Part 2 - Abandoned: Chapter 2

by Jules Verne

　　On the 9th of October the bark canoe was entirely finished. Pencroft hadkept his promise, and a light boat, the shell of which was joined togetherby the flexible twigs of the crejimba, had been constructed in five days. Aseat in the stern, a second seat in the middle to preserve the equilibrium,a third seat in the bows, rowlocks for the two oars, a scull to steer with,completed the little craft, which was twelve feet long, and did not weighmore than two hundred pounds. The operation of launching it was extremelysimple. The canoe was carried to the beach and laid on the sand beforeGranite House, and the rising tide floated it. Pencroft, who leaped indirectly, maneuvered it with the scull and declared it to be just thething for the purpose to which they wished to put it.

　　"Hurrah!" cried the sailor, who did not disdain to celebrate thus his owntriumph. "With this we could go round--"

　　"The world?" asked Gideon Spilett.

　　"No, the island. Some stones for ballast, a mast and a sail, which thecaptain will make for us some day, and we shall go splendidly! Well,captain--and you, Mr. Spilett; and you, Herbert; and you, Neb--aren't youcoming to try our new vessel? Come along! we must see if it will carry allfive of us!"

　　This was certainly a trial which ought to be made. Pencroft soon broughtthe canoe to the shore by a narrow passage among the rocks, and it wasagreed that they should make a trial of the boat that day by following theshore as far as the first point at which the rocks of the south ended.

　　As they embarked, Neb cried,--

　　"But your boat leaks rather, Pencroft."

　　"That's nothing, Neb," replied the sailor; "the wood will get seasoned.In two days there won't be a single leak, and our boat will have no morewater in her than there is in the stomach of a drunkard. Jump in!"

　　They were soon all seated, and Pencroft shoved off. The weather wasmagnificent, the sea as calm as if its waters were contained within thenarrow limits of a lake. Thus the boat could proceed with as much securityas if it was ascending the tranquil current of the Mercy.

　　Neb took one of the oars, Herbert the other, and Pencroft remained in thestern in order to use the scull.

　　The sailor first crossed the channel, and steered close to the southernpoint of the islet. A light breeze blew from the south. No roughness wasfound either in the channel or the green sea. A long swell, which the canoescarcely felt, as it was heavily laden, rolled regularly over the surfaceof the water. They pulled out about half a mile distant from the shore,that they might have a good view of Mount Franklin.

　　Pencroft afterwards returned towards the mouth of the river. The boatthen skirted the shore, which, extending to the extreme point, hid allTadorn's Fens.

　　This point, of which the distance was increased by the irregularity ofthe coast, was nearly three miles from the Mercy. The settlers resolved togo to its extremity, and only go beyond it as much as was necessary to takea rapid survey of the coast as far as Claw Cape.

　　The canoe followed the windings of the shore, avoiding the rocks whichfringed it, and which the rising tide began to cover. The cliff graduallysloped away from the mouth of the river to the point. This was formed ofgranite reeks, capriciously distributed, very different from the cliff atProspect Heights, and of an extremely wild aspect. It might have been saidthat an immense cartload of rocks had been emptied out there. There was novegetation on this sharp promontory, which projected two miles from theforest, and it thus represented a giant's arm stretched out from a leafysleeve.

　　The canoe, impelled by the two oars, advanced without difficulty. GideonSpilett, pencil in one hand and notebook in the other, sketched the coast inbold strokes. Neb, Herbert, and Pencroft chatted, while examining this partof their domain, which was new to them, and, in proportion as the canoeproceeded towards the south, the two Mandible Capes appeared to move, andsurround Union Bay more closely.

　　As to Cyrus Harding, he did not speak; he simply gazed, and by themistrust which his look expressed, it appeared that he was examining somestrange country.

　　In the meantime, after a voyage of three-quarters of an hour, the canoereached the extremity of the point, and Pencroft was preparing to return,when Herbert, rising, pointed to a black object, saying,--

　　"What do I see down there on the beach?"

　　All eyes turned towards the point indicated.

　　"Why," said the reporter, "there is something. It looks like part of awreck half buried in the sand."

　　"Ah!" cried Pencroft, "I see what it is!"

　　"What?" asked Neb.

　　"Barrels, barrels, which perhaps are full," replied the sailor.

　　"Pull to the shore, Pencroft!" said Cyrus.

　　A few strokes of the oar brought the canoe into a little creek, and itspassengers leaped on shore.

　　Pencroft was not mistaken. Two barrels were there, half buried in thesand, but still firmly attached to a large chest, which, sustained by them,had floated to the moment when it stranded on the beach.

　　"There has been a wreck, then, in some part of the island," said Herbert.

　　"Evidently," replied Spilett.

　　"But what's in this chest?" cried Pencroft, with very natural impatience."What's in this chest? It is shut up, and nothing to open it with! Well,perhaps a stone--"

　　And the sailor, raising a heavy block, was about to break in one of thesides of the chest, when the engineer arrested his hand.

　　"Pencroft," said he, "can you restrain your impatience for one houronly?"

　　But, captain, just think! Perhaps there is everything we want in there!"

　　"We shall find that out, Pencroft," replied the engineer; "but trust tome, and do not break the chest, which may be useful to us. We must conveyit to Granite House, where we can open it easily, and without breaking it.It is quite prepared for a voyage; and since it has floated here, it mayjust as well float to the mouth of the river."

　　"You are right, captain, and I was wrong, as usual," replied the sailor.

　　The engineer's advice was good. In fact, the canoe probably would nothave been able to contain the articles possibly enclosed in the chest,which doubtless was heavy, since two empty barrels were required to buoy itup. It was, therefore, much better to tow it to the beach at Granite House.

　　And now, whence had this chest come? That was the important question.Cyrus Harding and his companions looked attentively around them, andexamined the shore for several hundred steps. No other articles or piecesof wreck could be found. Herbert and Neb climbed a high rock to survey thesea, but there was nothing in sight--neither a dismasted vessel nor a shipunder sail.

　　However, there was no doubt that there had been a wreck. Perhaps thisincident was connected with that of the bullet? Perhaps strangers hadlanded on another part of the island? Perhaps they were still there? Butthe thought which came naturally to the settlers was, that these strangerscould not be Malay pirates, for the chest was evidently of American orEuropean make.

　　All the party returned to the chest, which was of an unusually largesize. It was made of oak wood, very carefully closed and covered with athick hide, which was secured by copper nails. The two great barrels,hermetically sealed, but which sounded hollow and empty, were fastened toits sides by strong ropes, knotted with a skill which Pencroft directlypronounced sailors alone could exhibit. It appeared to be in a perfectstate of preservation, which was explained by the fact that it had strandedon a sandy beach, and not among rocks. They had no doubt whatever, onexamining it carefully, that it had not been long in the water, and thatits arrival on this coast was recent. The water did not appear to havepenetrated to the inside, and the articles which it contained were no doubtuninjured.

　　It was evident that this chest had been thrown overboard from somedismasted vessel driven towards the island, and that, in the hope that itwould reach the land, where they might afterwards find it, the passengershad taken the precaution to buoy it up by means of this floating apparatus.

　　"We will tow this chest to Granite House," said the engineer, "where wecan make an inventory of its contents; then, if we discover any of thesurvivors from the supposed wreck, we can return it to those to whom itbelongs. If we find no one--"

　　"We will keep it for ourselves!" cried Pencroft. "But what in the worldcan there be in it?"

　　The sea was already approaching the chest, and the high tide wouldevidently float it. One of the ropes which fastened the barrels was partlyunlashed and used as a cable to unite the floating apparatus with thecanoe. Pencroft and Neb then dug away the sand with their oars, so as tofacilitate the moving of the chest, towing which the boat soon began todouble the point, to which the name of Flotsam Point was given.

　　The chest was heavy, and the barrels were scarcely sufficient to keep itabove water. The sailor also feared every instant that it would get looseand sink to the bottom of the sea. But happily his fears were not realized,and an hour and a half after they set out--all that time had been taken upin going a distance of three miles--the boat touched the beach below GraniteHouse.

　　Canoe and chest were then hauled up on the sands; and as the tide wasthen going out, they were soon left high and dry. Neb, hurrying home,brought back some tools with which to open the chest in such a way that itmight be injured as little as possible, and they proceeded to itsinventory. Pencroft did not try to hide that he was greatly excited.

　　The sailor began by detaching the two barrels, which, being in goodcondition, would of course be of use. Then the locks were forced with acold chisel and hammer, and the lid thrown back. A second casing of zinclined the interior of the chest, which had been evidently arranged that thearticles which it enclosed might under any circumstances be sheltered fromdamp.

　　"Oh!" cried Neb, "suppose it's jam!

　　"I hope not," replied the reporter.

　　"If only there was--" said the sailor in a low voice.

　　"What?" asked Neb, who overheard him.

　　"Nothing!"

　　The covering of zinc was torn off and thrown back over the sides of thechest, and by degrees numerous articles of very varied character wereproduced and strewn about on the sand. At each new object Pencroft utteredfresh hurrahs, Herbert clapped his hands, and Neb danced up and down. Therewere books which made Herbert wild with joy, and cooking utensils which Nebcovered with kisses!

　　In short, the colonists had reason to be extremely satisfied, for thischest contained tools, weapons, instruments, clothes, books; and this isthe exact list of them as stated in Gideon Spilett's note-book:

　　--Tools:--3 knives with several blades, 2 woodmen's axes, 2 carpenter'shatchets, 3 planes, 2 adzes, 1 twibil or mattock, 6 chisels, 2 files, 3hammers, 3 gimlets, 2 augers, 10 bags of nails and screws, 3 saws ofdifferent sizes, 2 boxes of needles.

　　Weapons:--2 flint-lock guns, 2 for percussion caps, 2 breach-loadercarbines, 5 boarding cutlasses, 4 sabers, 2 barrels of powder, eachcontaining twenty-five pounds; 12 boxes of percussion caps.

　　Instruments:--1 sextant, 1 double opera-glass, 1 telescope, 1 box ofmathematical instruments, 1 mariner's compass, 1 Fahrenheit thermometer, 1aneroid barometer, 1 box containing a photographic apparatus, object-glass,plates, chemicals, etc.

　　Clothes:-2 dozen shirts of a peculiar material resembling wool, butevidently of a vegetable origin; 3 dozen stockings of the same material.

　　Utensils:-1 iron pot, 6 copper saucepans, 3 iron dishes, 10 metal plates,2 kettles, 1 portable stove, 6 table-knives,

　　Books:-1 Bible, 1 atlas, 1 dictionary of the different Polynesian idioms,1 dictionary of natural science, in six volumes; 3 reams of white paper, 2books with blank pages.

　　"It must be allowed," said the reporter, after the inventory had beenmade, "that the owner of this chest was a practical man! Tools, weapons,instruments, clothes, utensils, books--nothing is wanting! It might reallybe said that he expected to be wrecked, and had prepared for itbeforehand."

　　"Nothing is wanting, indeed," murmured Cyrus Harding thoughtfully.

　　"And for a certainty," added Herbert, "the vessel which carried thischest and its owner was not a Malay pirate!"

　　"Unless," said Pencroft, "the owner had been taken prisoner by pirates--"

　　"That is not admissible," replied the reporter. "It is more probable thatan American or European vessel has been driven into this quarter, and thather passengers, wishing to save necessaries at least, prepared this chestand threw it overboard."

　　"Is that your opinion, captain?" asked Herbert.

　　"Yes, my boy," replied the engineer, "that may have been the case. It ispossible that at the moment, or in expectation of a wreck, they collectedinto this chest different articles of the greatest use in hopes of findingit again on the coast--"

　　"Even the photographic box!" exclaimed the sailor incredulously.

　　"As to that apparatus," replied Harding, "I do not quite see the use ofit; and a more complete supply of clothes or more abundant ammunition wouldhave been more valuable to us as well as to any other castaways!"

　　"But isn't there any mark or direction on these instruments, tools, orbooks, which would tell us something about them?" asked Gideon Spilett.

　　That might be ascertained. Each article was carefully examined,especially the books, instruments and weapons. Neither the weapons nor theinstruments, contrary to the usual custom, bore the name of the maker; theywere, besides, in a perfect state, and did not appear to have been used.The same peculiarity marked the tools and utensils; all were new, whichproved that the articles had not been taken by chance and thrown into thechest, but, on the contrary, that the choice of things had been wellconsidered and arranged with care. This was also indicated by the secondcase of metal which had preserved them from damp, and which could not havebeen soldered in a moment of haste.

　　As to the dictionaries of natural science and Polynesian idioms, bothwere English; but they neither bore the name of the publisher nor the dateof publication.

　　The same with the Bible printed in English, in quarto, remarkable from atypographic point of view, and which appeared to have been often used.

　　The atlas was a magnificent work, comprising maps of every country in theworld, and several planispheres arranged upon Mercator's projection, and ofwhich the nomenclature was in French--but which also bore neither date norname of publisher.

　　There was nothing, therefore, on these different articles by which theycould be traced, and nothing consequently of a nature to show thenationality of the vessel which must have recently passed these shores.

　　But, wherever the chest might have come from, it was a treasure to thesettlers on Lincoln Island. Till then, by making use of the productions ofnature, they had created everything for themselves, and, thanks to theirintelligence, they had managed without difficulty. But did it not appear asif Providence had wished to reward them by sending them these productionsof human industry? Their thanks rose unanimously to Heaven.

　　However, one of them was not quite satisfied: it was Pencroft. Itappeared that the chest did not contain something which he evidently heldin great esteem, for in proportion as they approached the bottom of thebox, his hurrahs diminished in heartiness, and, the inventory finished, hewas heard to mutter these words:--"That's all very fine, but you can seethat there is nothing for me in that box!"

　　This led Neb to say,--

　　"Why, friend Pencroft, what more do you expect?"

　　"Half a pound of tobacco," replied Pencroft seriously, "and nothing wouldhave been wanting to complete my happiness!"

　　No one could help laughing at this speech of the sailor's.

　　But the result of this discovery of the chest was, that it was now morethan ever necessary to explore the island thoroughly. It was thereforeagreed that the next morning at break of day, they should set out, byascending the Mercy so as to reach the western shore. If any castaways hadlanded on the coast, it was to be feared they were without resources, andit was therefore the more necessary to carry help to them without delay.

　　During the day the different articles were carried to Granite House,where they were methodically arranged in the great hall. This day--the 29thof October--happened to be a Sunday, and, before going to bed, Herbert askedthe engineer if he would not read them something from the Gospel.

　　"Willingly," replied Cyrus Harding.

　　He took the sacred volume, and was about to open it, when Pencroftstopped him, saying,--"Captain, I am superstitious. Open at random and readthe first verse which, your eye falls upon. We will see if it applies toour situation."

　　Cyrus Harding smiled at the sailor's idea, and, yielding to his wish, heopened exactly at a place where the leaves were separated by a marker.

　　Immediately his eyes were attracted by a cross which, made with a pencil,was placed against the eighth verse of the seventh chapter of the Gospel ofSt. Matthew. He read the verse, which was this:--

　　"For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth."