CHAPTER XXIII. A CARRIER-PIGEON
When, three hours after sunset, on the 23d of March, the Gallian moonrose upon the western horizon, it was observed that she had entered uponher last quarter. She had taken only four days to pass from syzygy toquadrature, and it was consequently evident that she would be visiblefor little more than a week at a time, and that her lunation would beaccomplished within sixteen days. The lunar months, like the solardays, had been diminished by one-half. Three days later the moon was inconjunction with the sun, and was consequently lost to view; Ben Zoof,as the first observer of the satellite, was extremely interested in itsmovements, and wondered whether it would ever reappear.
On the 26th, under an atmosphere perfectly clear and dry, thethermometer fell to 12 degrees F. below zero. Of the present distance ofGallia from the sun, and the number of leagues she had traversed sincethe receipt of the last mysterious document, there were no means ofjudging; the extent of diminution in the apparent disc of the sun didnot afford sufficient basis even for an approximate calculation; andCaptain Servadac was perpetually regretting that they could receive nofurther tidings from the anonymous correspondent, whom he persisted inregarding as a fellow-countryman.
The solidity of the ice was perfect; the utter stillness of the air atthe time when the final congelation of the waters had taken place hadresulted in the formation of a surface that for smoothness would rivala skating-rink; without a crack or flaw it extended far beyond the rangeof vision.
The contrast to the ordinary aspect of polar seas was very remarkable.There, the ice-fields are an agglomeration of hummocks and icebergs,massed in wild confusion, often towering higher than the masts of thelargest whalers, and from the instability of their foundations liableto an instantaneous loss of equilibrium; a breath of wind, a slightmodification of the temperature, not unfrequently serving to bring abouta series of changes outrivaling the most elaborate transformation scenesof a pantomime. Here, on the contrary, the vast white plain was level asthe desert of Sahara or the Russian steppes; the waters of the GallianSea were imprisoned beneath the solid sheet, which became continuallystouter in the increasing cold.
Accustomed to the uneven crystallizations of their own frozen seas, theRussians could not be otherwise than delighted with the polishedsurface that afforded them such excellent opportunity for enjoyingtheir favorite pastime of skating. A supply of skates, found hiddenaway amongst the _Dobryna's_ stores, was speedily brought into use. TheRussians undertook the instruction of the Spaniards, and at the end ofa few days, during which the temperature was only endurable through theabsence of wind, there was not a Gallian who could not skate tolerablywell, while many of them could describe figures involving the mostcomplicated curves. Nina and Pablo earned loud applause by their rapidproficiency; Captain Servadac, an adept in athletics, almost outvied hisinstructor, the count; and Ben Zoof, who had upon some rare occasionsskated upon the Lake of Montmartre (in his eyes, of course, a sea),performed prodigies in the art.
This exercise was not only healthful in itself, but it was acknowledgedthat, in case of necessity, it might become a very useful means oflocomotion. As Captain Servadac remarked, it was almost a substitute forrailways, and as if to illustrate this proposition, Lieutenant Procope,perhaps the greatest expert in the party, accomplished the twenty milesto Gourbi Island and back in considerably less than four hours.
The temperature, meanwhile, continued to decrease, and the averagereading of the thermometer was about 16 degrees F. below zero; the lightalso diminished in proportion, and all objects appeared to be envelopedin a half-defined shadow, as though the sun were undergoing a perpetualeclipse. It was not surprising that the effect of this continuouslyoverhanging gloom should be to induce a frequent depression of spiritsamongst the majority of the little population, exiles as they were fromtheir mother earth, and not unlikely, as it seemed, to be swept far awayinto the regions of another planetary sphere. Probably Count Timascheff,Captain Servadac, and Lieutenant Procope were the only members of thecommunity who could bring any scientific judgment to bear upon theuncertainty that was before them, but a general sense of the strangenessof their situation could not fail at times to weigh heavily uponthe minds of all. Under these circumstances it was very necessary tocounteract the tendency to despond by continual diversion; and therecreation of skating thus opportunely provided, seemed just the thingto arouse the flagging spirits, and to restore a wholesome excitement.
With dogged obstinacy, Isaac Hakkabut refused to take any share eitherin the labors or the amusements of the colony. In spite of the cold,he had not been seen since the day of his arrival from Gourbi Island.Captain Servadac had strictly forbidden any communication with him; andthe smoke that rose from the cabin chimney of the _Hansa_ was the soleindication of the proprietor being still on board. There was nothing toprevent him, if he chose, from partaking gratuitously of the volcaniclight and heat which were being enjoyed by all besides; but ratherthan abandon his close and personal oversight of his precious cargo, hepreferred to sacrifice his own slender stock of fuel.
Both the schooner and the tartan had been carefully moored in the waythat seemed to promise best for withstanding the rigor of the winter.After seeing the vessels made secure in the frozen creek. LieutenantProcope, following the example of many Arctic explorers, had theprecaution to have the ice beveled away from the keels, so that thereshould be no risk of the ships' sides being crushed by the increasingpressure; he hoped that they would follow any rise in the level of theice-field, and when the thaw should come, that they would easily regaintheir proper water-line.
On his last visit to Gourbi Island, the lieutenant had ascertained thatnorth, east, and west, far as the eye could reach, the Gallian Sea hadbecome one uniform sheet of ice. One spot alone refused to freeze; thiswas the pool immediately below the central cavern, the receptacle forthe stream of burning lava. It was entirely enclosed by rocks, and ifever a few icicles were formed there by the action of the cold, theywere very soon melted by the fiery shower. Hissing and spluttering asthe hot lava came in contact with it, the water was in a continualstate of ebullition, and the fish that abounded in its depths defiedthe angler's craft; they were, as Ben Zoof remarked, "too much boiled tobite."
At the beginning of April the weather changed. The sky became overcast,but there was no rise in the temperature. Unlike the polar winters ofthe earth, which ordinarily are affected by atmospheric influence, andliable to slight intermissions of their severity at various shiftingsof the wind, Gallia's winter was caused by her immense distance from thesource of all light and heat, and the cold was consequently destinedto go on steadily increasing until it reached the limit ascertained byFourier to be the normal temperature of the realms of space.
With the over-clouding of the heavens there arose a violent tempest;but although the wind raged with an almost inconceivable fury, itwas unaccompanied by either snow or rain. Its effect upon the burningcurtain that covered the aperture of the central hall was veryremarkable. So far from there being any likelihood of the fire beingextinguished by the vehemence of the current of air, the hurricaneseemed rather to act as a ventilator, which fanned the flame intogreater activity, and the utmost care was necessary to avoid being burntby the fragments of lava that were drifted into the interior of thegrotto. More than once the curtain itself was rifted entirely asunder,but only to close up again immediately after allowing a momentarydraught of cold air to penetrate the hall in a way that was refreshingand rather advantageous than otherwise.
On the 4th of April, after an absence of about four days, the newsatellite, to Ben Zoof's great satisfaction, made its reappearance ina crescent form, a circumstance that seemed to justify the anticipationthat henceforward it would continue to make a periodic revolution everyfortnight.
The crust of ice and snow was far too stout for the beaks of thestrongest birds to penetrate, and accordingly large swarms had left theisland, and, following the human population, had taken refuge on thevolcanic promontory; not that there th
e barren shore had anything in theway of nourishment to offer them, but their instinct impelled them tohaunt now the very habitations which formerly they would have shunned.Scraps of food were thrown to them from the galleries; these werespeedily devoured, but were altogether inadequate in quantity to meetthe demand. At length, emboldened by hunger, several hundred birdsventured through the tunnel, and took up their quarters actually inNina's Hive. Congregating in the large hall, the half-famished creaturesdid not hesitate to snatch bread, meat, or food of any description fromthe hands of the residents as they sat at table, and soon became such anintolerable nuisance that it formed one of the daily diversions to huntthem down; but although they were vigorously attacked by stones andsticks, and even occasionally by shot, it was with some difficulty thattheir number could be sensibly reduced.
By a systematic course of warfare the bulk of the birds were allexpelled, with the exception of about a hundred, which began to build inthe crevices of the rocks. These were left in quiet possession of theirquarters, as not only was it deemed advisable to perpetuate the variousbreeds, but it was found that these birds acted as a kind of police,never failing either to chase away or to kill any others of theirspecies who infringed upon what they appeared to regard as their ownspecial privilege in intruding within the limits of their domain.
On the 15th loud cries were suddenly heard issuing from the mouth of theprincipal gallery.
"Help, help! I shall be killed!"
Pablo in a moment recognized the voice as Nina's. Outrunning even BenZoof he hurried to the assistance of his little playmate, and discoveredthat she was being attacked by half a dozen great sea-gulls, and onlyafter receiving some severe blows from their beaks could he succeed bymeans of a stout cudgel in driving them away.
"Tell me, Nina, what is this?" he asked as soon as the tumult hadsubsided.
The child pointed to a bird which she was caressing tenderly in herbosom.
"A pigeon!" exclaimed Ben Zoof, who had reached the scene of commotion,adding:
"A carrier-pigeon! And by all the saints of Montmartre, there is alittle bag attached to its neck!"
He took the bird, and rushing into the hall placed it in Servadac'shands.
"Another message, no doubt," cried the captain, "from our unknownfriend. Let us hope that this time he has given us his name andaddress."
All crowded round, eager to hear the news. In the struggle with thegulls the bag had been partially torn open, but still contained thefollowing dispatch:
"Gallia!
Chemin parcouru du 1er Mars au 1er Avril: 39,000,000 l.!
Distance du soleil: 110,000,000 l.!
Capte Nerina en passant.
Vivres vont manquer et..."
The rest of the document had been so damaged by the beaks of the gullsthat it was illegible. Servadac was wild with vexation. He felt more andmore convinced that the writer was a Frenchman, and that the lastline indicated that he was in distress from scarcity of food. Thevery thought of a fellow-countryman in peril of starvation drove himwell-nigh to distraction, and it was in vain that search was madeeverywhere near the scene of conflict in hopes of finding the missingscrap that might bear a signature or address.
Suddenly little Nina, who had again taken possession of the pigeon, andwas hugging it to her breast, said:
"Look here, Ben Zoof!"
And as she spoke she pointed to the left wing of the bird. The wing borethe faint impress of a postage-stamp, and the one word: "FORMENTERA."