure, notwithstanding the advancedseason, for they belonged to the family of "coniferae," which is spreadover all the regions of the globe, from northern climates to the tropics.The young naturalist recognized especially the "deedara," which are verynumerous in the Himalayan zone, and which spread around them a mostagreeable odor. Between these beautiful trees sprang up clusters of firs,whose opaque open parasol boughs spread wide around. Among the long grass,Pencroft felt that his feet were crushing dry branches which crackled likefireworks.

　　"Well, my boy," said he to Herbert, "if I don't know the name of thesetrees, at any rate I reckon that we may call them 'burning wood,' and justnow that's the chief thing we want."

　　"Let us get a supply," replied Herbert, who immediately set to work.

　　The collection was easily made. It was not even necessary to lop thetrees, for enormous quantities of dead wood were lying at their feet; butif fuel was not wanting, the means of transporting it was not yet found.The wood, being very dry, would burn rapidly; it was therefore necessary tocarry to the Chimneys a considerable quantity, and the loads of two menwould not be sufficient. Herbert remarked this.

　　"Well, my boy," replied the sailor, "there must be some way of carryingthis wood; there is always a way of doing everything. If we had a cart or aboat, it would be easy enough."

　　"But we have the river," said Herbert.

　　"Right," replied Pencroft; "the river will be to us like a road whichcarries of itself, and rafts have not been invented for nothing."

　　"Only," observed Herbert, "at this moment our road is going the wrongway, for the tide is rising!"

　　"We shall be all right if we wait till it ebbs," replied the sailor, "andthen we will trust it to carry our fuel to the Chimneys. Let us get theraft ready."

　　The sailor, followed by Herbert, directed his steps towards the river.They both carried, each in proportion to his strength, a load of wood boundin fagots. They found on the bank also a great quantity of dead branches inthe midst of grass, among which the foot of man had probably never beforetrod. Pencroft began directly to make his raft. In a kind of little bay,created by a point of the shore which broke the current, the sailor and thelad placed some good-sized pieces of wood, which they had fastened togetherwith dry creepers. A raft was thus formed, on which they stacked all theyhad collected, sufficient, indeed, to have loaded at least twenty men. Inan hour the work was finished, and the raft moored to the bank, awaited theturning of the tide.

　　There were still several hours to be occupied, and with one consentPencroft and Herbert resolved to gain the upper plateau, so as to have amore extended view of the surrounding country.

　　Exactly two hundred feet behind the angle formed by the river, the wall,terminated by a fall of rocks, died away in a gentle slope to the edge ofthe forest. It was a natural staircase. Herbert and the sailor began theirascent; thanks to the vigor of their muscles they reached the summit in afew minutes; and proceeded to the point above the mouth of the river.

　　On attaining it, their first look was cast upon the ocean which not longbefore they had traversed in such a terrible condition. They observed, withemotion, all that part to the north of the coast on which the catastrophehad taken place. It was there that Cyrus Harding had disappeared. Theylooked to see if some portion of their balloon, to which a man mightpossibly cling, yet existed. Nothing! The sea was but one vast waterydesert. As to the coast, it was solitary also. Neither the reporter nor Nebcould be anywhere seen. But it was possible that at this time they wereboth too far away to be perceived.

　　"Something tells me," cried Herbert, "that a man as energetic as CaptainHarding would not let himself be drowned like other people. He must havereached some point of the shore; don't you think so, Pencroft?"

　　The sailor shook his head sadly. He little expected ever to see CyrusHarding again; but wishing to leave some hope to Herbert: "Doubtless,doubtless," said he; "our engineer is a man who would get out of a scrapeto which any one else would yield."

　　In the meantime he examined the coast with great attention. Stretched outbelow them was the sandy shore, bounded on the right of the river's mouthby lines of breakers. The rocks which were visible appeared like amphibiousmonsters reposing in the surf. Beyond the reef, the sea sparkled beneaththe sun's rays. To the south a sharp point closed the horizon, and it couldnot be seen if the land was prolonged in that direction, or if it ransoutheast and southwest, which would have made this coast a very longpeninsula. At the northern extremity of the bay the outline of the shorewas continued to a great distance in a wider curve. There the shore waslow, flat, without cliffs, and with great banks of sand, which the tideleft uncovered. Pencroft and Herbert then returned towards the west. Theirattention was first arrested by the snow-topped mountain which rose at adistance of six or seven miles. From its first declivities to within twomiles of the coast were spread vast masses of wood, relieved by large greenpatches, caused by the presence of evergreen trees. Then, from the edge ofthis forest to the shore extended a plain, scattered irregularly withgroups of trees. Here and there on the left sparkled through glades thewaters of the little river; they could trace its winding course backtowards the spurs of the mountain, among which it seemed to spring. At thepoint where the sailor had left his raft of wood, it began to run betweenthe two high granite walls; but if on the left bank the wall remained clearand abrupt, on the right bank, on the contrary, it sank gradually, themassive sides changed to isolated rocks, the rocks to stones, the stones toshingle running to the extremity of the point.

　　"Are we on an island?" murmured the sailor.

　　"At any rate, it seems to be big enough," replied the lad.

　　"An island, ever so big, is an island all the same!" said Pencroft.

　　But this important question could not yet be answered. A more perfectsurvey had to be made to settle the point. As to the land itself, island orcontinent, it appeared fertile, agreeable in its aspect, and varied in itsproductions.

　　"This is satisfactory," observed Pencroft; "and in our misfortune, wemust thank Providence for it."

　　"God be praised!" responded Herbert, whose pious heart was full ofgratitude to the Author of all things.

　　Pencroft and Herbert examined for some time the country on which they hadbeen cast; but it was difficult to guess after so hasty an inspection whatthe future had in store for them.

　　They then returned, following the southern crest of the granite platform,bordered by a long fringe of jagged rocks, of the most whimsical shapes.Some hundreds of birds lived there nestled in the holes of the stone;Herbert, jumping over the rocks, startled a whole flock of these wingedcreatures.

　　"Oh!" cried he, "those are not gulls nor sea-mews!"

　　"What are they then?" asked Pencroft.

　　"Upon my word, one would say they were pigeons!"

　　"Just so, but these are wild or rock pigeons. I recognize them by thedouble band of black on the wing, by the white tail, and by their slate-colored plumage. But if the rock-pigeon is good to eat, its eggs must beexcellent, and we will soon see how many they may have left in theirnests!"

　　"We will not give them time to hatch, unless it is in the shape of anomelet!" replied Pencroft merrily.

　　"But what will you make your omelet in?" asked Herbert; "in your hat?"

　　"Well!" replied the sailor, "I am not quite conjuror enough for that; wemust come down to eggs in the shell, my boy, and I will undertake todespatch the hardest!"

　　Pencroft and Herbert attentively examined the cavities in the granite,and they really found eggs in some of the hollows. A few dozen beingcollected, were packed in the sailor's handkerchief, and as the time whenthe tide would be full was approaching, Pencroft and Herbert began toredescend towards the watercourse. When they arrived there, it was an hourafter midday. The tide had already turned. They must now avail themselvesof the ebb to take the wood to the mouth. Pencroft did not intend to letthe raft go away in the current without guidance, neither did he mean toembark on it himself to steer it. But a sailor is never at a loss whenthere is a question of cables or ropes, and Pencroft rapidly twisted acord, a few fathoms long, made of dry creepers. This vegetable cable wasfastened to the after-part of the raft, and the sailor held it in his handwhile Herbert, pushing off the raft with a long pole, kept it in thecurrent. This succeeded capitally. The enormous load of wood drifted downthe current. The bank was very equal; there was no fear that the raft wouldrun aground, and before two o'clock they arrived at the river's mouth, afew paces from the Chimneys.