Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Inside the Island

On the second day, no one stopped me from walking up and down, so I could get acquainted with the open caves of the "covered cup" island. What a strange night I passed!How anxiously I waited for the day! They took me to the depths of a cave more than a hundred paces from the shore where the tugboat was moored.The cave, ten feet long and twelve feet wide, was lit by an incandescent lamp, and we entered through a door, which closed behind me. I'm not surprised that the cave is lit by electric lights, as it's also used by submarine tugboats.But where do they make it? ...where did it come from? ... Is there a factory with machines, generators and storage batteries in this huge basement? ...

In my room there was a table with food on it, a hammock with a full bedding on the bed, a goose feather chair, and a wardrobe with sheets and an assortment of clothes.The desk drawers hold papers, inkwells and quills.In the right corner, is a picture of the toilet and its supplies.Everything is very clean. Fresh fish, tinned meat, good bread, ale and whiskey, this was the menu for the first meal.I only touched it with the tip of my lip,--eating with half a tooth, as it is said--because I was nervous. I had to get myself under control, to regain my peace of mind and heart, to lift my spirits.I'm going to unravel the secrets of this small group of people hiding in the interior of this island... I'll find out...

From this point of view, Count Atticus settled down under the cover of the "Cupped Cup" island.This unknown cave is where he lived, and when he sailed on the coast of America or the European continent, he discovered an unknown hermitage here, which is twelve to fifteen miles above the ocean. ruler. Why cut yourself off from him? ...What was this person's past like? ... If the name Atticus and the title of Earl, as I guessed, are all fake, then why do these people hide their real identities? ... Is he a deported exile who prefers this place of exile to any other? ... Am I not dealing with an outlaw who hopes to get away with hiding in this hidden cave? ... I have the right to make any assumptions. This foreigner is so suspicious that I have thought of all possibilities.

This question, to which I have yet to find a satisfactory answer, came back to my mind.Why was Thomas Roche taken from the sanatorium in a state of insanity? ... Could it be that Count Atticus wanted the secret of the Lightning from him, so that he could use it to defend the Isle of the Covered Cup in case his hermitage were ever revealed? ...But if that happens, starvation will destroy Cup Covered Island, since the tugboats won't keep it fully resupplied! ...On the other hand, the sailboat cannot cross the blockade, and, besides, it will be wanted in various ports! ... At that time, what role could Thomas Roche's invention in the hands of Count Atticus play? ... I am really puzzled!

At seven o'clock in the morning, I jumped out of bed.Although I am trapped by the walls of the rock, at least I am not trapped in my room.Nothing kept me from it, I walked out... Walking forward for 30 meters, I came to a stone roof, which seemed to be a pier, extending to the left and right. Several sailors of the "Aiba" were busy moving the cargo out of the cabin of the tugboat, which was parked near a stone embankment. The light in the cave is very weak, between half light and half dark, my eyes have gradually adapted, there is a break in the middle of the cave roof. "The steam, or that's where the smoke comes from, and it's visible three or four nautical miles away."

At this moment, a series of thoughts ran through my mind. "The 'Cupped' Island is not a volcano as it is supposed to be, as I once thought myself...the steam, the flames I saw years ago were nothing but man-made...that made the fishermen of Bermuda terribly rumble The sound is not the result of the struggle of underground forces at all... All the phenomena are false... They are just the wishes of the owner of this small island. Achieved his purpose... He became the unique master of the 'Cupped Cup' island... Just by making the sound of explosions, burning the seaweed and horsetail grass washed by the tide, and making the smoke rise from the fake crater, he made people Believe in the existence of a suddenly awakened volcano that will erupt soon!  …”

That's what happened, in fact, since the Bermuda fishermen left, the thick smoke has continued to rise from the top of the "covered cup" island. The inside of the cave became brighter and brighter, the sun rose to the mid-heaven, and sunlight shot into the cave from the false crater.So I can estimate the size of this hole fairly accurately.The following is the data I recorded. From the outside, the "covered cup" island is almost circular, with a circumference of 1,200 meters and an internal area of ​​5,000 meters or 5 kilometers.The walls of the cave at the bottom are thirty to one hundred meters thick.

It can be seen that this cave occupies the entire part of the "covered cup" island above the sea, although the thickness of the walls is reduced.The length of the subsea tunnel communicating the inside and outside is estimated to be about 40 meters, and the tugboat entered the cave through it. These rough estimates allow one to imagine the size of the hole.But, though it is vast, I recall that some islands in Europe and America were larger in size, and were objects of speleological study. In fact, there are some caves in Carniol, North Amberley, De Betashire, Piedmont, Morhe, Balear, Hungary, and California that are larger than this one on the "Cupped" Island. .For example, the 12 Sules Caves in Belgium and the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky, USA, have at least 226 dome halls, seven rivers, eight waterfalls, twelve unfathomable wells, and an area of ​​five To an inland sea six miles away, the explorers never came to the end.

I have visited these caves in Kentucky like thousands of tourists.I can compare its main cave with this one on Cup Covered Island.Just like here, the dome of Mamose Cave is also supported by pillars of different shapes and heights, making it look like a Gothic church with a main hall, a side hall, and a corridor, but it is not as formal as a religious building. .The only difference is that the cave in Kentucky is one hundred and thirty meters high, while the cave on the "Cupped" Island does not exceed sixty meters at its highest point. There is a circular hole in the center of the dome--smoke and flames emerge from it. .

Another important feature is that most of the caves I have visited have a clear and understandable name and will be developed one day. However, this is not the case with the caves of "Cupped" Island.On the map, it is just an island in Bermuda. How can one expect a huge cave in the island?You can only know it by entering, and to enter, you must have a submarine similar to the tugboat of Count Atticus. Now, I began to observe the sea surrounded by its inner rock wall, which is not large in size.The circumference is only 300 to 350 meters.It was, in fact, a lagoon, surrounded by straight rocks, in which a tug-boat would be more than ample to navigate, for it seemed to me not less than forty meters deep.

According to the location and structure of the cave, it obviously belongs to the kind of cave formed by the intrusion of sea water.The Cazon Cave and the Moment Cave in the Gulf of Douarnay, France, the Bonifacio Cave on the coast of Corsica, the Sogaiting Cave on the coast of Norway, which is not less than 500 meters, and some caves in Greece. Caves, Kibra Yak Caves in Spain, Duhanai Caves in Koshine, they are both water and igneous caves like the caves on the "covered cup" island.The properties of the shells suggest that they are the product of both types of geological work. The vast majority of the "covered cup" island is limestone.These rocks rise gently from the edge of the deep lake to the rock wall. There are fine sand grains in the middle of the rocks, and light yellow hard and dense tiger antler grass grows everywhere.Here and there was a thick cover of seaweed and sargassum, some dry, others wet, smelling strongly of the sea, and the tide pushed them through the tunnels and flung them over the edge of the lagoon.They're not the only fuel on Cup Covered Island.I saw great stores of coal on the island, which could be brought in by tugboats and sailboats.But, I repeat, the smoke from the crater of the island is the drying and burning of these plants. I continued my walk, and on the meandering edge of the lake was the dwelling of these "cavemen"—don't they deserve the name?The place is called Bihiv, which means "beehive," and the name perfectly captures its character.On the limestone platform of the rock wall, several rows of "hives" were artificially excavated, in which human "hornets" lived. The east side of the cave has a very different layout.Hundreds of natural stone pillars support the arch line of the cave dome. They either rise from the wooden figures on the side, or rise from the ground, or the pillars grow together, or sweep and deform.This is a real stone forest, extending all the way to the edge of the cave.Between the stone pillars, some meandering paths criss-cross all the way to the end of the cave. By counting the "hives" of Behiva, the number of Count Atticus' associates was from eighty to one hundred. Count Atticus happened to be standing in front of a small house separated from the others, and Captain Spard and Engineer Sokol had been with him for a while.After talking for a few words, the three of them came to the edge of the lagoon and stopped on the embankment, with the tug boat parked beside it. At this time, more than a dozen sailors removed the goods from the ship and transported them to the opposite bank in small boats, and carved many spacious recesses on the side platform of the stone wall on the opposite bank, as the warehouse of the "covered cup" island. The mouth of the tunnel under the water of the lagoon is not visible.I noticed that in order to enter the tunnel from the lagoon, the tugboat had to sink a few meters below the surface of the water. The caverns of Cup Covered Island, unlike those of Staffa and Mogate, do not always have free passage at high tide.Is there another passage to the coast, a natural or artificial one? ...it is very important to get this clear. In fact, the "covered cup" island lives up to its name.It is indeed a giant upside-down cup.Not only the shape of the slope, but—unbeknownst to people—but also the shape of its interior. Bihaifu is located on a circular land on the north side of the lagoon, that is, on the left side of the tunnel entrance.Opposite were the warehouses, filled with all sorts of goods, packets full of merchandise, wine, schnapps, casks of beer, tins, parcels of every kind from all directions.It seems that twenty ships of goods have been brought here.A little further on, there stands a building of considerable importance, surrounded by a wall of boards, the purpose of which can be seen at a glance.Thick copper wires are attached to utility poles above the house, and they power the high-energy lights that hang from the dome of the cave, as well as the incandescent lamps used in each of the "hives" in the "beehive."There are countless such lighting tools installed on the stone pillars of the cave, and they illuminate the cave to the deepest part of the cave. A question arises: will they let me roam freely inside the cupped island? ……I hope so.Why does Count Atticus interfere with my liberty, and forbid me to visit his mysterious domain? ... Am I not imprisoned among the rocky walls of this island? ... Is there another way out besides the tunnel? ...However, how to cross this water bridge that has been closed forever? ... If I could go through the tunnel, would my disappearance go unnoticed for a long time? ...The tugboat will transport more than a dozen sailors to the seaside, and they will search every corner of the shore... I will definitely be caught and brought back to Bihaifu. This time, I will no longer have the right to move freely ... Therefore, I must give up the idea of ​​running away unless the chances of success are very high.If the opportunity arises, I will not miss it. While weaving between the rows of hives, I got to observe several of Count Atticus' associates, who lived their monotonous lives deep in the Isle of the Covered Cup without complaint.According to the number of Bihaifu rooms, there are about a hundred of them. These people paid no attention to me as I passed by.Watching them up close, they seem to come from all over the world.I don't see anything in common between them in origin—not even between North Americans, or Europeans, or Asiatics.Their complexion ranged from white to bronze to black—more Australian than African.In short, most of them belong to the Malay race, which is very obvious in the vast majority.Earl Atticus must have come from this special race on the Dutch islands in the western Pacific, while the engineer Sokol was from the eastern Mediterranean, and the captain Spard was from Italy. But while the inhabitants of the "Cupped" island are not racially related, they certainly have instincts and physiology in common.How disturbing their countenances, how menacing their expressions, and how wild their manners!They are violent by nature, never controlling their passions and shy away from evil. —It occurred to me—why not a series of common crimes, thefts, arsons, murders, murders, drove them to take refuge in this cave (where they were quite sure of their impunity)? ...then Count Atticus is but the leader of a band of outlaws, Spard and Sokol are his accomplices, and the Isle of the Cupped Cup is a pirate's den... This idea is stubbornly embedded in my head.I should be amazed if I get the facts wrong in the future.And, on this first exploration, the facts I saw confirmed my views and led me to some of the most incredible conjectures. In any case, whoever they were, and whatever the reason for bringing them here, it seemed to me that Earl Atticus' associates had fully accepted his supremacy.On the contrary, though Count Atticus kept them under his own iron fist through severe discipline.But it is probable that some advantage compensates for this willing servitude... What advantage? ... Passing the lake shore near the mouth of the tunnel, I came to the opposite bank.On this side of the lake, as I have just seen, are stored the goods which the Alba brought back from each of her voyages.Spacious alcoves are chiseled into the rock face, capable of accommodating a large number of parcels. After that, there is the power generation room.Passing under its windows, I saw some recently invented machines, small in size and perfect in function.There was not a steam engine with the complicated structure required to use coal.No, as I surmised, the lights in the cave and the engines of the tug were powered by high-energy batteries.It is also certain that various living facilities, Bihaifu's heating and cooking are all completed by electricity.I noticed that the electric light was also used in a still that produced fresh water in a nearby cavity. The settlers of Cup Covered were not so downcast that they had to drink the abundant rainwater that fell on the island's shores.A few steps further from the generating room, there is a wide circular cistern, well proportioned, very similar to the cisterns I saw when I visited Bermuda in the past.The reservoir there can supply the needs of 10,000 residents...the one here can only supply more than a hundred people... I don't know how to describe them.Evidently, some chief reason promptly made them and their chiefs dwell in the hinterland of the island, but what reason? … It is understandable that the monks shut themselves up within the walls of their monasteries, isolated from the world.But Count Atticus's subjects did not look like devout Benedictines, or Chartreuse monks. I continued walking through the crevices until I came to one end of the cave.Nobody interrupts me, talks to me, nobody even guards against me. This part of the "cup-covered" island is as peculiar as the wonderful parts of Kentucky and Balear Cave.Naturally, there are no artificial ax marks here.Only by nature's workmanship, the earth can actually give birth to such a magical work, people can't help but feel fear when they are amazed, the sunlight coming in from the mountain pass on the top of the cave is very obliquely shining on this side of the lagoon.At night, in the electric light, it must have looked dreamlike.Despite searching, I can't find any exits leading to the outside world. It is also worth mentioning that the small island provides refuge for a large number of birds, herring gulls, mother gulls, and petrels (which are frequent visitors to Bermuda).Here, people never capture them and let them reproduce at will, and they are never afraid of people.In addition, in addition to these seabirds, there are other animals on the "cupped" island.On the side of Bihiv, there are also places for raising cattle, pigs, sheep and poultry.Therefore, the food is both guaranteed and colorful, and there is another reason that a large number of various fish live among the reefs outside the cave or in the water of the lagoon, providing abundant fish. In short, it is clear at a glance that the owners of the "Cupped Cup" island do not lack any resources.All of them are strong and vigorous, the kind of sailors who have experienced the natural test of the wind and sun in the tropics, and their faces are rosy and full of blood because of the sea wind they have endured in those years.There are no children or old people here—all are between thirty and fifty. But why are they willingly submitting to this life? ...will they never leave this hermitage on the Isle of the Covered Cup? ... Maybe I will understand soon.