Chapter XXIV: Part II: The Desert of Ice

I. THE DOCTOR'S INVENTORY II. ALTAMONT'S FIRST WORDS III. SEVENTEEN DAYS OF LAND JOURNEY IV. THE LAST CHARGE OF POWDER V. THE SEAL AND THE BEAR VI. THE PORPOISE VII. A DISCUSSION ABOUT CHARTS VIII. EXCURSION TO THE NORTH OF VICTORIA BAY IX. COLD AND HEAT X. THE PLEASURES OF WINTER-QUARTERS XI. DISQUIETING TRACES XII. THE ICE PRISON XIII. THE MINE XIV. THE POLAR SPRING XV. THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE XVI. NORTHERN ARCADIA XVII. ALTAMONT'S REVENGE XVIII. THE LAST PREPARATIONS XIX. THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD XX. FOOTPRINTS ON THE SNOW XXI. THE OPEN SEA XXII. THE APPROACH TO THE POLE XXIII. THE ENGLISH FLAG XXIV. POLAR COSMOGRAPHY XXV. MOUNT HATTERAS XXVI. RETURN TO THE SOUTH XXVII. CONCLUSION LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. * "JOHNSON KNEW ALL THE SAILORS IN LIVERPOOL, AND IMMEDIATELY SET ABOUT ENGAGING A CREW" * "EVERYTHING WAS ENVELOPED IN ONE OF THE ORDINARY FOGS OF THAT REGION" * "THIS SPACE OF SIX FEET SQUARE CONTAINED INCALCULABLE WEALTH" * "THE NEWS SPEAD IMMEDIATELY THROUGHOUT THE CITY, AND A GREAT CONCOURSE OF SPECTATORS THRONGED THE PIERS" * "TOWARDS EVENING THE BRIG DOUBLED THE CALF OF MAN" * "WOULD ONE NOT SAY IT WAS A FOREIGN CITY, AN EASTERN CITY, WITH MINARETS AND MOSQUES IN THE MOONLIGHT" * "FORTUNATELY THE OPENING OF THESE HUTS WAS TOO SMALL, AND THE ENTHUSIASTIC DOCTOR COULD NOT GET THROUGH" * "A STRANGE ANIMAL WAS BOUNDING ALONG WITHIN A CABLE'S LENGTH FROM THE SHIP" * "JOHN HATTERAS" * "HE CAUGHT A LARGE NUMBER OF WHITE FOXES; HE HAD PUT ON THEIR NECKS COPPER COLLARS" * "ALL THESE POOR FELLOWS HAD DIED OF MISERY, SUFFERING, AND STARVATION" * "THE BRIG WAS TOSSED ABOUT LIKE A CHILD'S TOY" (Frontispiece) * "THE WHALE SWAM AWAY FROM THE BRIG AND HASTENED TOWARDS THE MOVING ICEBERGS" * "THE FORWARD IN WELLINGTON CHANNEL" * HATTERAS MADE USE OF A DEVICE WHICH WHALERS EMPLOY * "A CRASH WAS HEARD, AND AS IT CAME AGAINST THE STARBOARD-QUARTER, PART OF THE RAIL HAD GIVEN WAY" * "THE MOON SHONE WITH INCOMPARABLE PURITY, GLISTENING ON THE LEAST ROUGHNESS IN THE ICE" * "ALMOST EVERY NIGHT THE DOCTOR COULD OBSERVE THE MAGNIFICENT AURORAS" * "HE WAS ARMED, AND HE KEPT CONSTANT GUARD, WITHOUT MINDING THE COLD, THE SNOW, OR THE ICE" * "THE LITTLE BAND MADE THEIR WAY TOWARDS THE SOUTHEAST" * "THE DOCTOR HAD ENERGY ENOUGH TO ASCEND AN ICE-MOUNTAIN WHILE THE SNOW-HUT WAS BUILDING" * "'FIRE!' SHOUTED THE CAPTAIN, DISCHARGING HIS PIECE" * "THEY COULD ONLY THINK OF THEIR PERILOUS POSITION" * "SUDDENLY, WITH A LAST EFFORT, HE HALF ROSE" * "THEN A TERRIBLE EXPLOSION WAS HEARD" * "THE LARGE PIECES OF THE ENGINE LAY HERE AND THERE, TWISTED OUT OF SHAPE" * "THEY HARNESSED THE TIRED DOGS" * JOHNSON'S STORY * "'YES!' SAID THE AMERICAN" * "THE DOCTOR WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO FIND A SEAL" * "AT THE END OF TWO HOURS THEY FELL, EXHAUSTED" * "HE PLUNGED HIS KNIFE INTO THE BEAST'S THROAT" * "THESE CASTAWAYS LOOKED AT THEMSELVES AS COLONISTS WHO HAD REACHED THEIR DESTINATION" * THE FORT WAS COMPLETED * "I AM NOT AWARE THAT IT BEARS ANY NAME ON THE MOST RECENT MAPS" * "THE DOCTOR REACHED THE SUMMIT WITH SOME LITTLE DIFFICULTY" * "THEY ADVANCED IN FULL ILLUMINATION, AND THEIR SHARPLY CUT SHADOWS RAN OUT BEHIND THEM OVER THE SNOW" * "HE DID HIS BEST TO INSTRUCT AND INTEREST HIS COMPANIONS" * "HATTERAS COULD ONLY KEEP HIS DISTANCE FROM THE ANIMALS BY THROWING AWAY HIS CAP, HATCHET, AND EVEN HIS GUN" * "THE BEARS HEAPED THE ICE IN SUCH A WAY AS TO RENDER FLIGHT IMPOSSIBLE" * "AN ENORMOUS BLACK BODY APPEARED IN THE GLOOM OF THE ROOM. ALTAMONT RAISED HIS HAND TO STRIKE IT" * "A LOUD EXPLOSION FOLLOWED" * "THE CARPENTER SET TO WORK AT ONCE" * "A HARD STRUGGLE WITH THE ICEBERGS" * "MACCLURE SAW A MAN RUNNING AND GESTICULATING" * "THE DOCTOR, JOHNSON, AND BELL INTERVENED. IT WAS TIME; THE TWO ENEMIES WERE GAZING AT ONE ANOTHER" * "THEY WERE A CURIOUS AND TOUCHING SIGHT, FLYING ABOUT WITHOUT FEAR, RESTING ON CLAWBONNY'S SHOULDERS," ETC. * "GAVE HIM A TERRIBLE BLOW WITH A HATCHET ON THE HEAD" * "WELL, I'VE BROUGHT BACK TWO BROTHERS" * "THE SEAL STRUGGLED FOR A FEW SECONDS, AND WAS THEN SUFFOCATED ON THE BREAST OF HIS ADVERSARY" * "THEY LEFT AT SIX O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING" * "ON THE 29TH BELL SHOT A FOX, AND ALTAMONT A MEDIUM-SIZED MUSK-OX" * "THE MASSES OF ICE TOOK THE FORMS OF HUMMOCKS AND ICEBERGS" * "ON ALL SIDES RESOUNDED THE CRACKING OF THE ICE AMID THE ROAR OF THE AVALANCHES" * "'WE OUGHT,' ANSWERED BELL, 'TO LIGHT TORCHES, AS IS DONE AT LONDON AND LIVERPOOL'" * THE HUT WAS PITCHED IN A RAVINE FOR SHELTER * "THEY CLIMBED A HILL WHICH COMMANDED A WIDE VIEW" * "THREE HOURS LATER THEY REACHED THE COAST. 'THE SEA! THE SEA!' THEY ALL SHOUTED" * "THE LAUNCH WAS ROCKING GENTLY IN HER LITTLE HARBOR" * "AQUATIC BIRDS OF ALL SORTS WERE THERE" * "THEN THE EYE GLANCING DOWN INTO THE TRANSPARENT WATER, THE SIGHT WAS EQUALLY STRANGE" * "'IT'S A VOLCANO!' HE CRIED" * "THE LAUNCH TOSSED HELPLESSLY ABOUT" * "THE FOG, WITHOUT LIFTING, WAS VERY BRIGHT" * "THIS DRIFTING FLOE WAS COVERED WITH WHITE BEARS, CROWDED TOGETHER" * "HER SAIL FLEW AWAY LIKE A HUGE WHITE BIRD; A WHIRLPOOL, A NEW MAELSTROM, FORMED AMONG THE WAVES" * "THE MOUNTAIN WAS IN FULL ERUPTION" * "THEY NOTICED A LITTLE FIORD" * "ALTAMONT SOON FOUND A GROTTO IN THE ROCKS" * "THEY WERE ALL READY TO LISTEN TO THE DOCTOR" * "THEY SAW THE CAPTAIN STANDING ON A ROCK" * "HATTERAS APPEARED TO WAKE FROM HIS REVERY" * "BUT HATTERAS DID NOT LOOK BACK. HE HAD MADE USE OF HIS STAFF AS A POLE ON WHICH TO FASTEN THE ENGLISH FLAG" * "THE DOCTOR PUT UP A CAIRN" * "DEAD—FROZEN" * "TWO HOURS LATER, AFTER UNHEARD-OF EFFORTS, THE LAST MEN OF THE FORWARD WERE TAKEN ABOARD THE DANISH WHALER HANS CHRISTIAN" * "A STEAMBOAT CARRIED THEM TO KIEL"

ABANDONED By Jules Verne Fifty Illustrations

CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I Conversation on the Subject of the Bullet—Construction of a Canoe—Hunting—At the Top of a Kauri—Nothing to attest the Presence of Man—Neb and Herbert's Prize—Turning a Turtle—The Turtle disappears—Cyrus Harding's Explanation 1 CHAPTER II First Trial of the Canoe—A Wreck on the Coast—Towing—Flotsam Point—Inventory of the Case: Tools, Weapons, Instruments, Clothes, Books, Utensils—What Pencroft misses—The Gospel—A Verse from the Sacred Book 11 CHAPTER III The Start—The rising Tide—Elms and different Plants—The Jacamar—Aspect of the Forest—Gigantic Eucalypti—The Reason they are called "Fever Trees"—Troops of Monkeys—A Waterfall—The Night Encampment 23 CHAPTER IV Journey to the Coast—Troops of Monkeys—A new River—The Reason the Tide was not felt—A woody Shore—ReptilePromontory—Herbert envies Gideon Spilett—Explosion of Bamboos 34 CHAPTER V Proposal to return by the Southern Shore—Configuration of the Coast—Searching for the supposed Wreck—A Wreck in the Air—Discovery of a small Natural Port—At Midnight on the Banks of the Mercy—The Canoe Adrift 45 CHAPTER VI[Pg x] Pencroft's Halloos—A Night in the Chimneys—Herbert's Arrows—The Captain's Project—An unexpected Explanation—What has happened in Granite House—How a new Servant enters the Service of the Colonists 58 CHAPTER VII Plans—A Bridge over the Mercy—Mode adopted for making an Island of Prospect Heights—The Drawbridge—Harvest—The Stream—The Poultry-yard—A Pigeon-house—The two Onagas—The Cart—Excursion to Port Balloon 70 CHAPTER VIII Linen—Shoes of Seal-leather—Manufacture of Pyroxyle—Gardening —Fishing—Turtle-eggs—Improvement of Master Jup—The Corral—Musmon Hunt—New Animal and Vegetable Possessions—Recollections of their Native Land 81 CHAPTER IX Bad Weather—The Hydraulic Lift—Manufacture of Glass-ware—The Bread-tree—Frequent Visits to the Corral—Increase of the Flock—The Reporter's Question—Exact Position of Lincoln Island—Pencroft's Proposal 92 CHAPTER X Boat-building—Second Crop of Corn—Hunting Koalas—A new Plant, more Pleasant than Useful—Whale in Sight—A Harpoon from the Vineyard—Cutting up the Whale—Use for the Bones—End of the Month of May—Pencroft has nothing left to wish for 103 CHAPTER XI Winter—Felling Wood—The Mill—Pencroft's fixed Idea—The Bones—To what Use an Albatross may be put—Fuel for the Future—Top and Jup—Storms—Damage to the Poultry-yard—Excursion to the Marsh—Cyrus Harding alone—Exploring the Well 114 CHAPTER XII[Pg xi] The Rigging of the Vessel—An Attack from Foxes—Jup wounded—Jup cured—Completion of the Boat—Pencroft's Triumph—The Bonadventure's trial Trip to the South of the Island—An unexpected Document 127 CHAPTER XIII Departure decided upon—Conjectures—Preparations—The three Passengers—First Night—Second Night—Tabor Island—Searching the Shore—Searching the Wood—No one—Animals—Plants—A Dwelling—Deserted 142 CHAPTER XIV The Inventory—Night—A few Letters—Continuation of the Search—Plants and Animals—Herbert in great Danger—On Board—The Departure—Bad Weather—A Gleam of Reason—Lost on the Sea—A timely Light 154 CHAPTER XV The Return—Discussion—Cyrus Harding and the Stranger—Port Balloon—The Engineer's Devotion—A touching Incident—Tears flow 166 CHAPTER XVI A Mystery to be cleared up—The Stranger's first Words—Twelve Years on the Islet—Avowal which escapes him—The Disappearance—Cyrus Harding's Confidence—Construction of a Mill—The first Bread—An Act of Devotion—Honest Hands 176 CHAPTER XVII Still alone—The Stranger's Request—The Farm established at the Corral—Twelve Years ago—The Boatswain's Mate of the Britannia—Left on Tabor Island—Cyrus Harding's Hand—The mysterious Document 191 CHAPTER XVIII[Pg xii] Conversation—Cyrus Harding and Gideon Spilett—An Idea of the Engineer's—The Electric Telegraph—The Wires—The Battery—The Alphabet—Fine Season—Prosperity of the Colony—Photography—An Appearance of Snow—Two Years on Lincoln Island 203 CHAPTER XIX Recollections of their Native Land—Probable Future—Project for surveying the Coasts of the Island—Departure on the 16th of April—Sea-view of Reptile End—The basaltic Rocks of the Western Coast—Bad Weather—Night comes on—New Incident 216