Chapter 22

This intense cold lasted till the 15th of August, without, however,

passing the degree of Fahrenheit already mentioned. When the atmosphere

was calm, the low temperature was easily borne, but when the wind blew,

the poor settlers, insufficiently clothed, felt it severely. Pencroft

regretted that Lincoln Island was not the home of a few families of

bears rather than of so many foxes and seals.

“Bears,” said he, “are generally very well dressed, and I ask no more

than to borrow for the winter the warm cloaks which they have on their

backs.”

“But,” replied Neb, laughing, “perhaps the bears would not consent to

give you their cloaks, Pencroft. These beasts are not St. Martins.”

“We would make them do it, Neb, we would make them,” replied Pencroft,

in quite an authoritative tone.

But these formidable carnivora did not exist in the island, or at any

rate they had not yet shown themselves.

In the meanwhile, Herbert, Pencroft, and the reporter occupied

themselves with making traps on Prospect Heights and at the border of

the forest.

According to the sailor, any animal, whatever it was, would be a lawful

prize, and the rodents or carnivora which might get into the new snares

would be well received at Granite House.

The traps were besides extremely simple; being pits dug in the ground,

a platform of branches and grass above, which concealed the opening, and

at the bottom some bait, the scent of which would attract animals. It

must be mentioned also, that they had not been dug at random, but

at certain places where numerous footprints showed that quadrupeds

frequented the ground. They were visited every day, and at three

different times, during the first days, specimens of those Antarctic

foxes which they had already seen on the right bank of the Mercy were

found in them.

“Why, there are nothing but foxes in this country!” cried Pencroft, when

for the third time he drew one of the animals out of the pit. Looking at

it in great disgust, he added, “beasts which are good for nothing!”

“Yes,” said Gideon Spilett, “they are good for something!”

“And what is that?”

“To make bait to attract other creatures!”

The reporter was right, and the traps were henceforward baited with the

foxes carcasses.

The sailor had also made snares from the long tough fibers of a certain

plant, and they were even more successful than the traps. Rarely a day

passed without some rabbits from the warren being caught. It was always

rabbit, but Neb knew how to vary his sauces and the settlers did not

think of complaining.

However, once or twice in the second week of August, the traps supplied

the hunters with other animals more useful than foxes, namely, several

of those small wild boars which had already been seen to the north of

the lake. Pencroft had no need to ask if these beasts were eatable. He

could see that by their resemblance to the pig of America and Europe.

“But these are not pigs,” said Herbert to him, “I warn you of that,

Pencroft.”

“My boy,” replied the sailor, bending over the trap and drawing out one

of these representatives of the family of sus by the little appendage

which served it as a tail. “Let me believe that these are pigs.”

“Why?”

“Because that pleases me!”

“Are you very fond of pig then, Pencroft?”

“I am very fond of pig,” replied the sailor, “particularly of its feet,

and if it had eight instead of four, I should like it twice as much!”

As to the animals in question, they were peccaries belonging to one of

the four species which are included in the family, and they were also of

the species of Tajacu, recognizable by their deep color and the absence

of those long teeth with which the mouths of their congeners are armed.

These peccaries generally live in herds, and it was probable that they

abounded in the woody parts of the island.

At any rate, they were eatable from head to foot, and Pencroft did not

ask more from them.

Towards the 15th of August, the state of the atmosphere was suddenly

moderated by the wind shifting to the northwest. The temperature rose

some degrees, and the accumulated vapor in the air was not long in

resolving into snow. All the island was covered with a sheet of white,

and showed itself to its inhabitants under a new aspect. The snow fell

abundantly for several days, and it soon reached a thickness of two

feet.

The wind also blew with great violence, and at the height of Granite

House the sea could be heard thundering against the reefs. In some

places, the wind, eddying round the corners, formed the snow into tall

whirling columns, resembling those waterspouts which turn round on their

base, and which vessels attack with a shot from a gun. However, the

storm, coming from the northwest, blew across the island, and the

position of Granite House preserved it from a direct attack.

But in the midst of this snow-storm, as terrible as if it had been

produced in some polar country, neither Cyrus Harding nor his companions

could, notwithstanding their wish for it, venture forth, and they

remained shut up for five days, from the 20th to the 25th of August.

They could hear the tempest raging in Jacamar Wood, which would surely

suffer from it. Many of the trees would no doubt be torn up by the

roots, but Pencroft consoled himself by thinking that he would not have

the trouble of cutting them down.

“The wind is turning woodman, let it alone,” he repeated.

Besides, there was no way of stopping it, if they had wished to do so.

How grateful the inhabitants of Granite House then were to Heaven for

having prepared for them this solid and immovable retreat! Cyrus Harding

had also his legitimate share of thanks, but after all, it was Nature

who had hollowed out this vast cavern, and he had only discovered it.

There all were in safety, and the tempest could not reach them. If

they had constructed a house of bricks and wood on Prospect Heights,

it certainly would not have resisted the fury of this storm. As to

the Chimneys, it must have been absolutely uninhabitable, for the sea,

passing over the islet, would beat furiously against it. But here, in

Granite House, in the middle of a solid mass, over which neither the sea

nor air had any influence, there was nothing to fear.

During these days of seclusion the settlers did not remain inactive.

There was no want of wood, cut up into planks, in the storeroom, and

little by little they completed their furnishing; constructing the

most solid of tables and chairs, for material was not spared. Neb and

Pencroft were very proud of this rather heavy furniture, which they

would not have changed on any account.

Then the carpenters became basket-makers, and they did not succeed badly

in this new manufacture. At the point of the lake which projected to the

north, they had discovered an osier-bed in which grew a large number

of purple osiers. Before the rainy season, Pencroft and Herbert had cut

down these useful shrubs, and their branches, well prepared, could now

be effectively employed. The first attempts were somewhat crude, but

in consequence of the cleverness and intelligence of the workmen,

by consulting, and recalling the models which they had seen, and by

emulating each other, the possessions of the colony were soon increased

by several baskets of different sizes. The storeroom was provided with

them, and in special baskets Neb placed his collection of rhizomes,

stone-pine almonds, etc.

During the last week of the month of August the weather moderated again.

The temperature fell a little, and the tempest abated. The colonists

sallied out directly. There was certainly two feet of snow on the shore,

but they were able to walk without much difficulty on the hardened

surface. Cyrus Harding and his companions climbed Prospect Heights.

What a change! The woods, which they had left green, especially in the

part at which the firs predominated, had disappeared under a uniform

color. All was white, from the summit of Mount Franklin to the shore,

the forests, the plains, the lake, the river. The waters of the Mercy

flowed under a roof of ice, which, at each rising and ebbing of the

tide, broke up with loud crashes. Numerous birds fluttered over the

frozen surface of the lake. Ducks and snipe, teal and guillemots were

assembled in thousands. The rocks among which the cascade flowed were

bristling with icicles. One might have said that the water escaped by a

monstrous gargoyle, shaped with all the imagination of an artist of the

Renaissance. As to the damage caused by the storm in the forest, that

could not as yet be ascertained; they would have to wait till the snowy

covering was dissipated.

Gideon Spilett, Pencroft, and Herbert did not miss this opportunity of

going to visit their traps. They did not find them easily, under the

snow with which they were covered. They had also to be careful not to

fall into one or other of them, which would have been both dangerous and

humiliating; to be taken in their own snares! But happily they avoided

this unpleasantness, and found their traps perfectly intact. No animal

had fallen into them, and yet the footprints in the neighborhood were

very numerous, among others, certain very clear marks of claws. Herbert

did not hesitate to affirm that some animal of the feline species had

passed there, which justified the engineer’s opinion that dangerous

beasts existed in Lincoln Island. These animals doubtless generally

lived in the forests of the Far West, but pressed by hunger, they had

ventured as far as Prospect Heights. Perhaps they had smelled out the

inhabitants of Granite House. “Now, what are these feline creatures?”

asked Pencroft. “They are tigers,” replied Herbert. “I thought those

beasts were only found in hot countries?”

“On the new continent,” replied the lad, “they are found from Mexico to

the Pampas of Buenos Aires. Now, as Lincoln Island is nearly under the

same latitude as the provinces of La Plata, it is not surprising that

tigers are to be met with in it.”

“Well, we must look out for them,” replied Pencroft.

However, the snow soon disappeared, quickly dissolving under the

influence of the rising temperature. Rain fell, and the sheet of white

soon vanished. Notwithstanding the bad weather, the settlers renewed

their stores of different things, stone-pine almonds, rhizomes, syrup

from the maple-tree, for the vegetable part; rabbits from the warren,

agouties, and kangaroos for the animal part. This necessitated several

excursions into the forest, and they found that a great number of trees

had been blown down by the last hurricane. Pencroft and Neb also pushed

with the cart as far as the vein of coal, and brought back several tons

of fuel. They saw in passing that the pottery kiln had been severely

damaged by the wind, at least six feet of it having been blown off.

At the same time as the coal, the store of wood was renewed at Granite

House, and they profited by the current of the Mercy having again become

free, to float down several rafts. They could see that the cold period

was not ended.

A visit was also paid to the Chimneys, and the settlers could not but

congratulate themselves on not having been living there during the

hurricane. The sea had left unquestionable traces of its ravages.

Sweeping over the islet, it had furiously assailed the passages, half

filling them with sand, while thick beds of seaweed covered the rocks.

While Neb, Herbert, and Pencroft hunted or collected wood, Cyrus Harding

and Gideon Spilett busied themselves in putting the Chimneys to rights,

and they found the forge and the bellows almost unhurt, protected as

they had been from the first by the heaps of sand.

The store of fuel had not been made uselessly. The settlers had not done

with the rigorous cold. It is known that, in the Northern Hemisphere,

the month of February is principally distinguished by rapid fallings of

the temperature. It is the same in the Southern Hemisphere, and the end

of the month of August, which is the February of North America, does not

escape this climatic law.

About the 25th, after another change from snow to rain, the wind shifted

to the southeast, and the cold became, suddenly, very severe. According

to the engineer’s calculation, the mercurial column of a Fahrenheit

thermometer would not have marked less than eight degrees below zero,

and this intense cold, rendered still more painful by a sharp gale,

lasted for several days. The colonists were again shut up in Granite

House, and as it was necessary to hermetically seal all the openings

of the facade, only leaving a narrow passage for renewing the air, the

consumption of candles was considerable. To economize them, the cavern

was often only lighted by the blazing hearths, on which fuel was not

spared. Several times, one or other of the settlers descended to the

beach in the midst of ice which the waves heaped up at each tide, but

they soon climbed up again to Granite House, and it was not without pain

and difficulty that their hands could hold to the rounds of the ladder.

In consequence of the intense cold, their fingers felt as if burned when

they touched the rounds. To occupy the leisure hours, which the tenants

of Granite House now had at their disposal, Cyrus Harding undertook an

operation which could be performed indoors.

We know that the settlers had no other sugar at their disposal than

the liquid substance which they drew from the maple, by making deep

incisions in the tree. They contented themselves with collecting this

liquor in jars and employing it in this state for different culinary

purposes, and the more so, as on growing old, this liquid began to

become white and to be of a syrupy consistence.

But there was something better to be made of it, and one day Cyrus

Harding announced that they were going to turn into refiners.

“Refiners!” replied Pencroft. “That is rather a warm trade, I think.”

“Very warm,” answered the engineer.

“Then it will be seasonable!” said the sailor.

This word refining need not awake in the mind thoughts of an elaborate

manufactory with apparatus and numerous workmen. No! to crystallize this

liquor, only an extremely easy operation is required. Placed on the fire

in large earthen pots, it was simply subjected to evaporation, and

soon a scum arose to its surface. As soon as this began to thicken,

Neb carefully removed it with a wooden spatula; this accelerated the

evaporation, and at the same time prevented it from contracting an

empyreumatic flavor.

After boiling for several hours on a hot fire, which did as much good to

the operators as the substance operated upon, the latter was transformed

into a thick syrup. This syrup was poured into clay molds, previously

fabricated in the kitchen stove, and to which they had given various

shapes. The next day this syrup had become cold, and formed cakes

and tablets. This was sugar of rather a reddish color, but nearly

transparent and of a delicious taste.

The cold continued to the middle of September, and the prisoners in

Granite House began to find their captivity rather tedious. Nearly every

day they attempted sorties which they could not prolong. They constantly

worked at the improvement of their dwelling. They talked while working.

Harding instructed his companions in many things, principally explaining

to them the practical applications of science. The colonists had no

library at their disposal; but the engineer was a book which was always

at hand, always open at the page which one wanted, a book which answered

all their questions, and which they often consulted. The time thus

passed away pleasantly, these brave men not appearing to have any fears

for the future.

However, all were anxious to see, if not the fine season, at least the

cessation of the insupportable cold. If only they had been clothed in a

way to meet it, how many excursions they would have attempted, either to

the downs or to Tadorn’s Fens! Game would have been easily approached,

and the chase would certainly have been most productive. But Cyrus

Harding considered it of importance that no one should injure his

health, for he had need of all his hands, and his advice was followed.

But it must be said, that the one who was most impatient of this

imprisonment, after Pencroft perhaps, was Top. The faithful dog found

Granite House very narrow. He ran backwards and forwards from one

room to another, showing in his way how weary he was of being shut

up. Harding often remarked that when he approached the dark well which

communicated with the sea, and of which the orifice opened at the back

of the storeroom, Top uttered singular growlings. He ran round and round

this hole, which had been covered with a wooden lid. Sometimes even he

tried to put his paws under the lid, as if he wished to raise it.

He then yelped in a peculiar way, which showed at once anger and

uneasiness.

The engineer observed this maneuver several times.

What could there be in this abyss to make such an impression on the

intelligent animal? The well led to the sea, that was certain. Could

narrow passages spread from it through the foundations of the island?

Did some marine monster come from time to time, to breathe at the bottom

of this well? The engineer did not know what to think, and could not

refrain from dreaming of many strange improbabilities. Accustomed to go

far into the regions of scientific reality, he would not allow

himself to be drawn into the regions of the strange and almost of the

supernatural; but yet how to explain why Top, one of those sensible dogs

who never waste their time in barking at the moon, should persist in

trying with scent and hearing to fathom this abyss, if there was nothing

there to cause his uneasiness? Top’s conduct puzzled Cyrus Harding even

more than he cared to acknowledge to himself.

At all events, the engineer only communicated his impressions to Gideon

Spilett, for he thought it useless to explain to his companions the

suspicions which arose from what perhaps was only Top’s fancy.

At last the cold ceased. There had been rain, squalls mingled with snow,

hailstorms, gusts of wind, but these inclemencies did not last. The ice

melted, the snow disappeared; the shore, the plateau, the banks of

the Mercy, the forest, again became practicable. This return of spring

delighted the tenants of Granite House, and they soon only passed in it

the hours necessary for eating and sleeping.

They hunted much in the second part of September, which led Pencroft to

again entreat for the firearms, which he asserted had been promised by

Cyrus Harding. The latter, knowing well that without special tools it

would be nearly impossible for him to manufacture a gun which would be

of any use, still drew back and put off the operation to some future

time, observing in his usual dry way, that Herbert and Spilett had

become very skilful archers, so that many sorts of excellent animals,

agouties, kangaroos, capybaras, pigeons, bustards, wild ducks, snipes,

in short, game both with fur and feathers, fell victims to their arrows,

and that, consequently, they could wait. But the obstinate sailor would

listen to nothing of this, and he would give the engineer no peace till

he promised to satisfy his desire. Gideon Spilett, however, supported

Pencroft.

“If, which may be doubted,” said he, “the island is inhabited by wild

beasts, we must think how to fight with and exterminate them. A time may

come when this will be our first duty.”

But at this period, it was not the question of firearms which occupied

Harding, but that of clothes. Those which the settlers wore had passed

this winter, but they would not last until next winter. Skins of

carnivora or the wool of ruminants must be procured at any price, and

since there were plenty of musmons, it was agreed to consult on the

means of forming a flock which might be brought up for the use of the

colony. An enclosure for the domestic animals, a poultry-yard for the

birds, in a word to establish a sort of farm in the island, such were

the two important projects for the fine season.

In consequence and in view of these future establishments, it became

of much importance that they should penetrate into all the yet unknown

parts of Lincoln Island, that is to say, through that thick forest which

extended on the right bank of the Mercy, from its mouth to the extremity

of the Serpentine Peninsula, as well as on the whole of its western

side. But this needed settled weather, and a month must pass before this

exploration could be profitably undertaken.

They therefore waited with some impatience, when an incident occurred

which increased the desire the settlers had to visit the whole of their

domain.

It was the 24th of October. On this day, Pencroft had gone to visit his

traps, which he always kept properly baited. In one of them he found

three animals which would be very welcome for the larder. They were a

female peccary and her two young ones.

Pencroft then returned to Granite House, enchanted with his capture,

and, as usual, he made a great show of his game.

“Come, we shall have a grand feast, captain!” he exclaimed. “And you

too, Mr. Spilett, you will eat some!”

“I shall be very happy,” replied the reporter; “but what is it that I am

going to eat?”

“Suckling-pig.”

“Oh, indeed, suckling-pig, Pencroft? To hear you, I thought that you

were bringing back a young partridge stuffed with truffles!”

“What?” cried Pencroft. “Do you mean to say that you turn up your nose

at suckling-pig?’

“No,” replied Gideon Spilett, without showing any enthusiasm; “provided

one doesn’t eat too much.”

“That’s right, that’s right,” returned the sailor, who was not pleased

whenever he heard his chase made light of. “You like to make objections.

Seven months ago, when we landed on the island, you would have been only

too glad to have met with such game!”

“Well, well,” replied the reporter, “man is never perfect, nor

contented.”

“Now,” said Pencroft, “I hope that Neb will distinguish himself. Look

here! These two little peccaries are not more than three months old!

They will be as tender as quails! Come along, Neb, come! I will look

after the cooking myself.”

And the sailor, followed by Neb, entered the kitchen, where they were

soon absorbed in their culinary labors.

They were allowed to do it in their own way. Neb, therefore, prepared

a magnificent repast--the two little peccaries, kangaroo soup, a smoked

ham, stone-pine almonds, Oswego tea; in fact, all the best that they

had, but among all the dishes figured in the first rank the savory

peccaries.

At five o’clock dinner was served in the dining-room of Granite House.

The kangaroo soup was smoking on the table. They found it excellent.

To the soup succeeded the peccaries, which Pencroft insisted on carving

himself, and of which he served out monstrous portions to each of the

guests.

These suckling-pigs were really delicious, and Pencroft was devouring

his share with great gusto, when all at once a cry and an oath escaped

him.

“What’s the matter?” asked Cyrus Harding.

“The matter? the matter is that I have just broken a tooth!” replied the

sailor.

“What, are there pebbles in your peccaries?” said Gideon Spilett.

“I suppose so,” replied Pencroft, drawing from his lips the object which

had cost him a grinder--!

It was not a pebble--it was a leaden bullet.