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

Chapter 63 Captain Grant's Children (63)
Jazz and his party hid behind the fence, observed the surrounding situation, and saw that the fire was still undiminished.

At dawn, the volcano is still roaring.The flames merged with a thick stream of pale yellow steam, and the magma rushed towards the valley.Sir Glenarvan was a little anxious when he saw all this.

The Maori had moved to the nearby high ground.At the foot of the hill was a motley pile of Maori corpses.On one side of the cottage, twenty shacks had been reduced to ashes, but were still smoking.

All these scenes made the Maori people feel very panic.They believe that this is the anger of the gods, so they dare not act rashly.At this moment, the Chief "Bonecrawer" appeared again, and Ser Glenarvan could see him clearly.I saw the "bone gnawing demon" open his arms, chanting a spell at the cemetery on the top of the mountain, while making a grimace, which meant that the "sacred mountain temple" was once again "forbidden".Afterwards, the Maori lined up in neat rows and walked down the mountain path to the stockade.When Sir Glenarvan saw it, he was very excited and said to his companion:
"Look! They've evacuated at last! Now back to the cottage! Thank God, the plan has worked! My Helen! Dear friends! We've finally succeeded! Died once, and now came back to life Already! All we need now is to get out of this ghost place!"

Everyone was overjoyed when they heard it; how could they not be happy if this terrible disaster can be escaped?The major and Paganel were still together, cursing these Maori assholes and loathsome, laughing at their ignorance.

However, it is not very easy to escape from this sacred mountain; you need to hide in this cemetery for a day.It just so happens that this day can be seized to discuss the next escape plan together.Paganel dug out the map that he carried with him and was unwilling to discard it, and searched for the best escape route on it.After research, everyone negotiated and decided that fleeing to the east of Barent Bay was the best choice.Although you will encounter uninhabited areas along the way, although you are not familiar with those roads, at least you will not encounter Maori; in this regard, there is nothing to be afraid of.At the same time, when we went to the east coast, there was a missionary station there; moreover, since the war had not swept to the North Island, naturally there would be no Maori harassment there.

About a hundred miles to Barent Bay.If you walk ten miles a day, you need to walk for ten days.Fortunately, everyone is used to running around and is not afraid to continue walking; moreover, once everyone arrives at the mission station, they can have a good rest there before heading to Oakland, the unswerving destination of this expedition.

After deciding on the way to escape, for the sake of safety, Jazz and his party paid close attention to the actions of the Maori.However, there was no Maori at the foot of the mountain at this time.In the middle of the night, the bonfire that had been burning was now silent; there was no light from the fire, and no sound of people; thus, the door of the escape route was open.

At nine o'clock Sir Glenarvan ordered the procession to set off.Everyone carried the prepared luggage on their backs, and took guns and ammunition.Meng Geer and Wilson walked ahead, paying attention to the movement around them.When these visitors walked, they were always cautious and tried not to make any noise.

Walking down the hill, within two hundred feet of the summit, Mengle and Wilson reached the most dangerous ridge where the Maori had previously made mobile posts.The vigilance of the visitors is even higher, fearing that the Maori who are afraid of suspicion will set up an ambush here.This section of the ridge needs to be walked for 10 minutes, which is 10 minutes of life and death!Lady Helene couldn't help holding Sir's arm tightly, but Sir's heart was also pounding with tension.

At this moment of life and death, no one wants to go back.However, I don't know who didn't pay attention and stepped on a stone.The sound of rocks rolling down resounded in the night sky, which seemed very eerie.Everyone immediately stopped and held their breath, but they heard no gunshots around them, and didn't see any movement. The mountain was dead silent.

Now there are 25 feet left.Then came a large forest.It can be covered here, and it will be safe to walk.

This dangerous ridge, now finally ventured over.Jazz and his party have stepped out of the scope of "God Forbidden", and the degree of danger has increased accordingly.Maybe after a while, some Maori will suddenly appear and kill them with their knives, so we need to be more vigilant!
Jazz and his party walked for another 10 minutes, heading towards the woods.The night grew darker, and within two hundred feet it was impossible to tell.Suddenly, Meng Geer seemed to have heard some movement, and hurriedly took a few steps back, signaling the companions behind to stop.The quiet air was tense again.

Everyone listened quietly for a while, and found nothing unusual.Menger continued to walk forward; after a short rest, Jazz and his party sneaked into the woods again.The trees in this forest are very short, Jazz and his party need to bow their bodies in order to move forward.

Enemy on both sides
The Jazz and his team knew that they must seize the good opportunity of darkness and move forward quickly.Paganel took the initiative to stand up and lead the way for his companions.As expected of a geographer, he has a very good sense of direction and a very sharp eye; even in the dark night, he can distinguish the direction.The companions thought it would be great to have him as a guide!

Now Jazz and his party walked the slow slope on the east side of the mountain; they walked for three hours at a stretch.Paganel led the group and turned slightly to the southeast, so that they could reach the canyon between the Kaimanawa Mountains and the Huaxilian Mountains.This canyon is where Auckland's road to Hawke's Bay must pass.If we got there, we could take a short cut and run straight through uninhabited country in the direction of Barent Bay.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Jazz and his party walked for twelve hours in a row, covering a distance of about twelve miles.This is already the best result, and I can't go any faster.Besides, the two women have already tried their best.Now, it's time to stop and rest.They were now at the mouth of the canyon, with the road to Oakland just ahead.Paganel looked at the map; when the rest was over, he led the group to turn to the east and walked for another hour.At ten o'clock, everyone chose a sharp hill; sat at the foot of the hill, took out dry food and began to eat.Affected by fatigue and hunger, Major McNabbs and Miss Mary Grant, who had never liked to eat dry food, began to chew with gusto.After a full meal, everyone rested for a while, and at two o'clock in the afternoon, they continued to walk eastward.In the evening of this day, the team camped eight feet from the mountain.

Nothing happened that night.On the second day, Jazz and his party continued to move towards the magical land east of the Huaxitian Mountains.All over here are volcanic lakes, boiling springs and sulfur gas pits.Walking here is really a feast for the eyes of the Jazz and his party; it is a pity that the two legs of the body are suffering; because there is no straight road here, it is necessary to detour east and west, and many wrong roads have been taken in vain.

This piece of land is about twenty square miles, and there are tens of thousands of springs of various sizes.These springs include salt water springs, boiling springs, cold springs and so on.The salt water spring is hidden in the tea forest, where the spring water glistens in the sun, attracting countless flying insects.These springs also exude a strong smell of gunpowder, which makes people feel dizzy.Around the spring, there is a piece of crystal clear white alkali.As the name suggests, boiling springs are hot springs that people dare not approach.The cold spring water flows in the cold spring, which is clear and cold.This is really a strange landscape of nature.

The thick and tall ferns grow all over the side of the spring.These springs all spout around with their own unique rhythm, fast and slow, high and low; sometimes the spring water is gurgling, and sometimes the spring water is intermittent.The spring water flows from a high place to a low place, and then diffuses to all directions; slowly, some small waterfalls and lakes are naturally formed.Above the waterfall and the lake, there are mist rising; these mist are light and hazy, like heaven and fairyland.Beyond these fountains are some sulfur gas pits and small half-extinguished calderas, which are also a beautiful sight in this area.Suddenly, I saw that there were many large pustules on the ground. When I got closer, I realized that they were sulfur crystals.In fact, this is a precious energy source in this region; people can take it inexhaustibly and use it inexhaustibly, but unfortunately no one pays attention to it.Perhaps in the future, after all the sulfur mines on Sicily in Europe are mined, people will notice this precious sulfur mine in New Zealand.

Jazz and his party bend eastward and westward on this beautiful but difficult ground.However, I can't see any birds and beasts here; although I have a gun, I can't shoot animals; it is impossible to eat a hearty meal.Jazz and his party were tired and tired from walking, the road was difficult to walk, and the food was not good. The only hope for everyone was to get out of here earlier.

However, there was no straight road, and everyone had to take a detour; so the major said that it would take four days to get through here.On February 2, the Jazz and his party had already traveled fifty miles away from Mount Montganamu.On this day, Jazz and his party walked to the foot of a hill.Paganel looked at the map. The hill was marked on the map, but the name of the hill was not displayed.On the opposite side of the hill was a large clump of shrubbery; in the distance a large forest could be seen indistinctly in outline.

As you can see, the environment here is not bad, there are no Maori people, so you can sleep comfortably.The Major and Robert Jr. also shot three kiwis here, to the delight of everyone.After dinner, everyone ate "sweets" - sweet potatoes and potatoes; Paganel suddenly had an idea and proposed a plan, which was immediately applauded and welcomed by everyone.

He suggested that this unnamed mountain be named "Glenarvan Peak", and everyone agreed.So he marked the name of the Scottish lord on the map he carried with him.

Jazz and his party continued to walk towards the Pacific Ocean.On this day they walked through woods and plains.According to the orientation of the sun and stars, Menger accurately determined the location.It wasn't very hot yet, and it didn't rain yet, but after a long journey, Jazz and his party became more and more tired; their pace also slowed down.In order to get rid of the monotony and boredom of long-distance travel, everyone chatted in a hurry; and they gathered together in twos and threes, instead of walking in a straight line.

Sir Glenarvan walked a great deal of the time alone.Because the closer he was to the coast, the more he missed his "Duncan" and the sailors on board.Although there were many crises along the way, and although there were still many things to consider before leaving Oakland, the incident of the "Duncan" being hijacked always lingered in my mind, and I couldn't shake it off.

Captain Harry Grant was never mentioned again.Because everyone is thinking that there is no way to rescue them now, so what's the use of saying this?John and Mary, however, were talking quietly.

Menger, a faithful young man, did not say what he had said in the temple; he would not take a promise after danger as a threat.He assured Miss Grant, however, that the authenticity of the three letters was beyond doubt, and that the rescue operation was still to be carried out.After hearing this, Miss Mary Grant felt warm in her heart, and admired this young man even more.Mrs. Helen also had a word or two with the lovers from time to time.She sympathized with Miss Mary's situation, but she didn't have any hope of rescuing her father, so she didn't say much to avoid pouring cold water on the pair of young people and disappointing them.

On one side, the four people, Robert Jr., Major, Wilson, and Muradi, were still hunting while walking, and they also got a lot of prey.Paganel, on the other hand, had been wearing the cloak of mellow grass, and seemed to be thinking about something silently as he walked.

Here, it needs to be mentioned that although the Jazz and his party are in groups of twos and threes, or walking alone, their hearts are closely connected.Disasters, sleepiness, fatigue and various accidents along the way can't separate them.What filled their hearts was enthusiasm and mutual caring friendship.

On February 2, the Jazz and his team walked in front of the Kukali River.Here, I found a shallow water beach, and everyone waded across the river.

In the next two days, the jazz and his party came to the connected bush plains.Halfway through the journey, although everyone is very tired, they are all safe and sound.

Now, standing in front of everyone is a large dense forest, much like the eucalyptus forest in Australia, but in fact it is the unique "tall" pine in New Zealand.The scientific name of this pine tree is "gum gum pine", and the trunk alone is more than 100 feet high.Supported on the top of the tree is a huge green "giant umbrella", and that "umbrella" is also nearly a hundred feet high.The crown of this "giant umbrella" is conical, the leaves are dark green, and they are all five or six hundred years old. These pines are very similar to the red pines in some parts of Europe, and some of them have a trunk about 600 feet thick. Ten people couldn't get around.

Jazz and his party continued to walk for three days in this tall pine forest.It seems that no one has been here, and the roots of many trees are still full of pine resin.

Flying in the forest are large flocks of kiwi birds.They are rarely seen where Maori live.Because these kiwi birds cannot resist the Maori and their hounds, they can only choose the Gaoli pine forest as their home.The major waited for these hunters to shoot a few kiwis for everyone to feast on.

Suddenly, Paganel called the major and Robert Jr. to stop, saying that he had seen a pair of huge flying birds—the moos.This kind of bird belongs to the class of dinophobia. It has a very strange appearance and has no wings. It is said that it has long been extinct.

How could Paganel not be excited to discover this extinct strange bird by accident?Then all three, forgetting their fatigue, chased the bird together.

They saw that the pair of mo-sliding birds were eighteen feet tall and looked like ostriches, but they ran faster than ostriches, and they were also very timid. They didn't have the courage to turn back all the way.The major's hunters shot after shot without hitting them; it may be that the tall tree trunks blocked their view and helped the birds.

On March 3, the Jazz and his party finally stepped out of the dense forest.That night, they came to the foot of Mount Ikiranji, which is 1 feet high, and camped there to rest.They were now a hundred feet out of the forest, and thirty miles onward they would reach the coast.Because Meng Geer didn't expect these roads to be difficult to walk, he went around many times and walked about one-fifth of the distance.Everyone was so tired that they seemed to be falling apart.It seems that we still need to continue walking for two more days to reach the destination, and it is really too much to continue like this!Everyone also knows that you can't relax your vigilance here, because Maori are often seen nearby.

At the dawn of the next day, Jazz and his party hurriedly embarked on the journey again.

After passing Mount Ikirangi, Jazz and his party saw Mount Hardy, which was [-] feet above sea level.Between these two mountains was a forest of bear willows ten miles long.The branches of these bear willow trees are soft and long, like vines, nicknamed "entanglement vines", which can entangle people's arms and legs, making people unable to move and escape, only to wait for death.Everyone cut these "wrapping vines" while walking, exhausted.The dry food I brought along the way was exhausted, there was no prey to hunt, and there was no spring water to quench my thirst. It was indeed the end of the mountain.However, in order to survive, Jazz and his party gritted their teeth and insisted on walking all the way, and finally reached the sharp corner of Laoting, and finally saw the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

From a distance, there are a few empty straw huts on the coast, which should be small villages that have just experienced war; beside the village, there are some barren fields.It can be seen that the Jazz and his party have encountered another difficulty.

At this juncture, Jazz and his party saw a group of Maori gathered a mile away.At this time, they held weapons, bared their teeth and claws, and rushed towards them screaming.What can we do now?There is really no way out, but to fight to the death.Suddenly, Menger shouted loudly:

"Look, there's a boat! A boat!"

As expected, at twenty paces, a small boat with six wooden oars was moored on the sand.Jazz and his companions hurried over, hurriedly pushed the boat into the sea, and then jumped on board immediately.Menger, the major, Mulati, and Wilson hurriedly rowed the oars, Sir steered the helm, and the other companions crouched beside him.

The boat traveled quickly, and within 10 minutes, it had traveled a quarter of a nautical mile.The sea was calm, and the jazz and his party on board were also silent.

Suddenly, at the sharp corner of Laoting, three canoes rowed towards them, apparently chasing them.

"Draw to the deep sea, row to the deep sea! We would rather drown than be caught by them!" Menger shouted.

The four paddlers paddled vigorously together, and it didn't take long to reach the deep sea.The three canoes chasing behind kept on chasing for half an hour; at the beginning, it was a discontinuous distance; then, gradually, Meng Geer and the other four were exhausted and felt Tired and thirsty, the speed began to slow down.But the three canoes catching up moved faster and faster; the distance between them was gradually shortening, and now it was only two nautical miles!Also, these Māori are armed with guns, which are now within range of their guns.The situation is very serious!
(End of this chapter)