Chapter 20 Chapter Twenty

The whole family is on the road again.Uncle and Mark and Robert walked in front.Holding bows and arrows in their hands, the two teenagers observed this strange land while walking.The Cliftons followed with their two young children.Jack and Bell didn't listen to the adults' advice. They walked and jumped tirelessly, running back and forth, seemingly with endless energy. This piece of land is extremely uneven, and it can be clearly seen that it is caused by the huge twisting force displayed during the movement of the earth's crust, and basalt and pumice can be seen everywhere.All signs are becoming more and more clear that this place was formed after the eruption of the volcano.At this time, the group of people had not yet walked out of the forest under the snow-capped main peak, where most of the trees were pines and cypresses.As the altitude increases, the trees become more and more rare.

As they climbed up the slope toward the main peak, my uncle pointed to the animal tracks deeply imprinted on the ground for the engineer to see.They were convinced it was the track of a large beast, but could not identify what animal it was.They thought they should be more vigilant, so they told the children not to run too far. Mr. Clifton and Uncle Robinson exchanged views while observing the footprints on the ground, and the engineer gradually came to an acceptable conclusion: "Obviously," he said to his uncle, "there are a lot of powerful animals, and there are a lot of them. I can almost think that fate has left us on a continent, or at least on a large island. I also said I don't know exactly which part of the Pacific Ocean we were abandoned by the Vancouver, but I always feel that this is a certain section of the American coastline between forty and fifty degrees north latitude."

"Let's continue to climb up. When we get out of the forest, maybe we can see the surrounding situation clearly, so we can determine whether this is a mainland or an island." The uncle replied. "But, my friend, unless we climb the main peak, we can only see a section of the coast." "It's extremely difficult to climb to the top of the main peak," said the uncle. "Besides, I don't know if this mountain can be climbed to the top! Maybe it's easier to determine whether we are islanders or mainlanders by sailing along the coastline." "Come on, let's hurry up!"

"If Mr. Engineer agrees, I think we will camp today when we reach the edge of the woods. I will be responsible for cleaning up the camp. We will definitely have a good night, and tomorrow, we will continue to climb the mountain at dawn." It was already three o'clock in the afternoon, and everyone continued to climb to the top of the mountain.If this place is haunted by wild beasts, people have only seen their tracks until now, so there is no need to worry too much.Prey is abundant here.Fido often disturbed some small animals. They escaped from their nests, and before they could see what animals they were, they disappeared without a trace.Mark and Robert shot a pair of pheasants with arrows.A mass of pine bark hangs from their necks, and behind their eyes grows two thin tube-shaped, erect horn-like things.They are the size of a rooster.The females are tawny, but the males are richly colored: bright red plumage flecked with many white spots.Mr Clifton said its scientific name was horned pheasant.Mrs Clifton regrets not being able to bring them back alive and would love to have them domesticated in poultry pens.

Between the basalt blocks, they also saw a larger animal.Mr. Clifton was very pleased to see the animal here.This is a rock goat, similar to the sheep often seen in Corsica, Crete and Sardinia.From its receding horns, and its thick, curly brown coat, Mr. Clifton recognized it at once as a blue sheep.The stocky animal stands motionless next to a tree stump.When the engineer and uncle came very close to it, the blue sheep looked at them in surprise, as if it was the first time they saw a bipedal person.Suddenly, as if sensing danger, it leaped across the clearing among the rocks, and disappeared in an instant.Although the uncle immediately drew the bow and shot the arrow, he didn't touch a hair on it.

"Goodbye, rock sheep," my uncle called humorously. "Damn guy, I'm not interested in its hind legs, but its fur. It can make us fine clothes. It doesn't matter, we will meet again." "We can try to domesticate a few pairs of these animals," said the engineer, "and then we shall have neither a leg of lamb to eat nor a sheepskin to wear." Around six o'clock in the evening, the small team reached the end of the woods.Everyone decided to stop going forward and have a picnic and camp here.In the vicinity, each of them looked for a place they thought was suitable, and prepared to use branches and leaves to make a small nest for the night.Mark and Robert went one way; Mr. Clifton and Uncle went the other way; Mrs. Clifton took Jack and Bell and chose under a big pine tree.

Just a few minutes after Mark and Robert left, they hurried back, with terrified expressions on their faces.Mrs. Clifton walked towards them at once. "What's the matter, my child?" she asked. "A puff of smoke," replied Robert, "we see a puff of smoke rising among the rocks." "What!" said Mrs. Clifton. "Someone's around?" she said, drawing the children to her side. "Is there someone? A savage, or a cannibal?" The two children looked at their mother without any answer.At this moment, the engineer and the uncle came over, and Mark told them the situation. No one in the family said anything, and they were silent for a while.

"It's better to be careful," finally the uncle said, "maybe, there are human beings not far from us over there, and we don't know who we will encounter. To be honest, I doubt these strangers and don't want to See them. Mr. Clifton, you stay here with your wife and children, and I, Mr. Mark, and Fido, go scouting." Immediately Uncle, Mark, and the faithful dog walked in the direction of the smoke.Mark's heart was beating violently.The uncle pursed his lips tightly, opened his eyes wide, and walked forward cautiously.After walking northeast for a few minutes, Mark stopped and pointed to the smoking place not far away.This is a very special yellow smoke.There was no wind at all, and the smoke gradually dispersed after rising to a high altitude.

Uncle stopped too.Fido wanted to jump over immediately, but was held tightly by Mark.The sailor gestured to Mark to stay still.But he himself was nimbly cruising among the rocks like a snake, dodging and running towards the place where the smoke was coming out, and soon disappeared. Mark stood there excitedly waiting for his uncle to come back.Suddenly he heard shouts from the other side of the rock, and Mark jumped up to save his companion.With loud laughter, Uncle suddenly appeared in front of Mark. "The fire, or rather the smoke," said the seaman, waving his arms, "is..."

"What is it?" Mark asked. "Ah, this is a masterpiece of nature. It is a sulfur mineral spring. We can cure laryngitis here." Uncle and Mark walked back, laughing and telling the Cliftons about the situation. The father, mother, and children immediately ran towards the sulfur mineral spring outside the woods.The landform here has the basic characteristics of volcanic earth-making movement.From a distance, Mr. Clifton could see that the yellow smoke from the sulfur spring was the combination of sulfuric acid in the groundwater and oxygen in the air.A stream of spring water containing minerals such as sulfur and sodium erupts from the rock cracks, and the water flow is very rich.

The engineer put his hand into the spring water and felt that the water quality was greasy, the temperature was around thirty-five degrees, and it smelled a little sweet.This mineral water is very effective in treating catarrhal respiratory diseases and lymphatic constitution. Mark asked his father how he could tell the water was around thirty-five degrees without a thermometer.Mr. Clifford told him that when he put his hand into the hot spring, he felt neither hot nor cold, which meant that the water temperature was close to human body temperature, and human body temperature is about thirty-five degrees, so he could Find out the temperature of the spring water. After some observation, they decided to camp here, on the edge of the woods, under a few big trees, between two huge basalt rocks.The children gathered enough dry wood to light a campfire overnight.As night fell, the howling of wild animals could be heard faintly in the distance.But no beast dared to pass through the campfire's defenses. Mother, with the help of Jack and Bell, prepares dinner.The two pheasants were roasted until they were charred on the outside and tender on the inside, exuding a mouth-watering aroma.After eating, the children slept in the beds they had made of dry sticks.They were all extremely tired, and soon fell asleep.At this time, Mr. Clifton and Uncle Robinson were observing around the campsite. They came to a bamboo forest bordering the hillside, where they could clearly hear the roar of wild animals. In order to prevent wild beasts from approaching the camp, Mr. Clifton decided to use the method mentioned in Marco Polo's travels, which the Tatars used to drive away wild beasts at night: he and his uncle cut a lot of bamboo and brought it to the camp. Throw a few bamboo tubes into the blazing fire, and the green bamboo immediately makes a loud noise like a firecracker exploding.Mark and Robert were awakened, they thought the idea was very interesting.The crisp sound of firecrackers was enough to scare off the beasts wandering in the night, and the Clifton family was safe and sound throughout the night. The next day, March 1, the whole family got up early in the morning and prepared to climb the mountain.After a simple breakfast, at six o'clock, the whole group set off again.After passing through the woods, they had reached the foot of the branch of the main peak. Facts once again proved that the main peak is a volcano, and the slopes are full of slag, solidified lava flows, and volcanic ash.Mr. Clifton saw the volcanic ash that erupted before the eruption, which was caused by hot, off-white, regular fine condensed particles. "Excellent," said Mr. Clifton, "boys, we have found the substance we were looking for." "A match maker?" asked Robert. "No," my father replied, "it's gunpowder. If we keep searching, we can still find saltpeter." "Really, father," said Mark, "can you make us gunpowder?" "I dare not wish you high-quality gunpowder, but at least it is gunpowder that we can use." "But what's missing?" said Mrs. Clifton. "What's missing, Alisa dear?" asked the engineer. "Muskets, my friend." "Hey, don't we have the gun Robert carried?" "Yes," the big boy shouted like thunder. "Be quiet, Robert," said Mr. Clifton. "Go on up the mountain, and we'll take some sulfurous matter with us when we return." The whole family went on their way again.They had reached the top of the eastern coastline, and the vast, semi-circular horizon appeared before people's eyes.The coastline seemed to suddenly turn north-south.To the north, not far past the vast swamp, Flip found Mr. Clifton.To the south, behind the belt of oyster reefs, is the headland that juts out into the sea.From this height, explorers could also clearly see the winding river through the dense and extensive forest, through the glade, flow into and out of the emerald blue lake, trickle into the bay, and drop into the sea.At the eastern end of the bay is a circular promontory, where a large mountain blocks people's view.On the south side, the coastline is very straight, as if drawn with a drawing pen.From headland to cape, the coastline is about 20 kilometers long.Is it a continent stretching behind the main peak, or is it surrounded by the ocean?Still can't be sure here.At the foot of the mountain, the area where the two-sectioned river flows seems to be the most fertile land, with undulating wild sand dunes to the south and vast swamps to the north. In order to better observe the land under their feet and the sea in front of them, the whole family quickened their pace again. "Well, Mr. Engineer, what do you think," asked the uncle, "do you think we are on an island or on a continent?" "I can't tell, my dear friend," Clifton replied, "because I can't see beyond the mountains in front of me to see what's going on to the east. We've only climbed to a height of more than two hundred meters from the sea. Let's try to climb up and try to reach the ridge at the foot of the main peak. Maybe we can go over the mountain from there and see the eastern coastline." "I'm afraid Mrs. Clifton and the two little children will be too tired to go up any further." "I don't think we're going to get any attacks here," Mrs. Clifton said. "We can wait for you here." "Yes, my dear," said Mr. Clifton, "I think you'll have no fear of any man or animal coming at you in this place." "Besides, isn't there Jack who can protect me!" Mrs. Clifton said with a smile. "He will protect you like a hero!" replied the uncle. "He is a brave and resolute little lion. But if you like, I will stay and protect you." "No, my friend, stay with my husband and those two children. I would like you to be with them. Jack, Bell and I, we will rest here until you come back." After reaching an agreement, Mr. Clifton, Uncle, Mark and Robert continued their upward climb.Due to the special topography of the mountain, when viewed from above, the mother and the two children soon shrank to three small black spots that were hard to identify. The mountain road is more difficult to walk, and the hillside becomes steeper and steeper.Stepping on the solidified lava flow, slipping step by step.However, the climbers are still rapidly climbing towards the ridge below the summit.If the slopes on the east sloped like those on the west, they would have to give up their attempt to climb the volcano's summit. On the hillside full of slag and gravel, after more than an hour of hard trekking, the uncle, father and two teenagers finally reached the foot of the main peak. This is a rugged and narrow plateau area that is barely walkable, with an altitude of nearly 1,000. Meters, it stretches northward like a curved oblique line, getting higher and higher.The main peak is condescending, about 800 meters higher than the plateau around it.The snow-capped top of the main peak shines brightly in the sun. Although everyone was very tired, no one asked for a short rest, and they immediately started to climb the mountain ridge.Their view gradually widened to the north, and to the east the land that formed the northern part of the bay seemed to sink lower and lower. After another hour, we have already circled to the north of the main peak, and there is no land here.But the uncle, the father, and the children walked on, few spoke, and all were seized by the same indescribable emotion.Mark and Robert worked tirelessly at the forefront.About eleven o'clock the sea came into view, and from the position of the sun Mr. Clifton deduced that they were on the opposite coast. The endless sea unfolds in front of the explorers.They all looked silently at the vast ocean that imprisoned them.All contact with the same kind has been cut off; it is difficult to wait for the rescue of human beings.They are isolated on a small island lost in the Pacific Ocean. According to the engineer's estimate, the circumference of the island is about eighty to eighty-two kilometers.The island is slightly larger than Elba and twice the size of St. Helena.It was a relatively small island, and Mr. Clifton could not explain why there was such a large population of animals in such a small place.But the natural landscape of volcanoes may explain some of the problems.Maybe the island used to be quite large and now most of the land is submerged under the sea, maybe it used to be connected to a continent and then broke off and is now getting further and further away from the mainland?Clifton intends to find answers to unraveling these questions during future observations around the island.Looking at the boundless sea, the children understood the harshness of reality, and they couldn't say anything. They didn't want to ask their father any more.Seeing his father make a sign to go, everyone started on the road back down the mountain. After an hour and a half, they joined Mrs. Clifton again.She was sitting there brooding, waiting for them.As soon as she saw her husband and children, she stood up and walked towards them. "How?" she asked. "It's an island," replied the engineer. "God bless you," she whispered.