Chapter 30 chapter eight

They rushed to make the clothes the team needed in the first week of January.The needles used were all from the box, and their hands, though unfortunate, were strong, and we can be sure that the objects produced were strong. Residents have no shortage of lines.Thanks Cyrus.Smith's initiative, they used the old thread from the balloon to solve the sewing problem.Ji Ding.Spilett and Herbert took them all down with astonishing patience, and Pencroft, finding the work intolerable to him, gave up halfway, but no one could match him in sewing.Indeed, sailors are good at sewing, everyone knows that.

They obtained baking soda and potash from the ashes of burned plants and used them to wash the cloth of the air bag. After washing, the paint on the cotton cloth fell off and restored its original softness and elasticity. After drying, it White as new.They sewed dozens of shirts and sock covers, of course, not knitted but of cotton.How comfortable this group of residents felt when they put on clean civilian clothes!The cloth was thick, but they didn't mind it, and they felt that they had sheets too, which made the couch at Granite Palace a comfortable bed at once! It was also at this time that they also made a batch of seal-leather boots, the ones worn from America that are now obliged to be replaced.These new boots were made very roomy and never squeezed their feet.

It was now 1866, and the weather was very hot at the beginning of the year, but they still went hunting in the forest.It was full of agouti, wild boar, capybaras, kangaroos, and all kinds of other beasts, and Spilett and Herbert shot so well that they hit every shot. Cyrus.Smith still asked everyone to save gunpowder. He tried his best to replace it with other things, and saved the ammunition in the box for future use.Who can predict what will happen before the partners and themselves leave this territory?Therefore, they should save powder for this unknown future, and use as far as possible substitutes that can be easily replenished.

Smith could not find lead on the island, so he substituted iron pellets, which were easy to make.Since the iron bullets were not as heavy as the lead bullets, he had to make them larger and contain less powder.Although this is less effective, it is made up for by the skill of the shooter.As for gunpowder, Cyrus.Smith could have made it too, for he had plenty of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, but the work required special care, and quality was difficult to assure without special tools.So Smith decided to make cotton gunpowder, that is, gun cotton. This kind of thing does not have to be cotton. Any plant fiber can be used. The fibers of hemp and flax, paper, elderberry, etc. are the same as cotton fibers. pure.Around the mouth of the Red River on the deserted island, there are a large number of elderberries, a shrub belonging to the honeysuckle family, and immigrants have used its fruits to make coffee.

The only thing that needs to be gathered is the heart of the elderberry, and as for the other necessities for making cotton powder, fuming nitric acid.Smith now has sulfuric acid at hand, and nitric acid can be easily obtained by adding saltpeter, which can be obtained from nature.So he decided to produce cotton gunpowder for use, but it has some disadvantages, that is, the effect is not stable, and it is easy to burn. It does not ignite at 240 degrees, but at 170 degrees. damage.On the other hand, cotton powder also has its advantages, that is, it is not afraid of moisture, does not stain the barrel of the gun, and is four times as powerful as ordinary powder.

Cotton gunpowder is made by soaking cotton in fuming nitric acid for a quarter of an hour, then washing it in cold water and drying it.It doesn't get any simpler than this. Cyrus.Smith only had ordinary nitric acid and no fuming nitric acid or nitric acid monohydrate. That is to say, his nitric acid would emit white smoke when it came into contact with humid air, so the engineer mixed it with ordinary nitric acid three times To five times the concentrated sulfuric acid, the same effect has also been obtained.So the hunters on the island soon had a good supply of gunpowder, which, as it was used sparingly, was very effective.

By this time they had cleared three acres of land on the high ground, and the rest had been left for the care of the wild asses.They went several times to the Woodpecker Wood and the Far West Woods, and brought back from them large quantities of wild vegetables, spinach, cress, turnips, and turnips, which, if carefully cultivated, quickly grew up, and this was enough to refresh them for a long time. The food that has always been used to survive.Timber and coal were also loaded in carts.Every time I go out, the road surface is trimmed at any time, and the road becomes flat and smooth under the rolling of the wheels.

The pantry of Granite Palace continued to obtain meat from the rabbit farm, which was fortunately on the other side of the Glycerin River, otherwise its inhabitants would have come to the highlands to destroy the new farm.New food is constantly being added to the clam farms between the rocks, from which the finest molluscs can be obtained.Besides this, good fishing was to be had, either on Grant's Pond or on the Mercy, and Pencroft had made several lines with iron hooks, and they often caught fine trout, and a species of The fish, with its silvery white belly speckled with golden yellow, was also very tasty.The cook Naboo is proficient in cooking and often changes the menu.All they needed was bread, which, as has been said, was what they desperately needed.

Residents also often catch sea turtles that often come along the coast of Cape Mandible.The hills on the beach in this area are undulating, and there are snow-white round hard-shell turtle eggs. Unlike bird eggs, the egg whites will not coagulate.These turtle eggs hatch in the sun, and each sea turtle can lay about 250 eggs a year, so there are a lot of turtle eggs on the beach. What a field of eggs, Keating.Spilett says we just have to reach out and pick it up. But they were not satisfied with these products, so they hunted the suppliers of the products, and they brought back a dozen turtles, which were indeed very valuable from a nutritional point of view.Neb added some spices to the turtle soup, and everyone ate it with great admiration.

Another lucky thing must be mentioned, they got a lot of winter supplies.A large number of salmon entered the Mercy River, spread out for several miles upstream.It turns out that this is the season when the females are looking for a place to lay eggs, and they lead the males to swim into the fresh water in groups, making a chirping sound.A thousand salmon, two and a half feet long, came into the river, and the inhabitants made a lock in the river to hold them back in great numbers.In this way, they caught more than a hundred of them and salted them for food in winter when the river freezes and they cannot fish.At this time, the clever Japp was also promoted to a servant.He wore a coat, a pair of white linen shorts, and an apron, the pockets of which he was most interested in.This clever orangutan has made great progress through Neb's ingenious training. When people see them talking, they will think that the black man and the orangutan understand each other's language.Japp loved Neb with all his heart, and Neb loved him as well.Japp's daily work was to carry firewood and climb trees. When he was not busy, he usually stayed in the kitchen, imitating Neb's every move.The Negro taught his apprentice with great patience and enthusiasm, and the apprentice was also very clever, and learned a lot under the guidance of the master.

How pleased the hosts of Granite House were when Japp, with his napkin over his arm, came unexpectedly to the table one day to serve everyone!He moved swiftly and attentively, and did his duty to the fullest; changing the basin, carrying the saucer, and pouring the water, was done with such calmness that everyone burst out laughing, Pencroft still more uncontrollably. Japp, bring the soup! Japp, give me some agouti! Japp, get a basin! Japp, good Japp!Faithful Japp! There was a general uproar, but Japp proceeded methodically, noticing everything; and when Pencroft repeated the joke of the first day, he wagged his head and tail as if human. Really, Japp, you're getting paid better. Needless to say, the orangutan is now fully domesticated in Granite Palace, and he often follows his masters into the forest, never thinking of leaving them.The most interesting thing is that it walks carrying the stick Pencroft gave it like a gun.If people want to pick the fruit on the top of the tree, it will climb up the tree immediately.If the wheels get stuck in the mud, it can be solved without any effort by lifting it on the shoulder. This guy is so funny!Pencroft often said that if it is only naughty but not good at work, there is no way! At the end of January, they started working in the middle of the desert island.They decided to set up a corral near the source of the Red River, at the foot of Mount Franklin, for the ruminants, because there would be some trouble keeping them near Granite Palace, especially the mouflons they got for their winter coats. Every morning, sometimes the whole party, but mostly Smith, Herbert, and Pencroft, passed by the new Corral Road to the source of the Red River, a distance of less than five miles. They chose a site on the south side of Mount Franklin.It was a meadow with some trees in it, and a brook running down the hillside bounded the place on one side.There is fresh weeds here, and the surrounding trees don't hide the place.They intended to make a palisade round the lawn of such height that the swiftest beasts would not be able to leap into it.The corral had to be able to hold a hundred mouflons and ibex and future lambs. After the engineers drew the boundaries of the corral, their next job was to cut down the necessary wood for the fence. When building the road, they had already cut down a lot of trees, and now they used them to make a fence. Hundreds of wooden stakes are firmly buried in the ground. A sizable exit was left on the opposite side of the fence, closed by two strong gates. It took no less than three weeks' work to set up the corral, for, apart from the fence, CyrusSmith also made some very large barns for the animals to live in.These animal sheds must also be made very strong, because the mouflon sheep are very powerful, and their animal nature is quite terrifying when they first come.Therefore, the upper ends of the stakes were sharpened, and baked hard, and they were nailed together with cross-pieces, and there were posts at intervals, so as to ensure the strength and durability of the whole fence. The corral is complete and it's time to fence in the grass that the ruminants frequent.They chose February 7th, which was a bright summer day, and the whole team was dispatched.By this time the two wild asses were fully trained, and Spilett and Herbert rode them.They were of great use in this hunt. Their plan was simple, to encircle the mouflons and goats and gradually shrink the encirclement.Cyrus.Smith, Pencroft, Neb, and Japp were on each side of the forest, while the two knights and Top galloped up and down within half a mile of the corral. There are a lot of mouflons in this part of the desert island.These fine animals were about the size of a deer; their horns were harder than a goat's, and the gray undercoat was covered with many long hairs. It was a very hard day of hunting.They run back and forth, sometimes they ride, sometimes they shout!They surrounded a hundred mouflons, but two-thirds escaped, until at last thirty mouflons and ten wild goats were gradually approaching the corral, and the gates of the corral were thrown open, as if A way to escape, but as soon as he rushed in, he was captured. All in all, the results were not bad, and they had no reason to complain. Most of these Mofloren sheep were ewes, and a few of them were about to lamb.The flock, therefore, will no doubt increase, and before long not only wool will be available, but hides will be available in great abundance. That night, the group of hunters returned to Granite Palace exhausted.Although everyone was very tired, they went to the corral to have a look the next day.The captives tried to knock down the bars, but of course they were unsuccessful, and after a while there was silence. Nothing important happened all month in February.They went about their daily work, improving the road between the corral and Balloon Harbor, and at the same time building a third road from the corral to the west shore.On Lincoln Island, they have not yet explored the forests of the Pansnake Peninsula, where many beasts are hidden, Ji Ding.Spilett wished to expel them from the squadron's territory at once. They tended with special care the plants transplanted from the forest to Prospect Heights before the weather turned cold.Herbert brought back some useful vegetables from each of his excursions.Sometimes he brought a few specimens of the Chicory family (from whose seeds a fine oil was pressed); sometimes he brought back some common sorrel (which was a potent cure against scurvy and was therefore not to be neglected. ); in addition, some precious tubers (they grow all year round in South America) and potatoes (more than 200 species are currently known).Now the garden is plentiful and bird-friendly, and the many beds are divided among lettuces, oval potatoes, sorrel, turnips, radishes, and other cruciferous plants.The soil on the highlands is especially fertile, and a good harvest is promising. They also have a wide range of drinks, so even the pickiest person has nothing to complain about as long as they don't want to drink alcohol.In addition to mint tea and brewed from the root of the unicorn tree, Smith has added a new official beer. Call it spring beer, which is loose beer. At the end of the summer, the poultry-yard was filled with a fine pair of bustards, of the family Bustardidae, and of a peculiar plumage; and a dozen broad-billed ducks, which had two extra long membranes on each side of their upper beaks; There were some beautiful roosters, somewhat like Mozambique's roosters, with black combs, warts, and skin.So far, everything has been going well, thanks to the hard work of these brave and resourceful individuals.Of course, their natural conditions are very good, but they abide by a great maxim: man will help himself, and nature will help him. In this hot summer, after the heat of the day has passed, the sea breeze blows in the evening, just when the work is over, they always like to sit on the edge of Prospect Heights, which is covered by creeping vines. of a platform.Here they talk, give advice to each other, and plan for the future. The outspoken sailors often bring jokes to this small world, and there is always an incomparable harmony between them. They often speak of their own country, lovely America.What happened to the outcome of the Civil War?The war would not drag on for long, and Richmond must soon fall into the hands of General Grant.Once the capital of the Confederacy is captured, this terrible war will be over.Now that the just cause of the Union Army was victorious, how longed for a newspaper were these strangers on Lincoln Island!Eleven months had passed since they had heard from their countrymen, and soon the twenty-fourth of March would be the anniversary of the day the balloon had thrown them on this nameless beach.Since last year, they have become a group of refugees, and even under the invasion of wind, frost, rain and snow, they don't know how to save their remaining lives!Thanks to the engineers and everyone's wisdom, they now have weapons, instruments and tools, and have become veritable immigrants. They have actually used the three major types of animals, plants and minerals on the island. Yes, they talk about it a lot and have more plans for the future. Cyrus.Smith is silent most of the time, he always listens to the conversation of his partners and rarely speaks himself.He may have laughed when Herbert talked innocently of his fancy and Pencroft's ramblings, but he was always and everywhere thinking of those incredible facts, and so far he had not solved those mysterious riddles!