Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Adventure Warriors

At seven o'clock in the morning, Bryant, Donagan, Wilcox and Sauvis left the sailboat.The sun was shining brightly, and there were no clouds in the sky, like the unique October weather in the northern temperate zone.The weather was neither hot nor cold, and if there were any obstacles to delay the journey or make the expedition fail, it could only be due to the topography. The young explorer set off.They zigzag around the beach until they reach the foot of the cliff.Gordon had warned them to bring Mimi, its instincts might be of great use.Therefore, the dog also became a member of the expedition.

After a quarter of an hour, their figures disappeared into the bushes.Birds swarmed, but due to time constraints, Donagan had to bear with it even though he was fond of bird hunting.As for the little fan, it knows that running around is not advisable.Therefore, in addition to scouting around, he followed his master every step of the way. They planned to walk along the bluff until they reached the headland in the northern part of the bay, starting from the waters Bryant had seen before.Although this road is not the shortest, it is the safest.And, an extra mile or two doesn't count for much for these fast-moving, well-built kids.

When they reached the edge of the cliff, Bryant recognized it as the place he and Gordon had visited on their first expedition.Since there was no way south on this side of the limestone cliffs, they had to find their way north, and even they tried all possible ways to the headland.It would have taken a day to do so, but they had no other way, unless there was a passage to the east on the cliff, which Bryant explained to his companions.Donagan didn't demur in the end, either, when he tried to climb the cliff in vain and slid down. They continued to search for an hour, and at last determined that they could only reach the headland by rounding the cliffs.Bryant was desperate to figure out their next steps.Was the tide high when they reached the shore?If the tide is high, it means that they have to waste half a day, waiting for the sea to retreat until the reef is exposed.

Pointing out the importance of being on the reef before high tide, Bryant advises, hurry up! Pooh!We're not afraid of getting our ankles wet, said Wilcox! your ankles!Possibly your whole body, even your ears will be submerged!Bryant replied that the water would rise at least five or six feet, and we'd better keep walking toward the headland without stopping. Bryant, you are the guide!It's your fault, Donagan reminds us, if we're late. Then don't waste any more time.What about Sovis?Bryant yelled, Sovis!Sovis! Sovis is gone!He got lost with his friend Xiao Mi, and disappeared at the corner more than a hundred yards to the right of the cliff.

It seemed to hear the echo of someone shouting, and the barking of dogs.Is Sovis in danger? Bryant, Donagan, and Wilcox immediately ran to their companions.He was blocked by a rock that had fallen off a cliff, an aged rock.Due to the infiltration of seawater and the erosion of sea wind, this piece of limestone is in the shape of a semi-funnel from top to bottom, with the tip of the bucket facing down.Here the cliff thus forms a slope of forty to fifty degrees, on which a series of footholds are irregularly distributed.Boys with their vigor could easily climb to the top of the cliff unless another rock fell to stop them.

Although this action was a little dangerous, they did not hesitate. Donagan was the first to step onto the rocky pile at the bottom of the cliff. etc!etc!cried Bryant, more haste than waste. But Donagan didn't listen, because he believed that this operation was very important to his reputation with his peers, especially in front of Bryant.In no time he was climbing mid-air over the cliff. His companions followed suit, but were careful not to follow him so as not to be hit by the falling stones as he stepped on them.All went well, and Donagan was very satisfied, because he reached the top of the cliff before the others.

He had taken the binoculars out of their packs, and was watching the jungle stretching eastward. Although the top of the cliff was a few hundred feet lower than the headland and he couldn't see that far, the panorama he saw was the same one that Bryant had seen earlier on the headland, just lush trees and sky. What?Wilcox asked, didn't you see anything else? nothing!Donagan replied. let me see.Wilcox said. Donagan handed the binoculars to his companion with great reluctance. I didn't see any surface of the water.said Wilcox, putting down the binoculars. That, Donagan replied, was proof enough that there was no sea at all.Bryant, you can take a look and I think you'll admit your mistake.

I don't care!Bryant said.I know I'm not mistaken. You are absolutely mistaken! Absolutely true!The cliff is lower than the headland and the view is narrow.If we get to a place that's as high as I've been looking at, you can see a blue line that's six or seven miles away from you.If you look where I go, you will know.You'll see then that there's no way I could have mistaken it for a cloud. Easy to say!Wilcox said. Easy to prove, Bryant replied, walk across the field, through the jungle, until we reach the sea! very good!Donagan sneered.Then we have to go further.Is there any need for this?

So Donagan you stay here.Bryant retorted: I'm going with Sovis! I'm going too, said Wilcox, Donagan, let's go! That will have to wait until we eat something!Sovis protested. This has been recognized by everyone.Half an hour later the team set off again. Soon they had traveled another mile.The green grass seems to be unobstructed, sometimes you can see some stones with moss and lichen, and occasionally some bushes dot the grass.Also ferns, mosses, heath holly, and leaf rot.These tree species thrive even at high latitudes. After Bryant and his partners crossed a higher plateau, they found that on this side of the cliff there was a slope as high and steep as on the other side of the sea.They would have been able to reach the headland directly if the road had not been difficult to walk in the dry depression caused by the flood.

After reaching the woods, the road became more difficult.Fallen trees barred their way; some bushes grew so thick and tangled that every now and then they had to cut off a few branches.The boys swung their axes like a group of entrepreneurial pioneers breaking into the jungles of the New World.Doing so means stopping almost every minute.The hands were more tired than the legs, and it was these delays which prevented them from advancing three or four miles by nightfall. No one seems to have ever set foot in this jungle, at least not leaving a trail to walk on.Many trees fell, not by man, but because of storms or their own age, and fell from time to time in the bushes.Traces of some unknown small animals can be seen everywhere in the bushes, but they are rarely seen.

Donagan always had the urge to pull out his gun and fire at the timid quadrupeds.Bryant had to intervene to stop his indiscretions, lest their whereabouts be exposed.Donagan realized that since he had to keep his beloved weapon quiet, he'd have to talk a lot more eloquently.Every step they take will startle a group of delicious meat partridges or some rock swallows.Wild geese, grouse and many other birds abound along the bush.If you shoot, you can kill hundreds of them.If the boys stop here, their shotguns will bring them plenty of food.Donagan had to admit this, so he made up his mind to make up for the current regret in the future. The trees of this forest are mainly birch and beech, and the flexible green leaves reach more than a hundred feet above the ground.There were also dense cypresses, long redwoods, and a prodigious number of winter trees, whose bark smelled like cinnamon. At two in the afternoon they rested a second time in a glade.A narrow little river runs through it, the kind called a stream in South America.The river water is crystal clear, and it flows slowly over the black rocks at the bottom of the river.Looking at the calm shallow current, with no dead trees or shrubbery floating on it, no one would believe that their source is so far away.There is nothing easier than crossing the creek on the boulders strewn across the river bed.But there was one spot where some flat stones were distributed so symmetrically that it caught everyone's attention. How strange!Donagan said. The stones appear to be a causeway from bank to bank. Call it a dike.Sauvis grunted as he walked. Wait a moment!Wait a moment!Bryant reminded him that we must study the stones first! They could not have formed themselves.Wilcox pointed out. Yes, Bryant agreed, looks like someone built a river crossing, come closer! They examined every stone on this strange embankment.The stones are only a few inches above the river level, and they are covered with water during the rainy season.But does this confirm that these stones were artificially placed in the river?No!They are most likely washed down by floods and accumulated over time.This is the explanation Bryant and his partners came up with after careful study. There is no footsteps on either side of the bank, and there is nothing to prove that anyone has ever set foot in this jungle. Did the creek rush northeastward into the sea that Bryant had seen from the headland? At least, Donagan said, it might have been a tributary of some river going west. We'll know then, and Bryant doesn't want to start another fight, but since it's heading east, we can go along the river if it's not too meandering. The four boys stepped onto the dike, crossed the creek, and continued on their way.Walking along the shore is very simple, except that sometimes some large trees are rooted in the water, and their branches and leaves intertwine in the air, stretching from one side of the river bank to the other.Although they stooped from time to time, the compass showed that the general flow of the creek was still east.Its source must have been far away, for the stream did not pick up speed nor widen its bed. At about half-past five in the afternoon, Bryant and Donagan were forced to abandon the river and head east, conceding that the creek had turned north and that going along would have taken them far from their original course. Dive into dense birch and beech forests. The fallen leaves were so thick at this time of year that they had to yell intermittently in order to keep up with each other. They had been walking all day without any sign of approaching a large body of water.Bryant began to look restless.Could it be that the level of the sea he saw from the top of the headland was a phantom? No!No!he said to himself.I can't be wrong!impossible!Not at all! It was seven o'clock at night, and the end of the jungle was not yet in sight.The night was coming, and soon it would be very dark, and they could go no further. They decided to stop and spend the night under a tree.With a good steak, they don't have to worry about starvation; and with bedding to keep them warm, they don't have to worry about the cold.In addition, they can make a fire with some dead sticks, as the best protection against wild animals.In this way, the beasts that come out to feed at night will not attack them. It is best not to run around when there is danger.Donagan reminded his companions. All agree with that.All were thinking about supper, for they now had a peculiar appetite.They ate most of the dry food they had brought.As they were preparing to snuggle up to sleep under a giant beech tree, Sauvis pointed to a bush a few yards away.In the bush grows a medium-sized tree with lower branches hanging low to the ground.In this way, the four of them were lying on a pile of dry leaves, wrapping themselves tightly with bedding.It's easy to fall asleep at their young age, so they drift off to dreamland in no time.Leaving Xiaomi to guard them, but it also fell asleep with them. Once or twice, the dog heard a long howl.Apparently some animals, domestic or wild, were foraging in the woods, but they did not approach the camp. It was nearly seven in the morning when Bryant and the others woke up.The sun's rays slanted through the thick leaves, faintly illuminating the place where they had spent the night last night. Sauvis was the first to emerge from the bushes.Suddenly he yelled: Bryant!Donagan!Wilcox!come here! What's wrong?Wilcox replied.He is always fond of blaming people.Sovis, you startled us. It's better to scare you to death.Sovis said, look!Here, look where we slept! It turned out that the place where they slept was not a bush at all, but a hut made of branches.A kind of hut called Ajuba by Indians is composed of intertwined branches.This thatched hut has been around for a long time, the roof and walls are built with trees, and its style is the same as that of the South American residents. So, is there really anyone here?Donna said suspiciously.Then he took a quick look around. At least it was once lived in, Bryant said, because the hut couldn't have been made by nature. This also solved the mystery of the aisle in the middle of the creek.Wilcox pointed out. right.Sovis added that if there were people here, they were good people who built us a hut like this. In fact, the most uncertain thing now is whether these indigenous people are good people or not.Evidently, they had haunted this jungle area not long ago, or a long time ago.But if the place is connected to the mainland, they may be Indians or Polynesians; if this is an isolated island in the Indies, they may even be man-eating savages.If this is the case, then their danger will be even greater.Therefore, it is even more important for them to figure out whether this is an island or a mainland. When Donagan offered to take a closer look at what appeared to be a long-abandoned cabin, Bryant sprang into action.They might be able to find some utensils, containers, or tools, and figure out the origin of the hut. They carefully turned the pile of dry leaves.Sauvis found a fragment of burnt earth in a corner.It may have originally been a bowl or a teacup.That's enough to show it's an artifact, but nothing more. They must move on.At half past seven, they embarked on the journey again.Compass in hand, they headed straight east.The terrain gradually declined.For two hours they made their way slowly through dense brush and groves, occasionally hacking their way with an axe. Towards ten o'clock they saw the horizon through the trees.At the end of the forest is a vast plain dotted with frankincense, thyme, and bushes.Then go east two.At five miles, the edge of the plain was a strip of sand where the waves lapped and the sea stretched to the far horizon. Donagan was speechless.He was a little annoyed to discover that his companion had been right. Bryant didn't say anything.He doesn't want to show off in front of his friends. He picked up the binoculars and looked around. The sun shines on the north side of the beach, and the coast turns to the left, as does the south side of the beach, only more curved. So far there is no doubt.The shipwreck is not the mainland, but the island.All other hope of leaving this place must be given up, save by external aid. Other than that, they didn't see any other islands.It seems that the island is floating alone in the vast Pacific Ocean. The four boys walked across the plains to the beach, stopped at the edge of a sand dune, and were ready to finish their lunch before heading back to camp through the jungle.If they hurry, they may return to the wreck before sunset. The meal was not very pleasant.The four of them hardly spoke a word. Finally, Donagan picked up his backpack and gun, and said, let's go! All took one last look at the sea.Just as he was about to leave, suddenly the dog ran to the beach. little fan!little fan!little fan!Sauvis yelled. But the dog still ran happily along the wet sand, and finally rushed to the sea to drink water. It is drinking sea water!cried Donagan. After a while, he also went to the seaside, drinking the water that Xiaomi drank heartily. It's fresh water!This is a lake that stretches east!This is not the sea!