Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Rainy Season

Just after dinner that night, Bryant told the older boys the results of his expedition.He could clearly see a line of water running from north to south behind the jungle to the east.And this waterline is undoubtedly sea level.So the sailboat was wrecked not on the mainland, but on a small island! Gordon and the others were devastated to hear the news.God!They were on an island with no hope of leaving!Their original plan to find a westbound route fell through.They'll have to wait until a ship passes by!Is this their only hope of rescue? "Is it possible that Bryant got it wrong?" Donagan said.

"Do you see the clouds as the ocean?" Cross asked Bryant. "No," Bryant replied. "I'm sure I'm absolutely right. I said it's a waterline and it's sea level. "How far is it from here?" Wilcox asked. "About six miles from the headland." "Aside from that," Webb asked, "isn't there a mountain or a highland?" "There is nothing but the sky." Bryant was so certain that there was no reason for anyone to have the slightest doubt. But Donagan still insisted as stubbornly as he used to quarrel with Bryant: "I reiterate that Bryant must have made a mistake, unless I saw it with my own eyes..."

"Of course we'll see for ourselves," Gordon declared, "because we must know the truth!" "I don't think we can lose a day," agreed Baxter. "If we are on the mainland, we must get out of this place before the weather gets bad." "We'll start tomorrow, weather permitting," Gordon concluded. "We're going to send an expedition out. It may take a few days. I mean weather permitting. Because running around in bad weather The jungle is definitely insane..." "I agree with Gordon," Bryant said, "When we get to the other side of the island

"Is it really an island?" Donagan interrupted Bryant. "But it's indeed an island!" Bryant yelled impatiently, "I'm not mistaken, I can clearly see that the sea is in the west, why don't you, Donagan, always sing the opposite of me!" "Bryant, not everything you say is true." "Yes, I'm not always right! But this time I'm right! I'll have to find out myself, if Donagan wants to go with me..." "Of course I'm going!" "I'm going too!" Three or four older boys also shouted in unison. "Very good!" Gordon applauded. "But don't get excited, my dear fellows. If we're all boys, we might as well act like men! We're in a very dangerous position. Any rash move will make it worse. We must not all break into That jungle. The little guy can't go with us, but we can't leave them all on the wreck, Donagan and Bryant can go. Two more to go with them..."

"I'm going!" cried Wilcox. "I'll go too!" Sauvis said. "Very good," Gordon agreed. "Four is enough. If you have been away for too long and you haven't come back, we can send some other people to rescue you! The rest will stay on the boat. Don't forget that this boat is Our camp, our house, our home. Only when we are sure we are on a continent can we leave it!" "But we're on an island," Bryant reiterated, "like I just said!" "We'll find out," Donagan said. Gordon's sound advice settled the debate.Apparently, as Bryant saw all too clearly, it was feasible to travel through the jungle hinterland to the water's edge.If there was sea to the west, there were probably other islands they could reach across the channel; if they were on one of the archipelagos, it would be best to know that before they set out to save themselves.One thing that is certain is that there is no land to the west from New Zealand.The only chance of reaching an inhabited place is to walk in the direction of the rising sun.

But it would only be wise to attempt this expedition if the weather is good.As Gordon just pointed out, they can't act like kids, they have to act like men.Where they are now, the future is so scary.If the mental abilities of these boys do not develop rapidly, if the frivolous and changeable natures of their age have been with them, or if there are still divisions among them, the situation will become more dangerous.These were the reasons for Gordon's determination to keep everything in order among their companions. No matter how eager Donagan and Bryant were to get going, a sudden change in the weather made them have to wait.It had been icy rain since the morning, and the sudden drop in the barometer pointed to a stormy season whose duration was unpredictable.It is very dangerous to set out on an expedition under such conditions.

But has this idea been forgotten?Absolutely not.All are eager to know if they are surrounded by the ocean.But even if they were sure they were on the mainland, could they really enter a country they knew nothing about?When will the rainy season end?If their expedition will be hundreds of miles away, can they endure long-distance fatigue?Will even the strongest of them reach their destination?no!To make this expedition a success it was necessary to postpone the departure until the relentless winter had passed and the days were longer.So they had to spend the rainy season in the broken sailboat, entertaining themselves.

During this time, Gordon tried to work out where in the Pacific Ocean the accident happened to them.His atlases included maps of all parts of the Pacific Ocean.He found that the closest northwards on the route from Oakland to the American coast were Society Island, East Island, and the Juan Fernandez Islands, on which a true Crusoe-like figure Selkirk had spent Most of my life; to the south there are no islands bordering the Antarctic Ocean, and to the east there are only the Keeler Islands and the Mandedois Islands along the Patagonian coastline.Down the line is the Strait of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego, and the sea around Cape Horn is choppy and slams against the shore.

Had these lads been abandoned on an uninhabited island far from the Patagonian steppe, it would have been a hundred miles across to Chile or the Argentine Republic.If they dared to cross a land they knew nothing about, they would have to overcome a great deal of fear.Gordon thought so, and so did Bryant and Baxter.A skeptical Donagan and the others finally agreed with them. Plans for an expedition to the east coast had not been abandoned, but it was unlikely to be carried out within the next fortnight.The weather conditions were abominable, with rain and wind blowing from morning to night.It is impractical to walk through the jungle in this weather.So no matter how strongly they wanted to solve the mystery of whether it was a mainland or an island, the expedition plan had to be postponed.

During these days of heavy rain, the boys stayed on the wreck, but they were not idle either.They are constantly repairing the damage on the ship.This is all due to bad weather.For example, the planks have leaked due to overheating, the decks are no longer waterproof, the seams are scratched, and the rainwater keeps seeping into the cabin from the joints of the planks, all of which must be repaired immediately.Not only the waterproofing needs to be repaired, but also the air condition inside the boat needs to be improved.Gordon had to use some spare sail-cloth to solve the problem, but he couldn't use the rough ship's canvas, which might come in handy later for tents, so he did what he could with the tar to waterproof it. cloth.

In addition, there is an urgent problem to be solved - to find a better shelter from the rain.Even if they did go east, they couldn't possibly start for the next five or six months, but the sailboat couldn't last that long.Then, if they had to abandon ship in the rainy season, where would they find shelter?The west side of their shelter is a cliff, and there is no small space available on one side, and the other side of the cliff will not be known until exploration.There was a natural shelter from the sea wind, and if necessary a house large enough to house them could be built. At the same time, the goods on board were also packed into large and small packages, numbered in time, and recorded in Gordon's pocket record book.This is all in preparation for later when necessary.They can quickly transfer things under the tree intact. Whenever the weather clears up, even if only for a few hours, Donagan, Wilcox and Webb are out to catch pigeons.Moko can more or less cook several good dishes in different ways.Garnett, Sauvis, Cross and a group of friends went fishing.If Jack's brother insisted on taking him, it would include Jack. The schools of fish among the seagrasses that frequent the reef are large fins, and there are also surprisingly large schools of small fish among the seaweed!Some seaweeds are even as long as 400 feet, and you can easily catch some small fish. It was an unexpected pleasure to hear the screams of the young fishermen as they pulled their nets or carried their rods to the edge of the reef. "I caught a lot of fish! It's scary!" Jack cried. "They're big ones!" "Mine too! My fish is bigger than yours." Evanson yelled for Tori to come and help him. "They're leaving!" Costa yelled, running to help. "Hold, hold!" Garnett called to them, running up and down, "Hold your net up!" As the net pulled Costa down, he yelled, "I can't pull it!" Then everyone will work together to pull the net up to the beach.Fishing with nets is not an easy task at this time of year as there are many vicious hagfish in shallow water.Although many fish were not caught because of this, what was caught was enough to fill the dinner table.They found a lot of sea cod and found that it tasted great both fresh and pickled.The fish in the estuary was mainly a carp, which Moko found best fried. A more important fishing operation on March 27 was undoubtedly a fun adventure. After the rain stopped that afternoon, the boys set out to the river to fish. Suddenly one of them uttered a loud cry, a real exciting cry, but also a cry for help. At that time, Gordon, Bryant, Sovis and Moko, who were busy on the boat, put down their work and ran to help.They hurried to the river five or six hundred yards away. "Come here!" Jenkins yelled. "Come and see Costa and his net!" Evanson said. "Come on, Bryant, come on! Or it's going to get away!" Jenkins yelled again. "Let me go, let me go! I'm afraid!" Costa pleaded, gesturing in despair. "Up!" Tori yelled.He was fighting some swimming animal with Costa. It was a gigantic sea turtle, one of those large quadrupeds that often float on the surface.I didn't expect it to lie on the beach, and now it seems to be trying to regain its original nature and continue to crawl. The boys wrapped a thick rope around the turtle's neck in an attempt to flip it over, but without success.It kept moving with an irresistible force, tugging at the rope behind it.Just for fun, Jenkins had Costa stand on top of the shell while Tori stood behind him with his legs spread apart, and the little ones screamed in fear as the turtle slowly moved towards the shore. "Don't move! Don't move! Costa!" Gordon yelled. "Look at your mount, don't let it disobey commands!" Sovis reminded Costa.Bryant couldn't help laughing, because there was really no danger there.As soon as Tori let go, Costa would be fine as he slid off the turtle's back. They still have to catch the turtle.If Bryant, the other onlookers, and the pals had worked together, they might have been able to catch it, and they had to catch it before it returned to the sea, its safe old home. The shell is bulletproof, so the revolvers Gordon and Bryant brought from the sailboat are useless here, and if struck with an ax, the turtle retracts its head and fins back into its shell, making it indestructible. "There is only one way," Gordon said, "we have to overturn it!" "But how?" Sovis asked, "It weighs at least 300 pounds, we can't..." "Get the mast! Go get the mast!" Bryant yelled, running to the sailboat with Moko close behind. The turtle is now less than 30 yards from the ocean.Gordon quickly lifted Costa and Toney off the turtle shell, then grabbed the thick rope, and pulled the turtle with all his strength, but he couldn't stop it from crawling forward. On the contrary, the turtle pulled all the boys Move forward. Thankfully Bryant and Moko made it back before the turtles returned to the sea!They propped two masts under the turtle's belly. With everyone's efforts, the turtle was finally overturned to the ground and finally captured by the friends.Because it can't turn over and crawl.As soon as it stretched out its head, Bryant chopped it down with an axe.The turtle died instantly. "Hey Costa, are you still afraid of this behemoth?" Bryant asked. "Bryant, I'm not afraid anymore, I'm not afraid anymore! Because it's dead now." "Good!" Sauvis bet, "but you dare not eat it! "You dare?" "If it's delicious, I'll eat it too!" Thinking of this, Costa licked his lips. "Turtle meat is a good thing." Mo Ke solemnly announced the deliciousness of turtle meat. Because they couldn't figure out how to lift the turtle whole, they had to cut it up in situ.It wasn't exciting, but the boys were used to the drudgery of Crusoe's drifting life.The hardest thing to do was to chop the shell, because it was so hard as metal that the axe curled up, but at last they got a sharp chisel into the shell.Then cut into pieces of turtle meat and carry it onto the boat.For the first time in their lives, the boys had the chance to taste delicious turtle soup that day.Not to mention the grilled turtle meat, although Sovis accidentally burned the turtle meat a little.Even the dog "Xiao Mi" on the boat showed in his own way that he had eaten a meal of turtle bones. A total of more than fifty pounds of turtle meat was cut from the turtles, which greatly increased the supplies on board. March passed unknowingly.During the next three weeks all the boys made the best possible preparations for a long stay in the bay.Before winter came, they hadn't solved the mystery of whether it was a mainland or an island. On April 1, the weather showed signs of improving.The thermometer rose slowly, the breeze blew gently, these were unmistakable signs that there would be a long period of fine weather. The big boys talked about the expedition and began to prepare for this life-or-death event. "I don't think there'll be anything to stop us going tomorrow!" said Donagan. "I hope so," Bryant agreed. "We should have been ready to go earlier!" "I know," Gordon asked again, "that the waterline you see to the east is only six or seven miles from the headland?" "Yes, but since the bay is such a big curve, the sea may be nearer here." "So," Gordon continued, "you won't be out of here for more than twenty-four hours?" "If we go straight east, yes. But that depends on whether we can find our way in the jungle once we get off the cliff." "Oh! That's no problem for us!" cried Donagan. "Probably not difficult," Bryant said, "but maybe there are other obstacles, like a river. Swamp... who knows? I think it's better to take a few more days of rations!" "Indeed, so don't worry if we haven't returned within two days!" "I'd be worried if you were gone for half a day," Gordon said, "but that's not a problem. The expedition is well prepared, so let it be! You don't have to go to the sea to the east, just scout behind the cliffs. We didn’t find a single cave on this side of the cliff, but once we left the sailboat we had to move everything on board to a safe haven. It seemed impossible to spend the whole rainy season on this beach.” "You're quite right, Gordon," Bryant replied. "We're going to find a place to camp." "At least we have to wait until we're sure we can't leave this place called 'island' before we can find..." Donagan and Bryant were still singing the opposite scene. "One thing must be clear," Gordon said, "although the rainy season has not yet come, but in any case we have to prepare for the worst, so you set off tomorrow!" Everything is ready to go.On his shoulders were bags containing four days' rations, four long guns, four revolvers, two axes, a pocket compass, a high-powered telescope, and a common set of cutlery, matches, and tinder-box.These were enough for a short expedition, not without danger.Bryant, Donagan, and their companions, Sauvis and Wilcox, had to be very cautious. They couldn't act hastily without careful consideration, and they had to stay inseparable from each other.It occurred to Gordon that he shouldn't have sent Bryant and Donagan together, but he'd better stay on board so he could take care of the kids.So he got Bryant alone and made him promise to avoid any subject that might lead to a quarrel or conflict. The omens indicated by the thermometer came true.The last of the dark clouds also disappeared in the west before dusk.The sea and the sky line.In this wonderfully stunning southern hemisphere, the sky is full of stars, with the Southern Cross pointing to the poles. Gordon and his companions were very sad when they parted.Their eyes looked at the sky, and a thought flashed into their minds.They may never see their father, mother, friends and hometown again.