Kitabı oku: «Perseverance Island», sayfa 14

And for measurement of my depth below the surface I had only, in future, to fasten a light, buoyant piece of wood to a small cord, marked off into fathoms, which I could at any time thrust under the tanks and allow to ascend to the surface, and note how many of the fathoms of line were taken up, which would denote my depth below the surface, and then draw my sounding-buoy back again into the boat for further use, simply reversing the method that is used on shipboard. That is to say, instead of throwing a lead with a marked line to the bottom of the ocean, I threw a buoy to the surface. Nature seemed to be capsized, and everything upside down, as used to appear in using the inverted telescope in my first attempts to take the altitude of the sun with a sextant. If I had not lived so solitary a life I could have laughed at many of the things that befel me in this submarine boat.

Having gotten the boat securely anchored, and the buoy thrown out as I have related, I went to work gathering the oysters. I had taken care to bring with me a light pickaxe, a crowbar, and a sort of hand-rake, similar to ones used by East Indian divers, which I proceeded to employ upon the mass of oysters below me. I had no difficulty in detaching all I wanted of them, and filling my decks, and particularly the hanging shelves, which I relieved of their stones and weights, replacing them by masses of the oysters. I made a long job of this, and, having gotten all I desired, I drew up my anchor and got again under way, ascending as near as possible to the surface before advancing towards the land. During all this time, whenever necessary, I had renewed my air by use of the spray-wheel.

Being near the surface, which I was made aware of in several ways, such as the increased light, the disappearance of the bottom from view, and a slight noise of the waves above me, and a little motion of the boat, caused by their agitation, I put the goats at full speed, feeling sure that for at least two miles nothing was in my way. After I had, as I calculated, gone this distance, I slowed down, and proceeded more cautiously; but after an hour's work I made no land, nor found any great shallowing of the water. Here was a pretty scrape. By my chart I was past Stillwater Cove, and even in the interior of the island, and not a sign of the land or shallow water could I find. I began to be seriously troubled, and I foresaw that unless I soon made some shallow water I should be obliged to dive under my tanks, and look about me and see where I was. But before I did this I descended and anchored, and found out for the first time that I was at last in a strong current, setting towards the westward. This frightened me still more, and I ascended at once, stripped off the little clothing that I had on, and plunged into the water and came up buoyant as a cork on the surface, and pulled the canoe towards me and got into it without much effort. One glance showed me what the trouble was. I had gradually, during the whole day, drifted to the westward, and had passed West Signal Point, and was, in the direction I was pursuing, leaving the island on the port hand, behind me. One glance in the open air cleared my brain, and gave me a true idea of where I was, for I confess that the many courses that I had sailed beneath the surface had rather confused me.

Taking one more good look about me, I plunged into the sea under my tanks, and was again inside my boat, which I speedily started in the right direction, and in less than two hours made shallow water, when I once more had to dive out of the boat and look about me, when I found that I had made a pretty good landfall, as I was in Perseverance Bay, not more than a quarter of a mile from the mouth of Stillwater Cove, having overrun it; and as I was so near home I dove back again, started the goats, and soon had the pleasure of finding myself in the cove, some part of the bottom of which I already recognized; and I foresaw that if I should make many trips I should be able to recognize the bottom just as easily as one recognizes familiar objects on land.

I stranded my boat in the usual manner, and waited for the tide, which was now at an ebb, to leave the top exposed, for the buoyancy of the boat was not very great from my frequent use of the air-tank stopcock. During this time I busied myself in casting the oysters to the bottom, and then moving the boat, which was thus lightened, a little to one side, so that, when the tide returned, the former would be exposed clear of the boat. I then unshipped the movable shelves and put everything in order in the interior, and sat down and ate a hearty meal, after which I tried the manhole, which, by the pressure of the tanks upon the sand, I felt confident was above the surface, which proved to be the fact. I soon had the goats ashore, who seemed to be glad to escape from the confinement of the boat, and gambolled about me. I waited patiently for the tide to go down far enough for me to get at my oysters, which I conveyed to the land, above high-water mark, and, sitting down, commenced with my knife to open one or two of them. I think it was the third that I was opening when my knife-blade struck against something that made my heart beat. I laid open the oyster, and there within it, nestled near to the upper shell, was as beautiful and perfect a pearl as anyone could desire to see. It was not very large, – perhaps the size of a common pea, – but of a pure cream color, and of perfect oval form. I knew at once that it was a jewel of value and price, and I carefully hid it away in my clothing. This prize sufficed me. It proved to me the importance of my discovery, and I was determined that the sun should do the remainder of the work for me, and therefore left the oysters where they lay, to be made putrid by exposure, when the pearls that they might contain could be very easily washed out.

I was not wholly satisfied with my boat. I did not like the idea of having to dive overboard to find out where I was, as I had had to to-day, and I commenced racking my brains to overcome it; and at last I accomplished it in theory, and it may be as well to state here that it served me perfectly when put in practice on many future occasions, and in fact almost took the place of the spray-wheel. It was this. I arranged, in the first place, a sort of air-boat, in the shape of the half shell of an English walnut, but shallower, nearly four feet in length. This boat was made of very thin sheet-iron, but perfectly airtight, and upon it was lashed, in a horizontal position, a cylinder of sheet-iron, closed at one end and open at the other, a foot in diameter, and in length the same as the shallow, airtight, walnut-shaped boat that sustained it. At the end of this boat, just below the mouth of the cylinder, was affixed a solid iron ring, and to this was spliced a strong rawhide rope of great length. To utilize this machine I made two long bars of iron, which I could arrange in the interior of the boat, across its greatest diameter, in the form of the letter V, pointing downwards towards the bottom of the ocean, and at the point of contact was arranged a block through which the rope attached to the air-boat could be rove. This inverted derrick, in the form of a letter V, was still further braced by another bar, leading to one of the short diameters of the boat, in the interior, forming a tripod. To use the air-boat I had only (at any time when beneath the surface and in need of air, either to purify that surrounding me or obtain enough to force the boat out of water on the surface, after having used up the air in the tanks) to reeve the rawhide rope through the derrick, as above, and erect the same in an inverted form, pointing towards the bottom, and then put the air-boat in the water in the interior of the submarine boat, force it bodily down in a horizontal manner till the cylinder was filled with water, and then start the goats so that the rope attached to the nose of the air-boat, leading down to the inverted apex of the tripod, through the block, and thence to the drum of the treadmill, would be tautened, and cause it to erect itself in a perpendicular manner, and be forced down under the water towards the apex of the tripod. When submerged enough to clear the bottom of the tank I slackened the rope gradually, pressing it at the same time out and clear from the tank, and yet keeping enough strain upon it to prevent its touching the latter; when, as soon as it was clear, I slacked the rope wholly, to allow it to arise to the surface outside, which it rapidly did on account of the confined air in the air-tight shell. Of course immediately upon its arrival at the surface it righted itself, and presented the appearance, on a small scale, of a barrel with one head out, placed in a horizontal position upon a small sled or vessel. In this position all the water that had been in the cylinder was at once discharged, and, to get a measure of fresh air exactly equal to the dimensions of this cylinder, I had only to set the goats to work, to take the rope to the drum of the treadmill, the first effect of which was to depress the nose and open mouth of the cylinder on the air-boat, at the surface, and the next to drag it down under the water in a perpendicular position, with the cylinder charged with air, which could not escape. As soon as it appeared clear of the outside of the tank, against which it rubbed in its descent, and was brought down near to the inverted apex of the tripod, I commenced slacking the same rope till it arrived at the surface of the water within the submarine boat, when I cast off the rope and it righted itself violently, discharging at the same time the contents of the cylinder in the shape of new air, and I had only to repeat this process of conveying fresh air from the surface to obtain all I needed, taking care only, in sending the apparatus to the surface, to see that, when the air-boat was first pointed under water ready to ascend, it took back with it none of its precious freight, which was easily obviated when it was held in a semi-perpendicular state, and half submerged ready to ascend, by pushing upon the part out of water till it was forced into a horizontal position, the air from the cylinder discharged, and replaced by water, when, after descending towards the connecting points of the tripod and pushed clear of the side tank, it was allowed to ascend to the surface, discharge the water, and descend again filled with air.

With this apparatus I found that I could even compress the air in the interior, and in many future expeditions I had no trouble in making my submarine boat, at any time, self-sustaining on the surface of the water, and I could by a little labor come to the surface, open my manhole, and look about me and see where I was.

CHAPTER XXII

Manufacture glass. Build a steam yacht, and circumnavigate the island. Lay up large stores of valuable pearls obtained from the pearl oysters.

After I had perfected my submarine boat I used it often to gather the pearl oysters, and it was not difficult to steer straight to the buoy on the reef, fill the shelves of my boat, arise again to the surface, and return home. After allowing my first load to putrify, I went to work upon them and washed them out in the water of Stillwater Cove, obtaining nearly a handful of seed-pearls, some twelve of the size of peas, and four very handsome and perfectly-shaped larger ones. This induced me to keep on; for here was portable wealth such as I could take away with me when I left the island. Let it suffice to say that, during repeated trips at intervals, I ended by obtaining probably the finest private collection of pearls in the world. I had some eighteen of enormous size, nearly as large as English walnuts, but as perfect as if from the turning-lathe, – except one that had a slight blemish, and one that was irregular in form, – and I much doubted if there were more perfect and larger ones in any royal crown. They were regal in size and appearance, and were, I knew, of immense value. Besides these sixteen perfect gems without price, I had at least four hundred and sixty as large as a small filbert nut, and several hundreds as large as common peas, not to speak of vast quantities of seed-pearls, too many to enumerate. If I could escape from the island, these treasures would keep me in ease and comfort in any part of the world.

During the year succeeding the finishing of my submarine boat, I was taken up with many new inventions almost too numerous to mention. I enclosed another large piece of ground as a pasture for my goats, of which I had now as many as I chose to keep; in fact, I loosed many of the she-goats and kids into the woods to return to a state of nature, having more than I could attend to. From the remainder I made cheese, butter, jerked meat, etc. It may be possible that some persons have lived as well as I, but at this time I had everything that could be desired. I improved upon my ways of preserving my fruits, and from a ground-nut that I found on the island extracted a most delicious oil, which I used in all my cooking. I had by this time, by repeated breedings, brought the wild quail, that I saw when first arriving at the island, to a state of barnyard fowl, and I had their delicate flesh and eggs added to my larder. From my grapes I was able to make several kinds of pleasant light wines. In fact I had everything but companionship.

But by my temperament I could not keep still, so I must yet invent something new that would be of use to me. What I wanted most at this time was glass, plate-glass for my submarine boat, and I was determined to have it. So, with my book to guide me, at it I went. I knew that silicic acid, practically glass, was represented by sea-sand. I also knew, or rather discovered from perusal and study of my book, that this sea-sand, freed from iron, formed the base of glass. Also that silica, silicic acid, or oxide of silicon exists in great abundance in nature, being the principal constituent in rock and stone, and that crystal and quartz held it in its purest forms. This, combined with potash or soda, and subjected to a powerful heat, would, I knew, make glass, if mixed in the right proportions.

In the first place I gathered some five or six hundred pounds of the finest, purest, and whitest sea-sand that I could find. This I carefully washed in some seven or eight waters of Rapid River, till it was purified of all its salt, and then it was placed in my ore-cleansing kiln, and burned, or rather heated, to a red heat, to get rid of all vegetable matter, and then sifted through wire screens to get rid of any pieces of fuel with which it might have become charged. Having thus gotten my sand all in order, purified, and cleansed, I went with the goat team, and a handy little cart with cast-iron wheels and frame, that I had made during odd times, to the coal mine, to bring home some of the chalk there to be found, of which there were large quantities, and of a fine quality. This I brought home and reduced to a fine powder by pounding it up with hammers, and sifting it through fine sieves. I then went to work and built some large fires upon the seaside, upon which, when in full blaze, I placed large quantities of kelp or barilla, which was finally converted into ashes. After I had burned sufficient of it, I allowed the fires to go out, and gathered the ashes carefully, to which I added a quantity of fresh water and stirred it about carefully, preserving the fluid in open iron pans, which I placed upon fires and evaporated, and had carbonate of soda as the result; and, although on a desert island where there is supposed to be nothing, my book informed me that kelp or barilla was the best article from which to make carbonate of soda, and some kinds of sea-sand the very best base of which to form glass. Having thus procured the component parts of which to make my glass, I set to to make a large clay pot in which to fuse it, that would fit in the base of my iron-smelting furnace, so as to be surrounded by the air blasts. My clay pits fitted me out with this without any trouble, and I then had to manufacture a level plate of iron, about two feet square, with a raised rim of some inch and a half in height, and this I placed in a horizontal position in front of the door of the furnace, and rigged above it a large iron roller to work by machinery, that could be passed over its face. I then mixed my ingredients by hand in the following proportions: —

and put the empty clay pot into the furnace and started an immense fire around it. As soon as it was at a white heat I filled it with my mixture, placing it in the pot by means of a long iron spoon some six feet in length, protecting my face with a mask of goatskin, and my hands by gloves of the same material. When vitrification was complete, which took place in about eighteen hours, and which I ascertained by plunging a long rod of iron into the pot, I ladled out a lot of the mass by means of a clay-lined, long-handled, iron ladle, and poured the rapidly-cooling but pliable substance upon the iron table constructed for it, and, pressing the iron roller upon it in all its parts, soon rolled out a sheet of glass two feet square and at least an inch and a half thick. Allowing this to cool, I repeated the process after removing it, till I had made six large squares. I then changed the roller so as to come lower down to the iron plate, and by this method commenced turning out sheets of plate glass two feet square and about one quarter of an inch thick. My task was done. I had all the glass I should ever want as long as I should live; enough for the side lights of my boat, and also for windows to the Hermitage. Fully satisfied with my task, I allowed my fire to go down, and the large slabs of glass to cool.

On the next day I set to work to polish the glass I had made, and this I found a laborious and slow task. But it had to be done, and I commenced with fine pulverized and sifted sand, or rather quartz, and ended with chalk. It was many weeks before all was done, for I needed emery to help me in this task, and could find none, and had to make other things do. But at last I had four fine slabs of plate glass quite well polished and clear, each two feet square, and one and a half inches thick; and several that were of a quarter of an inch in thickness, many of which I had broken in attempting to polish them. The latter were soon fitted into position as window lights in the Hermitage, and pleasant enough they made the interior look. The former were made to fit into four holes cut out of the solid iron of the boat and fitted with flanges, into which they were set with great care by means of what the Chinese call chenam, a sort of water cement made of lime, oil, white of eggs, and clam shells powdered fine, used by them in making all their vessels water-tight. These four panes of plate glass, each two feet square, and an inch and a half thick, were placed at either end and both sides of my boat on the slanting roof, and gave me a chance to see in what direction the boat was moving, to avoid obstacles, and aid me in submarine navigation. They were also thick enough to withstand a blow of great force, and not to be affected by the pressure of water upon them when at great depths; but, to preserve them more fully from any danger, I built outside of them all a wire screen, the meshes of which were perhaps two inches apart, and distant from the face of the glass outwards some six inches, made of strong iron wire at least three eighths of an inch in diameter, so that if by chance the boat should receive a blow, or be forced upon or back against any object, these screens would receive the blow and not the naked glass, although I am ready to believe that the latter would have sustained an immense shock without breaking, it was so thick and perfect, without crack or flaw. I should have said that all my glass had just the faintest tinge of green, caused by the minute particles of iron in the sea-sand of which it was composed, of which I had not been able to completely free it, although I had used magnets to extract large portions of it; but enough remained to give it this very light tinge of which I have spoken.

I had no difficulty in cutting my thin glass into any shape I desired, by means of case-hardened steel, which would scratch it deep enough to be broken off, although a glazier's diamond would have perhaps performed the operation better; but a piece of sharp-edged chilled-steel answered all practical purposes. Later on I had occasion to again make glass, but at this time I did not waste a moment in making household utensils, glasses, or bottles, my earthenware, wooden ware, and ironware doing excellent service for me, and I had need of no utensil that they could not supply.

With my submarine boat perfected and supplied as it now was with its immense windows, I made many trips, and the sights under the water that my eyes gazed upon I could write thousands of pages about. I made no great discovery, however, in all my wanderings, except to find two more oyster-banks, more to the northeast than the first one, but not so prolific. I saw often many creatures that never come to the surface, and for which there is no name, some of them small and seemingly harmless, and others quite frightful and startling. I passed over, upon three different occasions, enormous cuttle-fishes, or squids, with tentacles at least six or eight feet in length, and eyes three inches in diameter; but they never, upon any occasion, paid the slightest attention to my boat, but remained perfectly motionless, clinging to the stony bottom, waiting for their prey, and I took good care never to disturb them. Immense crabs and lobsters, the very patriarchs of the ocean, often lay on the bottom to my view, and seemingly deformed and curious fishes, large and small, some like serpents and some like inflated balls, often met my view as I floated along with the tide a few feet above the bottom. I never wholly got over the sensation of being at the bottom of the ocean; it always seemed as if I had entered another world, where all was changed, and in which every living thing was compelled to keep an eternal silence.

Many parts of the bottom, especially that near the pearl-oyster reef and the approaches to Stillwater Cove, became, shortly after using my glass windows, as familiar to me as similar places would have been on land; there being fully as many distinguishing marks, peculiar in themselves, as upon the rocks and protuberances of the island itself. I loved this lonely under-water drifting about, and indulged in it as a recreation as well as to increase my store of pearls. I sometimes watched for hours the habits and movements of the animals below me, that seemed not to care for my presence; but quite often some huge monster of the sea would pass by me, making me hold my breath with awe, if not fright. But I often thought that my iron boat would be a hard mouthful for anything beneath the waters to attempt to swallow.

I had long, long ago given over any idea of being attacked by savages, and my nerves had become again, as in my younger days, hard as steel; yet I often used to think of how I could lie concealed in this boat, beyond discovery from any source, should I ever be attacked, or how, rising to the surface amongst a fleet of canoes, I could spread dismay by my appearance alone from the bottom of the ocean, among any body of savages, however numerically strong or valiant.

No one will ever know the gardens of the ocean that I often sailed over, more beautiful far than anything upon the earth.

My restless energy did not stop at the consummation of this submarine boat, but during this year I went to work upon a beautiful small steam yacht, to use for my pleasure and recreation. It was built partly of wood and iron, and constructed upon the ways from which the submarine boat was formerly launched. This steam yacht was not very large, but it was of a fine model and graceful lines. I built it twenty feet in length and six feet in width, and three feet draft of water, with nearly the whole decked over except the cockpit aft. It was fitted with one long mast, situated near the bows, and only to be used in case of emergency. The building of the boiler and engine, of about four-horse power, was to me a pleasure, not a labor, and the casting of the screw was the only thing that gave me any trouble. But this I finally overcame, after a few trials with different moulds. The little house that contained the cabin and engine-room was lighted with small pieces of plate glass, and I fitted the interior with a nice cot to sleep upon, lockers for provisions, coal, and fuel, a small cast-iron stove for cooking purposes, and all the handy appurtenances of a small yacht. My sail was not a very elegant one, and was made out of strong matting, light but coarse; I having, as yet, not attempted to make cloth in any shape. My cable was of rawhide, and my anchors, of course, of iron.

With this boat, after a preparatory trial of its engine, in company with one of my pet goats I set out upon the circumnavigation of my island. It was one fine December morning that I steamed down Stillwater Cove, the yacht moving rapidly and evenly along through the water, and the machinery and screw working well and smoothly. I had invented a sort of comb to retain the tiller in any given position whilst absent from the deck in the engine-room to put on more fuel or oil the engine, so that the yacht would proceed in a straight course till my return to the deck. I intended to make a complete circuit of the island, and to be absent several days if needful; so before leaving the Hermitage I put everything in order. As to my flocks and birds, they at this season could take care of themselves very well for a few days. I laid my course first for West Signal Point, and, when I had doubled it, I pointed the yacht due north, and made quite an excursion in that direction, fully twenty-five miles; but, as I suspected, found no sign of any other land, although I climbed upon the mast and looked about me in all directions, the island astern being in the dim distance. I found that my little yacht was a splendid sea-boat, and, decked over as she was, plunged into the waves of the Pacific unharmed. Its rate of speed, in smooth water, I estimated at fully nine knots, and in a seaway at least five or six. Having in vain looked about me for land, which, however, I did not expect to find, I put about and steered back to the island, leaving West Signal Point on the port hand, and close aboard, making my way to the southward, and parallel with the western shore of the island, distant not over one mile.

When off Penguin Point I again put to sea, at least twenty-five miles due west; but as in the former case discovered no land. When I had again come up with the island the day was nearly spent, and I took the yacht into a small cove, just to the westward of Mirror Bay, and, having anchored in smooth water, ate my supper, played with and caressed my goat, and went to bed. In the early morning I again got under way and stood out to sea, to the southward, but no sign of land. Thence I proceeded to Eastern Cape, and from there made a trip seaward, to the eastward, but with similar barren results. From thence I made my way home to the Hermitage, pleased with my yacht and with the trip, but doubly convinced that my island was alone and distinct, and not one of a series or group. As I passed Mirror Bay on this trip I was tempted to enter it and explore the island more fully in that direction, but as I found on the second day that my machinery of the yacht needed some slight alteration and change, I made my way home, as I have said, determined to make a new trip for this very purpose, and therefore, upon my arrival, I immediately went to work upon those parts of the engine that did not exactly please me by their working, and improved and perfected them in my workshop, by means of my turning-lathe and other tools, till they suited my mechanical tastes and worked perfectly to my satisfaction. I fitted my yacht with two nice iron howitzers, of about three pounds caliber, and had hung up in the cabin a harpoon and lance, with two of my smooth-bored guns and plenty of ammunition. The coal that I had stored on board would last me many days, for there was at least three tons, and the furnace of my little boiler did not use more than one-quarter of a ton daily, if as much. I had also on deck a very light small boat, not over six feet in length, in which I could reach the shore whenever I anchored the yacht near it.

Thus fitted out, which took me several days, I started again upon my exploration, and it was upon this trip I made one of the most startling discoveries yet since I had been shipwrecked; one that changed all my views about the island, and the future, and carried me completely out of my every-day life into a period of excitement, curiosity, and amazement, and which, as will be disclosed, had a marked effect upon all my future movements.