L'île mystérieuse. English

  Chapter 21

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

  Towards the end of the month of June, after incessant rain, the weatherbecame decidedly colder, and on the 29th a Fahrenheit thermometerwould certainly have announced only twenty degrees above zero, that isconsiderably 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, butPencroft 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 themouth of the Mercy, and it was not long before the whole expanse of thelake 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 hadbrought enormous rafts of wood to their destination. The current wasan indefatigable moving power, and it was employed in conveying thefloating wood to the moment when the frost enchained it. To the fuelwhich was so abundantly supplied by the forest, they added severalcartloads of coal, which had to be brought from the foot of the spurs ofMount Franklin. The powerful heat of the coal was greatly appreciated inthe low temperature, which on the 4th of July fell to eight degrees ofFahrenheit, that is, thirteen degrees below zero. A second fireplace hadbeen established in the dining-room, where they all worked together attheir different avocations. During this period of cold, Cyrus Hardinghad great cause to congratulate himself on having brought to GraniteHouse the little stream of water from Lake Grant. Taken below the frozensurface, and conducted through the passage, it preserved its fluidity,and arrived at an interior reservoir which had been hollowed out at theback part of the storeroom, while the overflow ran through the well tothe sea.

  About this time, the weather being extremely dry, the colonists, clothedas warmly as possible, resolved to devote a day to the exploration ofthat part of the island between the Mercy and Claw Cape. It was a wideextent of marshy land, and they would probably find good sport, forwater-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 wholecolony took part in the expedition. Accordingly, on the 5th of July, atsix 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 coveredit.

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

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

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

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

  They were foxes, but of a very large size, who uttered a sort ofbarking, at which Top seemed to be very much astonished, for he stoppedshort 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 tailsterminating in a white tuft, had betrayed their origin. So Herbertwas able, without hesitating, to give them their real name of "Arcticfoxes." They are frequently met with in Chile, in the Falkland Islands,and in all parts of America traversed by the thirtieth and fortiethparallels. Herbert much regretted that Top had not been able to catchone of these carnivora.

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

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

  Harding could not help smiling on hearing the lad's reflection, whichshowed a thoughtful mind. As to the sailor, from the moment when hefound that the foxes were not classed in the genus eatable, they werenothing to him. However, when a poultry-yard was established at GraniteHouse, he observed that it would be best to take some precautionsagainst a probable visit from these four-legged plunderers, and no onedisputed this.

  After having turned the point, the settlers saw a long beach washed bythe open sea. It was then eight o'clock in the morning. The sky was veryclear, as it often is after prolonged cold; but warmed by their walk,neither Harding nor his companions felt the sharpness of the atmospheretoo severely. Besides there was no wind, which made it much morebearable. A brilliant sun, but without any calorific action, was justissuing from the ocean. The sea was as tranquil and blue as that of aMediterranean gulf, when the sky is clear. Claw Cape, bent in the formof a yataghan, tapered away nearly four miles to the southeast. Tothe left the edge of the marsh was abruptly ended by a little point.Certainly, in this part of Union Bay, which nothing sheltered from theopen sea, not even a sandbank, ships beaten by the east winds wouldhave found no shelter. They perceived by the tranquillity of the sea, inwhich no shallows troubled the waters, by its uniform color, which wasstained by no yellow shades, by the absence of even a reef, that thecoast was steep and that the ocean there covered a deep abyss. Behind inthe west, but at a distance of four miles, rose the first trees of theforests of the Far West. They might have believed themselves to be onthe desolate coast of some island in the Antarctic regions which the icehad invaded. The colonists halted at this place for breakfast. A fire ofbrushwood and dried seaweed was lighted, and Neb prepared the breakfastof cold meat, to which he added some cups of Oswego tea.

  While eating they looked around them. This part of Lincoln Island wasvery sterile, and contrasted with all the western part. The reporterwas thus led to observe that if chance had thrown them at first on theshore, they would have had but a deplorable idea of their future domain.

  "I believe that we should not have been able to reach it," replied theengineer, "for the sea is deep, and there is not a rock on which wecould have taken refuge. Before Granite House, at least, there weresandbanks, an islet, which multiplied our chances of safety. Here,nothing but the depths!"

  "It is singular enough," remarked Spilett, "that this comparativelysmall island should present such varied ground. This diversity ofaspect, logically only belongs to continents of a certain extent. Onewould really say, that the western part of Lincoln Island, so rich andso fertile, is washed by the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and thatits shores to the north and the southeast extend over a sort of Arcticsea."

  "You are right, my dear Spilett," replied Cyrus Harding, "I have alsoobserved this. I think the form and also the nature of this islandstrange. It is a summary of all the aspects which a continent presents,and I should not be surprised if it was a continent formerly."

  "What! a continent in the middle of the Pacific?" cried Pencroft.

  "Why not?" replied Cyrus Harding. "Why should not Australia, NewIreland, Australasia, united to the archipelagoes of the Pacific, haveonce formed a sixth part of the world, as important as Europe or Asia,as Africa or the two Americas? To my mind, it is quite possible that allthese islands, emerging from this vast ocean, are but the summits ofa continent, now submerged, but which was above the waters at aprehistoric period."

  "As the Atlantis was formerly," replied Herbert.

  "Yes, my boy... if, however, it existed."

  "And would Lincoln Island have been a part of that continent?" askedPencroft.

/>   "It is probable," replied Cyrus Harding, "and that would sufficiently,explain the variety of productions which are seen on its surface."

  "And the great number of animals which still inhabit it," added Herbert.

  "Yes, my boy," replied the engineer, "and you furnish me with anargument to support my theory. It is certain, after what we have seen,that animals are numerous in this island, and what is more strange, thatthe species are extremely varied. There is a reason for that, and tome it is that Lincoln Island may have formerly been a part of some vastcontinent which had gradually sunk below the Pacific."

  "Then, some fine day," said Pencroft, who did not appear to be entirelyconvinced, "the rest of this ancient continent may disappear in itsturn, and there will be nothing between America and Asia."

  "Yes," replied Harding, "there will be new continents which millions andmillions of animalculae are building at this moment."

  "And what are these masons?" asked Pencroft.

  "Coral insects," replied Cyrus Harding. "By constant work they made theisland of Clermont-Tonnerre, and numerous other coral islands in thePacific Ocean. Forty-seven millions of these insects are needed to weigha grain, and yet, with the sea-salt they absorb, the solid elements ofwater which they assimilate, these animalculae produce limestone, andthis limestone forms enormous submarine erections, of which the hardnessand solidity equal granite. Formerly, at the first periods of creation,nature employing fire, heaved up the land, but now she entrusts to thesemicroscopic creatures the task of replacing this agent, of whichthe dynamic power in the interior of the globe has evidentlydiminished--which is proved by the number of volcanoes on the surface ofthe earth, now actually extinct. And I believe that centuries succeedingto centuries, and insects to insects, this Pacific may one day bechanged into a vast continent, which new generations will inhabit andcivilize in their turn."

  "That will take a long time," said Pencroft.

  "Nature has time for it," replied the engineer.

  "But what would be the use of new continents?" asked Herbert. "Itappears to me that the present extent of habitable countries issufficient for humanity. Yet nature does nothing uselessly."

  "Nothing uselessly, certainly," replied the engineer, "but this ishow the necessity of new continents for the future, and exactly on thetropical zone occupied by the coral islands, may be explained. At leastto me this explanation appears plausible."

  "We are listening, captain," said Herbert.

  "This is my idea: philosophers generally admit that some day our globewill end, or rather that animal and vegetable life will no longer bepossible, because of the intense cold to which it will be subjected.What they are not agreed upon, is the cause of this cold. Some thinkthat it will arise from the falling of the temperature, which thesun will experience after millions of years; others, from the gradualextinction of the fires in the interior of our globe, which have agreater influence on it than is generally supposed. I hold to this lasthypothesis, grounding it on the fact that the moon is really a coldstar, which is no longer habitable, although the sun continues to throwon its surface the same amount of heat. If, then, the moon has becomecold, it is because the interior fires to which, as do all the stars ofthe stellar world, it owes its origin, are completely extinct. Lastly,whatever may be the cause, our globe will become cold some day, but thiscold will only operate gradually. What will happen, then? The temperatezones, at a more or less distant period, will not be more habitable thanthe polar regions now are. Then the population of men, as well as theanimals, will flow towards the latitudes which are more directly underthe solar influence. An immense emigration will take place. Europe,Central Asia, North America, will gradually be abandoned, as well asAustralasia and the lower parts of South America. The vegetation willfollow the human emigration. The flora will retreat towards the Equatorat the same time as the fauna. The central parts of South America andAfrica will be the continents chiefly inhabited. The Laplanders and theSamoides will find the climate of the polar regions on the shores of theMediterranean. Who can say, that at this period, the equatorial regionswill not be too small, to contain and nourish terrestrial humanity? Now,may not provident nature, so as to give refuge to all the vegetableand animal emigration, be at present laying the foundation of a newcontinent under the Equator, and may she not have entrusted theseinsects with the construction of it? I have often thought of all thesethings, my friends, and I seriously believe that the aspect of ourglobe will some day be completely changed; that by the raising of newcontinents the sea will cover the old, and that, in future ages,a Columbus will go to discover the islands of Chimborazo, of theHimalayas, or of Mont Blanc, remains of a submerged America, Asia,and Europe. Then these new continents will become, in their turn,uninhabitable; heat will die away, as does the heat from a body whenthe soul has left it; and life will disappear from the globe, if not forever, at least for a period. Perhaps then, our spheroid will rest--willbe left to death--to revive some day under superior conditions! Butall that, my friends, is the secret of the Author of all things; andbeginning by the work of the insects, I have perhaps let myself becarried too far, in investigating the secrets of the future.

  "My dear Cyrus," replied Spilett, "these theories are prophecies to me,and they will be accomplished some day."

  "That is the secret of God," said the engineer.

  "All that is well and good," then said Pencroft, who had listened withall his might, "but will you tell me, captain, if Lincoln Island hasbeen made by your insects?"

  "No," replied Harding; "it is of a purely volcanic origin."

  "Then it will disappear some day?"

  "That is probable."

  "I hope we won't be here then."

  "No, don't be uneasy, Pencroft; we shall not be here then, as we have nowish to die here, and hope to get away some time."

  "In the meantime," replied Gideon Spilett, "let us establish ourselveshere as if forever. There is no use in doing things by halves."

  This ended the conversation. Breakfast was finished, the exploration wascontinued, and the settlers arrived at the border of the marshyregion. It was a marsh of which the extent, to the rounded coast whichterminated the island at the southeast, was about twenty square miles.The soil was formed of clayey flint-earth, mingled with vegetablematter, such as the remains of rushes, reeds, grass, etc. Here and therebeds of grass, thick as a carpet, covered it. In many places icy poolssparkled in the sun. Neither rain nor any river, increased by a suddenswelling, could supply these ponds. They therefore naturally concludedthat the marsh was fed by the infiltrations of the soil and it wasreally so. It was also to be feared that during the heat miasmas wouldarise, which might produce fevers.

  Above the aquatic plants, on the surface of the stagnant water,fluttered numbers of birds. Wild duck, teal, snipe lived there inflocks, and those fearless birds allowed themselves to be easilyapproached.

  One shot from a gun would certainly have brought down some dozen of thebirds, they were so close together. The explorers were, however, obligedto content themselves with bows and arrows. The result was less, but thesilent arrow had the advantage of not frightening the birds, while thenoise of firearms would have dispersed them to all parts of the marsh.The hunters were satisfied, for this time, with a dozen ducks, which hadwhite bodies with a band of cinnamon, a green head, wings black, white,and red, and flattened beak. Herbert called them tadorns. Top helped inthe capture of these birds, whose name was given to this marshy part ofthe island. The settlers had here an abundant reserve of aquatic game.At some future time they meant to explore it more carefully, and it wasprobable that some of the birds there might be domesticated, or at leastbrought to the shores of the lake, so that they would be more withintheir reach.

  About five o'clock in the evening Cyrus Harding and his companionsretraced their steps to their dwelling by traversing Tadorn's Fens, andcrossed the Mercy on the ice-bridge.

  At eight in the evening they all entered Granite House.