Chapter 9 Chapter nine

Having done this, the professor and the student embraced each other. "My dear Godfrey!" cried Tartley. "My good Tatley!" replied Godfrey. "At last we have reached Hong Kong," cried the Professor, in the tone of a man who has been through quite a few voyages and accidents. He called it: "Arrived in port!" Godfrey didn't want to discuss it with him. "Take off your lifebelt," he said, "it's suffocating your breath and impeding your movement!" "Do you think I can do this without trouble?" asked Tattley. "No trouble," Godfrey replied, "now, grab your pocket violin, and we'll explore."

"Come on," retorted the professor, "but mind you, Godfrey, we'll stop at the first bar. I'm starving, and a dozen sandwiches and a few glasses of port will make me Both legs are fully recovered!" "Yes! In the first bar! . . . " replied Godfrey, shaking his head, "and even in the last . . . if the first one doesn't suit us!" "Then," continued Tatley, "we will ask passers-by where the telegraph office is to send a telegram immediately to your Uncle Codrup. I think the good man will not refuse us." Send the necessary money to and from the Montgomery Street Mansion, because I don't have a penny with me!"

"It is settled, at the first telegraph office," replied Godfrey, "or, if there is no telegraph office in this place, at the first post office. On your way, Tutley!" The professor unloaded his swimming gear, wrapped it around him like a hunting horn, and at last the two of them made their way to the edge of the dunes that circled the coast. Meeting Tatley gave Godfrey some hope, and he was particularly concerned with finding out whether they were the only survivors of the sinking of the Mirage. A quarter of an hour after leaving the mouth of the reef, our two explorers climbed a sand dune 60 to 80 feet high and reached the summit.From there they looked down on a wide stretch of coastal sand, and their eyes surveyed the eastern horizon which hitherto had been concealed by the rising shore.

Two or three miles away in this direction a second line of hills formed a background, and, beyond that, no horizon could be seen. Towards the north the shore seemed to taper off, but whether it connected with some promontory behind it was not yet certain.On the south, the coast is rather deeply indented by a cove, and in this direction at least the ocean seems to stretch as far as the eye can see.From this it follows that this landmass in the Pacific may be a peninsula; in which case one should look north or northeast for the isthmus which connects this landmass to any continent. At any rate, this far from arid country is concealed by the verdure of a lovely foliage meadow, with long meadows winding clear rivers, and tall, dense forests with layers of trees. Superimposed all the way to the background composed of hills, it looks really charming.

But none of the houses that make up a small town, village, or hamlet have been seen!As an agricultural institution, a land that is divided into leaseholds, and a sintered brick building that is the operating site of a farm, there is no trace left!It rises in the air, exposing the smoke from a house hidden under the woods, and it has not escaped!Not a bell tower was seen among the clutter of trees, nor a mill on some lonely high ground.If there is no house, is there not even a shack, a hut, a hut, a hut?No!nothing.If anyone lived in this strange land, it was only possible to live underground, not above, living a caveman way of life.There wasn't a paved road, and besides, not even a trail, not a trail.It seems that human feet have never walked on a pebble in this beach, a blade of grass in these meadows.

"I didn't see the city." Tatley noticed, during which he stood on tiptoe. "It may be that this part of the province has no cities," replied Godfrey. "But is there a village? . . . " "There will be no more!" "Then where are we?" "I don't know anything about it." "What! You don't know anything about it! . . . But, Godfrey, we must hurry to find out?" "Who can say that!" "Then what shall we do?" cried Tatley, arching his outstretched arms in the air. "Maybe be Robinson Crusoe!"

At this answer, the professor jumped up, as probably no clown had ever done before him. Be Robinson!them!Be a Robinson Crusoe!he!When this descendant of Selkirk, who lived for many years on Jan-Fernandi's Island!When they were imitators of the imaginary heroes of Daniel Defoe and Wells, whom they had read so many times!When outcasts, far from their kin and friends, and thousands of miles from their kind, are fated, perhaps, to compete for existence with wild beasts, perhaps with the savages who came upon the land, as wretched men without income, Hunger, thirst, no weapons, no tools, hardly any clothes, all on his own.

No!This is impossible! "Don't tell me such things, Godfrey," cried Tatley, "no! Don't joke like that! The mere idea of ​​that would kill me! You were joking, weren't you?" "Yes, my honorable Tatley," replied Godfrey, "you may rest assured, but first, let us consider the most urgent matters!" Indeed, it is a matter of finding a cave, a cave, or whatever, in which to spend the night; and then, trying to collect whatever edible shellfish you might find, to at least appease the need of the stomach. Godfrey and Tatley then began walking down the slope of the dune to the reef.Godfrey seemed enthusiastic about such a search; Tattlee was languid in apprehension of doom.The former looks forward, backward, and in every direction; the latter cannot even see 10 paces away.

Godfrey thought to himself: "If there are no inhabitants in this land, at least some animals will be here?" In that vicinity, he had heard, there were domestic animals, that is, game with hair and feathers, not those wild beasts which he had only to hunt, which were abundant in the equatorial regions. Future exploration will allow him to confirm. At any rate, several flocks of birds were flying about the coast at that time, sparrows, geese, curlews, mallards, they flew and chirped, the air was full of their flights and songs--no doubt, It's a way of protesting the encroachment of the area.

Godfrey probably had some reason to deduce the nest from the bird, and the egg from the nest.Since these birds flock together in great numbers, it may be that the rocks provide them with thousands of cavities as their usual dwellings.In the distance, several herons and sandcones flitted around, indicating a swamp nearby. So there is no shortage of birds: the only difficulty is to shoot them down without the firearms that subdue them.In waiting, however, it is best to utilize their eggs and resolve to consume them in this simplest yet nourishing way. Even so, although we have lunch, how do we cook it?How can I get fire?This is an important issue to be addressed later.

Godfrey and Tutley headed straight back to the reef where flocks of seabirds were circling. A pleasant surprise awaited them there. Indeed, among the native fowls that run about on the beach-sand, and feed among the sea-weeds, and under the aquatic plants, do they not see a dozen hens and two or three roosters of the American breed?No!It was by no means a phantasm, for as they drew nearer, was not a loud cock-crow ringing through the air like a bugle call? And farther away, moving among the rocks, trying to climb to the verdant bushes, what are the quadrupeds on the front slopes of the dunes?Godfrey was not mistaken either.There were a dozen agouti, five or six wethers, and as many goats, quietly eating the first grass on the edge of the meadow. "Ah! Tartley," he cried, "look!" The professor watched, saw nothing, the feeling of this unexpected situation consumed him too much. A thought came to Godfrey, and it was the right one: for these animals, the hens, the agouti, the goats, the eunuchs, were supposed to be private animals aboard the Phantasm.Indeed, when the ship sank, the birds easily flew to the reef, and then to the sand.As for the quadrupeds, by swimming, they easily reached the rocks at the front of the coast. "It follows," observed Godfrey, "that none of our unfortunate companions can do such a thing as these simple animals, guided by their instincts! And in the 'Dream' Of all the living things carried, only the animals were saved!  …” "We must be counted!" replied Tardelet innocently. Indeed, it was for him that, like a simple animal, unconsciously, the psychic powers did not play a role, that the professor was saved! Besides, it didn't matter that a certain number of these animals made it to shore, and it was a very lucky situation for the two shipwrecked.They'll round them up, put them in corrals, and, if they'll stay on the land, they'll have a whole herd of quadrupeds and all poultry. On that day, however, Godfrey wished to feed only on the eggs and shells the coast could provide.Professor Tutley and he therefore began to search the crevices of the rocks under the large seaweed, and they were not without success.They soon gathered a considerable amount of mussels and snails, which could be eaten raw when absolutely necessary.Several dozen Brent goose eggs were also found on the high rocks that enclose the northern part of the bay.There might be something to feed more people there.Godfrey and Tutley did not want to appear too critical of this first meal. "Where's the fire?" said the latter. "Yes! . . . Fire! . . . " replied the former. This was the most serious question, which led the two shipwrecks to search their pockets. The professor's pocket was empty or nearly empty, save for a few replacement strings for his miniature violin, and a length of rosin for his bow.I ask you, how is this done, this is the method used to make kindling! Godfrey doesn't have much.To his great satisfaction, however, he found an excellent knife in his pocket, the holster of which had fallen into the sea.This knife, with the blade, auger, log cutter, saw, is a precious tool in that environment.But apart from this tool, Godfrey and his companions had only their hands.And the professor's hands were always just playing his pocket violin and trying to be pleasant.So Godfrey thought he had to count on his hands. Nevertheless, Godfrey intended to use Tartley's hands to make fire by rubbing two pieces of wood rapidly against each other.A few eggs boiled hard under the ashes will be especially favored with the second meal at noon. So, while Godfrey was busy looting the bird's nests, the professor, despite his attempts to defend their offspring in their shells, went to pick up some wood chips that littered the ground at the foot of the dunes.This fuel was carried to the foot of a cliff that sheltered from the sea wind.At this point Tutley selected two chips that were fairly dry.I want to dissipate heat from them little by little by rubbing them intensely and continuously. This was what simple-minded Polynesian savages usually do, so why couldn't the Professor, who seemed to him far superior to them, not be able to do it himself? So he rubbed, and rubbed again, until the muscles in his arms and forearms were exhausted.He was very annoyed by it, poor man!But perhaps the quality of the wood was off, perhaps the wood was not dry enough, and in the end, perhaps the professor did a poor job and did not have the dexterity of the hand necessary for the job, although he had somewhat heated the two pieces of wood, and his Much more intense heat is emitted.Anyway, it was just his brow smoking under the steam of sweat. When Godfrey returned with his eggs, he found Tartley drenched in a state of sweat which no doubt his dance practice had never induced. "Can't you?" he asked. "No, Godfrey, no," replied the professor, "and I'm beginning to believe that the inventions of these savages are nothing but fancies designed to deceive the poor world!" "No!" went on Godfrey, "but, in this, as in everything, you have to be good at it." "Then, these eggs?..." "There is another way," replied Godfrey, "to take an egg and tie it to the end of a string, to make it spin rapidly, and then to stop spinning suddenly, which may be transformed into hot, then..." "The eggs are ready by then?" "Yes, if the spin is fast and the stop is sudden, . So Godfrey gently took a brant egg, cracked one end of it, and deftly "sipped the wine" without ceremony. Unable to make up his mind to imitate him, Tatley had to settle for his share of shellfish. Now all that remains is to find a cave, a recess of any kind, in which to spend the night. "This is unique," the professor pointed out. "The Robinsons have not found even the most basic cave, which they will later use as their dwelling!" "Let's go find it," Godfrey replied. If until now this was unique, it must be admitted that this time, tradition was broken.The two searched in vain for the edge of the cliff to the north of the cove.There were no caves, no caves, not a single cave that would serve as a humble dwelling.They had to give up looking.Godfrey therefore decided to search as far as the front tree in the background beyond the sandy fringe. Tatley and he thus re-climbed the slopes of the front row of dunes and began to cross the green meadow they had glimpsed hours before. Oddly enough and fortunately, the remaining survivors of the wrecked ship automatically followed them.Apparently the rooster, the hen, the capon, the goat, the agouti insisted on their company by instinct.No doubt they feel too alone on this sandy beach, which does not provide them with enough grass and small earthworms. Three quarters of an hour later, Godfrey and Tartley—who had spoken very little during this survey—were at the edge of the wood, lonely without any sign of dwellings or inhabitants.People even wonder whether this place has never left human footprints! At this site, some beautiful trees grow in isolated groups, and others closer together a quarter of a mile behind make up a true forest of different species. Godfrey searched for some old tree-trunk, hollowed out by time, that might furnish them with a humble shelter between the walls; but his search turned up nothing, though he kept finding Nightfall. Hunger so strongly stimulated them now that they both had to make do with some shellfish, of which they probably gathered a great deal on the beach.Then, exhausted, they lay down under a tree, and fell asleep, as they say, by God's will.