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

Chapter 55 Captain Grant's Children (55)
Lady Helene and Miss Mary led the way, climbing down a ladder and onto the raft;Wilson was in charge of the tiller, Moradi cut the ropes that tied the raft, and Menger commanded, standing by the sails.

The sails of the raft were raised to the wind.In fact, nine nautical miles is not a long distance. If you have a small boat and a few good oars, you can reach the shore in less than three hours.But the speed of the raft is much slower.If the sea wind ceased and the tide receded again, the raft might return to its original position.If this kind of thing really happens, you can only park on the spot and look forward to the next opportunity of seawater high tide.Just thinking about this made Menger worry; deep down, he longed to succeed once!
The tide begins to rise at ten o'clock, so the raft must be moored at three o'clock in the afternoon; in.

The wind was gradually increasing, and the raft sailed smoothly at the beginning. Although there were many reefs in this area, thanks to the skilled skills, rich experience, and tenacious perseverance of the sailors, the raft sailed without any major problems. Appear.

Near noon, there were still two nautical miles to reach the coast.At this time, the sky was clear and the scenery was very clear; Jazz and his party looked far away, and could see the peaks on the coast, as well as shadowy trees; after careful identification, they found that it was the main peak of Bilongjia Mountain, located at On the 38° south latitude line, it looks like a monkey head with its jaws raised and its mouth open.

At twelve-thirty, Paganel pointed to the sea and explained to his companions that the tide had now completely submerged the reef.

"But there's still a rock out there!" said Mrs. Helen.

"Where is it?" Paganel asked hastily.

"It's there!" said Mrs. Helene, leading everyone to see a black spot one nautical mile ahead.

"I see, it's a real reef! Everyone, pay attention, see clearly, and don't bump into it!"

"The direction of this reef is facing the sharp edge on the north side of that mountain," Meng Geer ordered after careful observation, "Wilson, pay attention, and avoid it!"

"Okay, yes!" said Wilson, tightening the tiller.

After another half hour, the raft sailed half a nautical mile toward the shore.However, what is strange is that the black spot in front is still emerging on the waves.

Meng Geer felt very strange, and quickly raised Paganel's binoculars and looked in the direction of the black dot.

"I see, it's not a reef, but a floating thing." Meng Ge said.

"Maybe it's a stump mast left behind by the 'McGalli'!" Madam Helen said.

"No! A broken mast can't go so far!" said Sir Glenarvan.

"Ah! I finally see clearly, it's a small boat!" Meng Geer shouted.

"The one from the 'McGarry'?" asked Sir Glenarvan eagerly.

"Yes! Exactly! It's that small boat, which is now buckled upside down!" Meng Geer said loudly.

"Oh! What a pity! Are all those people drowned?" said Mrs. Helen with a sigh.

"Ma'am, they were all drowned!" Meng Ge said. "Thinking about it, it was dark at that time, there were many hidden reefs here, and the wind was high and the waves were rough. It is a miracle that they survived! They asked for it! "

"May God forgive these poor people!" exclaimed Miss Mary Grant.

During this period, everyone was silent.Looking at the small boat getting closer and closer, it can be seen that it was definitely four nautical miles away from the coast, and it was knocked over in the sea. Everyone on the small boat did not escape the bad luck of death!
"Now, can this boat be used by us?" Sir Glenarvan suddenly had this idea.

"Yes! That's a good idea!" John said cheerfully. "Now, Wilson, row towards the boat!"

Then the raft adjusted its bearings and sailed towards the boat.However, the wind on the sea was gradually weakening now, and it took two hours for the raft to approach the boat.

Muradi was careful to keep the boat from hitting the raft; then the overturned boat floated over the side of the raft.

"Is it empty?" Menger asked.

"Captain, that's right!" said Muradi. "Look, the side of the boat is torn apart and can no longer be used!"

"Isn't it okay to make do with it?" The major asked hastily.

"No, it's really useless. It seems that it can only be used as firewood!" John Mengel said.

"What a pity!" Paganel said, "otherwise, we could really get on this boat and row directly to Oakland!"

"Mr. Paganel, you'd better stop having this daydream!" Menger replied, "Now the sea is rough, it's better to take a raft! Sir, it seems that we don't need to be here, let's continue to waste time !"

"My dear John, everything will be done as you will!" said Sir Glenarvan.

"Wilson, let's keep moving forward!" Captain Menger gave the order, "Go directly to the coast!"

The tide would continue to rise for another hour, and the raft took advantage of this opportunity to go on for another two nautical miles.But at this time, the wind on the sea has completely subsided, and it seems that the time for ebb tide is coming soon.But the raft floated without moving.

"Anchor immediately!" Captain Meng Geer decisively issued an order to stop the ship.

Moradi immediately obeyed, and cast the anchor out to sea, where it gripped five fathoms of the bottom.After the raft retreated almost four meters, it was firmly pulled by the dropped anchor.The others also furled the light sail; it seemed that they had to wait for the next high tide.

However, Jazz and his party can now see land, and it is estimated that the distance is three nautical miles at most.

At this time, the sea raised a high wave and rushed straight to the shore.Sir Glenarvan couldn't understand at this time, why didn't he catch the rising tide and continue rowing towards the coast?

"Your Excellency, you were actually deceived by an optical illusion," Captain Mengel explained. "The waves seem to be moving, but they are not moving at all! Or, you can throw a small piece of wood to see, It must be floating on the water, not moving forward!" This is probably the reason why Captain Menger has never dared to sail on a dark and windy night.

"Let's continue talking after dinner!" interrupted the major.

At this time, Chef Obine took out several pieces of dried meat and a dozen thick biscuits from the box, and distributed them to everyone one by one.Looking at the poor food, Chef Obi blushed with guilt, but his companions ate with gusto.

The raft floating in the waves was still shaking violently; the taut anchor chain made a terrible sound.Menger was very worried that the anchor chain would be stretched and broken if this continued, so he ordered that the anchor chain should be lengthened by a fathom every half hour.This was advisable, for if the anchor chain should break, the raft would be washed out to sea.

At this time, the sun had already fallen below the sea level, dyeing the sea a golden red.The night is gradually coming up, and it is getting late.The boundless sea is now sparkling blue and glittering with golden light.Everyone raised their heads and looked around, and saw a small black spot in the distant place where the water and sky meet in the vast sea; obviously, it was the shadow of the poor "McGalli" stranded on the reef.

In the blink of an eye, the dark night filled the air.The vast night covered the surrounding lands to the east and north, and these lands gradually disappeared into the boundless darkness.

These people who died were crowded on the narrow raft at this time, and everyone was miserable.Some people were so sleepy that they could only lie down and sleep in a daze, but their dreams were full of nightmares; some people were so restless that they couldn't fall asleep even though their eyes were closed.

When the sky gradually brightened, the tide began to rise again, and the sea breeze blew again on the sea.At six o'clock in the morning, Captain John ordered the anchor to be lifted immediately; however, the anchor claw was deep in the bottom of the sea, and it was very deep and tight, and the sailors could not pull it up after a long time of stirring.Half an hour passed like this.Captain Meng Geer was really anxious, so he immediately and decisively ordered to cut off the anchor chain!This is a desperate move!In case the raft cannot reach the shore when the tide rises this time, there is really no anchor to use.However, things have reached this stage, and there is really no other solution!

At nine o'clock the raft was within a mile of shore.The question before the Jazz and his team is how to dock?As you can see, there are many sandy beaches near the coast, and the edges of the sandy beaches are steep, making it difficult to get close to them.At this time, the sea breeze slowly stopped again, and the sail no longer bulged with the wind, becoming a burden.Menger could only order the sailors to take down the sails.In addition, there are many seaweeds on the coast, which hold the raft and make it unable to move.

At ten o'clock the raft was quite immobile.At this time, the raft was only three chains away from the coast; the dilemma faced by people was that they could not move forward, and they wanted to anchor but lost their anchor; if the tide ebbed, the raft would return to the sea along the sea.Meng Geer was anxious like an ant on a hot pot, and his hands trembled involuntarily due to nervousness.

All of a sudden, the raft bumped into something somehow, and it anchored firmly on a sandy beach.At this time, it was only 200 meters away from the shore.It seems that there is really nowhere to go, and there is another village with dark willows and bright flowers!
Sir Glenarvan, Wilson, Robert Jr., and Mulady jumped into the water at once, and fastened the raft firmly to the rocks on the bottom of the sea with the help of cables.Afterwards, the other companions on the raft picked up Mrs. Helen and Miss Grant, and sent the two ladies to the shore one by one like a relay. Finally, they didn't even get their clothes wet!Afterwards, the men busied themselves with carrying arms, ammunition and dry provisions to shore.

Jazz and his party finally reached the coast, although this is the scariest place in New Zealand.

war in new zealand
When it was almost eleven o'clock, the sky that was originally covered with dark clouds suddenly poured down with rain.The Jazz and his party were unable to go on the road, and it was impossible to rush to Oakland.The first thing to do is to find a place to shelter from the rain.

After a while, Wilson discovered a stone cave formed by seawater washing on the shore.There are still a lot of dried seaweed in the cave, which were washed up by the sea water when the tide was high, and now they can be used as a bed for sleeping; there are also a few pieces of firewood piled up at the entrance of the cave, which can be used to dry clothes or light a fire.

The rain has been pouring down for hours, with no sign of letting up.The sky is blowing southerly again, and the wind blows again and again.Looking at the bad weather, Meng Geer was very anxious, but there was nothing he could do.It takes several days to go to Auckland, but what should I do now that it is raining heavily?Just waiting for the rain to stop.I just hope that the aborigines will not break into the cave at this time.

In the cave, Jazz and his party were all at ease, so they chatted casually, talking about the ongoing war in New Zealand.

On December 1642, 12, after the Tasman sailed to Cook Strait, New Zealanders had frequent contacts with Europeans, but no country on the European continent wanted to occupy this piece of land.During this time, European missionaries, especially British missionaries, tried every means to persuade the indigenous tribal chiefs in New Zealand to submit to British rule.Some tribal chiefs were deceived and wrote to Queen Victoria of England seeking protection.However, some tribal chiefs felt that there was fraud in this, and kept shouting: "Foreigners are going to take away our land, and our homeland cannot be kept! We are going to become slaves!"

Sure enough.On January 1840, 1, a warship called "The Pioneer" took the lead in sailing to the Bay of Islands in the north of Ikanamawi Island.Captain Hobson first arrived at the village of Colorado Leka, gathered the aborigines in the village at the Church of Jesus, and read the letter of commission from the Queen of England to these aborigines.

On January 1 of the following year, the British authorities summoned some of New Zealand's leading tribal chiefs to a meeting at the British diplomatic official's residence in the village of Peia.There, Captain Hobson went straight to the point, asking these chiefs to submit to the Queen of England; he also said that the Queen sent troops and warships to protect the freedom and safety of the aborigines.But Hobson also put forward the condition that the tribe's land must belong to the Queen of England.

At first, some chiefs felt that this requirement was too harsh and were not willing to accept it.But the British authorities lured and threatened them, and then bought these chiefs with some small favors.

From 1840, when the "Duncan" left the Firth of Clyde, Paganel is very familiar with everything that happened in New Zealand, and he intends to tell you:
"Dear Madam," Paganel continued after replying to Madam Helen's question, "I said this before, the aborigines in New Zealand are fierce and aggressive, so naturally they will not submit to British rule wholeheartedly. And ancient times Like the Scots, these Maori are also tribal, the leader is the chief, and the whole tribe obeys the chief's orders. These Maori are generally tall, some look like Maltese, and some look like Baghdad among these Maori there were also short ones, and the short ones were like black and white mixed races; but whether they were tall or short, they were brave and good at fighting. Among them, there was once a famous chief , whose name is Xi Xi; in the history of the Maori people, his status is no less than that of the famous Weisenjie Toli in ancient France. Weisenjie Toli, a famous general in ancient France, was born in the first century BC; Resist the aggression of the Romans. This Xixi chief led his own tribe to resist tenaciously and refused to surrender. Therefore, the war in New Zealand is not over yet. Now on New Zealand Island, there is also a tribe called Quikato. The chief’s name is William Sampson, always defended his lands against the enemy."

"Have the British colonists now controlled all the major strongholds in New Zealand?" John Mengel asked.

"Control, of course it's all under control," Paganel continued. "As soon as Hobson came here, he served as the governor of the island of New Zealand. From 1840 to 1862, the nine thousand colonies of New Zealand were established. , and then became nine provinces: four in the North Island, namely Auckland, Taranaki, Wellington and Hawke's Bay; five in the South Island, namely Nelson, Marlborough, Canton Turnbury, Otago, and Southland. As of June 1864, 6, the total population of New Zealand was 30, and a large number of commercial cities have sprung up everywhere. When we arrive When I was in the city of Auckland, I could see that the geographical location was very good, holding a long and narrow strip. Now, there are 18 urban residents in Auckland. The city on the west side of Auckland is New Plymouth; the city on the east side , is Ahushili; the city in the south is Wellington; these cities are prosperous in commerce and frequent ships. The city on the South Island——Nelson, also known as the Great Garden of New Zealand. There is also a city in the Cook Strait The cities of Picton, Otago, Invergalgill, Dunedin, Christchurch, etc., all have their own distinctive characteristics. And these cities will not As most people imagine, it is just a pile of huts; there are stations, churches, docks, parks, banks, museums, hospitals, newspaper offices, philosophy schools, research institutes, charities, guilds, theaters, Clubs, exhibition halls...the degree of prosperity is comparable to that of London and Paris! I still clearly remember that in 340, exactly this year, a world industrial exhibition was held in this man-eating country; the world Industrial products from all over the world are transported here! Maybe the exhibition will open in a few days!"

"Ah! Why is this? While fighting against the aborigines, you are still interested in holding an exposition?" Mrs. Helen asked in bewilderment.

"That's right, ma'am! You see, the British have always been indifferent about whether to fight or not to fight," said Paganel. "Even at the gunpoint of the New Zealanders, the British can build railways with ease. You can see that the Drury Railway in Auckland Province and the Juulmere Railway were all built in this way. When the railway was being built, the railway workers would often shoot the invading aborigines from the locomotive!"

"How is the unfinished battle between the British and the aborigines of New Zealand going?" Meng Ge asked with concern.

"Well, it's hard to say!" Paganel said, "We have been away from Europe for six months now. This news, when I was in Australia, I got the news from the newspapers of Mary Barle and Samuel." I saw it in the newspaper. The newspaper said that the battle was raging on the North Island."

"When did this battle begin?" asked Miss Mary Grant hastily.

(End of this chapter)