Kitabı oku: «Таинственный остров / The Mysterious Island. Уровень 2», sayfa 9
There were only 500 feet between the explorers and the plateau where they wanted to encamp for the night. It was almost night when the party arrived at the top of the first cone.
Now they must pitch their camp, and think of supper and sleep. The sailor built up a fireplace with huge stones. Neb and Herbert brought a load of thistles. The night was beautiful and not very dark. Cyrus decided to go further and Herbert accompanied him. Sometimes the plateau was wide and easy, sometimes very encumbered with rubbish. There were yet 1,000 feet to climb.
It was nearly 8 o’clock when they reached the summit of the cone. They hardly saw around them. Was the land an island or a continent? At one point of the horizon suddenly appeared a vague light. The line of the horizon was now cloudless, and as the moon touched it. The engineer seized the boy’s hand.
– An island! – said he.
Chapter XI
Then they walked back to the camp. The country is an island, and tomorrow they will consider what to do.
The next day, March 30, after breakfast, they started out for the summit of the volcano. All desired to see the isle. It was about 7 o’clock in the morning when they left the camp.
It was a superb day, and the southern side of the mountain was sunny. The crater was a huge shaft gradually opening to a height of 1,000 feet above the plateau. They saw on the way traces of ancient lava. At 8 o’clock, they were standing at the summit of the crater.
– The sea! the sea everywhere! – was their exclamation.
Yes, water around them on every side. Around the island stretched an ocean. They were silent and motionless. Spilett asked:
– How large is this island?
– Small enough in the midst of the infinite ocean.
– My friends, – said Smith, – I think, the coast of the island is more than 100 miles around.
If Smith was right, the island was about the size ofMalta22. The eastern coast was a curve, it was embracing a large bay. On the northeast, two other capes shut in the bay. Between them lay a narrow gulf. From northeast to northwest the coast was round and flat. Then came a hump, whose centre was occupied by the volcanic mountain. From this point the coast ran directly north and south. For two-thirds23 of its length it was bordered by a narrow creek; then it finished in a long cue. The narrowest part of the island, between the Chimneys and the creek, on the west, was ten miles wide.
The southern part, from the shore to the mountain, was covered with woods. The northern part was arid and sandy. Between the volcano and the eastern coast there was a lake.
– So, it is a fresh water lake? – asked Pencroff.
– Yes, of course, – said the engineer.
– I see a little river there, – said Herbert. He pointed to a narrow brook.
The volcano did not occupy the centre of the island. It rose in the northwest.
They remained at the summit of the mountain for an hour. It was the island, but was the island inhabited? They did not perceive the handiwork of man; no settlement on the beach, no fisherman’s hut. No smoke.
