The Mysterious Island: Illustrated
By Jules Verne
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About this ebook
The novel is a crossover sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and In Search of the Castaways, though thematically it is vastly different from those books.
The Mysterious Island" has by common consent been pronounced the most successful and the most absorbing of Jules Verne's works. In recognition of its wide popularity, the publishers herewith offer to the youth of the World in a single volume the complete work which originally appeared in three volumes. The work has been pronounced "A new Robinson Crusoe with all the modern improvements."
You will find amusement and instruction. One of three books that inspired Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
Jules Verne
Victor Marie Hugo (1802–1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement and is considered one of the greatest French writers. Hugo’s best-known works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and The Hunchbak of Notre-Dame, 1831, both of which have had several adaptations for stage and screen.
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The Mysterious Island - Jules Verne
The Mysterious Island:
Illustrated Edition
Jules Verne
THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND
WITH A MAP OF THE ISLAND AND A FULL GLOSSARY
By JULES VERNE
AUTHOR OF THE TOUR OF THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS,
A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH,
TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA,
ETC.,ETC.
TRANSLATED EXPRESSLY FOR
T H E E V E N I N G T E L E G R A P H,
AND REPRINTED FROM THE COLUMNS OF THAT JOURNAL.
PHILADELPHIA:
OFFICE OF THE EVENING TELEGAPH, 108 SOUTH THIRD ST.
1876
PRICE, 25 CENTS
THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND
CONTENTS
PART I - DROPPED FROM THE CLOUDS
I.The Hurricane of 1865—Cries in the Air—A Balloon Caught By a Waterspout—Only the Sea in Sight—Five Passengers—What Took Place in the Basket—Land Ahead!—The End.
II.An Episode of the Rebellion—The Engineer Cyrus Smith—Gideon Spilett—The Negro Neb—The Sailor Pencroft—The Youth, Herbert—An Unexpected Proposal—Rendezvous at 10 O’clock P.M.—Departure in the Storm.
III.Five O’clock in the Afternoon—The Lost One—The Despair of Neb—Search to the Northward—The Island—A Night of Anguish—The Fog of the Morning—Neb Swimming—Sight of the Land—Fording the Channel.
IV.The Lithodomes—The Mouth of the River—The Chimneys
—Continuation of the Search—The Forest of Evergreens—Getting Firewood—Waiting for the Tide—On Top of the Cliff—The Timber-Float—The Return to the Coast.
V.Arranging the Chimneys—The Important Question of Fire—The Match Box—Search Over the Shore—Return of the Reporter and Neb—One Match—The Crackling Fire—The Fish Supper—The First Night on Land.
VI.The Castaways’ Inventory—No Effects—The Charred Linen—An Expedition Into the Forest—The Flora of the Woods—The Flight of the Jacamar—Tracks of Wild Beasts—The Couroucous—The Heath-Cock—Line-Fishing Extraordinary.
VII.Neb Has Not Yet Returned—The Reflections of the Reporter—The Supper—Prospect of a Bad Night—The Storm Is Frightful—They Go Out Into the Night—Struggle with the Rain and Wind.
VIII.Is Cyrus Smith Alive?—Neb’s Story—Footprints—An Insoluble Question—The First Words of Smith—Comparing the Footprints—Return to the Chimneys—Pencroff Dejected.
IX.Cyrus Is Here-Pencroff’s Attempts—Rubbing Wood—Island or Continent—The Plans of the Engineer—Whereabouts in the Pacific—In the Depths of the Forest—The Pistachio Pine—A Pig Chase—A Smoke of Good Omen.
X.The Engineer’s Invention—Island Or Continent?—Departure for the Mountain—The Forest—Volcanic Soil—The Tragopans—The Moufflons—The First Plateau—Encamping for the Night—The Summit of the Cone
XI.At the Summit of the Cone—The Interior of the Crater—Sea Everywhere—No Land in Sight—A Bird’s Eve View of the Coast—Hydrography and Orography—Is the Island Inhabited?—A Geographical Baptism—Lincoln Island.
XII.Regulation of Watches—Pencroff Is Satisfied—A Suspicious Smoke—The Course of Red Creek—The Flora of the Island—Its Fauna—Mountain Pheasants—A Kangaroo Chase—The Agouti—Lake Grant—Return to the Chimneys.
XIII.Top’s Contribution—Making Bows and Arrows—A Brick-Kiln—A Pottery—Different Cooking Utensils—The First Boiled Meat—Mugwort—The Southern Cross—An Important Astronomical Observation.
XIV.The Measure Of the Granite Wall—An Application of the Theorem of Similar Triangles—The Latitude of the Island—An Excursion to the North—An Oyster-Bed—Plans for the Future—The Sun’s Passage of the Meridian—The Co-ordinates of Lincoln Island.
XV.Winter Sets In—The Metallurgic Question—The Exploration of Safety Island—A Seal Hunt—Capture of an Echidna—The Ai—The Catalonian Method—Making Iron and Steel.
XVI.The Question of a Dwelling Discussed Again—Pencroff’s Ideas—An Exploration to the North of the Lake—The Western Boundary of the Plateau—The Serpents—The Outlet of the Lake—Top’s Alarm—Top Swimming—A Fight Under Water—The Dugong.
XVIIA Visit to the Lake—The Direction of the Current—The Prospects of Cyrus Smith—The Dugong Fat—The Use of the Schistous Limestone—The Sulphate of Iron—How Glycerine Is Made—Soap—Saltpetre—Sulphuric Acid—Nitric Acid—The New Outlet.
XVIII.Pencroff Doubts No More—The Old Outlet of the Lake—A Subterranean Descent—The Way Through the Granite—Top Has Disappeared—The Central Cavern—The Lower Well—Mystery—The Blows with the Pick—The Return.
XIX.Smith’s Plan—The Front of Granite House—The Rope Ladder—Pencroff’s Ideas—The Aromatic Herbs—A Natural Warren—Getting Water—The View From the Windows of Granite House.
XX.The Rainy Season—What to Wear-A Seal-Hunt—Candle-Making—-Work in the Granite House—The Two Causeways—Return From a Visit to the Oyster-Bed—What Herbert Found in His Pocket.
XXI.Several Degrees Below Zero—Exploration of the Swamp Region to the Southeast—The View of the Sea—A Conversation Concerning the Future of the Pacific Ocean—The Incessant Labor of the Infusoria—What Will Become of This Globe—The Chase—The Swamp of the Tadorns.
XXII.The Traps—The Foxes—The Peccaries—The Wind Veers to the Northwest—The Snow-Storm—The Basket-Makers—The Coldest Snap of Winter—Crystallization of the Sugar-Maple—The Mysterious Shafts—The Projected Exploration—The Pellet of Lead.
PART II - THE ABANDONED
XXIII.Concerning the Leaden Pellet—Making a Canoe—Hunting—In the Top of a Kauri—Nothing to Indicate the Presence of Man—The Turtle on its Back—The Turtle Disappears—Smith’s Explanation.
XXIV.Trial of the Canoe—A Wreck on the Shore—The Tow—Jetsam Point—Inventory of the Box—What Pencroff Wanted—A Bible—A Verse from the Bible.
XXV.The Departure—The Rising Tide—Elms and Other Trees—Different Plants—The Kingfisher—Appearance of the Forest—The Gigantic Eucalypti—Why They Are Called Fever-Trees—Monkeys—The Waterfall—Encampment for the Night.
XXVI.Going Toward the Coast—Troops of Monkeys—A New Water-Course—Why the Tide Was Not Felt—A Forest on the Shore—Reptile Promontory—Spilett Makes Herbert Envious—The Bamboo Fusilade.
XXVII.Proposal to Return By the South Coast—Its Configuration—Search for the Shipwrecked—A Waif in the Air—Discovery of a Small Natural Harbor—Midnight on the Mercy—A Drifting Canoe.
XXVIII.Pencroff’s Halloos—A Night in the Chimneys—Herbert’s Arrow—Smith’s Plan—An Unexpected Solution—What Had Happened in Granite House—How the Colonists Obtained a New Domestic.
XXIX.Projects to Be Carried Out—A Bridge Over the Mercy—To Make An Island of Prospect Plateau—The Draw-Bridge—The Corn Harvest—The Stream—The Causeway—The Poultry Yard—The Pigeon-House—The Two Wild Asses—Harnessed to the Wagon—Excursion to Balloon Harbor.
XXX.Clothing—Seal-Skin Boots—Making Pyroxyline—Planting—The Fish—Turtles’ Eggs—Jup’s Education—The Corral-Hunting Moufflons—Other Useful Animals and Vegetables—Home Thoughts.
XXXI.Bad Weather—The Hydraulic Elevator—Making Window Glass and Table Ware—The Bread Tree—Frequent Visits to the Corral—The Increase of the Herd—The Reporter’s Question—The Exact Position of Lincoln Island—Pencroff’s Proposal.
XXXII.Ship Building—The Second Harvest—Ai Hunting—A New Plant—A Whale—The Harpoon From the Vineyard—Cutting Up This Cetacea—Use of the Whalebone—The End of May—PencroffIs Content.
XXXIII.Winter—Fulling Cloth—The Mill—Pencroff’s Fixed Purpose—The Whalebones—The Use of An Albatross—Top and Jup—Storms—Damage to the Poultry-Yard—An Excursion to the Marsh—Smith Alone—Exploration of the Pits.
XXXIV.Rigging the Launch—Attacked By Foxes—Jup Wounded—Jup Nursed—Jup Cured—Completion of the Launch—Pencroff’s Triumph—The Good Luck—Trial Trip, to the South of the Island—An Unexpected Document.
XXXV.Departure Decided Upon—Preparations—The Three Passengers—The First Night—The Second Night—Tabor Island—Search on the Shore—Search in the Woods—No One—Animals—Plants—A House—Deserted.
XXXVI.The Inventory—The Night—Some Letters—The Search Continued—Plants and Animals—Herbert in Danger—Aboard—The Departure—Bad Weather—A Glimmer of Intelligence—Lost At Sea—A Timely Light.
XXXVII.The Return-Discussion—Smith and the Unknown—Balloon Harbor-The Devotion of the Engineer-A Touching Experience-Tears.
XXXVIII.A Mystery to Be Solved—The First Words of the Unknown—Twelve Years on the Island—Confessions—Disappearance—Smith’s Confidence—Building a Wind-Mill—The First Bread—An Act of Devotion—Honest Hands.
XXXIX.Always Apart—A Bequest of the Unknown’s—The Farm Established At the Corral—Twelve Years—The Boatswain’s Mate of the Britannia—Left on Tabor Island—The Hand of Smith—The Mysterious Paper
XL.A Talk—Smith and Spilett—The Engineer’s Idea—The Electric Telegraph—The Wires—The Batter—the Alphabet—Fine Weather—The Prosperity of the Colony—Photography—A Snow Effect—Two Years on Lincoln Island.
XLI.Thoughts of Home—Chances of Return—Plan to Explore the Coast—The Departure of the 16th of April—Serpentine Peninsula Seen From Sea—The Basaltic Cliffs of the Western Coast—Bad Weather—Night—A New Incident.
XLII.Night At Sea—Shark Gulf—Confidences—Preparations for Winter—Early Advent of Bad Weather—Cold—In-Door Work—Six Months Later—A Speck on the Photograph—An Unexpected Event.
PART III - THE SECRET OF THE ISLAND
XLIII.Lost Or Saved?—Ayrton Recalled—Important Discussion—It Is Not the Duncan—Suspicion And Precaution—Approach of the Ship—A Cannon Shot—The Brig Anchors in Sight of the Island—Night Fall.
XLIV.Discussions—Presentiments—Ayrton’s Proposal—It Is Accepted—Ayrton and Pencroff on Safety Islet—Norfolk Convicts—Their Projects—Heroic Attempt of Ayrton—His Return—Six Against Fifty.
XLV.The Mist Rises—The Engineer’s Disposition of Forces—Three Posts—Ayrton and Pencroft—The First Attack—Two Other Boat Loads—On the Islet—Six Convicts on Shore—The Brig Weighs Anchor—The Speedy’s Projectiles—Desperate Situation—Unexpected Denouement.
XLVI.The Colonists on the Beach—Ayrton and Pencroff as Salvors—Talk At Breakfast—Pencroff’s Reasoning—Exploration of the Brig’s Hull in Detail—The Magazine Uninjured—New Riches—A Discovery—A Piece of a Broken Cylinder.
XLVII.The Engineer’s Theory—Pencroff’s Magnificent Suppositions—A Battery in the Air—Four Projectiles—The Surviving Convicts—Ayrton Hesitates—Smith’s Generosity and Pencroff’s Dissatisfaction.
XLVIII.The Projected Expedition—Ayrton At the Corral—Visit to Port Balloon—Pencroff’s Remarks—Despatch Sent to the Corral—No Answer From Ayrton—Setting Out Next Day—Why the Wire Did Not Act—A Detonation.
XLIX.The Reporter and Pencroff in the Corral—Moving Herbert—Despair of the Sailor—Consultation of the Engineer and the Reporter—Mode of Treatment—A Glimmer of Hope—How to Warn Neb—A Faithful Messenger—Neb’s Reply.
L.The Convicts in the Neighborhood of the Corral—Provisional Occupation—Continuation of Herbert’s Treatment—Pencroff’s Jubilation—Review of the Past—Future Prospects—Smith’s Ideas.
LI.No News of Neb—A Proposal From Pencroff and Spilett—The Reporter’s Sorties—A Fragment Of Cloth—A Message—Hurried Departure—Arrival At Prospect Plateau.
LII.Herbert Carried to Granite House—Neb Relates What Had Happened—Visit of Smith to the Plateau—Ruin and Devastation—The Colonists Helpless—Willow Bark—A Mortal Fever—Top Barks Again.
LIII.An Inexplicable Mystery—Herbert’s Convalescence—The Unexplored Parts of the Island—Preparations for Departure—The First Day—Night—Second Day—The Kauris—Cassowaries—Footprints in the Sand—Arrival At Reptile End.
LIV.Exploration of Reptile End—Camp At the Mouth of Fall River—By the Corral—The Reconnaissance—The Return—Forward—An Open Door—A Light in the Window—By Moonlight.
LV.Ayrton’s Recital—Plans of His Old Comrades—Taking Possession of the Corral—The Rules of the Island—The Good Luck—Researches About Mount Franklin—The Upper Valleys—Subterranean Rumblings—Pencroff’s Answer—At the Bottom of the Crater—The Return
LVI.After Three Years—The Question of a New Ship—Its Determination—Prosperity of the Colony—The Shipyard—The Cold Weather—Pencroff Resigned—Washing—Mount Franklin.
LVII.The Awakening of the Volcano—The Fine Weather—Resumption of Work—The Evening of the 15th of October—A Telegraph—A Demand—An Answer—Departure for the Corral—The Notice—The Extra Wire—The Basalt Wall—At High Tide—At Low Tide—The Cavern—A Dazzling Light.
LVIII.Captain Nemo—His First Words—History of a Hero of Liberty—Hatred of the Invaders—His Companions—The Life Under Water—Alone—The Last Refuge of the Nautilus—The Mysterious Genius of the Island.
LIX.The Last Hours of Captain Nemo—His Dying Wishes—A Souvenir for His Friends—His Tomb—Some Counsel to the Colonists—The Supreme Moment—At the Bottom of the Sea.
LX.The Reflections of the Colonists—Renewal of Work—The 1st of January, 1869—A Smoke From the Volcano—Symptoms of An Eruption Ayrton and Smith At the Corral—Exploration of the Crypt Dakkar—What Captain Nemo Had Said to the Engineer.
LXI.Smith’s Recital—Hastening the Work—A Last Visit to the Corral—The Combat Between the Fire and the Water—The Aspect of the Island—They Decide to Launch the Ship—The Night of the 8th of March.
LXII.An Isolated Rock in the Pacific—The Last Refuge of the Colonists—The Prospect of Death—Unexpected Succor—How and Why It Came—The Last Good Action—An Island on Terra Firma—The Tomb of Captain Nemo.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PART I - DROPPED FROM THE CLOUDS
Entrance of Granite House
Land at Last
Reporting under Fire
A Daring Proposal
The Rendezvous
Where is the Enginner?
Not Mussels, but Lithodomes
The Granite Cavern
Rock-Pigeons
Neb's Despair
A Cheerful Flame Sprang Up
In the Forest
Fowl-Fishing
Watching the Storm
It must be Top
Dead or Alive?
Bring the Captain's Litter!
The Return with the Captain
A frutless Attempt
Top Engaged in a Struggle with the Capybara
A Welcome Sight
Preparing the Supper
Climbing the Mountain
It was the Mouth of the Crater
Sea, Sea Everywhere
Naming the Island
Towards Ten O'Clock the Little Band Descended the Last Declivities of Mount Franklin
Smoke!
Brick-Making
The Pottery
The Settlers Turned Washerwomen
Calculating the Height of the Cliff
An Interesting Scientific Operation
The Colonists Advance Prudentment
A Seal Hunt
Primitive Bellows
A Disagreeable Rencontre
Top's Strange Adcventure
Here is Nitro-Glycerine!
Preparing the Mine
An Exciting Moment
Exploring the Cavern
Granite House
The Rabbit Warren
There would never be Any Want of Water at Granite House
Lecture on a Grain of Wheat
A Winter Exploration
Beasts Wich are good for nothing
The Cascade of Ice
It Was a Leaden Bullet
PART II - THE ABANDONED
Turning a turtle
Flotsam and Jetsam
Unpacking the marvellous chest
Pencroft's superstition
Is it tobacco?
The halt for breakfast
Demons of the forest
The sea!
At that moment a shot struck the jaguar between the eyes, and it fell dead
Now there's something to explain the bullet! Exclaimed Pencroft
A wreck in the air
There was no longer a ladder!
The invaders of Granite House
Capturing the orang
Engaging the new servant
Building the bridge
Pencroft's scarecrows
The settlers' new shirts
Jup passed most of his time in the kitchen, trying to imitate Neb
Pencroft to the rescue
The glass-blowers
The verandah on the edge of Prospect Heights
The dockyard
A valuable prize
Pencroft has nothing left to wish for
The messenger
Winter evenings in Granite House
He saw nothing suspicious
Top visiting the invalid
The trial trip
Luff, Pencroft, luff!
The departure
Nearing the island
A hut!
Herbert in danger
A light ! a light ! .
Poor fellow
murmured the engineer
The experiment
Who are you?
he asked in a hollow voice…
The stranger
Now for a good wind
He seized the jaguar's throat with one powerful hand…
The stranger's story
Here is my hand
said the engineer
The engineer at work
Jup sitting for his portrait
The snowy sheet rose and dispersed in the air…
Another mystery
Returning from a sporting excursion
The photographic negative
PART III - THE SECRET OF THE ISLAND
A Sail in Sight
The Black Flag!
He Exclaimed.
Ayrton Hoisting Himself on to the Cutwater
Ayrton boards the Pirate
What are you doing in here?
He leapt over the bulwarks into the sea
Ayrton and Pencroft waited till they were within range
The chimneys attacked
The brig, raised on a water-spout, split in two
That is what I have been, Pencroft
In the hold of the pirate brig
This cylinder is all that remains of a torpedo!
Pencroft polishing the guns
At work on the plateau
The telegraph-post thrown down
Herbert shot
Pencroft’s alarm for Herbert
Pencroft watching over Herbert
Top despatched with a message to Neb
Spilett and Top reconnoitring
Starting from the corral
Herbert on the lift
Sulphate of quinine!
The Convalescent
The last to Leave Granite House
On watch in the forest
Spilett and Pencroft approach the corral
Dead!
cried Ayrton
Five corpses stretched on the bank …
The cavern in the mountain
Searching for the genius of the island
They visited the gulf
Gideon Spilett wants a newspaper
Watching the summit of Mount Franklin
The colonists remained silently crouching in a deep hollow…
Entering the mysterious cavern
Discovery of the Nautilus
First interview with the genius of the island
The great unknown relates his history…
Last moments of Captain Nemo
Death of Captain Nemo
Sinking of the Nautilus
Listening to the rumbling of the volcano
Cyrus Harding watching the eruption
The volcano wall in Dakkar Grotto
The colonists took shelter in the borders of Jacamar Wood…
The torrent precipitated itself into Lake Grant…
The explosion
The Duncan
THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND.
By JULES VERNE.
Entrance of Granite House
PART I
DROPPED FROM THE CLOUDS
CHAPTER I.
THE HURRICANE OF 1865—CRIES IN THE AIR—A BALLOON CAUGHT BY A WATERSPOUT—ONLY THE SEA IN SIGHT—FIVE PASSENGERS—WHAT TOOK PLACE IN THE BASKET—LAND AHEAD!—THE END.
Are we going up again?
No. On the contrary; we are going down!
Worse than that, Mr. Smith, we are falling!
For God’s sake throw over all the ballast!
The last sack is empty!
And the balloon rises again?
No!
I hear the splashing waves!
The sea is under us!
It is not five hundred feet off!
Then a strong, clear voice shouted:—
Overboard with all we have, and God help us!
Such were the words which rang through the air above the vast wilderness of the Pacific, towards 4 o’clock in the afternoon of the 23d of March, 1865:—
Doubtless, no one has forgotten that terrible northeast gale which vented its fury during the equinox of that year. It was a hurricane lasting without intermission from the 18th to the 26th of March. Covering a space of 1,800 miles, drawn obliquely to the equator, between the 35° of north latitude and 40° south, it occasioned immense destruction both in America and Europe and Asia. Cities in ruins, forests uprooted, shores devastated by the mountains of water hurled upon them, hundreds of shipwrecks, large tracts of territory desolated by the waterspouts which destroyed everything in their path, thousands of persons crushed to the earth or engulfed in the sea; such were the witnesses to its fury left behind by this terrible hurricane. It surpassed in disaster those storms which ravaged Havana and Guadeloupe in 1810 and 1825.
While these catastrophes were taking place upon the land and the sea, a scene not less thrilling was enacting in the disordered heavens.
A balloon, caught in the whirl of a column of air, borne like a ball on the summit of a waterspout, spinning around as in some aerial whirlpool, rushed through space with a velocity of ninety miles an hour. Below the balloon, dimly visible through the dense vapor, mingled with spray, which spread over the ocean, swung a basket containing five persons.
From whence came this aerial traveller, the sport of the awful tempest? Evidently it could not have been launched during the storm, and the storm had been raging five days, its symptoms manifesting themselves on the 18th. It must, therefore, have come from a great distance, as it could not have traversed less than 2,000 miles in twenty-four hours. The passengers, indeed, had been unable to determine the course traversed, as they had nothing with which to calculate their position; and it was a necessary effect, that, though borne along in the midst of this tempest; they were unconscious of its violence. They were whirled and spun about and carried up and down without any sense of motion. Their vision could not penetrate the thick fog massed together under the balloon. Around them everything was obscure. The clouds were so dense that they could not tell the day from the night. No reflection of light, no sound from the habitations of men, no roaring of the ocean had penetrated that profound obscurity in which they were suspended during their passage through the upper air. Only on their rapid descent had they become conscious of the danger threatening them by the waves.
Meanwhile the balloon, disencumbered of the heavy articles, such as munitions, arms, and provisions, had risen to a height of 4,500 feet, and the passengers having discovered that the sea was beneath them, and realizing that the dangers above were less formidable than those below, did not hesitate to throw overboard everything, no matter how necessary, at the same time endeavoring to lose none of that fluid, the soul of the apparatus, which sustained them above the abyss.
The night passed in the midst of dangers that would have proved fatal to souls less courageous; and with the coming of day the hurricane showed signs of abatement. At dawn, the emptied clouds rose high into the heavens; and, in a few hours more, the whirlwind had spent its force. The wind, from a hurricane, had subsided into what sailors would call a three reef breeze.
Toward eleven o’clock, the lower strata of the air had lightened visibly. The atmosphere exhaled that humidity which is noticeable after the passage of great meteors. It did not seem as if the storm had moved westward, but rather as if it was ended. Perhaps it had flowed off in electric sheets after the whirlwind had spent itself, as is the case with the typhoon in the Indian Ocean.
Now, however, it became evident that the balloon was again sinking slowly but surely. It seemed also as if it was gradually collapsing, and that its envelope was lengthening and passing from a spherical into an oval form. It held 50,000 cubic feet of gas, and therefore, whether soaring to a great height or moving along horizontally, it was able to maintain itself for a long time in the air. In this emergency the voyagers threw overboard the remaining articles which weighed down the balloon, the few provisions they had kept, and everything they had in their pockets, while one of the party hoisted himself into the ring to which was fastened the cords of the net, and endeavored to closely tie the lower end of the balloon. But it was evident that the gas was escaping, and that the voyagers could no longer keep the balloon afloat.
They were lost!
There was no land, not even an island, visible beneath them. The wide expanse of ocean offered no point of rest, nothing upon which they could cast anchor. It was a vast sea on which the waves were surging with incomparable violence. It was the limitless ocean, limitless even to them from their commanding height. It was a liquid plain, lashed and beaten by the hurricane, until it seemed like a circuit of tossing billows, covered with a net-work of foam. Not even a ship was in sight.
In order, therefore, to save themselves from being swallowed up by the waves it was necessary to arrest this downward movement, let it cost what it might. And it was evidently to the accomplishment of this that the party were directing their efforts. But in spite of all they could do the balloon continued to descend, though at the same time moving rapidly along with the wind toward the southwest.
It was a terrible situation, this, of these unfortunate men. No longer masters of the balloon, their efforts availed them nothing. The envelope collapsed more and more, and the gas continued to escape. Faster and faster they fell, until at 1 o’clock they were not more than 600 feet above the sea. The gas poured out of a rent in the silk. By lightening the basket of everything the party had been able to continue their suspension in the air for several hours, but now the inevitable catastrophe could only be delayed, and unless some land appeared before nightfall, voyagers, balloon, and basket must disappear beneath the waves.
It was evident that these men were strong and able to face death. Not a murmur escaped their lips. They were determined to struggle to the last second to retard their fall, and they tried their last expedient. The basket, constructed of willow osiers, could not float, and they had no means of supporting it on the surface of the water. It was 2 o’clock, and the balloon was only 400 feet above the waves.
Then a voice was heard—the voice of a man whose heart knew no fear—responded to by others not less strong:—
Everything is thrown out?
No, we yet have 10,000 francs in gold.
A heavy bag fell into the sea.
Does the balloon rise?
A little, but it will soon fall again.
Is there nothing else we can gut rid of?
Not a thing.
Yes there is; there’s the basket!
Catch hold of the net then, and let it go.
The cords which attached the basket to the hoop were cut, and the balloon, as the former fell into the sea, rose again 2,000 feet. This was, indeed, the last means of lightening the apparatus. The five passengers had clambered into the net around the hoop, and, clinging to its meshes, looked into the abyss below.
Every one knows the statical sensibility of a balloon. It is only necessary to relieve it of the lightest object in order to have it rise. The apparatus floating in air acts like a mathematical balance. One can readily understand, then, that when disencumbered of every weight relatively great, its upward movement will be sudden and considerable. It was thus in the present instance. But after remaining poised for a moment at its height, the balloon began to descend. It was impossible to repair the rent, through which the gas was rushing, and the men having done everything they could do, must look to God for succor.
At 4 o’clock, when the balloon was only 500 feet above the sea, the loud barking of a dog, holding itself crouched beside its master in the meshes of the net, was heard.
Top has seen something!
cried one, and immediately afterwards another shouted:—
Land! Land!
The balloon, which the wind had continued to carry towards the southwest, had since dawn passed over a distance of several hundred miles, and a high land began to be distinguishable in that direction. But it was still thirty miles to leeward, and even supposing they did not drift, it would take a full hour to reach it. An hour! Before that time could pass, would not the balloon be emptied of what gas remained? This was the momentous question.
Land at Last
The party distinctly saw that solid point which they must reach at all hazards. They did not know whether it was an island or a continent, as they were uninformed as to what part of the world the tempest had hurried them. But they knew that this land, whether inhabited or desert, must be reached.
At 4 o’clock it was plain that the balloon could not sustain itself much longer. It grazed the surface of the sea, and the crests of the higher waves several times lapped the base of the net, making it heavier; and, like a bird with a shot in its wing, could only half sustain itself.
A half hour later, and the land was scarcely a mile distant. But the balloon, exhausted, flabby, hanging in wrinkles, with only a little gas remaining in its upper portion, unable to sustain the weight of those clinging to the net, was plunging them in the sea, which lashed them with its furious billows. Occasionally the envelope of the balloon would belly out, and the wind taking it would carry it along like a ship. Perhaps by this means it would reach the shore. But when only two cables’ length away four voices joined in a terrible cry. The balloon, though seemingly unable to rise again, after having been struck by a tremendous wave, made a bound into the air, as if it had been suddenly lightened of some of its weight. It rose 1,500 feet, and encountering a sort of eddy in the air, instead of being carried directly to land, it was drawn along in a direction nearly parallel thereto. In a minute or two, however, it reapproached the shore in an oblique direction, and fell upon the sand above the reach of the breakers. The passengers, assisting each other, hastened to disengage themselves from the meshes of the net; and the balloon, relieved of their weight, was caught up by the wind, and, like a wounded bird recovering for an instant, disappeared into space.
The basket had contained five passengers and a dog, and but four had been thrown upon the shore. The fifth one, then, had been washed off by the great wave which had struck the net, and it was owing to this accident that the lightened balloon had been able to rise for the last time before falling upon the land. Scarcely had the four castaways felt the ground beneath their feet than all thinking of the one who was lost, cried:—Perhaps he is trying to swim ashore. Save him! Let us save him!
CHAPTER II.
AN EPISODE OF THE REBELLION-THE ENGINEER CYRUS SMITH—GIDEON SPILETT—THE NEGRO NEB—THE SAILOR PENCROFF—THE YOUTH, HERBERT—AN UNEXPECTED PROPOSAL—RENDEZVOUS AT 10 O’CLOCK P.M.—DEPARTURE IN THE STORM.
They were neither professional aeronauts nor amateurs in aerial navigation whom the storm had thrown upon this coast. They were prisoners of war whose audacity had suggested this extraordinary manner of escape. A hundred times they would have perished, a hundred times their torn balloon would have precipitated them into the abyss, had not Providence preserved them for a strange destiny, and on the 20th of March, after having flown from Richmond, besieged by the troops of General Ulysses Grant, they found themselves 7,000 miles from the Virginia capital, the principal stronghold of the Secessionists during that terrible war. Their aerial voyage had lasted five days.
Let us see by what curious circumstances this escape of prisoners was effected,—an escape which resulted in the catastrophe which we have seen.
This same year, in the month of February, 1865, in one of those surprises by which General Grant, though in vain, endeavored to take Richmond, many of his officers were captured by the enemy and confined within the city. One of the most distinguished of those taken was a Federal staff officer named Cyrus Smith.
Cyrus Smith was a native of Massachusetts, an engineer by profession, and a scientist of the first order, to whom the Government had given, during the war, the direction of the railways, which played such a great strategic part during the war.
A true Yankee, thin, bony, lean, about forty-five years old, with streaks of grey appearing in his close cut hair and heavy moustache. He had one of those fine classical heads that seem as if made to be copied upon medals; bright eyes, a serious mouth, and the air of a practiced officer. He was one of these engineers who began of his own wish with the pick and shovel, as there are generals who have preferred to rise from the ranks. Thus, while possessing inventive genius, he had acquired manual dexterity, and his muscles showed remarkable firmness. He was as much a man of action as of study; he moved without effort, under the influence of a strong vitality and his sanguine temperament defied all misfortune. Highly educated, practical, clear-headed,
his temperament was superb, and always retaining his presence of mind he combined in the highest degree the three conditions whose union regulates the energy of man: activity of body, strength of will, and determination. His motto might have been that of William of Orange in the XVIIth century—I can undertake without hope, and persevere through failure.
Gideon Spilett, Reporting Under Fire
Cyrus Smith was also the personification of courage. He bad been in every battle of the war. After having begun under General Grant, with the Illinois volunteers, he had fought at Paducah, at Belmont, at Pittsburg Landing, at the siege of Corinth, at Port Gibson, at the Black River, at Chattanooga, at the Wilderness, upon the Potomac, everywhere with bravery, a soldier worthy of the General who said I never counted my dead.
And a hundred times Cyrus Smith would have been among the number of those whom the terrible Grant did not count; but in these combats, though he never spared himself, fortune always favored him, until the time he was wounded and taken prisoner at the siege of Richmond.
At the same time with Cyrus Smith another important personage fell into the power of the Southerners. This was no other than the honorable Gideon Spilett, reporter to the New York Herald, who had been detailed to follow the fortunes of the war with the armies of the North.
Gideon Spilett was of the race of astonishing chroniclers, English or American, such as Stanley and the like, who shrink from nothing in their endeavor to obtain exact information and to transmit it to their journal in the quickest manner. The journals of the United States, such as the New York Herald, are true powers, and their delegates are persons of importance. Gideon Spilett belonged in the first rank of these representatives.
A man of great merit; energetic, prompt, and ready; full of ideas, having been all over the world; soldier and artist; vehement in council; resolute in action; thinking nothing of pain, fatigue, or danger when seeking information, first for himself and afterwards for his journal; a master of recondite information of the unpublished, the unknown, the impossible. He was one of those cool observers who write amid the cannon balls, reporting
under the bullets, and to whom all perils are welcome.
He also had been in all the battles, in the front rank, revolver in one hand and notebook in the other, his pencil never trembling in the midst of a cannonade. He did not tire the wires by incessant telegraphing, like those who speak when they have nothing to say, but each of his messages was short, condensed, clear, and to the purpose. For the rest, he did not lack humor. It was he who, after the affair of Black river, wishing at any price to keep his place at the telegraph wicket in order to announce the result, kept telegraphing for two hours the first chapters of the Bible. It cost the New York Herald $2,000, but the New York Herald had the first news.
Gideon Spilett was tall. He was forty years old or more. Sandy-colored whiskers encircled his face. His eye was clear, lively, and quick moving. It was the eye of a man who was accustomed to take in everything at a glance. Strongly built, he was tempered by all climates as a bar of steel is tempered by cold water. For ten years Gideon Spilett had been connected with the New York Herald, which he had enriched with his notes and his drawings, as he wielded the pencil as well as the pen. When captured he was about making a description and a sketch of the battle. The last words written in his note-book were these:—A Southerner is aiming at me and—.
And Gideon Spilett was missed; so, following his invariable custom, he escaped unscratched.
Cyrus Smith and Gideon Spilett, who knew each other only by reputation, were both taken to Richmond. The engineer recovered rapidly from his wound, and it was during his convalescence he met the reporter. The two soon learned to appreciate each-other. Soon their one aim was to rejoin the army of Grant and fight again in the ranks for the preservation of the Union.
The two Americans had decided to avail themselves of any chance; but although free to go and come within the city, Richmond was so closely guarded that an escape might be deemed impossible.
During this time Cyrus Smith was rejoined by a devoted servant. This man was a negro, born upon the engineer’s estate, of slave parents, whom Smith, an abolitionist by conviction, had long since freed. The negro, though free, had no desire to leave his master, for whom he would have given his life. He was a man of thirty years, vigorous, agile, adroit, intelligent, quick, and self-possessed, sometimes ingenuous always smiling, ready and honest. He was named Nebuchadnezzar, but he answered to the nickname of Neb.
When Neb learned that his master had been taken prisoner he left Massachusetts without waiting a moment, arrived before Richmond, and, by a ruse, after having risked his life twenty times, he was able to get within the besieged city. The pleasure of Cyrus Smith on seeing again his servant, and the joy of Neb in finding his master, cannot be expressed. But while he had been able to get into Richmond it was much more difficult to get out, as the watch kept upon the Federal prisoners was very strict. It would require an extraordinary opportunity in order to attempt an escape with any chance of success; and that occasion not only did not present itself, but it was difficult to make. Meanwhile, Grant continued his energetic operations. The victory of Petersburg had been vigorously contested. His forces, reunited to those of Butler, had not as yet obtained any result before Richmond, and nothing indicated an early release to the prisoners. The reporter, whose tiresome captivity gave him no item worthy of note, grew impatient. He had but one idea; to get out of Richmond at any risk. Many times, indeed, he tried the experiment, and was stopped by obstacles insurmountable.
Meanwhile, the siege continued, and as the prisoners were anxious to escape in order to join the army of Grant, so there were certain of the besieged no less desirous to be free to join the army of the Secessionists; and among these was a certain Jonathan Forster, who was a violent Southerner. In truth, the Confederates were no more able to get out of the city than the Federal prisoners, as the army of Grant invested it around. The Mayor of Richmond had not for some time been able to communicate with General Lee, and it was of the highest importance to make the latter aware of the situation of the city, in order to hasten the march of the rescuing army. This Jonathan Forster had conceived the idea of passing over the lines of the besiegers in a balloon, and arriving by this means in the Confederate camp.
The Mayor authorized the undertaking, a balloon was made and placed at the disposal of Forster and five of his companions. They were provided with arms as they might have to defend themselves in descending, and food in case their aerial voyage should be prolonged. The departure of the balloon had been fixed for the 18th of March. It was to start in the night, and with a moderate breeze from the northeast, the party expected to arrive at the quarters of General Lee in a few hours. But the wind from the northeast was not a mere breeze. On the morning of the 18th there was every symptom of a storm, and soon the tempest broke forth, making it necessary for Forster to defer his departure, as it was impossible to risk the balloon and those whom it would carry, to the fury of the elements.
The balloon, inflated in the great square of Richmond, was all ready, waiting for the first lull in the storm; and throughout the city there was great vexation at the settled bad weather. The night of the 19th and 20th passed, but in the morning the storm was only developed in intensity, and departure was impossible.
On this day Cyrus Smith was accosted in one of the streets of Richmond by a man whom he did not know. It was a sailor named Pencroff, aged from thirty-five to forty years, strongly built, much sun-burnt, his eyes bright and glittering, but with a good countenance.
This Pencroff was a Yankee who had sailed every sea, and who had experienced every kind of extraordinary adventure that a two-legged being without wings could encounter. It is needless to say that he was of an adventurous nature, ready to dare anything and to be astonished at nothing. Pencroff, in the early part of this year, had come to Richmond on business, having with him Herbert Brown, of New Jersey, a lad fifteen years old, the son of Pencroff’s captain, and an orphan whom he loved as his own child. Not having left the city at the beginning of the siege, he found himself, to his great displeasure, blocked. He also had but one idea: to get out. He knew the reputation of the engineer, and he knew with what impatience that determined man chaffed at his restraint. He did not therefore hesitate to address him without ceremony.
Mr. Smith, have you had enough of Richmond?
The engineer looked fixedly at the man who spoke thus, and who added in a low voice:—
A Daring Proposal
Mr. Smith, do you want to escape?
How?
answered the engineer, quickly, and it was evidently an inconsiderate reply, for he had not yet examined the man who spoke.
Mr. Smith, do you want to escape?
Who are you?" he demanded, in a cold voice.
Pencroff made himself known.
Sufficient,
replied Smith. And by what means do you propose to escape?
By this idle balloon which is doing nothing, and seems to me all ready to take us!
—
The sailor had no need to finish his sentence. The engineer had understood all in a word. He seized Pencroff by the arm and hurried him to his house. There the sailor explained his project, which, in truth, was simple enough:—They risked only their lives in carrying it out. The storm was at its height, it is true; but a skilful and daring engineer like Smith would know well how to manage a balloon. He, himself, would not have hesitated to have started, had he known how—with Herbert, of course. He had seen many storms and he thought nothing of them.
Cyrus Smith listened to the sailor without saying a word, but with glistening eyes. This was the opportunity, and he was not the man to let it escape him. The project was very dangerous, but it could be accomplished. During the night, in spite of the guards, they might reach the balloon, creep into the basket, and then cut the lines which held it! Certainly they risked being shot, but on the other hand they might succeed, and but for this tempest—but without this tempest the balloon would have been gone and the long-sought opportunity would not have been present.
I am not alone,
said Smith at length.
How many would you want to take?
demanded the sailor.
Two; my friend Spilett, and my man Neb.
That would be three,
replied Pencroff; and, with Herbert and myself, five. Well, the balloon can carry six?
Very well. We will go!
said the engineer.
This we
pledged the reporter, who was not a man to retreat, and who, when the project was told him, approved of it heartily. What astonished him was, that so simple a plan had not already occurred to himself. As to Neb, he followed his master wherever his master wanted to go.
To-night, then,
said Pencroff.
To-night, at ten o’clock,
replied Smith; and pray heaven that this storm does not abate before we get off.
Pencroff took leave of the engineer, and returned to his lodging, where he found young Herbert Brown. This brave boy knew the plans of the sailor, and he was not without a certain anxiety as to the result of the proposal to the engineer. We see, therefore, five persons determined to throw themselves into the vortex of the storm.
The storm did not abate. And neither Jonathan Forster nor his companion dreamed of confronting it in that frail basket. The journey would be terrible. The engineer feared but one thing; that the balloon, held to the ground and beaten down under the wind, would be torn into a thousand pieces. During many hours he wandered about the nearly deserted square, watching the apparatus. Pencroff, his hands in his pockets, yawning like a man who is unable to kill time, did the same; but in reality he also feared that the balloon would be torn to pieces, or break from its moorings and be carried off.
Evening arrived and the night closed in dark and threatening. Thick masses of fog passed like clouds low down over the earth. Rain mingled with snow fell. The weather was cold. A sort of mist enveloped Richmond. It seemed as if in the face of this terrible tempest a truce had been agreed upon between the besiegers and besieged, and the cannon were silent before the heavy detonations of the storm. The streets of the city were deserted; it had not even seemed necessary, in such weather, to guard the square in which swung the balloon. Everything favored the departure of the prisoners; but this voyage, in the midst of the excited elements!—
Bad weather,
said Pencroff, holding his hat, which the wind was trying to take off, firmly to his head, but pshaw, it can’t last, all the same.
At half-past 9, Cyrus Smith and his companions glided by different routes to the square, which the gas lights, extinguished by the wind, left in profound darkness. They could not see even the huge balloon, as it lay pressed over against the ground. Beside the bags of ballast which held the cords of the net, the basket was held down by a strong cable passed through a ring fastened in the pavement, and the ends brought back on board.
The Rendezvous
The five prisoners came together at the basket. They had not been discovered, and such was the darkness that they could not see each other. Without saying a word, four of them took their places in the basket, while Pencroff, under the direction of the engineer, unfastened successively the bundles of ballast. It took but a few moments, and then the sailor joined his companions. The only thing that then held the balloon was the loop of the cable, and Cyrus Smith had but to give the word for them to let it slip. At that moment, a dog leaped with a bound into the basket. It was Top, the dog of the engineer, who, having broken his chain, had followed his master. Cyrus Smith, fearing to add to the weight, wanted to send the poor brute back, but Pencroff said, Pshaw, it is but one more!
and at the same time threw overboard two bags of sand. Then, slipping the cable, the balloon, shooting off in an oblique direction, disappeared, after having dashed its basket against two chimneys, which it demolished in its rush.
Then the storm burst upon them with frightful violence. The engineer did not dare to descend during the night, and when day dawned all sight of the earth was hidden by the mists. It was not until five days later that the breaking of the clouds enabled them to see the vast sea extending below them, lashed by the wind into a terrific fury.
We have seen how, of these five men, who started on the 20th of March, four were thrown, four days later, on a desert coast, more than 6,000 miles from this country. And the one who was missing, the one to whose rescue the four survivors had hurried was their leader, Cyrus Smith.
[The 5th of April, Richmond fell into the hands of Grant, the Rebellion was repressed, Lee retreated into the West (sic) and the cause of the Union triumphed.]
CHAPTER III.
FIVE O’CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON—THE LOST ONE—THE DESPAIR OF NEB—SEARCH TO THE NORTHWARD—THE ISLAND—A NIGHT OF ANGUISH—THE FOG OF THE MORNING—NEB SWIMMING—SIGHT OF THE LAND—FORDING THE CHANNEL.
The engineer, on the giving way of the net, had been swept away by a wave. His dog had disappeared at the same time. The faithful animal had of its own accord sprung to the rescue of its master.
Forward!
cried the reporter, and all four, forgetting weakness and fatigue, began their search. Poor Neb wept with grief and despair at the thought of having lost all that he loved in the world.
Not more than two minutes had passed between the moment that Smith had disappeared, and the instant of his companions landing. They were, therefore, hopeful of being in time to rescue him.
Hunt, hunt for him,
cried Neb.
Yes, Neb, and we will find him,
replied Spilett.
Alive?
Alive!
Can he swim?
demanded Pencroff.
Oh, yes,
responded Neb. And, besides, Top is with him—
The sailor, looking at the roaring sea, shook his head.
It was at a point northward from this shore, and about half a mile from the place where the castaways had landed, that the engineer had disappeared, and if he had come ashore at the nearest point it was at least that distance from where they now were.
It was nearly 6 o’clock. The fog had risen and made the night very dark. The castaways followed northward along the shore of that land upon which chance had thrown them. A land unknown, whose geographical situation they could not guess. They walked upon a sandy soil, mixed with stones, seemingly destitute of any kind of vegetation. The ground, very uneven, seemed in certain places to be riddled with small holes, making the march very painful. From these holes, great, heavy-flying birds rushed forth, and were lost in the darkness. Others, more active, rose in flocks, and fled away like the clouds. The sailor thought he recognized gulls and sea-mews, whose sharp cries were audible above the raging of the sea.
From time to time the castaways would stop and call, listening for an answering voice from the ocean. They thought, too, that if they were near the place where the engineer had been, washed ashore, and he had been unable to make any response, that, at least, the barking of the dog Top would have been heard. But no sound was distinguishable above the roaring of the waves and the thud of the surf. Then the little party would resume their march, searching all the windings of the shore.
After a walk of twenty minutes the four castaways were suddenly stopped by a foaming line of breakers. They found themselves upon the extremity of a sharp point upon which the sea broke with fury.
This is a promontory,
said the sailor, and it will be necessary to turn back, keeping to the right in order to gain the main land.
But if he is there!
cried Neb, pointing towards the ocean, whose enormous waves showed white through the gloom.
Well, let us call again.
And all together, uniting their voices, uttered a vigorous cry, but without response. They waited for a lull, and tried once more. And again there was no answer.
Then the castaways turned back, following the opposite side of the promontory over ground equally sandy and rocky. However, Pencroff observed that the shore was bolder, that the land rose somewhat, and he thought that it might gradually slope up to the high hill which was dimly visible through the darkness. The birds were less numerous on this shore. The sea also seemed less surging and tempestuous, and it was noticeable that the agitation of the waves was subsiding. They hardly heard the sound of the surf, and doubtless, this side of the promontory formed a semi-circular bay, protected by its sharp point from the long roll of the sea.
But by following this direction they were walking towards the south, which was going away from that place where Smith would have landed. After a tramp of a mile and a half, the shore presented no other curve which would permit of a return towards the north. It was evident that this promontory, the point of which they had turned, must be joined to the mainland. The castaways, although much fatigued, pushed on courageously, hoping each moment to find a sudden turn which would take them in the desired direction. What, then, was their disappointment