On the 9th of October the bark canoe was entirely4 finished. Pencroft had kept his promise, and a light boat, the shell of which was joined together by the flexible twigs5 of the crejimba, had been constructed in five days. A seat in the stern, a second seat in the middle to preserve the equilibrium6, a third seat in the bows, rowlocks for the two oars7, a scull to steer9 with, completed the little craft, which was twelve feet long, and did not weigh more than 200 pounds.
The operation of launching it was extremely simple. The canoe was carried to the beach and laid on the sand before Granite10 House, and the rising tide floated it. Pencroft, who leapt in directly, man?uvred it with the scull and declared it to be just the thing for the purpose to which they wished to put it.
"Hurrah11!" cried the sailor, who did not disdain12 to celebrate thus his own triumph. "With this we could go round—"
"The world?" asked Gideon Spilett.
"No, the island. Some stones for ballast, a mast, and a sail, which the captain 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 you coming to try our new vessel13? Come along! we must see if it will carry all five of us!"
This was certainly a trial which ought to be made. Pencroft soon brought the canoe to the shore by a narrow passage among the rocks, and it was agreed that they should make a trial of the boat that day by following the shore as far as the first point at which the rocks of the south ended.
As they embarked14, Neb cried,[Pg 12]—
"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 more water in her than there is in the stomach of a drunkard. Jump in!"
They were soon all seated, and Pencroft shoved off. The weather was magnificent, the sea as calm as if its waters were contained within the narrow limits of a lake. Thus the boat could proceed with as much security as if it was ascending15 the tranquil16 current of the Mercy.
Neb took one of the oars, Herbert the other, and Pencroft remained in the stern in order to use the skull17.
The sailor first crossed the channel, and steered18 close to the southern point of the islet. A light breeze blew from the south. No roughness was found either in the channel or the green sea. A long swell19, which the canoe scarcely felt, as it was heavily laden20, rolled regularly over the surface of 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 boat then skirted the shore, which, extending to the extreme point, hid all Tadorn's Fens21.
This point, of which the distance was increased by the irregularity of the coast, was nearly three miles from the Mercy. The settlers resolved to go to its extremity22, and only go beyond it as much as was necessary to take a rapid survey of the coast as far as Claw Cape23.
The canoe followed the windings24 of the shore, avoiding the rocks which fringed it, and which the rising tide began to cover. The cliff gradually sloped away from the mouth of the river to the point. This was formed of granite rocks, capriciously distributed, very different from the cliff at Prospect25 Heights, and of an extremely wild aspect. It might have been said that an immense cartload of rocks had been emptied out there. There was no vegetation on this sharp promontory26, which projected two miles from the forest, and it thus represented a giant's arm stretched out from a leafy sleeve.
The canoe, impelled27 by the two oars, advanced without difficulty. Gideon Spilett, pencil in one hand and note-book[Pg 13] in the other, sketched28 the coast in bold strokes. Neb, Herbert, and Pencroft chatted, whilst examining this part of their domain29, which was new to them, and, in proportion as the canoe proceeded towards the south, the two Mandible Capes30 appeared to move, and surround union Bay more closely.
As to Cyrus Harding, he did not speak; he simply gazed, and by the mistrust which his look expressed, it appeared that he was examining some strange country.
In the meanwhile, after a voyage of three quarters of an hour, the canoe reached the extremity of the point, and Pencroft was preparing to return, when Herbert, rising, pointed31 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 a wreck 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 oar8 brought the canoe into a little creek32, and its passengers leapt on shore.
Pencroft was not mistaken. Two barrels were there, half buried in the sand, but still firmly attached to a large chest, which, sustained by them, had floated to the moment when it stranded33 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 impatience34. "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 the sides of the chest, when the engineer arrested his hand.
"Pencroft," said he, "can you restrain your impatience for one hour only?"
"But, captain, just think! Perhaps there is everything we want in there!"
"We shall find that out, Pencroft," replied the engineer;[Pg 14] "but trust to me, and do not break the chest, which may be useful to us. We must convey it 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 may just 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 not have been able to contain the articles possibly enclosed in the chest, which doubtless was heavy, since two empty barrels were required to buoy35 it up. 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 attentively36 around them, and examined the shore for several hundred steps. No other articles or pieces of wreck could be found. Herbert and Neb climbed a high rock to survey the sea, but there was nothing in sight—neither a dismasted vessel nor a ship under sail.
However, there was no doubt that there had been a wreck Perhaps this incident was connected with that of the bullet? Perhaps strangers had landed on another part of the island? Perhaps they were still there? But the thought which came naturally to the settlers was, that these strangers could not be Malay pirates, for the chest was evidently of American or European make.
All the party returned to the chest, which was of an unusually large size. It was made of oak wood, very carefully closed and covered with a thick hide, which was secured by copper37 nails. The two great barrels, hermetically sealed, but which sounded hollow and empty, were fastened to its sides by strong ropes knotted with a skill which Pencroft directly pronounced sailors alone could exhibit. It appeared to be in a perfect state of preservation38, which was explained by the fact that it had stranded on a sandy beach, and not among rocks. They had no doubt whatever, on examining it carefully, that it had not been long in the water, and that its arrival on this coast was recent. The water did not appear to have penetrated39 to the inside, and the articles which it contained were no doubt uninjured.
It was evident that this chest had been thrown overboard from some dismasted vessel driven towards the island, and that, in the hope that it would reach the land, where they might afterwards find it, the passengers had taken the precaution to buoy it up by means of this floating apparatus40.
"We will tow this chest to Granite House," said the engineer, "where we can make an inventory of its contents, then, if we discover any of the survivors41 from the supposed wreck, we can return it to those to whom it belongs. If we find no one—"
"We will keep it for ourselves!" cried Pencroft "But what in the world can there be in it?"
The sea was already approaching the chest, and the high tide would evidently float it. One of the ropes which fastened the barrels was partly unlashed and used as a cable to unite the floating apparatus with the canoe. Pencroft and Neb then dug away the sand with their oars, so as to facilitate the moving of the chest, towing which the boat soon began to double the point to which the name of Flotsam Point was given.
The chest was heavy, and the barrels were scarcely sufficient to keep it above water. The sailor also feared every instant that it would get loose and sink to the bottom of the sea. But happily his fears were not realised, and an hour and a half after they set out—all that time had been taken up in going a distance of three miles—the boat touched the beach below Granite House.
Canoe and chest were then hauled up on the sand, and as the tide was then 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 it might be injured as little as possible, and they proceeded to its inventory. Pencroft did not try to hide that he was greatly excited.
The sailor began by detaching the two barrels, which, being in good condition, would of course be of use. Then the locks were forced with a cold chisel42 and hammer, and the lid thrown back. A second casing of zinc43 lined the interior of the chest, which had been evidently arranged that the articles which it enclosed might under any circumstances be sheltered from damp.
"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 the chest, and by degrees numerous articles of very varied44 character were produced and strewn about on the sand. At each new object Pencroft uttered fresh hurrahs, Herbert clapped his hands, and Neb danced—like a nigger. There were books which made Herbert wild with joy, and cooking utensils which Neb covered with kisses!
In short, the colonists45 had reason to be extremely satisfied, for this chest contained tools, weapons, instruments, clothes, books; and this is the exact list of them as stated in Gideon Spilett's note-book:—
Tools:—3 knives with several blades, 2 woodmen's axes, 2 carpenter's hatchets46, 3 planes, 2 adzes, 1 twibil or mattock, 6 chisels47, 2 files, 3 hammers, 3 gimlets, 2 augers, 10 bags of nails and screws, 3 saws of different sizes, 2 boxes of needles.
Weapons:—2 flint-lock guns, 2 for percussion48 caps, 2 breech-loader carbines, 5 boarding cutlasses, 4 sabres, 2 barrels of powder, each containing twenty-five pounds; 12 boxes of percussion caps.
Instruments:—1 sextant, 1 double opera-glass, 1 telescope, 1 box of mathematical instruments, 1 mariner's compass, 1 Fahrenheit49 thermometer, 1 aneroid barometer50, 1 box containing a photographic apparatus, object-glass, plates, chemicals, etc.
Clothes:—2 dozen shirts of a peculiar51 material resembling wool, but evidently 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 atlas52, 1 dictionary of the different Polynesian idioms, 1 dictionary of natural science, in six volumes; 3 reams of white paper, 2 books with blank pages.
"It must be allowed," said the reporter, after the inventory had been made, "that the owner of this chest was a practical man! Tools, weapons, instruments, clothes, utensils, books—nothing is wanting! It might really be[Pg 19] said that he expected to be wrecked53, and had prepared for it beforehand."
"Nothing is wanting, indeed," murmured Cyrus Harding thoughtfully.
"And for a certainty," added Herbert, "the vessel which carried this chest 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 that an American or European vessel has been driven into this quarter, and that her passengers, wishing to save necessaries at least, prepared this chest and threw it overboard."
"Is that your opinion, captain?" asked Herbert.
"Yes, my boy," replied the engineer, "that may have been the case. It is possible that at the moment, or in expectation of a wreck, they collected into this chest different articles of the greatest use in hopes of finding it 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 of it; and a more complete supply of clothes or more abundant ammunition54 would have been more valuable to us as well as to any other castaways!"
"But isn't there any mark or direction on these instruments, tools, or books, which would tell us something about them?" asked Gideon Spilett.
That might be ascertained55. Each article was carefully examined, especially the books, instruments and weapons. Neither the weapons nor the instruments, contrary to the usual custom, bore the name of the maker56; they were, besides, in a perfect state, and did not appear to have been used. The same peculiarity57 marked the tools and utensils; all were new, which proved that the articles had not been taken by chance and thrown into the chest, but, on the contrary, that the choice of the things had been well considered and arranged with care. This was also indicated by a second case of metal which had preserved them from damp, and which could not have been soldered58 in a moment of haste.[Pg 20]
As to the dictionaries of natural science and Polynesian idioms, both were English, but they neither bore the name of the publisher nor the date of publication.
The same with the Bible printed in English, in quarto, remarkable59 in a typographical point of view, and which appeared to have been often used.
The atlas was a magnificent work, comprising maps of every country in the world, and several planispheres arranged upon Mercator's projection60, aid of which the nomenclature was in French—but which also bore neither date nor name of publisher.
There was nothing, therefore, on these different articles by which they could be traced and nothing consequently of a nature to show the nationality of the vessel which must have recently passed these shores.
But, wherever the chest might have come from, it was a treasure to the settlers on Lincoln Island. Till then, by making use of the productions of nature, they had created everything for themselves, and, thanks to their intelligence, they had managed without difficulty. But did it not appear as if Providence61 had wished to reward them by sending them these productions of human industry? Their thanks rose unanimously to Heaven.
However, one of them was not quite satisfied: it was Pencroft. It appeared that the chest did not contain some thing which he evidently held in great esteem62, for in proportion as they approached the bottom of the box, his hurrahs diminished in heartiness63, and, the inventory finished, he was heard to mutter these words—
"That's all very fine, but you can see that 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 would have 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 more than ever necessary to explore the island thoroughly64. It was therefore agreed that the next morning at break of day they should set out, by ascending the Mercy[Pg 22] so as to reach the western shore. If any castaways had landed on the coast, it was to be feared they were without resources, and it 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 29th of October—happened to be a Sunday, and, before going to bed, Herbert asked the 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 Pencroft stopped him, saying,—
"Captain, I am superstitious65. Open at random66 and read the first verse which your eye falls upon. We will see if it applies to our situation."
Cyrus Harding smiled at the sailor's idea, and, yielding to his wish, he opened 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 of St. Matthew. He read the verse, which was this:—
"For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth."
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收听单词发音
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1
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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inventory
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| n.详细目录，存货清单 | |
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3
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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4
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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5
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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6
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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7
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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8
oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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9
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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10
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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11
hurrah
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| int.好哇，万岁，乌拉 | |
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12
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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13
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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14
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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15
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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18
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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19
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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fens
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| n.（尤指英格兰东部的）沼泽地带( fen的名词复数 ) | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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windings
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| （道路、河流等）蜿蜒的，弯曲的( winding的名词复数 )； 缠绕( wind的现在分词 )； 卷绕； 转动（把手） | |
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25
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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27
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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29
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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30
capes
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| 碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬 | |
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31
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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32
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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35
buoy
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| n.浮标；救生圈；v.支持，鼓励 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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37
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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38
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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39
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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40
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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41
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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42
chisel
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| n.凿子；v.用凿子刻，雕，凿 | |
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43
zinc
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| n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌 | |
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44
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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45
colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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46
hatchets
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| n.短柄小斧( hatchet的名词复数 )；恶毒攻击；诽谤；休战 | |
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47
chisels
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| n.凿子，錾子( chisel的名词复数 )；口凿 | |
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48
percussion
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| n.打击乐器；冲突，撞击；震动，音响 | |
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49
Fahrenheit
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| n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的) | |
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50
barometer
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| n.气压表，睛雨表，反应指标 | |
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51
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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52
atlas
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| n.地图册，图表集 | |
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53
wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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54
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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55
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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57
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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58
soldered
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| v.（使）焊接，焊合( solder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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60
projection
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| n.发射，计划，突出部分 | |
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61
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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62
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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63
heartiness
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| 诚实，热心 | |
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64
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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65
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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66
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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