Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven

More than half of the day has passed.So Godfrey decided to wait for the next day to consider the new residence.However, to the professor's obligatory questions about the results of his explorations, he finally answered that it was an island—Fina Island—on which they had both been thrown, and were considering ways of getting out of it. Before that, you must consider the way to survive here. "An island!" cried Tatley. "Yes! . . . it's an island!" "Surrounded by sea?..." "nature." "But what island?" "I told you, Fina Island, and you will understand why I named it that!"

"No! . . . I don't understand," replied Tattley, pouted, "and I don't see any resemblance! Miss Fina, she's surrounded by land!" The thought made them sad, and they planned to try not to have a bad night.Godfrey went back to the reef and stockpiled some more eggs and molluscs which they had to make do with, while Tartley, whose philosophy of life could not accept this reality, sank into the most painful contemplation. The next day, June 28, the pair were up before the rooster interrupted their sleep. Started with a light breakfast - same as overnight.Only the cool water from a brook is improved to a little milk from a goat.

what!Honest Tatley!Where was the mint julep, the sweet wine, the sherry liqueur, the sherry cocktail, which he didn't drink much, but which he always had in bars and cafés in San Francisco?He envied the poultry, the agouti, the eunuchs, who quenched their thirst without asking for sweetness or alcohol in their water!These beasts don't need fire to cook their food: roots, grass, grains will suffice, and their lunch is always served in good time on a green table. "On the road," said Godfrey. The two set off, followed by their troop of cattle, which were determined not to leave them.

Godfrey's plan was to go to the north side of the island and explore the part of the coast where he had seen a clump of tall trees growing atop the cone, but he decided to follow the beach.Could the crashing waves have sent wreck remnants there?Would he find some of his companions from the Phantasm lying there in the sand of the beach, for whom a Christian funeral was to be given?As for meeting a living person, saved like himself, a mere sailor, he gave up hope, thirty-six hours after the disaster. Crossing the front row of dunes, Godfrey and his companions soon reached the base of the reef, which they found as deserted as they had left it.There they again gathered eggs and shellfish, out of prudence, expecting to lack these crude resources in the northern part of the island.Then, along the edge of the seaweed that had been washed up by the last tide, they walked up and scanned all over this part of the coast.

nothing!Still nothing! Obviously, we have to admit that if bad luck turned these two survivors of the "Dream" into Robinson Crusoe, it was much more grim for them than for their predecessors!For the latter, there is something left over from the wrecked ship.After they retrieved a bunch of necessities from the ship, they could use the leftovers.For example, food that can be eaten for a period of time, some tools, some weapons, in short, these things can meet the most basic needs of life.But here, none of those things exist!In the depths of the sea that dark night, the ship disappeared without leaving the slightest remnant on the reef!They couldn't save anything, not even a match—and, in fact, it was this match in particular that was missing.

I can imagine some good person, seated comfortably in their room, before a hearth with a agreeable fire of charcoal and wood, saying to you quite naturally: "There is nothing easier than to make a fire! There are a thousand ways to make fire! Some gravel! . . . A little dry moss! . . . A bit of charred cloth . . . How does this cloth burn it? ...then, use the blade of a knife as a fire knife ... or just rub two pieces of wood together violently, in the Polynesian way! ..." So give it a try! That was what Godfrey was thinking about as he walked, and it was rightfully the thing that worried him the most.Perhaps, as he poked the fire before the coke-filled grate, and read the tales of his travels, he thought as good people did!In trying, however, he would change his mind, and he saw with apprehension that he could not fire, an essential element that nothing could replace.

So he walked, brooding, with Tartley following him, absorbed in calling the geldings, agouti, goats, and poultry back. Suddenly his eye was attracted by the brightly colored clusters of small fruits that hung from the branches of some small shrub scattered by the hundreds at the foot of the dune.He recognized at once that some of these were eaten by Indians in certain parts of California. "Finally!" he cried, "our egg and shellfish diet can be changed a little!" "What! Is this edible?" said Tatley, pouting again, as was his custom. "Just watch!" replied Godfrey.

So he proceeded to pick a few of these manzanillas and gnawed greedily on them. These are only wild fruits, but their sourness is delicious in itself.The professor immediately imitated his companion, and did not seem very displeased with this new discovery.Godfrey had reason to think that a fermented juice could be squeezed from these fruits, which was always preferable to plain water. Onward again, and soon the sandy dunes ended in a meadow, through which a small running river ran.That was the river Godfrey had seen from the top of the cone.As for the large trees, they were concentrated a little further off, and after a trek of about nine miles, the two prospectors, rather tired from a four-hour walk, arrived there a few minutes after noon.

The sights here are indeed worth seeing, enjoying, choosing, and, no doubt, living in. There, indeed, on the fringe of the prairie, cut by manzanilla and other shrubs, stood some twenty giant trees, quite comparable to the same species in those California forests, in the form of Arranged in a semicircle, the piece of greenery spread out at their feet, after stretching hundreds of steps along the river bed, was replaced by a long sandy beach strewn with rocks, pebbles, and seaweed. The slender promontory stretches out to sea to the north. These giant trees, these "big trees"—thick trees—as they are commonly called in the American West, belong to the giant sequoias, cones of the Abies family.If you ask some Brits by what more specific name they call them: "Wellington", they answer.If you ask some Americans: "Washington" will be their answer.

It doesn't take long to see the difference. But, recalling the calm conqueror of Waterloo or the illustrious founder of the American republic, they are at any rate the most gigantic products listed in the flora of California and Nevada. Indeed, in some parts of these states there are forests entirely of this tree, as, for example, the Mariposa grove and the Calavera grove, with several trees reaching a height of 300 feet, with a circumference of 60 to 80 feet.One of these, at the mouth of the Eusmites valley, was more than a hundred feet in circumference; That is to say over 400 feet.Also include "Mother of the Forest", "Beauty of the Forest", "Pioneer's Shack", "Two Sentinels", "General Grant", "Miss Emma", "Miss Mary", "Breham Young and his wife," "The Graces," "The Bear," etc., are true wonders of the vegetable world.On the trunk of one such tree, sawn from the bottom, a gazebo was made, in which a guadelier of 16 to 20 persons could freely unfold.But in fact, the giant of these giants is in the middle of a national forest, 15 miles from Murphy, the "father of the forest", a 4,000-year-old giant sequoia, 152 feet from the ground Higher than the Cross of St. Pierre in Rome, higher than the Great Pyramid of Giza, and higher than the small iron spire that now stands on a bell tower of the Rouen church, it may be considered the tallest monument in the world.

A group of twenty or so of these giants, probably at the time when King Solomon built the temple of Jerusalem, whose ruins were never restored, was randomly scattered by nature on this promontory of the island. .The tallest may be nearly 300 feet, the smallest 250 feet.Several trees, hollowed out with age, exposed at their bases a gigantic vault under which a whole cavalry could have passed. Godfrey marveled at the wonders of nature that unfolded before his eyes, usually only at altitudes of five or six thousand feet.He even felt that the trip was worth it just to see it.Nothing, indeed, can compare with these beige giants, which show a profile with hardly any appreciable reduction from the root to the uppermost branch.They are cylindrical, from eighty to one hundred feet high from the ground, with thick branches like the trunks of great trees, and thus hold up a whole forest in the air. One of these "giant world masters"—it was one of the tallest trees in the group—in particular attracted Godfrey's attention.The bottom is concave, revealing a large opening four or five feet high, ten feet high, into which one can enter.The giant's heart is gone, and the tree's planks dissipated into a brittle whitish powder; but even if the tree were no longer resting on its strong roots, but only on its sturdiness, it would still live for centuries . "There is no grotto or cave," exclaimed Godfrey. "It is a ready-made dwelling, a log house, a tower, for there is no such thing anywhere inhabited! There we shall have shelter." Come on, Tatley, come on!" So the young man pulled his companion into the giant sequoia. The ground was covered with detritus of plants not less than twenty feet in diameter.As to how high the vault was, it was impossible to estimate because of the darkness.But not a ray of light penetrates the bark walls of this type of cellar.Therefore, there are no gaps, no gaps through which wind and rain cannot penetrate.It is certain that our two Robinsons live there without punishment from Heaven's inclement weather.A cavern couldn't be stronger, drier, or more sealed than that.Indeed, it's hard to find better. "Well, Tatley, what do you think of this natural abode?" Godfrey asked. "But the fireplace?" said Tutley. "Before asking for a fireplace," replied Godfrey, "at least until we can get a fire!" This couldn't be more logical. Godfrey went to inspect the surrounding area of ​​the tree group.As we said, the prairie stops at the edge of this giant sequoia.The small river that runs through the greenery brings a healthy freshness to the center of this slightly intense land.On the fringes there grow various shrubs, myrtle, mastic, and pistachio, of which a great deal of that manzanilla will ensure a harvest of wild fruit.Further on, up the slope, groves, oaks, beeches, Egyptian figs, hackberry, are scattered here and there over this vast meadow; The sun extends to the edge of the "trees" above the sea, which can only be regarded as shrubs.Across this prairie, too, rose small shrubs, clumps, and green brambles, which Godfrey resolved to examine tomorrow. If he liked the place, the domestic animals didn't seem to dislike it.Agouti, goats, and wethers have taken over this territory with more than enough to provide them with roots to gnaw or grass to eat.As for the hens, they greedily pecked at the seeds or the worms on the edge of the stream.Animal life has come and gone, skipped, flitted, and manifested itself in the bleating of sheep, the snoring of pigs, and the clucking of chickens, which no doubt has never sounded in these seas. Godfrey then returned to the sequoias to examine more closely the tree he would choose as his home.It seemed to him that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to climb its highest branches, at least from the outside, since the trunk showed no protrusion; but from the inside it might be easier to climb, if this A tree is empty between the core and the bark until the forks. In times of danger, it may be beneficial to seek a hiding place among the thick foliage supported by the massive trunk.This is a question left for future examination. When this survey was concluded, and the sun was nearly setting on the horizon, it seemed more appropriate to leave until the next day the preparations for deciding on a settlement. But what better place to spend the night than on the detritus that covered the inner floor of the giant sequoia, after a supper of wild berries as an after-dinner? Under this divine protection, Godfrey, remembering Uncle William W. Coddrup, named this giant tree "Will Tree", and, in the forests of California and neighboring states, similar trees bearing the name of one of the greatest citizens of the American Republic.

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