The Mysterious Island Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Captain Grant's Children

Chapter 173 The Mysterious Island (58)
Until one night, the engineer told his friends about his plan to strengthen the "corral".A fence had to be raised, and a blockhouse had to be built beside it, so that if necessary, a group of enemies could be defended inside.He felt it was necessary to do so.Due to its location, "Granite Palace" must be impenetrable.As for the "corral", as long as the enemy lands on the island, it will be an important target for pirates to attack because there are houses, supplies and captive animals inside.And assuming that the immigrants are blocked in the "corral", they should be able to resist to ensure that they will not suffer losses.

This plan still needs to be carefully considered, and even if it is implemented, it will not be until the next spring at the latest.

On May 5, the keel of the new ship appeared in the middle of the site.Then, the bow post and stern post were also fixed in their respective positions, standing up straight there.The joists were of high quality oak and were 15 feet long, allowing the main beams to be 110 feet wide.Sadly, there's only so much carpenters can do before the cold and bad weather set in.Over the next week, they installed the first ribs in the back in time for the first ribs to be installed, before finally being forced to take a temporary hiatus.

Just in the last few days of the month, the weather turned extremely bad.An easterly wind blew, with the force of a hurricane.Engineers were concerned about the safety of the shed on the shipyard, but could not build it anywhere near Granite Palace.His concern was that the island did not completely shield the shore from the sea.In severe storms, the waves crash against the base of the granite cliffs.

Fortunately, what he was worried about did not happen.The wind gradually turned to the southeast, the danger was gone, and the coast of Granite House was completely protected by the bastion of Drifter Head.

Pencroft and Ayrton were the two most active in the construction of the new ship.They can work for as long as their bodies allow.The wind messed up their hair, and the rain drenched their solid backs, but they were not afraid of wind and rain, no matter what the weather was, it would not affect the quality of construction.But after the wet season was over, the cold wave came, and the wood became hard as iron, and the carpentry work could no longer be carried on.

Around June 6, the shipbuilding work was forced to stop.

Cyrus Harding and his companions had discovered how cold the winters of "Lincoln Island" were.The cold can be compared with New England, which refers to the northeastern United States, which includes six states including Maine.Compared with what is felt, New England and "Lincoln Island" are located at about the same distance from the equator.In the northern hemisphere, at least the part occupied by New England and the northern part of the United States, the coldness can be explained by the fact that the terrain is flat and close to the North Pole, without any raised mountains on the ground to block the arctic winds.But here, in "Lincoln Island," such an explanation is clearly unreasonable.

"It has been found," said Cyrus Harding one day to his companions, "that at the same latitude, the islands and coasts are not so cold as in the Mediterranean. I have heard it said, for example, that the winter in Lombardy It is colder in winter compared to Scotland. The reason for this is that in winter the sea releases the heat it has absorbed in summer. The island is in such a position that it is the most beneficial beneficiary of this phenomenon By."

"It is very strange, Mr. Cyrus," asked Harbert, "how is 'Lincoln Island' so out of order?"

"That's really hard to explain," replied the engineer. "Now, I suppose that this particular phenomenon is due to the fact that 'Lincoln Island' is in the southern hemisphere. It is known that the southern hemisphere is colder than the northern hemisphere, my dear boy."

"Yeah, there are ice pack areas in the northern Pacific Ocean at lower latitudes than in the southern Pacific Ocean," Hubbert said.

Pencroft replied: "It is quite true that when I was whaling I saw icebergs near Cape Horn.

Jardin Splane said: "So, can we explain the severe cold of 'Lincoln Island' by being too close to an iceberg or a large ice pack?"

"Your explanation, so to speak, is evidently plausible, my dear Spline," replied Cyrus Harding. "The winters here are very cold, evidently owing to the proximity of the great pack-ice. Note also that, from pure The physical explanation also makes the southern hemisphere colder than the northern hemisphere. This is because: the sun is closer to the southern hemisphere in summer, so it must be farther away from the southern hemisphere in winter. This is why there are extreme weather in these two seasons. If we The winters in 'Lincoln Island' are thought to be very cold, and it follows that the summers here, in turn, will be unbearably hot."

"Why, Mr. Cyrus," asked Pencroft, frowning, "why is our hemisphere so unevenly divided, as you say? It's not quite fair!"

The engineer smiled and replied: "Dear Pencroft, it is fair or not, anyway. Let me explain the origin of this particularity. The orbit of the earth around the sun is not a circle, but an ellipse, which is according to Calculated by the laws of theoretical mechanics. The earth appears at a point in this elliptical orbit. Therefore, in a certain period of the earth's operation, it will be at an apogee, that is to say, at the place farthest from the sun. Conversely, at Another period is its perigee, that is, the place closest to the sun. At this time, it is winter in the southern hemisphere, so these areas will be the coldest season. No one can do anything about it, even the We human beings, Pencroft, no matter how clever we are, cannot change the laws of nature established by God."

Pencroft was a little reconciled, and then added: "Humans have mastered a lot of knowledge. If everything humans know is written in a book, what a thick book it would be!"

Said Cyrus Harding: "If a book were to be written of everything that man does not know, it would be much thicker than the book you just mentioned!"

Anyway, whatever the reason, June was still so cold that the settlers were often obliged to take refuge in Granite Palace.

This prison-like life was too much for them, especially for Jardine Splane. "Do you believe it?" he said to Neb one day, "I will really give you all the estates that should belong to me, after notarization. As long as you are good, no matter where you go, you will give me whatever you want." Subscribe to some paper! Now, my only regret is not to know, every morning, what happened the day before, except here!"

Neb laughed. "No way," he replied, "I can only do my daily work!"

In fact, there is as much work to do indoors as it is outside.

The colonists at this time are in their heyday, all of which they have worked hard for three years.The brig was destroyed but provided a new source of material.Needless to say, the full set of sails and rigging that can be used on the new ship, as well as various utensils, weapons and ammunition, clothing and instruments, have all been piled into the warehouse of the "Granite Palace".They no longer have to solve the problem of clothing by making felt coarse cloth.The immigrants did suffer a lot during their first winter, and now they are no longer afraid of winter.They don't lack a variety of everyday textiles either, and they use them with great care.Cyrus Harding also easily extracted baking soda and chlorine from sodium chloride, aka sea salt.Baking soda can be converted into carbonate base, chlorine can be used as bleach powder and other things.Both of these items are indispensable in housework, specifically for washing.Also, they practiced the old family rule of doing laundry only four times a year.It must be mentioned that Pencroft and Jardine Splane, who waited for the postman to deliver his papers, did a very good job of washing.

The winter months, June, July, and August, passed away peacefully.The weather during this period was terribly cold, and the average temperature observed by the settlers did not exceed 8 degrees Fahrenheit, which is equivalent to minus 13.3 degrees.Obviously much lower than last winter's temperature.Therefore, the fireplace in the "Granite Palace" is always burning so vigorously that the smoke leaves long black marks on the granite walls!They don't have to save fuel because trees naturally grow just a few steps away.In addition, there is a lot of wood left over from shipbuilding, which can also save them a lot of coal, because transporting coal in winter is very hard work.

Both humans and animals remain healthy.Only Master Jupu is more sensitive to the cold.Admittedly, this may be its only fly in the ointment. It seems that a warmer nightgown should be made for it, with more cotton wool inside.What a servant this is!Quick-witted, enthusiastic, not intrusive, quiet, and tireless, he has every reason to rank him among the best of his peers, old and new!
"I don't think," Pencroft used to say, "that you can't do a good job if you have four hands at your disposal!"

In fact, this clever four-handed animal works brilliantly!
Seven months had passed since the last search around the mountain.During this time and during September, the saint of the island was not present, and he did not appear under any circumstances.Yeah, nothing happened that would cause the immigrants to suffer, so there was no need for his apparition.

Cyrus Harding observed, too, that even Top instinctively perceived, though, that a connection had been accidentally established across the Granite Plateau between the stranger and the hosts of Granite House.But nothing has changed in this respect during this time.The muffled barking of the dog and the restlessness of the orangutan were all gone, and they no longer circled the mouth of the inner well, nor did they bark and groan strangely as before.These performances at the beginning attracted the attention of engineers.Can the engineer conclude that all has been said about this mystery.He will never be able to get the answer?Who can guarantee that a certain situation that can make the mysterious figure reappear will never occur again?Who knows what will happen in the future?

The harsh winter has finally passed, and in the first few days of spring when he set foot on the island, something happened that could cause serious consequences.

On September 9, when Cyrus Smith was observing "Franklin Peak", he found that there was light smoke on the crater, and occasionally steam was ejected into the air from the inside.

telegram ringtones at night

Under the reminder of the engineer, everyone put down their work and watched the "Franklin Peak" quietly.

Steam was seen rising through the deposits of mineral deposits deep within the crater.Is it difficult to revive the volcano?Will it explode violently?This contingency cannot be predicted.

However, lava eruptions are not always catastrophic.If there is a volcanic eruption, it may not endanger the entire island.The lava flows on the north slope of the mountain have already told everyone that "Lincoln Island" has been tested by volcanoes.In addition, judging from the gap and shape of the crater's upper edge, the eruption should not be ejected to other parts of the island.

However, what has been the case in the past may not necessarily be the case in the future.On the summit of a volcano, often old craters die and new ones are born.Something like this has happened in both the old and new continents, such as Popocatipetl, Etna, and Orizaba.Therefore, before every volcanic eruption, people will be frightened.In any case, it only takes one earthquake to change the internal structure of the mountain and form new roads, but sometimes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur at the same time.

Cyrus Harding explained these things to the company, and told them both the good and the bad of the present real situation.

Anyway, there's nothing they can do about it.Judging from the current situation, the "Granite Palace" should not be in any danger, but it would be hard to say if there was a strong earthquake.But if any new craters were to open up on the south face of Franklin Peak, there would be concern over the Corral.

Since that day, the steam has been erupting continuously, covering the mountaintop like a feather.You can clearly see that although there is no flame, the height and concentration of the steam have gradually increased.This phenomenon is more pronounced in the lower part of the central volcanic tube.

Nevertheless, when the weather was fine and mild, work resumed.

Everyone tried their best to speed up the shipbuilding progress.At the same time, Cyrus Harding used the waterfall on the beach to build a hydraulic sawmill, which can speed up the processing of tree trunks.Like the machinery of a rural sawmill in Norway, the mechanism is simple.First try to make the wood move horizontally, and then let the saw move vertically, and the trunk is processed into planks.The operation of the machine is achieved by engineers through two cylinders, a wheel and a set of pulleys.

At the end of September, the frame of the ship, which will be built as a schooner, has been erected on the shipyard.At present, the ship's ribs have been basically completed, and all the ribs have also been fixed with temporary arches, so that the shape of the ship has emerged.This two-masted schooner has a delicate, slender head and a broad stern.Obviously, this is suitable for a long voyage.However, it will be a long time before the shell plating, internal plating and decks are installed.Fortunately, after the submarine explosion, all the metal fittings of the original brig were recovered.And Pencroft and Ayrton had pulled out the pegs and many brass nails from the broken planking, which greatly eased the work of the smiths, while the carpenters had much more to do.

Because of the rush to harvest crops and fodder, and to take back all kinds of crops that should be harvested on "Prospect Heights", the shipbuilding project was forced to stop for a week.As soon as these farm jobs were done, the whole time was devoted to the building of the schooner.

As night comes, people who have worked hard all day are exhausted.In order to save time, everyone changed the meal time: lunch is eaten at noon, and dinner is not eaten until late.Then they went back to Granite House, and hurried to bed.

But sometimes, when everyone is talking about something meaningful, sleep is forgotten.People often cannot help talking of the future, and how their circumstances would have changed if they had reached the nearest land by schooner.In their imagination of the future, they always put the plan of returning to "Lincoln Island" in the first place.They are determined not to lose this homeland that has been successfully established through hard work.If it can be connected with the United States, this land will definitely receive new development.

Pencroft and Neb had been very much looking forward to spending the rest of their lives there.

Said the sailor: "Harbert, are you determined not to leave 'Lincoln Island'?"

"Pencroft, I will never go away, and if you decide to stay, I will not go!"

Pencroft replied: "My boy, I have decided, and I am waiting for you! You must bring your wife and children, and I will be able to raise your children into outstanding, intelligent and brave talents!"

Hubbert said categorically: "A gentleman's words are hard to follow!" He smiled, blushing when he thought of his family.

Pencroft continued excitedly: "And you, Mr. Cyrus, the governor of the island will be yours forever! Ah! How many people can the island support? Ten thousand at least!"

So the big guy dreamed, and let Pencroft imagine.He went on and on, and it occurred to him that the reporter had finally started a newspaper, called The New Lincoln Island Herald!
People are like this, they all have spiritual pursuits, and they also need to have a long-term career that can last from generation to generation as support.This is the essential difference between man and all things, and it is also the superiority of man over all things.Because of this, man can rule the whole world and be king in nature.

After everyone has finished speaking, no one knows what Jupu and Top think, do they also have a little wish for the future?

Ayrton was silent.He had but one thought, and that was that he wished to see Sir Glenarvan again, and to regain the respect of all.

On the night of October 10th, everyone was imagining a bright future, and the time for talking unconsciously was later than usual.It was already nine o'clock, and everyone yawned uncontrollably, which meant that it was time to rest.Pencroft was just going to his bed when suddenly the telegraph bell installed in the hall rang loudly.

Cyrus Harding, Jardin Splane, Harbert, Ayrton, Pencroft, Neb, all were at Granite House.The "corral" was left unattended.

Cyrus Harding rose.Everyone was amazed, thinking that there was something wrong with their ears.

Neb yelled, "Is there a ghost? What's the matter?"

No one answered.

Hubbert said: "It's going to rain heavily, is it electrified..."

Hubbert hadn't finished speaking.Everyone turned to the engineer.The engineer shook his head, expressing that he didn't know.

"We'll see whoever sent it, if it's a signal, he's going to send it again," Jardin Splane said.

Still Neb cried, "Who do you want him to be?"

Pencroft replied: "But this..."

The telegraph bell rang again to interrupt the sailor.

Cyrus Harding went to the telegraph, and he began to switch on the electricity to address the corral:

"What do you want?"

After a while, the pointer on the alphabet plate was moving, and it replied to everyone: Please come to the "corral" quickly.

Cyrus Harding exclaimed excitedly: "At last we shall see him!"

yes!The question is about to be solved!Finally got to meet him!The extreme excitement made their exhaustion disappear immediately, and they no longer wanted to sleep.Without doing anything, they immediately left the "Granite Palace" and came to the beach.But Jupp and Top stayed.They are not needed this time.

(End of this chapter)