Chapter 4 Chapter 4 The first day of landing

As Bryant had seen earlier from the foremast-top beams, the shore was deserted.The sailboat had been stranded in the sand on the shore for an hour.There is no human habitation on the island.Not a single house or hut was to be seen anywhere, either by the bushes under the cliffs or by the swollen brook.On the banks of the river covered with long seaweeds, which block the raging tide, there is not a single footprint in sight; in the mouth of the river, there is not a single fishing boat; Cooking smoke curled into the sky. The first thought that popped into Bryant and Gordon's mind was to go through the woods and climb the high cliffs behind them.

We are ashore, what a blessing!cried Gordon, but where is such a deserted island? The important thing is that it is not deserted now.'We had enough food and ammunition to last us a while,' Bryant said.We had to find a place to stay, at least for the little ones. Yes, you are quite right. We should find out where we are, Bryant continued, and we have plenty of time to figure it out while we can't do anything else.If this is the mainland, then we may be rescued.If this is an island, an uninhabited island, the result is obvious.Come on, Gordon, let's start the adventure! Soon they came to the edge of the wood, which winds up on a cliff three or four hundred yards to the right of the mouth of the river.

There was no one in the woods, not a single footprint to be found, not even a trail.The old tree trunks that have gone through vicissitudes of life are lying on the ground, and the leaves on the ground are almost piled up to the children's knees.The birds on the island immediately flew away when they saw people, as if they had been hurt by people.Someone must have set foot on this small island, maybe it was the people nearby. The children walked in the woods for ten minutes. The woods became darker and darker. The rocks on both sides towered like a hundred-foot wall. Is there a big crack in the wall or is it simply hollow for shelter?Just a cave would give them shelter from the wind and rain in the woods, and shelter before they scoured the depths of the interior.

Unfortunately, the cliff is as steep as a fortified city wall.There are no caves, not even a place on the cliff to climb.If you want to climb up, you have to keep the river rising until it submerges the cliff. Within half an hour, Bryant and his companions walked south along the foot of the cliff until they came to the right bank of the river that meandered from the east.Standing in the shade of the tall trees on the right bank of the river, they could see on the left bank a very different land, flat and barren like a great swamp stretching southward to the sky.With no way to climb the cliff, it is impossible to know what the land beyond is like.The children returned to the boat disappointed.

Donagan and others climbed among the rocks while Jenkins, Evanson and Toney and Costa picked up shells and played.The explorers reported what they saw.It seems best not to abandon the sailing ship until further expeditions are made.Although the bottom of the sailboat has been punctured, it is not bad as a temporary shelter.Although the deck has been cracked, the cabin can still serve as an excellent refuge from the storm.Much to the delight of the little ones, the galley was not damaged at all. Most fortunately they didn't have to move the surviving items from the boat to the shore.If the sailboat is wrecked on the reef, many things will be difficult to preserve.Rough seas will soon smash the ship to pieces.At that time, food stores, weapons, clothes, bedding, cooking utensils, everything will be thrown messily on the sand.Fortunately the boat was buried in the sand.It seemed unseaworthy now, but at least it was habitable for a while, and the boys hoped to find a town or village before it was completely scrapped.If this is indeed an uninhabited island, the children hope to find a cave that can be converted into a shelter.

All that day they tried to make the sailboat more comfortable.The rope ladder on the right side of the ship's side became the passage for getting on and off the ship.As the waiter on the ship, Mo Ke is in charge of the kitchen affairs with some cooking skills.He cooked a dinner with Sauvis' assistance.Since everyone had a good appetite, the meal was praised by everyone, even Jinkens, Evanson, Toner and Costa were very satisfied.Only Jack behaved strangely, and his personality seemed to have changed all at once.In the face of his partners' inquiries, he was only vague. After so many days and nights in danger, everyone was exhausted.What they need most now is a good night's sleep.The young children returned to the cabin early, and the others fell asleep quickly.Bryant, Gordon and Donagan took turns on duty.Will there be a beast?Or a small band of local natives who are scarier than beasts?Fortunately, nothing happened, and the whole night was safe and sound.As the sun rose, the children prayed together, thanked God for protecting them through danger, and then went to work.

The first thing to do is to make an inventory list: food, weapons, tools, kitchen utensils, clothing, instruments, etc.The food problem is very serious because of the island where they are located.It appeared to be a deserted island.They too rely on fishing and hunting, if anything to catch.Donagan, the famous sharpshooter, noticed that there was nothing around him except the birds that settled on the reef and the sea.But it's not a good idea to live off seabirds alone.And they also had to figure out how long the sailboat's food would last, if used sparingly. In addition to biscuits, which were more adequately stocked, there were jams, ham, mince pies (of the kind made of flour, minced meat, and spices), corned beef, corned beef, and fish preparations, which together might last up to two months.So from now on, they must find a way to find food locally and save the food for later use.These stocks will be very useful once they have to transfer to inland ports or villages hundreds of miles away.

What if the food was damaged, Baxter asked, and what if sea water got in through the holes in the bottom of the boat? If you don't pay attention, there is a good chance that you will open the box one day and find that everything is exactly as you said, but if we cook it again, it will still be edible. I am in charge of looking after the food.Moko said. The sooner the better, Bryant told Moko, the first day or two when we had to live entirely on the food. How about getting started today?Will we not find some eggs among the rocks to the south, asked Wilcox? Yes, there must be!Toney agreed.

How about going fishing?Webb asked, isn't there a fishing rod on board?Who wants to go?I go!I go!The younger children said in unison. Well, Bryant said, just don't make fun of it.We only give our fishing rods to those who do business. Don't get too excited, says Evanson, let's stay calm, like One more thing, Gordon added, we should first list what else is on board.We have many other problems to solve besides food. We can also get some oysters for lunch.Sauvis suggested. great!Gordon praised, you take two or three people, and Moko will also go. This black kid is quite trustworthy. He is enthusiastic, smart and courageous. Maybe he can come in handy.He likes Bryant very much.Of course, Bryant never concealed his appreciation.

Come on!exclaimed Jenkins. Won't you come with me, Jack?Bryant asked. Jack shook his head. Jinkens, Thone, Costa and Evanson went far under the leadership of Moko.They climbed onto rocks that the waves couldn't wash over.There are often a lot of conch, scallops and even oysters in the crevices of the reef.These things, whether eaten raw or cooked, are all delicious.The children were bouncing and jumping in the distance, very happy.Apparently, they treated the job like a game.They are too young to quickly forget all the ordeals they have just experienced, and it is difficult to realize the danger that is coming.

As soon as the little ones left, the older ones began to bustle about in the cabin.Donagan, Cross, Wilcox, and Webb were absorbed in counting guns, ammunition, clothing, bedding, tools, and kitchen utensils; while Bryant, Garnett, Baxter, and Solvis Then inventory the storage of drinking water.When every item was counted, someone always reported the count loudly to Gordon who kept recording in his notebook. A complete spare set of sails was found on board, and a set of assorted tackle: ropes, chains, hawsers, and the like, and if the ship ever sailed again it was bound to be refitted, and these sails were of good quality. and ropes can no longer be used at sea, but they are also very useful in other ways.Some fishing equipment and fishing ropes are also included in the list.These things can come in handy as long as the nearby waters are plentiful with fish. The list of weapons recorded in the notebook included eight center-fire shotguns, a long-range duck gun, and twelve revolvers with three hundred rounds in the breech, two barrels of twenty-five pounds of powder, and a large quantity of gunpowder. buckshot, shot and bullets.Also in the storeroom are some flares for night voyages and nine shells, which are for the two small cannons.They are not willing to use artillery to stop the attack of the locals unless absolutely necessary. Kitchen utensils seem to be complete.It was enough even if they were to stay for a long time, and though many of the bowls were broken when the sailboat hit the reef and ran ashore, there was enough left over.There is no need to keep items for entertainment.There are many more useful things: flannel trousers, cotton clothes, cotton clothes, linen clothes, etc., for example.These are enough to cope with the change of weather.If the island were at exactly the same latitude as Auckland, which is not out of the question, since the sailboat was always drifting downwind to the west, the children would face very hot summers and extremely cold winters.A sailor's box contains trousers, padded jackets, waterproof coats, and heavy woolen clothing that, with a few changes, will keep kids safe through the winter.Each could take a full bedding set if they had to abandon ship.Each bunk bed has a mattress, sheet, pillow and comforter.With a little care, these things will last a long time. For a long time, it sounds like forever.In Gordon's notebook, he also recorded all the instruments: two aneroid barometers, an alcohol thermometer, two chronometers, several copper talking horns, several telescopes with adjustable distance, a compass compass, There are also two small compasses, a pair of goggles for stormy weather, some British flags and header flags, and a set of signal flags, as well as a Howcott boat, a small rubber boat that folds up like a A backpack that can accommodate a person across a river or lake. There are many tools in the carpentry box: there are bags of nails, screws, iron screw caps, and various pliers necessary for boat repairs. The needles and threads are superfluous, because the children's mother has already sewed up the often broken places.The problem of fire was also solved, not to mention the matches, just the tinder and the tinder box were enough for a long time. Several large nautical maps have also been found, but unfortunately only for the New Zealand coastline, which is of no use to the area in which they were located.Fortunately, Gordon had brought an atlas, and there were quite good nautical books and relevant knowledge manuals in the ship's reading room.Sovis rescued two books, "Robinson Crusoe" and "The Swiss Robinson Family".Just as Kamens rescued Luciat.Garnett kept his accordion.Pencils, pens, ink, paper, and an 1860 almanac were returned to Baxter.With each passing day, a page of the calendar is torn off. The day we ran aground was March 10th, he said, March 10th and every day before that was in the past. There was also gold in the ship's safe, to the value of about five hundred pounds.Maybe the money will be useful when the kids get to some port where they can go home. Gordon carefully counted the barreled beverages stored in the cargo hold.Although many barrels of liquor, ale, and wine were lost when the ship ran aground on the rocks, there remained several hundred gallons of red wine, sherry, fifty gallons of gin, brandy, and whiskey, forty barrels ale.There were also thirty unbroken bottles of baijiu wrapped in straw. From this point of view, the fifteen wrecked on board will definitely not starve in the near future.Now it's time to see if there is anything edible growing on this isolated island to increase their reserves.If it had been true that the storm had thrown them on a deserted island, it would have been more difficult for them to expect a passing ship to pick up signs of their distress and rescue them.It is not easy to repair the boat and patch the holes in the hull, and they do not have the tools to repair the boat.As for rebuilding a new ship on the basis of an old ship, they never even thought about it, because they knew nothing about sailing, how could they cross the Pacific Ocean and return to New Zealand?Originally, they might have left the isolated island in a small boat attached to the sailboat, but unfortunately, the boat had disappeared, leaving only the little sailboat circling on the shore. At noon, the children led by Moko returned.They were finally able to sit down and work quietly.They brought back many oysters.Moko went down to the kitchen with the oysters.As for the eggs, Moko observed that there were many edible ones.A kind of pigeon built a nest at the highest point of the cliff, so there should be many eggs. Well, said Bryant, one morning, we'll follow along and get some eggs. That's it, said Moko, and we'll kill a lot of pigeons with just three or four shots.It is not difficult to climb up from the top of the rock by climbing the rope and dig out the bird's nest. Well, agreed Gordon, how about it, Donagan, are you going tomorrow?Just what I want!Donagan replied, Webb, Cross, Wilcox, are you coming too? Of course it is!They were overjoyed at the thought of having such a large flock of birds to hunt. Don't kill too many pigeons, Bryant warned, we will shoot when we need it, don't waste gunpowder and bullets! knew!Donagan was the last person to listen to advice, especially that of Bryant.It's not the first time we've used a gun. An hour later, Moko announced that dinner was ready.The children rushed to the hanging ladder, climbed into the sailboat, and sat at the table.Due to the slant of the ship, the table was also quite slanted.But this is nothing to the children who have long been accustomed to the bumps in the sea.The shellfish, especially the scallops, were a hit with kids alike.The seasoning is not complete, but at that time, hunger is the best seasoning.A few biscuits, a slice of corned beef, and fresh water drawn from the sea at low tide make for a delicious meal. A whole afternoon was spent in arranging tasks.Jinkens and his friends went fishing.They play around the mouth of the river.After supper, everyone, except Baxter and Wilcox, who took turns on watch, went to sleep contentedly.