Chapter VII: The Northern Island

Carmichael lowered somewhat the height of the Asteroid in a gradual diagonal, till they were only at a moderate altitude, so as to be able to observe anything of interest at reasonably close quarters. The first thing to be done was to ascertain whether the air of Venus was suited to human beings from another world.

Fortunately, the stormy commotion had its seat in the higher regions of the atmosphere, at least on that occasion, so that finding more reposeful conditions nearer to the surface, the Professor advised that the experiment should be tried.

Radcliffe stepped forward to one of the large windows and was about to unfasten when Carysfort shouted out, “Hold, man! are you mad? Do you suppose that we want a whole blizzard of untried air let loose upon us? Allow Carmichael to manage this business.”

Poor Radcliffe stepped back aghast, while Abercromby laughed. The Professor, with a smile, moved to one of the side walls and took down a case of books, which revealed a small round panel about as large as a crown piece. He motioned them to stand clear, and then he touched a spring and the panel flew open.

“Bravo!” said Frank; “you have foreseen every blessed contrivance that we shall want.”

“I only hope I have,” said he. “Now, you fellows, just take a sniff and see how you like it.”

A thin, crisp current of air, slightly perfumed and perfectly delicious, penetrated slowly through the room. The panel was left open for ten minutes, till the Professor, quite reassured, told them that they might enjoy an even larger dose than Radcliffe would have given them--they could venture out upon the balcony. With a hop and a skip Abercromby was in the open air within a few seconds, though he used most unparliamentary language, for the first thing he nearly did in Venus was to lose his hat, he only just contrived to catch it in time, or, as he said, it would have been the first gift that the earth would have bestowed upon a new planet.

“The waves are not much higher than our own waves, though they seem to show a great swell and current,” said the engineer.

“The reason is,” replied the Professor, “that Venus having no moon, and the sun’s attraction making up for it, the tides here will be somewhat like the terrestrial.”

For two hours they sped on to the south, the sun slowly rising in the sky but the heat not increasing to any great or serious extent. The ice-packs had of course disappeared, but the wide open sea stretched before them with its fresh and turbulent waves. At the end of the two hours a great and startling discovery set all their hearts wildly beating with hope. On the southern horizon appeared a line of high cliffs rising straight out of the water, whether they betokened island or continent they could not tell.

As the Asteroid drew nearer--for they increased their rate of speed--they saw with some regret that the cliffs presented no possibility of anchorage or landing-place. Not that this mattered to them, for an airship was quite free and independent of any naval convenience, but it made it most improbable that they would find an inhabited country.

Directly they had soared above the cliffs a cry of delight escaped them: they were in a crater-like land. A lake shone in the centre, while the country, thickly wooded in places and interspread with luxuriant meadow, sloped upwards to a chain of hills about twenty miles away to the south. Westwards they could trace the curving line of the elevated coast, but eastwards it was not so easy to tell how far the land extended.

“Thank God! At last! at last!” exclaimed Radcliffe fervently. “We will be content with what we have.”

“The best attitude in which to look for more,” said the Professor quietly. “There are no traces of human beings, civilised or savage, but the locality will suit perfectly for a few days of rest and quiet explorations.”

“Could we only know there _was_ a city on Venus,” remarked Carysfort, “I should scarcely like to drop down upon it the very first moment. Better to get acclimatised.”

The Asteroid was steered to the south side of the lake, which was long and narrow. The Professor prudently selected a little hilltop looking down upon the lake, but sprinkled with trees and carpeted with rich, soft, mossy grass. Upon this the Asteroid carefully descended. It only required the grappling irons to be fixed in the ground and a lashing of ropes to the stems of two adjacent trees, and then a reasonably secure site would have been gained. It was rather a twilight land, for the sun was hidden behind the hills, but this was a relief and not a disadvantage.

The first thing they did was to sit down to a quiet meal, which they partook of in the machine, for Carmichael would not hear of any out-of-door picnic. He insisted that no excursion should be taken till they had had some hours of sleep, and they were all nearly exhausted.

The Professor and Jackson stepped down and attended to the safe securing of the machine, and then they had, in turns, the longest repose they had ever enjoyed since leaving their own world.

When they met the next morning and were breakfasting, the first thing Abercromby wanted to hear was the programme for the day.

“Now, gentlemen,” said the Professor, “I will just say one word on a certain subject, and then leave it to your good sense and hold my peace. God--for I believe in God--has brought us here after a frightful voyage across space, and perils both at either end, and occasionally in the midst, enough to have sent weaker men stark mad. Don’t let us, by any rashness or indiscretion, throw away all our advantages and perhaps our lives. They belong to the human race, not to ourselves. We want to live to return and to tell what we have seen. The peril of the air is past, but danger lurks in the fruits and flowers, in the water, in the soil, and also among the people, if there are any. Columbus was in no such danger ever, for, though all around him was new and strange, he was still on his own planet. Touch no food till some little time has passed, but live on our own earthly supplies, which will last us several months at the least. Taste no water till I have chemically analysed it. Do not indulge in dangerous climbing. Do not straggle away from the machine--at least, alone--and always carry your revolvers with you, so that you can use them as signals if you need them, not for defence. I should not say half as much as this were we in the wildest part of Central Africa. But here, in Venus, we are just like new-born children with all our experience to make as we go along, and all the learning of earth cannot directly help us, except in guiding our common sense. Now I have said my say. I am pleading for my brothers on the earth, for whom we have done and risked all this.”

“I agree with everything you say,” replied Carysfort, “and will practise it. I suppose Cromwell would tell us, were he alive, to trust in God and keep our eyes open, which will be more important here than keeping our powder dry.”

“I will go about in a bath-chair if it is to benefit humanity,” said Abercromby.

“Very well,” said the Professor, just a tiny bit cross; “I take that remark to mean that you won’t be a donkey. Now let us change the subject.”

They discussed at a considerable length what they should first set about. It was decided that two should be left behind on guard, and that a rocket should be sent up in the event of danger requiring the others to return. The travellers should be absent not more than three hours, they should walk to the western end of the lake and strike the cliffs at the angle of the shore so as to gain some idea of the coast-line away to the southern hills. In the rare event of some terrible danger overtaking them, the Asteroid should be brought to them, to scatter enemies, or to rescue from peril. The Professor would fire off a signal rocket himself. Their guns were not, on this occasion, to be used as signals, as they might want them for other purposes. Carysfort and Jackson consented to remain behind, and gave their word not to move out of sight of the machine, while one of them was always to be within it.

Then the ladder was let down and the party trod the soil of Venus for the first time.