In Search of the Castaways quotes

Tom obeyed; and the bottle found under such singular circumstances was placed on the cabin table, around which Lord Glenarvan, Major MacNabb, and Captain John Mangles took their seats, together with Lady Helena; for a woman, they say, is always a little inquisitive.

Everything causes excitement at sea.

For a moment there was silence. Each gazed wonderingly at this strange waif. Did it contain the secret of a disaster, or only an insignificant message confided to the mercy of the waves by some idle navigator?

“Wait, my dear Helena, wait.

We must be patient with bottles.

If I am not greatly mistaken, this one will itself answer all our questions.”

Lord Glenarvan possessed an immense fortune, which he employed in doing much good.

His kindness exceeded even his generosity, for one was boundless, while the other was necessarily limited.

The lord of Luss, the “laird” of Malcolm, represented his fellows in the House of Lords;

Miss Tuffnel was twenty-two, a youthful blonde, with eyes as blue as the waters of the Scotch lakes on a beautiful morning in spring. Her love for her husband exceeded even her gratitude.

She loved him as if she had been the rich heiress, and he the friendless orphan.

As to their tenants and servants, they were ready to lay down their lives for her whom they called “our good lady of Luss.”

The same precaution was taken with the steward’s room, and provisions for two years were stowed away. Money, of course, was not wanting, and a pivot-gun was furnished, which was fixed at the forecastle.

You do not know what may happen, and it is always best to have the means of defense in your reach.

Captain Mangles, we must say, understood his business. Although he commanded only a pleasure yacht, he was ranked among the ablest of the Glasgow captains. He was thirty years of age, with rather rough features, indicating courage and kindness.

As for young Robert, he would have hidden in the hold sooner than not go; even if he had been compelled to serve as cabin-boy, like Lord Nelson and Sir John Franklin, he would have embarked on board the Duncan.

To think of opposing such a little gentleman!

It was not attempted. They were even obliged to take him other than as passenger, for as cabin-boy or sailor he would serve. The captain was accordingly commissioned to teach him the duties of a seaman.

The major was a man of fifty, of calm, regular features, who did as he was bid; of an excellent and superior character, modest, taciturn, peaceable, and mild; always agreeing with anything or anyone, disputing nothing, and neither contradicting himself nor exaggerating.

He would mount with measured step the staircase to his bedchamber, even were a cannonball behind him; and probably to his dying day would never find an opportunity to fly into a passion.

This man possessed, in a high degree, not only the common courage of the battlefield (that physical bravery due only to nervous strength), but, better still, moral courage, that is to say, firmness of soul.

“My dear child,” said Lord Glenarvan, “there is in all this something providential, which ought to give us hope.

We are not merely going, we are led; we are not seeking blindly, we are guided.

And then see all these brave people enrolled in the service of so good a cause. Not only shall we succeed in our enterprise, but it will be accomplished without difficulty. I have promised Lady Helena a pleasure voyage;

The major made a sign of assent, and the passengers descended between-decks.

MacNabb remained alone, talking to himself, according to his custom, but never contradicting himself.

Enveloped in a dense cloud of smoke, he stood motionless, gazing back at the wake of the yacht. After a few moments of contemplation, he turned and found himself face to face with a new character.

The nonchalance and amiable freedom of this unknown nonentity clearly proved that he knew how to take men and things at their best advantage.

Even without his speaking you felt that he was a talker; but he was abstracted, after the manner of those who do not see what they are looking at or hear what they are listening to.

He wore a traveling cap, stout yellow buskins and leather gaiters, pantaloons of maroon velvet, and a jacket of the same material, whose innumerable pockets seemed stuffed with notebooks, memoranda, scraps, portfolios, and a thousand articles as inconvenient as they were useless, not to speak …

“And then, my dear Paganel, you know that you can gain the gold medal in any country whatever.

There is something to do, to seek, to discover, everywhere, in the chains of the Cordilleras as well as the mountains of Tibet.

”

“

A geographer may be very serviceable to our expedition; and what is more noble than for science to enlist in the service of humanity?

”

In the midst of this partial obscurity, the yacht boldly continued on her course, without casting anchor in the safe bays with which the shores abound.

Sometimes the tips of her yards would graze the branches of the beeches that hung over the waves.

At others her propeller would beat the waters of the great rivers, starting geese, ducks, snipe, teal, and all the feathered tribes of the marshes. Soon deserted ruins appeared, and fallen monuments, to which the night lent a grand aspect;

“And why not?” answered Paganel. “

Travels develop youth.

We four, then, and three sailors of the Duncan—”

They ascended all night, climbed almost inaccessible plateaus, and leaped over broad and deep crevasses.

Their arms took the place of ropes, and their shoulders served as steps.

The strength of Mulready and the skill of Wilson were often called into requisition. Many times, without their devotion and courage, the little party could not have advanced.

To the south, however, the view was magnificent; and, as night descended, the grandeur was inimitable. Looking down into the wild valley of Torbido, you saw Mount Antuco, whose yawning crater was two miles distant.

The volcano, like some enormous monster, belched forth glowing smoke mingled with torrents of bright flame.

The circle of the mountains that enclosed it seemed to be on fire. Showers of incandescent stones, clouds of reddish vapors, and streams of lava, united in glittering columns.

“Certainly, my boy.

A Frenchman is always a cook.

”

A wonderfully beautiful day was breaking.

The rays of the sun, issuing from their watery bed in the Atlantic, glittered over the Argentine plains and were already silvering the waves of the other ocean.

It was eight o’clock in the morning.

“May his will be accomplished then!” replied Thalcave, with a certain solemnity. “

We will go to the east, and, if necessary, even to the sun.

”

They ate supper without drink, which was rather unrefreshing, and then fell asleep.

Paganel dreamed of torrents, cascades, streams, rivers, ponds, brooks, nay even full bottles, in short, of everything which generally contains water.

It was a real nightmare.

The Indian soon captured his prize and contributed it to the common repast. The string of partridges, Thalcave’s ostrich, Glenarvan’s peccary, and Robert’s armadillo were brought back to camp. The ostrich and the peccary were immediately stripped of their skin and cut into small slices.

As for the armadillo, it is a dainty animal which carries its roasting dish with it, and it was, accordingly, placed in its own bony covering on the glowing embers.

The three hunters were satisfied with the partridges for supper, and kept the rounds of beef for their friends. This repast was washed down with clear water, which was then considered superior to all the wines in the world.

He arose and scanned the plain attentively.

Silence still reigned, but not tranquillity.

Thalcave discerned shadows moving noiselessly among the tufts of grass. Here and there glittered luminous points, which spread on all sides, now fading away, and now gleaming forth again. You would have thought fantastic elves were dancing on the surface of an immense lagoon.

“No, my lord,” replied Robert, in a firm tone. “

With you I fear nothing.

”

“He said that, cost what it may, we must hold out till daybreak. The ramada goes out only at night, and when morning comes he returns to his lair.

He is the wolf of darkness, a cowardly beast that fears the daylight.

”

Glenarvan, in his excitement, mingled English and Spanish together.

But what matters the language? In such a terrible situation, signs tell all, and men quickly understand each other.

However, Thalcave resisted, and the discussion was prolonged. The danger was increasing every moment. Already the broken stakes were yielding to the teeth and claws of the wolves. But neither Glenarvan nor Thalcave appeared willing to yield.

The travelers, after fully quenching their thirst, devoted their attention to breakfast in the enclosure. The ostrich-steaks were declared excellent, and the armadillo, roasted in its own covering, was a delicious dish.

“To eat reasonably of this,” said Paganel, “would be ingratitude towards Providence. We really must eat immoderately.”

And he did so accordingly—but was not sick, thanks to the clear water of the Guamini, which appeared to possess superior digestive properties.

“Ah, MacNabb,” cried Glenarvan, “this is just like you! You think of everything, even under circumstances where it is allowable to forget.”

“As soon as it was decided not to be drowned, I concluded not to die of hunger.”

“I should not have thought of this,” said Paganel, innocently; “but I am so absentminded!”

“Singular!” replied Glenarvan, shrugging his shoulders; “it is simply impossible!”

“Impossible,” continued Paganel, “is a word that we do not allow in France.”

“What!” added Glenarvan, in a tone of the greatest incredulity, “do you pretend, with that document in your possession, that the shipwreck of the Britannia took place on the shores of Australia?”

“And at mine,” added the geographer.

“The less ease we have, the fewer wants; the fewer wants, the happier we are.”

“Well,” said the major, “here is Paganel going to make an attack upon riches and gilded splendor.”

“Oh, yes, it can, with philosophy,” briskly replied the geographer.

“Philosophy does not prevent you from getting wet.”

“No, but it warms you.”

These reflections, however, did not pacify Glenarvan.

When heart and reason are at variance, the latter is the weaker power.

The lord of Malcolm Castle seemed to see in the darkness all those whom he loved, his dear Helena, Mary Grant, and the crew of the Duncan. He wandered along the barren coast which the waves covered with phosphorescent bubbles.

Glenarvan knew the strong attachment of these children of the desert to their native country. He therefore shook Thalcave’s hand, and did not insist; not even when the Indian, smiling in his peculiar way, refused the price of his services, saying—

“It was done out of friendship.”

His lordship, however, desired to give the brave Indian something which might at least serve as a souvenir of his European friends. But what had he left? His arms, his horses, everything had been lost in the inundation. His friends were no richer than himself.

but many a blank page did he leave. The Scottish peer (when tired of examining for the thousandth time all that belonged to his yacht) could look at the books and documents which he had brought with him, intending to peruse them carefully.

And as to the major he was never in company and never out of company; his cigar insured, nothing else was wanted.

Ever and anon many miles of the ocean would be covered by masses of seaweed; these different species of algæ would afford subject for research; specimens must be preserved, authorities must be consulted, and as one result at least all would become wiser.

“You did?” replied the latter, very much surprised.

“I always expect those who are coming,” replied the Irishman.

Then, in a grave voice, while his household stood respectfully, he invoked a Divine blessing. Lady Helena was much affected by his perfect simplicity of manner, and a look from her husband told her that he likewise was touched by it.

“I declare!” said Paganel, “this is an admirable vehicle, worth all the mail-coaches in the world. I know of no better way of traversing the earth than in this style, like mountebanks.

A house that moves when you please and stops wherever you please is all you can desire.

”

Hence these narrow leaves seek to defend themselves against the elements and preserve themselves from too great an evaporation. They therefore present their edges, and not their faces, to the action of the solar rays.

There is nothing more intelligent than a leaf.

”

At some future day its forests will be leveled, and the home of the colonist will stand where now all is desolation; but at present it is a desert. In this region is situated the so-styled “reserve for the blacks.”

On these remote plains various spots have been set apart, where the aboriginal race can enjoy to the full the privilege of gradually becoming extinct.

Though the white man is at perfect liberty to invade this “reserved” territory, yet the black may call it his own.

The pianist was accompanied by a vocalist. The geographer listened incredulously, but in a few moments was forced to recognize the sublime air that struck upon his ear. It was “Il mio tesoro tanto” from Don Juan.

“Parbleu!” thought the geographer, “however strange the Australian birds may be, or even though the parrots were the most musical in the world, they could not sing Mozart.”

He listened to the end of this grand inspiration of the master. The effect of this sweet melody, in the stillness of the starlit night, was indescribable. He remained a long time under the influences of its enchantment.

Michael and Alexander Patterson were the sons of a London banker. When they were twenty years old, their father had said: “Here is money, my sons.

Go to some distant land, found there a useful establishment, and acquire in labor the knowledge of life.

If you succeed, so much the better; if you fail, it matters little. We shall not regret the money that will have enabled you to become men.” They obeyed;

The next day they began the descent, which was much more rapid. During its course a violent hailstorm burst on them, and they were forced to seek a shelter beneath the rocks.

Not hailstones, but pieces of ice as large as one’s hand, were precipitated from the angry clouds.

A sling could not have hurled them with greater force, and several sharp blows warned Paganel and Robert to be on their guard. The cart was pierced through in many places:

He rose and walked towards the wood. His surprise was great when he found himself in the presence of a purely natural phenomenon.

Before him extended an immense field of mushrooms, which emitted phosphorescent flashes.

The major, who was not selfish, was about to waken Paganel, that the geographer might witness the spectacle with his own eyes, when an unexpected sight stopped him.

It was a tall forest of gloomy gum-trees. Nothing met the eye but dead trunks, widely separated, which had been destitute of their bark for centuries.

Not a bird built its nest on these lofty skeletons; not a leaf trembled on the dry branches, that rattled together like a bundle of dry bones.

Glenarvan, as he walked on, gazed at the leaden sky, against which the branches of the gum-trees were sharply defined. To Ayrton’s great astonishment, there was no trace of the horses and oxen in the place where he had left them.

“Yes,” replied the major; “and this disappearance alarms me. I should prefer to meet them face to face.

It is better to encounter a tiger in the open plain than a serpent in the grass.

Let us search these bushes around the cart.”

In the meantime there were several lulls in the fury of the tempest, the wind ceasing as if to take breath.

The river only moaned adown the motionless reeds and the black curtain of the gum-trees, and the silence seemed more profound during these momentary rests.

The major and Captain Mangles now listened attentively. During one of these intervals a sharp whistle reached their ears.

“No, friend. People never return from New Zealand! But yet—well, you know human nature.

As long as we breathe we can hope; and my motto is ‘dum spiro, spero,’ which is the best in the world.

”

“The truth, John?” asked Glenarvan, faintly.

“The truth, my lord, is that we shall not founder. As for being destroyed by the sea, that is another question; but we have time to take counsel.”

“Yes, my lord, and we must wait for daylight.”

The cruelty of the New Zealanders could not be doubted. There was, therefore, danger in landing. But if the danger had been a hundred times greater, it must have been faced. Captain Mangles felt the necessity of leaving this vessel, which would soon break up.

Between two perils, one certain, the other only probable, there was no possible hesitation.

As for the chance of being picked up by some passing ship, they could not reasonably rely upon it, for the Macquarie was out of the course usually taken in going to New Zealand. The shipwreck had happened on the desert shores of Ika-Na-Maoui.

On the shores a hundred geysers, some shooting forth masses of vapor, and others overflowing in liquid columns, varied their effects, like the jets and cascades of a fountain.

It seemed as though some engineer was directing at his pleasure the outflowings of these springs, as the waters and vapor, mingling in the air, formed rainbows in the sunbeams.

For two miles the canoes glided within this vapory atmosphere, enveloped in its warm waves that rolled along the surface of the water. Then the sulphureous smoke disappeared, and a pure swift current of fresh air refreshed the panting voyagers.

“My friends, reserve this extreme measure till the last moment.

I am no advocate of what is irremediable.

”

A great fire had been kindled, which cast a dismal light over the irregular outlines of the pah. Some of these savages were stretched around the fire; and others, standing and motionless, were darkly defined against the bright curtain of flame.

It is said that, between the jailer who watches and the prisoner who wishes to escape, the chances are on the side of the latter.

Indeed, the design of one is stronger than that of the other, for the first may forget that he is guarding, but the second cannot forget that he is guarded; the captive thinks oftener of escaping than his guardian thinks of preventing his escape.

They advanced rapidly, seeking to avoid all points where they might be seen. They did not speak, but glided like shadows through the bushes.

Where were they going? At random, it is true, but they were free.

About five o’clock day began to break. Purple tints colored the lofty banks of clouds. The mountain peaks emerged from the mists of the morning.

The parents and friends of the dead had, indeed, faithfully fulfilled their duties. The amount of food testified their esteem for the virtues of the chief.

There were provisions enough to last ten persons fifteen days, or rather the deceased for eternity.

They consisted of ferns, sweet yams, and potatoes, which were introduced some time before by the Europeans. Tall vases of fresh water stood near, and a dozen baskets, artistically woven, contained numerous tablets of green gum.

“The death of the sacrilegious, my friends,” continued Paganel. “

The avenging flames are under our feet. Let us open a way for them.

”

They exhaled a penetrating odor, and deposited on the earth a white coating like dazzling snow. Their waters, though clear, were at the boiling-point, while other neighboring springs poured forth ice-cold streams.

On every side waterspouts, with spiral rings of vapor, spirted from the ground like the jets of a fountain, some continuous, others intermittent, as if controlled by some capricious sprite.

They rose like an amphitheatre, in natural terraces one above another, their vapors gradually mingling in wreaths of white smoke; and flowing down the semitransparent steps of these gigantic staircases, they fed the lakes with their boiling cascades.

“Never mind, my dear Glenarvan.

I am a madman, a fool, an incorrigible being, and shall die a most famous blunderer!

”