IT was not a time for despair, but action. The bridge at Kemple Pier1 was destroyed, but the Snowy River must be crossed, come what might, and they must reach Twofold Bay before Ben Joyce and his gang, so, instead of wasting time in empty words, the next day (the 16th of January) John Mangles2 and Glenarvan went down to examine the river, and arrange for the passage over.
The swollen3 and tumultuous waters had not gone down the least. They rushed on with indescribable fury. It would be risking life to battle with them. Glenarvan stood gazing with folded arms and downcast face.
“Would you like me to try and swim across?” said John Mangles.
“No, John, no!” said Lord Glenarvan, holding back the bold, daring young fellow, “let us wait.”
And they both returned to the camp. The day passed in the most intense anxiety. Ten times Lord Glenarvan went to look at the river, trying to invent some bold way of getting over; but in vain. Had a torrent4 of lava5 rushed between the shores, it could not have been more impassable.
During these long wasted hours, Lady Helena, under the Major’s advice, was nursing Mulrady with the utmost skill. The sailor felt a throb6 of returning life. McNabbs ventured to affirm that no vital part was injured. Loss of blood accounted for the patient’s extreme exhaustion7. The wound once closed and the hemorrhage stopped, time and rest would be all that was needed to complete his cure. Lady Helena had insisted on giving up the first compartment8 of the wagon9 to him, which greatly tried his modesty10. The poor fellow’s greatest trouble was the delay his condition might cause Glenarvan, and he made him promise that they should leave him in the camp under Wilson’s care, should the passage of the river become practicable.
But, unfortunately, no passage was practicable, either that day or the next (January 17); Glenarvan was in despair. Lady Helena and the Major vainly tried to calm him, and preached patience.
Patience, indeed, when perhaps at this very moment Ben Joyce was boarding the yacht; when the Duncan, loosing from her moorings, was getting up steam to reach the fatal coast, and each hour was bringing her nearer.
John Mangles felt in his own breast all that Glenarvan was suffering. He determined12 to conquer the difficulty at any price, and constructed a canoe in the Australian manner, with large sheets of bark of the gum-trees. These sheets were kept together by bars of wood, and formed a very fragile boat. The captain and the sailor made a trial trip in it during the day. All that skill, and strength, and tact13, and courage could do they did; but they were scarcely in the current before they were upside down, and nearly paid with their lives for the dangerous experiment. The boat disappeared, dragged down by the eddy14. John Mangles and Wilson had not gone ten fathoms15, and the river was a mile broad, and swollen by the heavy rains and melted snows.
Thus passed the 19th and 20th of January. The Major and Glenarvan went five miles up the river in search of a favorable passage, but everywhere they found the same roaring, rushing, impetuous torrent. The whole southern slope of the Australian Alps poured its liquid masses into this single bed.
All hope of saving the Duncan was now at an end. Five days had elapsed since the departure of Ben Joyce. The yacht must be at this moment at the coast, and in the hands of the convicts.
However, it was impossible that this state of things could last. The temporary influx16 would soon be exhausted17, and the violence also. Indeed, on the morning of the 21st, Paganel announced that the water was already lower. “What does it matter now?” said Glenarvan. “It is too late!”
“That is no reason for our staying longer here,” said the Major.
“Certainly not,” replied John Mangles. “Perhaps tomorrow the river may be practicable.”
“And will that save my unhappy men?” cried Glenarvan.
“Will your Lordship listen to me?” returned John Mangles. “I know Tom Austin. He would execute your orders, and set out as soon as departure was possible. But who knows whether the Duncan was ready and her injury repaired on the arrival of Ben Joyce. And suppose the
V. IV Verne yacht could not go to sea; suppose there was a delay of a day, or two days.”
“You are right, John,” replied Glenarvan. “We must get to Twofold Bay; we are only thirty-five miles from Delegete.”
“Yes,” added Paganel, “and that’s a town where we shall find rapid means of conveyance18. Who knows whether we shan’t arrive in time to prevent a catastrophe19.”
“Let us start,” cried Glenarvan.
John Mangles and Wilson instantly set to work to construct a canoe of larger dimensions. Experience had proved that the bark was powerless against the violence of the torrent, and John accordingly felled some of the gum-trees, and made a rude but solid raft with the trunks. It was a long task, and the day had gone before the work was ended. It was completed next morning.
By this time the waters had visibly diminished; the torrent had once more become a river, though a very rapid one, it is true. However, by pursuing a zigzag20 course, and overcoming it to a certain extent, John hoped to reach the opposite shore. At half-past twelve, they embarked21 provisions enough for a couple of days. The remainder was left with the wagon and the tent. Mulrady was doing well enough to be carried over; his convalescence22 was rapid.
At one o’clock, they all seated themselves on the raft, still moored23 to the shore. John Mangles had installed himself at the starboard, and entrusted24 to Wilson a sort of oar11 to steady the raft against the current, and lessen25 the leeway. He took his own stand at the back, to steer26 by means of a large scull; but, notwithstanding their efforts, Wilson and John Mangles soon found themselves in an inverse27 position, which made the action of the oars28 impossible.
There was no help for it; they could do nothing to arrest the gyratory movement of the raft; it turned round with dizzying rapidity, and drifted out of its course. John Mangles stood with pale face and set teeth, gazing at the whirling current.
However, the raft had reached the middle of the river, about half a mile from the starting point. Here the current was extremely strong, and this broke the whirling eddy, and gave the raft some stability. John and Wilson seized their oars again, and managed to push it in an oblique29 direction. This brought them nearer to the left shore. They were not more than fifty fathoms from it, when Wilson’s oar snapped short off, and the raft, no longer supported, was dragged away. John tried to resist at the risk of breaking his own oar, too, and Wilson, with bleeding hands, seconded his efforts with all his might.
At last they succeeded, and the raft, after a passage of more than half an hour, struck against the steep bank of the opposite shore. The shock was so violent that the logs became disunited, the cords broke, and the water bubbled up between. The travelers had barely time to catch hold of the steep bank. They dragged out Mulrady and the two dripping ladies. Everyone was safe; but the provisions and firearms, except the carbine of the Major, went drifting down with the DEBRIS30 of the raft.
The river was crossed. The little company found themselves almost without provisions, thirty-five miles from Delegete, in the midst of the unknown deserts of the Victoria frontier. Neither settlers nor squatters were to be met with; it was entirely31 uninhabited, unless by ferocious32 bushrangers and bandits.
They resolved to set off without delay. Mulrady saw clearly that he would be a great drag on them, and he begged to be allowed to remain, and even to remain alone, till assistance could be sent from Delegete.
Glenarvan refused. It would be three days before he could reach Delegete, and five the shore — that is to say, the 26th of January. Now, as the Duncan had left Melbourne on the 16th, what difference would a few days’ delay make?
“No, my friend,” he said, “I will not leave anyone behind. We will make a litter and carry you in turn.”
The litter was made of boughs33 of eucalyptus34 covered with branches; and, whether he would or not, Mulrady was obliged to take his place on it. Glenarvan would be the first to carry his sailor. He took hold of one end and Wilson of the other, and all set off.
What a sad spectacle, and how lamentably35 was this expedition to end which had commenced so well. They were no longer in search of Harry36 Grant. This continent, where he was not, and never had been, threatened to prove fatal to those who sought him. And when these intrepid37 countrymen of his should reach the shore, they would find the Duncan waiting to take them home again. The first day passed silently and painfully. Every ten minutes the litter changed bearers. All the sailor’s comrades took their share in this task without murmuring, though the fatigue39 was augmented40 by the great heat.
In the evening, after a journey of only five miles, they camped under the gum-trees. The small store of provisions saved from the raft composed the evening meal. But all they had to depend upon now was the Major’s carbine.
It was a dark, rainy night, and morning seemed as if it would never dawn. They set off again, but the Major could not find a chance of firing a shot. This fatal region was only a desert, unfrequented even by animals. Fortunately, Robert discovered a bustard’s nest with a dozen of large eggs in it, which Olbinett cooked on hot cinders41. These, with a few roots of purslain which were growing at the bottom of a ravine, were all the breakfast of the 22d.
The route now became extremely difficult. The sandy plains were bristling42 with SPINIFEX, a prickly plant, which is called in Melbourne the porcupine43. It tears the clothing to rags, and makes the legs bleed. The courageous44 ladies never complained, but footed it bravely, setting an example, and encouraging one and another by word or look.
They stopped in the evening at Mount Bulla Bulla, on the edge of the Jungalla Creek45. The supper would have been very scant46, if McNabbs had not killed a large rat, the mus conditor, which is highly spoken of as an article of diet. Olbinett roasted it, and it would have been pronounced even superior to its reputation had it equaled the sheep in size. They were obliged to be content with it, however, and it was devoured47 to the bones.
On the 23d the weary but still energetic travelers started off again. After having gone round the foot of the mountain, they crossed the long prairies where the grass seemed made of whalebone. It was a tangle48 of darts49, a medley50 of sharp little sticks, and a path had to be cut through either with the hatchet51 or fire.
That morning there was not even a question of breakfast. Nothing could be more barren than this region strewn with pieces of quartz52. Not only hunger, but thirst began to assail53 the travelers. A burning atmosphere heightened their discomfort54. Glenarvan and his friends could only go half a mile an hour. Should this lack of food and water continue till evening, they would all sink on the road, never to rise again.
But when everything fails a man, and he finds himself without resources, at the very moment when he feels he must give up, then Providence55 steps in. Water presented itself in the CEPHALOTES, a species of cup-shaped flower, filled with refreshing56 liquid, which hung from the branches of coralliform-shaped bushes. They all quenched57 their thirst with these, and felt new life returning.
The only food they could find was the same as the natives were forced to subsist58 upon, when they could find neither game, nor serpents, nor insects. Paganel discovered in the dry bed of a creek, a plant whose excellent properties had been frequently described by one of his colleagues in the Geographical59 Society.
It was the NARDOU, a cryptogamous plant of the family Marsilacea, and the same which kept Burke and King alive in the deserts of the interior. Under its leaves, which resembled those of the trefoil, there were dried sporules as large as a lentil, and these sporules, when crushed between two stones, made a sort of flour. This was converted into coarse bread, which stilled the pangs60 of hunger at least. There was a great abundance of this plant growing in the district, and Olbinett gathered a large supply, so that they were sure of food for several days.
The next day, the 24th, Mulrady was able to walk part of the way. His wound was entirely cicatrized. The town of Delegete was not more than ten miles off, and that evening they camped in longitude61 140 degrees, on the very frontier of New South Wales.
For some hours, a fine but penetrating62 rain had been falling. There would have been no shelter from this, if by chance John Mangles had not discovered a sawyer’s hut, deserted63 and dilapidated to a degree. But with this miserable64 cabin they were obliged to be content. Wilson wanted to kindle65 a fire to prepare the NARDOU bread, and he went out to pick up the dead wood scattered66 all over the ground. But he found it would not light, the great quantity of albuminous matter which it contained prevented all combustion67. This is the incombustible wood put down by Paganel in his list of Australian products.
They had to dispense68 with fire, and consequently with food too, and sleep in their wet clothes, while the laughing jackasses, concealed69 in the high branches, seemed to ridicule70 the poor unfortunates. However, Glenarvan was nearly at the end of his sufferings. It was time. The two young ladies were making heroic efforts, but their strength was hourly decreasing. They dragged themselves along, almost unable to walk.
Next morning they started at daybreak. At 11 A. M. Delegete came in sight in the county of Wellesley, and fifty miles from Twofold Bay.
Means of conveyance were quickly procured71 here. Hope returned to Glenarvan as they approached the coast. Perhaps there might have been some slight delay, and after all they might get there before the arrival of the Duncan. In twenty-four hours they would reach the bay.
At noon, after a comfortable meal, all the travelers installed in a mail-coach, drawn72 by five strong horses, left Delegete at a gallop73. The postilions, stimulated74 by a promise of a princely DOUCEUR, drove rapidly along over a well-kept road. They did not lose a minute in changing horses, which took place every ten miles. It seemed as if they were infected with Glenarvan’s zeal75. All that day, and night, too, they traveled on at the rate of six miles an hour.
In the morning at sunrise, a dull murmur38 fell on their ears, and announced their approach to the Indian Ocean. They required to go round the bay to gain the coast at the 37th parallel, the exact point where Tom Austin was to wait their arrival.
When the sea appeared, all eyes anxiously gazed at the offing. Was the Duncan, by a miracle of Providence, there running close to the shore, as a month ago, when they crossed Cape76 Corrientes, they had found her on the Argentine coast? They saw nothing. Sky and earth mingled77 in the same horizon. Not a sail enlivened the vast stretch of ocean.
One hope still remained. Perhaps Tom Austin had thought it his duty to cast anchor in Twofold Bay, for the sea was heavy, and a ship would not dare to venture near the shore. “To Eden!” cried Glenarvan. Immediately the mail-coach resumed the route round the bay, toward the little town of Eden, five miles distant. The postilions stopped not far from the lighthouse, which marks the entrance of the port. Several vessels78 were moored in the roadstead, but none of them bore the flag of Malcolm.
Glenarvan, John Mangles, and Paganel got out of the coach, and rushed to the custom-house, to inquire about the arrival of vessels within the last few days.
No ship had touched the bay for a week.
“Perhaps the yacht has not started,” Glenarvan said, a sudden revulsion of feeling lifting him from despair. “Perhaps we have arrived first.”
John Mangles shook his head. He knew Tom Austin. His first mate would not delay the execution of an order for ten days.
“I must know at all events how they stand,” said Glenarvan. “Better certainty than doubt.”
A quarter of an hour afterward79 a telegram was sent to the syndicate of shipbrokers in Melbourne. The whole party then repaired to the Victoria Hotel.
At 2 P.M. the following telegraphic reply was received: “LORD GLENARVAN, Eden.
“Twofold Bay.
“The Duncan left on the 16th current. Destination unknown. J. ANDREWS, S. B.”
The telegram dropped from Glenarvan’s hands.
There was no doubt now. The good, honest Scotch80 yacht was now a pirate ship in the hands of Ben Joyce!
So ended this journey across Australia, which had commenced under circumstances so favorable. All trace of Captain Grant and his shipwrecked men seemed to be irrevocably lost. This ill success had cost the loss of a ship’s crew. Lord Glenarvan had been vanquished81 in the strife82; and the courageous searchers, whom the unfriendly elements of the Pampas had been unable to check, had been conquered on the Australian shore by the perversity83 of man.
End of Book Two
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pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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mangles
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| n.轧布机，轧板机，碾压机（mangle的复数形式）vt.乱砍（mangle的第三人称单数形式） | |
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swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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throb
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| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
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exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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eddy
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| n.漩涡，涡流 | |
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fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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influx
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| n.流入，注入 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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zigzag
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| n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行 | |
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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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convalescence
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| n.病后康复期 | |
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moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lessen
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| vt.减少，减轻；缩小 | |
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steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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inverse
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| adj.相反的，倒转的，反转的；n.相反之物；v.倒转 | |
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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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oblique
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| adj.斜的，倾斜的，无诚意的，不坦率的 | |
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debris
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| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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eucalyptus
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| n.桉树，桉属植物 | |
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lamentably
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| adv.哀伤地，拙劣地 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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intrepid
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| adj.无畏的，刚毅的 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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cinders
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| n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道 | |
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bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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porcupine
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| n.豪猪， 箭猪 | |
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courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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49
darts
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| n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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medley
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| n.混合 | |
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51
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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52
quartz
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| n.石英 | |
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53
assail
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| v.猛烈攻击，抨击，痛斥 | |
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54
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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57
quenched
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| 解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却 | |
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subsist
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| vi.生存，存在，供养 | |
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geographical
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| adj.地理的；地区(性)的 | |
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pangs
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| 突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛 | |
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longitude
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| n.经线，经度 | |
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62
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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63
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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kindle
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| v.点燃，着火 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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combustion
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| n.燃烧；氧化；骚动 | |
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dispense
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| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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70
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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71
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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72
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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73
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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76
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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80
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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81
vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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82
strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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