The Mysterious Island (25 page)

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.

Scissors 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 some 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 his 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!"

Herbert, 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-plant, 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.

"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 earth, 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!

From this time Pencroft did not let a single day pass without going to
visit what he gravely called his "corn-field." And woe to the insects
which dared to venture there! No mercy was shown them.

Towards the end of the month of June, after incessant rain, the weather
became decidedly colder, and on the 29th a Fahrenheit thermometer
would certainly have announced only twenty degrees above zero, that is
considerably below the freezing-point. The next day, the 30th of June,
the day which corresponds to the 31st of December in the northern year,
was a Friday. Neb remarked that the year finished on a bad day, but
Pencroft replied that naturally the next would begin on a good one,
which was better.

At any rate it commenced by very severe cold. Ice accumulated at the
mouth of the Mercy, and it was not long before the whole expanse of the
lake was frozen.

The settlers had frequently been obliged to renew their store of wood.
Pencroft also had wisely not waited till the river was frozen, but had
brought enormous rafts of wood to their destination. The current was
an indefatigable moving power, and it was employed in conveying the
floating wood to the moment when the frost enchained it. To the fuel
which was so abundantly supplied by the forest, they added several
cartloads of coal, which had to be brought from the foot of the spurs of
Mount Franklin. The powerful heat of the coal was greatly appreciated in
the low temperature, which on the 4th of July fell to eight degrees of
Fahrenheit, that is, thirteen degrees below zero. A second fireplace had
been established in the dining-room, where they all worked together at
their different avocations. During this period of cold, Cyrus Harding
had great cause to congratulate himself on having brought to Granite
House the little stream of water from Lake Grant. Taken below the frozen
surface, and conducted through the passage, it preserved its fluidity,
and arrived at an interior reservoir which had been hollowed out at the
back part of the storeroom, while the overflow ran through the well to
the sea.

About this time, the weather being extremely dry, the colonists, clothed
as warmly as possible, resolved to devote a day to the exploration of
that part of the island between the Mercy and Claw Cape. It was a wide
extent of marshy land, and they would probably find good sport, for
water-birds ought to swarm there.

They reckoned that it would be about eight or nine miles to go there,
and as much to return, so that the whole of the day would be occupied.
As an unknown part of the island was about to be explored, the whole
colony took part in the expedition. Accordingly, on the 5th of July, at
six o'clock in the morning, when day had scarcely broken, Cyrus Harding,
Gideon Spilett, Herbert, Neb, and Pencroft, armed with spears, snares,
bows and arrows, and provided with provisions, left Granite House,
preceded by Top, who bounded before them.

Their shortest way was to cross the Mercy on the ice, which then covered
it.

"But," as the engineer justly observed, "that could not take the place
of a regular bridge!" So, the construction of a regular bridge was noted
in the list of future works.

It was the first time that the settlers had set foot on the right bank
of the Mercy, and ventured into the midst of those gigantic and superb
coniferae now sprinkled over with snow.

But they had not gone half a mile when from a thicket a whole family of
quadrupeds, who had made a home there, disturbed by Top, rushed forth
into the open country.

"Ah! I should say those are foxes!" cried Herbert, when he saw the troop
rapidly decamping.

They were foxes, but of a very large size, who uttered a sort of
barking, at which Top seemed to be very much astonished, for he stopped
short in the chase, and gave the swift animals time to disappear.

The dog had reason to be surprised, as he did not know Natural History.
But, by their barking, these foxes, with reddish-gray hair, black tails
terminating in a white tuft, had betrayed their origin. So Herbert
was able, without hesitating, to give them their real name of "Arctic
foxes." They are frequently met with in Chile, in the Falkland Islands,
and in all parts of America traversed by the thirtieth and fortieth
parallels. Herbert much regretted that Top had not been able to catch
one of these carnivora.

"Are they good to eat?" asked Pencroft, who only regarded the
representatives of the fauna in the island from one special point of
view.

"No," replied Herbert; "but zoologists have not yet found out if the
eye of these foxes is diurnal or nocturnal, or whether it is correct to
class them in the genus dog, properly so called."