Chapter 10 chapter Ten

A few minutes later, the three hunters came to the crackling campfire.Smith and the correspondent were nearby.Pencroft, holding the capybara in his hand, looked from one to the other without saying a word. How about it, my warrior.The correspondent greeted him. Fire, really fire, can roast this big fat pig to perfection, and we can have a big meal in no time! But who lit the fire?asked Pencroft. sun! Ji Ding.Spilett was quite right.The heat which surprised Pencroft was produced by the sun.The sailor couldn't believe his eyes, he was so surprised that he didn't even think to ask the engineer.

You probably have a magnifying glass with you?Herbert asked Smith. No, boy, he answered, but I made one. So he took out the tool that was used as a magnifying glass and showed it to everyone.Its structure is very simple, the engineer and the correspondent each have a watch, which is made of the glass on the watch.The engineer glued the edges of the two pieces of glass with a little soil, filled the middle with water, and made a formal magnifying glass.It focused the sun's rays on the dry moss, and soon the moss was ablaze. After examining the tool, the sailor stared blankly at the engineer without saying a word.It can be seen from his expression that in his mind, Cyrus.If Smith is not a fairy, he must be an extraordinary person.At last he spoke again, and he cried out:

Write it down, Monsieur Spilett, in your notebook! Already noted it down.replied the correspondent. Then Neb and the sailors prepared the meat fork, cleaned the capybara, and soon roasted it like a piglet over a vigorous, crackling fire. The grotto was cozy again, not only because of the warm fire, but because the partitions had been rebuilt with wood and earth. Apparently, the engineer and his mates had not had a bad day at work.Cyrus.Smith's strength had almost completely recovered, as evidenced by his ability to climb the high ground.He was good at measuring heights and distances by eye, and he stood on the top of the plateau, looking at the volcanic cone for a long time, and he planned to climb to the top of the cone tomorrow.The mountain was about six miles to the northwest, and he estimated it to be 3,500 feet high.If you stand on the top of the mountain, you can see at least fifty miles away.Therefore, the question of whether the desert island or the mainland, which Smith is very concerned about, can be easily solved.

Their dinner is very rich.Everyone is full of praise for the capybara meat.Add sargassum and pine nuts and the meal is complete.During meals, the engineer seldom speaks.He was thinking about his plans for the next day. Once or twice Pencroft suggested that it would be better to do this or that; but CyrusSmith thought about the problem very methodically, he just shook his head in silence. Tomorrow, he repeated, we will know what to expect and then we will take the necessary action. After supper they added a few more handfuls of wood to the fire, and soon all the inhabitants of the cave, including the faithful Top, fell asleep.The night passed without incident.The next day, March 29th, they arose refreshed for the expedition that would decide their fate.

Everything is ready, just waiting to go.There was enough capybara meat left over for everyone to eat for at least a day and a night.In addition, they expect to find more food on the way.The glass used as a magnifying glass was installed on the watches of engineers and correspondents.Pencroft burned some charred cloth instead of tinder.In areas of igneous rock, flint is never lacking.At 7:30 in the morning, everyone took sticks and set off from the grotto.Pencroft suggested that it would be better to take the trail already cleared in the forest, and to find another on the way back; and this opinion was agreed.This is also the straightest path to the mountains.They rounded the southern turn and walked along the left bank of the river, leaving the course when the river turned to the southwest.They found the old trail under the evergreens, and at nine o'clock Cyrus and his companions reached the western edge of the forest.In the area just passed, at first the ground was swampy; then it was dry sand, but still very little undulating, until here it gradually formed a slope, rising from the shore to the interior.Some timid animals can be seen among the trees in this area.Top rushed at them at once, but his master thought it was not the time yet, and the hunting would have to wait until later, so he called him back at once.As long as an engineer has established a proposition, he has made up his mind and never changes easily.He does not even look at the surrounding terrain and all the natural products. His great goal is to climb the high mountain ahead, so he keeps going towards it.At ten o'clock they rested for a few minutes.After walking out of the forest, the situation in the mountains was presented in front of the explorers.This mountain has two volcanic cones; one of them is about 2,500 feet high, and the top of the cone seems to be flattened, and there are many pillars of rocks supporting it, like a big claw standing on the ground, The toes are spread out in all directions, and many valleys are formed between the toes. In the valleys, there are many trees, and the last clump of trees is straight to the top of the lower cone.On the northeast facing hillside there were few trees, and deep crevices could be seen, which must be waterways.

The second volcanic cone is on top of the first, slightly rounded, and slightly to one side, like a big round hat worn crookedly over the ear.The volcanic cone appears to be made entirely of clay, with patches of red stone protruding from the surface. They intended to climb the second cone, preferably along the spur's ridge, in view of the terrain. We have come to the volcanic field.Cyrus.After Smith finished speaking, he led his companions up step by step from a branch, which led to the first high ground in a tortuous way, so it was easier to walk. There had evidently been an earthquake here, and there were littered rocks, masses of basalt and fragments of pumice.Fir trees grew in twos and threes, and their branches and leaves were so dense that they covered the depths of the canyon several hundred feet below, so that not even a ray of sunlight could penetrate.

During the first part of the ascent, Herbert recognized the recent tracks of some gigantic animals. These beasts may not let us go so easily.said Pencroft. Look, the correspondent has hunted tigers in India, and lions in Africa, and he said, we'll figure it out.But for now we should be very careful! They climbed up the hill slowly. Due to the twists and turns of the road and many obstacles, they could not climb directly, and the distance became very long.Sometimes the ground suddenly dropped, and they found themselves facing an abyss, which they had to go around.They waste a great deal of time and energy trying to find a passable road back.At twelve o'clock the expedition stopped to eat under a large clump of fir-trees, near a mountain stream, with the water rushing down into a waterfall.Here they found that they were only halfway to the first plateau.It is probably impossible to reach the high ground before dark.The sea they could see here was much wider, but a raised cape on the right blocked their view, and they could not see whether there was land on that side.On the left you can see all the way north for several miles.But to the northwest, where they lived, the view was suddenly obscured by a grotesque ridge which formed the mighty support of the central volcanic cone.So everyone still can't deduce Smith's question at all.

It was one o'clock, and they continued up the mountain.They climbed obliquely to the southwest and entered a thick bush.There are several pairs of pheasant birds flapping their wings in the shade.These birds are tragopans, with flaps of flesh hanging from their throats, and a pair of small round crested hairs behind their eyes.This kind of bird is about the size of a chicken. The female is brown all over, and the male has bright red feathers dotted with white spots, which is very beautiful.Ji Ding.Spilett picked up a stone, and flung it deftly and vigorously, killing one of the pheasants in a single stroke, and Pencroft, hungry for a breath of fresh air, kept his eyes on them greedily.

Once they were out of the scrubland, they kicked each other's shoulders and helped climb a steep slope of about a hundred feet to a platform.There are few trees here, and the soil seems to be volcanic.To climb up from here, you have to take a winding detour, because the slope is very steep, and every step is in danger of breaking your body, so you must be very careful.Neb and Herbert were in front, Pencroft behind, and the engineer and correspondent in the middle.There are many beasts here.The animals that can often come to the high hills in this area must be antelopes or goats that stand firmly and have soft spines.They saw several, but Pencroft mistook him, and suddenly exclaimed:

sheep! They all stopped, and about fifty feet away from them, there were six rather large animals, their horns curved back and flattened at the top, very powerful, with a fluffy underfur hidden under long, smooth brown hair. Herbert told everyone that this was not an ordinary sheep, but a mouflon sheep commonly seen in temperate mountainous areas. Do they have lamb shanks and chops?asked the sailor. some.Herbert said. Well, then they are sheep!said Pencroft. These animals stood motionless among the large basalt stones, staring blankly at people, as if they were seeing humans for the first time.Then, suddenly startled for no reason, they leaped over the rocks and fled, disappearing in an instant.

Goodbye, we will see you another day!exclaimed Pencroft comically, looking at them.Cyrus.Smith, Keating.Spilett, Herbert and Neb could not help laughing. They continued climbing.There is lava left over here.Sometimes sulfurous springs blocked their way, and they had to go around.In some places, sulfur crystallizes in other substances, such as in white volcanic slags composed of countless small feldspar crystals. The top of the lower volcanic cone is flattened into a plateau, and when it is close to the first plateau, climbing is very difficult.It was almost four o'clock, and they had walked through the last forest area.Now there are only a few crooked dwarf pines growing here and there occasionally, and they obviously have to fight against the strong wind blowing from the sea at such a high place.It was a cloudless and peaceful day, which was really the luck of the engineer and his companions, for at an altitude of three thousand feet, even a slight breeze would be detrimental to their ascent.They just feel that the weather is clear.There was no sound at all around.They could not see the sun because the high volcanic cone covered the western half of the horizon and blocked the sun.As the red sun fell to the west, the huge mountain shadow on the beach became longer and longer.The water vapor that appeared in the east is not so much a cloud as a fog. Under the sunlight, it looks colorful. The group of explorers was only five hundred feet from the plateau where they intended to camp again for the night.However, due to the twists and turns of the mountain, they actually had to walk more than two miles, and the soil under their feet seemed to be slipping.The hillsides here are generally very steep, and as long as they encounter weathered stones that cannot stand being stepped on, they will roll down.Night fell, Cyrus.Smith and his companions climbed with great effort for seven hours, and did not reach the high ground on the top of the first cone until it was almost completely dark.Now, first of all, we must arrange to sleep in the open, we must fill our stomachs, and then sleep, so that we can recover our strength.At the base of the second cone are many rocks, among which it is easy to find a shelter.There is not much fuel nearby, but there are some shrubs growing on the high ground, and they can pick up some dry wood and moss to make a fire.While the sailors contrived to form a fire surrounded by stones, Neb and Herbert went to gather wood.They quickly picked up many of them.They struck out sparks from the flint, lit the scorched cloth, and Neb blew a few breaths, and in a few minutes a great fire was crackling and crackling in the shelter of the rock.The purpose of their fire was only to keep out the cold at night, not to roast the birds, which Neb kept for the next day.Their dinner was leftover capybara meat and a few dozen pine nuts.They didn't finish eating until half past six in the evening. Then, Cyrus.Smith planned to explore the lower ring of the higher cone before it got dark.He intends to find out before he rests, if the surroundings of the volcanic cone are too steep to go up, is it possible to go around under it.The question preoccupied him, for depending on which way the hat slanted to the north, the heights might be impassable.If they couldn't climb to the top of the mountain from here, and they couldn't go around from the bottom of the volcanic cone to the other side, then they wouldn't be able to inspect the land in the west, that is to say, their purpose of climbing the mountain would be in vain. So the engineer, in spite of his fatigue, went north along the edge of the plateau, leaving Pencroft and Neb ready to sleep, and Gideon.Spilett records what happened that day.Only Herbert accompanied him. The night was beautiful and quiet, and the surrounding light was not too dark.Cyrus.Smith and Herbert walked side by side without speaking a word.Some places on the high ground were open, and they walked across them smoothly; some places were blocked by many rocks, leaving only a narrow road, and two people walking side by side could not pass.After walking twenty minutes, Cyrus.Smith and Herbert had to stop.Here the slopes of the two volcanic cones merge into one.There is no shoulder here separating the two halves of the mountain.The slope is nearly seventy degrees, and it is impassable. The engineer and the boy had to give up the idea of ​​going around from below, but in this way, they got a chance to climb to the top of the volcanic cone instead. There was a deep hole in front of them.That is the crater with rough edges and corners. When the volcano erupts, the magma is ejected from here. The solidified lava and hardened volcanic cinders form layers of wide natural steps, so that it is very convenient for them to climb to the top of the mountain. Smith glanced at it hastily, and then led the boy into the huge cave without hesitation. The further he went inside, the darker the light became. Still a thousand feet from the summit.Can the slope in the crater be walked?This question can be known immediately.The determined engineer was determined to go as far as he could go no further.Fortunately, the slope inside the volcano has been winding up, so they climbed up smoothly. The volcano must have been completely extinguished.There was not a wisp of smoke on the hillside, not a single spark to be seen in the black hole, neither rumbling nor muffled noise, and yet there was not even a tremor in this dark well that went down perhaps to the bottom of the earth's crust.The air in the crater has no smell of sulfurous steam, which shows that it is not just a sleeping volcano, but a completely extinguished extinct volcano.Cyrus.Smith's exploration can be successful. He and Herbert climbed up the inner wall step by step, only to see that the crater above his head was getting bigger and bigger.The radius of the circular sky seen through the crater is visibly enlarged.With every step the two explorers took, more stars came into view.The sky is full of beautiful constellations shining brightly.The main star of Scorpius is shining overhead, and not far away is the star of Sagittarius, which is said to be the closest to the earth.Then, as the crater widened, Fomalhaut and Triangulum in the constellation of Pisces appeared.Finally, almost near the South Pole, the Southern Cross shines in the sky; its position corresponds to that of Polaris in the northern hemisphere. Cyrus.It was nearly eight o'clock in the evening when Smith and Herbert reached the highest summit of the volcanic cone. It was so dark that they could not see for two miles.Does the sea surround this land, or is it connected to the west by some continent in the Pacific Ocean?There is no way of knowing.A band of dark clouds was clearly visible on the western horizon, making the night darker.There is only a big circle around it, and it is hard to tell where is land and where is ocean. But suddenly there was a faint light on the horizontal line. The dark clouds gradually moved overhead, and the light slowly shone on the ground. It turned out that a crescent moon was setting in the west, and after the dark clouds moved away, the moonlight could clearly illuminate the horizon.For a moment, the engineer saw the crescent moon reflected on the water waves, rippling endlessly.Cyrus.Smith grabbed the boy's hand and said heavily: It's a desert island!At this time, the crescent moon fell into the water wave.