Chapter 22 Chapter 22

The severe cold continued until the fifteenth of August, but did not drop below the Fahrenheit temperature mentioned above.In fair weather the temperature, if lower, is tolerable, but when the wind blows, the poor inhabitants suffer for being so scantly clad.Pencroft regretted that there were many foxes and seals on Lincoln Island, but not a single bear.If there are bears, how nice to make clothes out of their skins! Bears, he said, are always well dressed, and I want nothing but to borrow some of those warm cloaks they wear for the winter. But, laughed Neb, perhaps the bear will not agree to lend you his cloak, Pencroft, they are not St.Martin.

We can make it borrow, Neb, we can make it borrow.Pencroft said with confidence. However, there is no such ferocious carnivore on the island, at least so far, it has not been seen. Meanwhile Herbert, Pencroft, and the correspondent laid traps on Prospect Heights and on the edge of the forest. According to the sailors, any kind of animal, whether it is a rodent or a carnivorous animal, is just and legal to be hunted, as long as it runs into a newly made trap, it should be invited to the Granite Palace to entertain it. Fan. The structure of the trap is very simple. Dig a hole on the ground, cover it with a layer of branches and weeds, cover the hole, put some bait at the bottom of the hole, and the bait will give off a fragrance, which will attract the beast.It should be explained that these traps were not dug randomly, but must be placed in a certain place. Where there are many wild beasts' footprints, it means that wild beasts often come to this area.Residents came to visit the trap every day, and in the first few days, the trap caught the white fox that had been seen on the right bank of the Mercy River three times in a row.

Why, it's full of foxes here!said Pencroft, when he threw an arctic fox out of the trap for the third time.He glanced at it in great disgust, and added that the beast was of no use at all! No, Keating.They are of some use, says Spilett! What is the use? Use it as bait to lure other animals! The correspondent was right, and henceforth dead foxes were used as bait in the traps. The sailors made several snares out of the long, strong fibers of a tree, which worked even better than traps.Every day, there will always be a few rabbits from the rabbit farm to fall into the trap.Although only one kind of rabbit was caught, Neboo cooks in many ways, so the residents never get tired of eating it.

During the second week of August the hunters at last once or twice caught something better than the fox in their traps, the young boars they had seen on the north side of the lake.Pencroft knew without asking that the beasts were delicious, for they resembled the domestic pigs of America and Europe. But this is no domestic pig, said Herbert to him. I warn you, Pencroft. Boy, said the sailor, stooping to the mouth of the trap, and taking hold of the short tail with one hand, he brought out a wild boar, I'll take it for a pig! Why? I am so happy! Well, do you like pigs very much, Pencroft?

I am very fond of pigs, replied the sailor, especially the legs of pigs; and if it had eight legs instead of four, I would love it twice as much! There are four species of wild boars, and the animal mentioned above is one of them, called Siri, which is characterized by its dark color and lacks the tusks that are found in the mouths of similar species.Xirui generally live in groups, and there may be many forest areas on the island. In short, the animals were edible from head to tail, and Pencroft could have asked nothing else of them. Halfway through August, the wind turned to the northwest, and the climate suddenly changed.The temperature rose by a few degrees, and the water vapor in the air soon turned into snow.The entire island was covered with a layer of white silver armor, and the residents suddenly felt that the appearance of the island was completely new.It snowed heavily for several days, and soon the ground was two feet thick.

The wind is also very strong. In the majestic granite palace, you can hear the sea water hitting the reef, making a booming sound. Where the terrain is curved, the whirlwind blows the snowflakes around, forming tall pillars. Just like Qigen's hovering water column, when a ship encounters such a water column in the sea, it will be bombarded.The blizzard came from the northwest and swept across the island, so Granite Palace was spared a frontal attack. However, in these days, the howling wind and snow are as terrifying as those seen in some cold zone regions.Cyrus.Although Smith and his companions wanted to go out, they had no choice but to hide at home patiently. From August 20th to 25th, they were trapped for five consecutive days.They heard the wind and snow swaggering in the woodpecker grove, where it must have ravaged.Many trees must have been uprooted, but Pencroft consoled himself by saving him the felling.

The wind has become a woodcutter, let it blow.he repeated. In fact, even if they wanted to stop it, they couldn't. At this time, how much the residents of Granite Palace thanked God for arranging this iron barrel-like residence for them!They also asked Cyrus.Smith expressed his due thanks, but after all, this huge cave was created by nature, but it was discovered by engineers.Everyone is safe from the storm.A house built of brick and lumber on Prospect Heights would certainly not be able to withstand the storm.The Grotto must have been completely uninhabitable, for the sea, when it had passed over the island, would have swept over it in a flood.Only the Granite Palace is located in the center of the rock, where the wind cannot blow and the waves cannot hit, so there is no need to worry.

During these few days of seclusion, the residents have not been idle. There used to be a lot of wood stored in the warehouse. They saw the wood into planks and gradually put together the furniture.Because the wood is not spared, the tables and chairs are very strong.Neb and Pencroft were so pleased with the heavy furniture that they would not change anything that anyone brought. Soon the carpenters learned to weave baskets again.They are also doing well in this new job.On the north side of the lake there was a protruding place, where they found a willow grove growing many purple-red silk willows.Before the rainy season, Pencroft and Herbert cut down these useful bushes, and after processing, the branches can be used effectively. They had no experience at the beginning of trial weaving, but due to the cleverness and wisdom of the workers, after further Studying and recalling the shapes of the baskets seen in the past, through mutual competition, the team quickly added several baskets of different sizes.They put the baskets in the storehouse, and Neb selected a few for storage of tubers and pine nuts he had collected, and so on.

The last week of August, the weather changed again.The temperature dropped a bit and the snowstorm died down.Immediately the settlers made a journey.There must have been two feet of snow on the shore, but the ground was so hard that they walked without difficulty.Cyrus.Smith and his partners climbed Prospect Heights. What a change!The trees in the forest, especially those where fir trees mainly grow, were green the last time I saw them, but now there was nothing but white.From the top of Mount Franklin to the sea, forests, plains, lakes, and rivers are connected into a vast expanse of white.The water of the Mercy River flows under the ice eaves, and whenever the tide rises and falls, the ice will swell and break, making a loud noise.There are countless birds fluttering and flying on the frozen lake.Ducks and sandpipers, teals and guillemots all flocked in thousands.There are many icicles where the waterfall flows out of the rocks. At first glance, it seems that the waterfall is pouring out of a strange-shaped funnel. It looks very special, as if it is a work of a Renaissance artist.Exactly how much damage the blizzard had done in the forest, they were not yet sure; they would have to wait until the surface ice had melted.

Ji Ding.Spilett, Pencroft, and Herbert did not miss the opportunity to see their trap, which was covered with snow and had found it with difficulty.They must also be very careful not to fall into it. If they fall into the trap they set up, it will not only be dangerous, but also too embarrassing!Fortunately, they were not unlucky and found their untouched trap.There were no animals inside, but there were many footprints nearby, many of which were clearly paw prints.Herbert had no hesitation in affirming that a feline carnivorous beast had passed here, so that the engineer was right that there were ferocious beasts on Lincoln Island.There can be no doubt that these animals must have lived in the forests of the Far West, and had been driven by hunger to venture to Prospect Heights.Maybe they already smelled that Granite Palace was inhabited.

So, what are these feline carnivores?asked Pencroft. It's a tiger.replied Herbert. Aren't tigers only found in the tropics? In the New World, the boy said, there are all the way from Mexico to the Pampa grasslands of Buenos Aires.Since the latitude of Lincoln Island is about the same as that near La Balata, it is not surprising to encounter tigers here. Well, we have to watch out for them.replied Pencroft. Due to the rise in temperature, the snow soon melted.After a rain, the silver armor worn by the earth disappeared without a trace.In spite of the bad weather, the inhabitants replenished as usual with everything from pine nuts, tubers, and maple syrup on the botanical side to rabbits, agouti, and kangaroos from the warren.In order to obtain these things, they went to the forest several times, and found that many trees had been blown down by the storm.Pencroft and Neb also pushed their wagons as far as the distant coal seam, and brought back several tons of fuel.On the way they saw earthen kilns for pottery being badly damaged by the wind, with a chimney blown off at least six feet long. They were going to add a large quantity of wood and coal to the Granite Palace, and it happened that the Mercy River was flowing again, so they used the river water to transport fuel for several rafts.Yet they could see that the cold season was not over yet. The inhabitants also made a trip to the Grotto, and they could not help feeling lucky that they did not live there during the stormy days.The signs left now can show that the sea must have shown its majesty here.The raging tide swept over the island and broke into the channel, filling it with sand and covering the rocks with a thick layer of seaweed.When Neb, Herbert, and Pencroft went hunting or gathering wood, CyrusSmith and Keating.Spilett was busy rectifying the grotto, and they found that the iron-making tools and bellows were almost not damaged at all, and they were still the same as when they were preserved in sand. The stored coal played a big role, so that the residents were not threatened by severe cold.Everyone knows that the main feature of February in the northern hemisphere is a sudden drop in temperature.The same is true in the southern hemisphere. The end of August here is equivalent to February in North America, and the general law of climate cannot be escaped. About the twenty-fifth, after the snow turned to rain again, the wind turned to the southeast, and at this time it suddenly became extremely cold. According to the engineer's estimate, the temperature would not exceed minus eight degrees Fahrenheit. , it was unbearable, and it continued for several days.For the second time the settlers shut themselves up in the Palace of Granite.Since all the holes in the upper part have to be plugged tightly, leaving only a narrow slit for ventilation, the consumption of candles is quite large.In order to save candles, they did not spare the fuel, and often used the burning fire as the only light source in the cave.Sometimes, one or two residents go to the beach surrounded by ice and snow, which is piled up due to the ebb and flow of the tide.But they soon ran back to Granite Palace; and whenever they climbed up with both hands on the ladder rods, they felt not only difficulty, but also sharp pains.Because of the severe cold, their fingers seemed to burn when they touched the ladder sticks.In order that the inhabitants of Granite Palace might use their leisure at their disposal, CyrusSmith chose a job that could be done indoors. It has already been said that the sugar that the inhabitants eat is the sap of the maple tree.They cut a deep slit in the bark, let the liquid run into the bottle, and cooked it in various ways; after a certain time it began to whitish, and became a very thick syrup.Everyone is very happy with this kind of stuff. However, it can also be made into something better.One day Cyrus.Smith told his companions that they were going to be sugar refiners. Sugar refiners!I think it is a good job, said Pencroft. Yes, very good.replied the engineer. That's right!said the sailor. When you hear the word refining, you may think that it requires a huge factory, complicated equipment and countless workers!In fact, it is not the same thing at all!As long as it goes through a very simple process, this liquid can be made into a crystal.The syrup was boiled over a fire in a huge earthen pot, and soon a crumb coagulated on the surface.When this layer had grown thick, Neb carefully lifted it up with a wooden knife; this not only speeded up the evaporation, but also avoided burning. The molasses was boiled for several hours over a high fire, which not only made the condensed honey, but also warmed the sugar refiners.They made some clay models of different shapes in the kitchen stove in advance, and poured honey into them at this time.The next day the honey cooled and congealed into many lumps and flakes.This sugar is slightly reddish in color, but almost transparent, and has a good taste. The weather remained cold until mid-September, and the prisoners in Granite Palace began to feel tired of squatting.Almost every day they have to find a way to break out, but they can't go very far.They are constantly improving their home, talking and working.Smith told many things to his fellows, chiefly to them the practical application of science, that the settlers had no library, but the engineer was an encyclopedia which was always at hand, always opened on the page it needed , this book can solve all their problems, they often read it.The time passed happily in this way, and these brave people did not seem to worry about the future. The days of staying indoors are over.Everyone is anxiously waiting, if not for the coming of the beautiful season, at least for the passing of the unbearable cold.As long as they have a little more clothes, they can go on hunting activities countless times, whether it is to the sand dunes or to the muddy swamp!Birds and beasts are easy to approach, and you can surely return with a rewarding experience when you go hunting.But Cyrus.Smith thought it was more important to protect everyone's health, because there was no shortage of manpower, and everyone followed his wishes. It must be said that, apart from Pencroft, probably Top was the one who couldn't bear to stay in the room the most.The faithful dog found Granite Palace cramped, and ran about from room to room, expressing in various ways the boredom of being shut up.Smith often noticed that Top growled strangely whenever he approached the black well behind the warehouse that led to the sea.The wellhead is covered with a wooden cover, and it circles around the wellhead, and sometimes even puts one of its claws under the cover, as if trying to lift it up.Then it yelled strangely, looking angry and disturbed. Engineers have seen this situation more than once. What was there in the abyss that this clever beast could not forget?You can't go wrong with a well that leads to the sea.But would there be another narrow passage leading to the bottom of the island?Will it communicate with other small holes?Will sea beasts often come to the bottom of the well to breathe?The engineer felt that there was no basis for guessing, and he couldn't help having many absurd whims.He is used to going deep into the real field of science, so he is unwilling to think about wild things, let alone superstition. However, Top is a rational dog, and he will never be idle and yell at the moon , if there is no reason to cause its uneasiness, how can it catch wind and insist on exploring this abyss?Top's action made Cyrus.Smith was too confused to be confident. Having said that, the engineer merely told Gideon what he thought.Spilett, he thought it was useless to tell the other companions that these doubts might also be due to Top's hallucinations. The bitter cold is finally over.There have also been rains, snowstorms, hailstones and squalls during this period, but these severe weather did not last long.The ice melted, and the shore, the plateau, the banks of the Mercy, and the forest were once again passable.The inhabitants of Granite Palace rejoiced at the return of spring, and soon they would be at home only when they ate and slept. In the last part of September they were often hunting, and Pencroft then begged for Cyrus.Smith made the firearms, and he insisted that Smith promised him.Knowing that it would be nearly impossible to make a working gun without special tools, the engineer held back, pushing the work into the future.He said flatly, as usual, that Herbert and Spilett had become very skilled archers, a lot of delicious game, such as agouti, kangaroo, capybara, pigeons, bustards, mallards, geese, in short, all kinds Birds and beasts will not escape from their arrows; therefore, they may as well wait a few days longer.The stubborn sailor, however, would not listen to this, and kept pestering the engineer; and he did not cease until the engineer promised to grant his wishes.Ji Ding.Spilett supported Pencroft. Whether there are wild beasts on the island is still uncertain, he said, if there are, we must try to fight them and destroy them.Sooner or later this will be our top priority. But at this time Smith was not thinking about firearms, but about clothes.The residents rely on the clothes on their bodies to survive this winter, but they cannot wear them until next winter.They had to get the hides of carnivores or the hairs of ruminants at any cost; and they had found so many mouflons that it was agreed that they might find a way to capture a herd, which might be useful to the party.This requires first opening up a corral for raising livestock and a poultry farm for raising birds. In a word, a breeding farm must be established on the island. These are the two major events after the season improves. for future work.They must first understand all the places on Lincoln Island that have not been visited, that is, the large dense forest on the right bank of the Mercy River stretching from the mouth of the river to the end of the Pansnake Peninsula, and the entire western part of the island.However this required stable weather and it would be another month before the expedition could be carried out well. Thereupon they waited anxiously for a time; and during this time an incident happened, which increased the anxiety of the inhabitants to explore the whole kingdom. It's October twenty-fourth.On this day Pencroft went to visit his trap.He usually arranges the bait well inside.In one trap, he found three animals that would fit nicely in the pantry.It was a mother Siri and her two cubs. Pencroft came back to Granite Palace, very pleased with the capture of such a beast, and, as usual, showed it with great fanfare. Come on, we can have a big meal, Mr. Smith!And you, M. Spilett, too, he said aloud! I am glad, replied the correspondent, but what will you treat me to? Roast piglet. Ah, is it really a roast pig, Pencroft?From the way you sound, I thought you brought back a young grouse stuffed with truffles! What?exclaimed Pencroft, do you despise roast piglets? No, Keating.Spilett replied that he seemed not at all energetic, if he hadn't been tired of eating. You are right, you are right, replied the sailor, he was very displeased that his call was not received, and you are so hard to serve, if you had seen this game when you first landed on the island seven months ago, you would have seen it. I'm going to die of joy! Come on, come on, said the correspondent, people are always flawed and never satisfied. Now, said Pencroft, I hope Neb will do his best.Look!These two little pigs are only three months old!They are literally as tender as quail!Come, Neb, come!I want to watch you cook in person. So the sailor took Neb into the kitchen, and they were soon absorbed in cooking. Everyone let them cook according to their own ideas.Neb turned out to make a very fine supper of two roasted piglets, kangaroo soup, a smoked leg, pine nuts, and mint tea; indeed, they brought out the best food, but in all these dishes , and the roast piglet is the most satisfying. At five o'clock supper was served in the dining-room of Granite Palace.Kangaroo soup was steaming on the table, and they all agreed that the soup tasted good. After the soup was finished, the piglet was roasted, and Pencroft insisted on dividing it himself, and he offered each guest a large piece. The roast piglet was indeed delicious, and Pencroft was devouring it with a loud smack, when suddenly he gave an exclamation, followed by another curse. what happened?Cyrus.Smith asked. what happened?That's what happened, it broke one of my teeth!replied the sailor. What, do you have pebbles in your piggy roast?Ji Ding.Spilett said. Probably yes.said Pencroft, taking from his lips the thing which he paid for a tooth. It was not a pebble but a buckshot.