Kitabı oku: «Таинственный остров / The Mysterious Island. Уровень 2», sayfa 12
Chapter XIII
First, it was necessary to make an oven.
– Why oven? – asked Pencroff.
– To make the pottery, – replied Smith.
– And how will we make an oven?
– With bricks.
– And how will we make the bricks?
– With the clay.
– I need a knife! – cried the sailor, – I can make a bow and arrows.
– A knife. Something that will cut, – said the engineer. – Come here, Top, – he called.
The dog bounded to his master, and Smith took off its collar. He broke it into halves, and said:
– Here are two knives, Pencroff.
Top’s collar was made from steel. They will sharpen it!
The engineer decided to return to the western bank of the lake, where he saw the clay. They crossed Prospect Plateau, and after a walk, they arrived at a glade. On the way, Herbert discovered a tree from which the South American Indians make bows. The ground was composed of that clay which is used for bricks and tiles. The labor was not difficult. It was only necessary to clean the clay of sand, mould the bricks, and then bake them before a wood fire.
During the two days they hunted in the neighborhood, very successfully. Pencroff had dozens of arrows with very sharp points. Top brought a porcupine, it had perfectquills42. The men fastened those quills to the ends of the arrows. Soon they got enough food.
By the 9th of April the engineer had about enough bricks. They, therefore, began at once the construction of an oven. Five days later, the oven was supplied with coal. The colonists moulded pots and mugs, plates and jars, tubs and vessels. Their form was rude and defective, but they finally had real kitchen utensils.
The work lasted until the 15th of April. The colonists became potters. This evening the colonists were seating in the central chamber. Neb prepared some agouti soup. Before going to sleep, the party went to the beach. It was 8 o’clock, and the night was magnificent. The moon was shining above the constellations. For some moments the engineer gazed at it attentively. Then he said:
– Tomorrow will be one of the four days in the year when the mean and real time are the same. Tomorrow the sun will pass the meridian. If, therefore, the weather is clear, I think I will be able to tell the longitude of the island.
The next day the engineer began his astronomical observation. He chose a smooth dry place upon the sand. Smith knelt down upon the sand and began to mark the decrease in the length of the shadow. His companions watched the operation with interest.
The shadow diminished little by little. When it began to lengthen Smith exclaimed:
– We are at least 1,200 miles fromTahiti43 and from the Low Archipelago, fully 1,800 miles from New Zealand44, and more than 4,500 miles from the coast of America.
But Cyrus Smith did not remember any island in the Pacific which occupied the position of Lincoln Island.
