Chapter 9 Chapter Nine François Bowden

None of the boys dared to speak up.Who is this guy?Why did he die here?Was he a wrecked sailor?No one came to rescue him until the end of his life?What country is he from?Was he very young when he came to this corner of the earth?Was he very old when he died?How does he provide what he needs?If so, had he been living alone after the tragic deaths of his companions?Are there so many things in the cave from his ship or did he make them with his own hands?There were so many unanswered questions in their minds at once. The situation here has become more serious!If the refuge this man sought was a continent, why didn't he go to some city in the interior of the continent?Or to some coastal port?Were there really many difficulties preventing him from returning to his country?Was his journey back so far that he couldn't go back?Evidently, he had been weakened by sickness or old age, and had not enough strength to return to the cave, so that he unfortunately died under this tree.If he died here because he couldn't find a safe way out to the north or east, how could these children who were killed escape?

It is indeed necessary to examine the hole more carefully.Maybe they might find a document that tells the story of this man: where he was born, how long he's been here.On the other hand, they could also find out whether they could spend the winter safely in the cave after they left the wreck. "Little fan, come here," Bryant said. Then they followed Mi, and went into the hole with a pine torch. The first thing they saw was a shelf against the right wall.The shelves are filled with a huge handful of handmade candles.Sovis lit one of them and placed it on the wooden candlestick, and the search officially began.

They first paid attention to the shape of the cave.Obviously, this is a great place to live.This is a very large cave, which may have been formed in geological time for a long time.There is no sign of dampness here, but the only vent is the entrance by the river.The cave walls are as dry as granite.It is very different from other caves.There are no crystal stones and stalactites formed here due to humidity.It just stands at the back of the wind, and the sunlight can shine in, but the sunlight that shines in is very little.To tell the truth, as long as one or two ventilation windows are cut in the cave wall, 15 people can be accommodated here.

The cave face is estimated to be about 20 feet long and 30 feet wide.Because the area is too small, I am afraid that it cannot be used as a bedroom, dining room, storage room and kitchen at the same time.But they only need to live for five to six months.After that, they would head northeast to find Bolivia or a city in the Argentine Republic.The hole would have to be made a little bigger if they had to make it their permanent shelter.The limestone in the cave is brittle and easy to dig.If so, summer will be fine. After clarifying these circumstances, Bryant made a list of the objects in the cave.There were not many things, and it could be seen from this that the unfortunate man was poor and had nothing.What did he get out of his wreck?There was nothing but a few tattered and useless things; a few stumped masts, some planks, of which he made his mattresses, a table, a chest, and some benches, and that was All his possessions are gone.He was simply not as lucky as the survivors of these wrecked sailing ships.He didn't even have a decent set of tools at hand.There were only a handful of implements—a pick, an axe, two or three pieces of cutlery, a keg of brandy, a hammer, two setbacks, and a wood saw.These are all the things contained in the hole.There is no doubt that these things were picked up from the wrecks on the side of the dam.

Bryant thought so, and told his companions what he thought.It turned out that they were terrified when they saw the pile of bones, fearing that they would die of illness like that person or die here.But now, because they have many things that person doesn't have, their confidence in escaping suddenly increases in their hearts. But who is he?Where is he from?When did he die?There is no doubt that he has been dead for many years.That pile of wreckage under the tree is proof of that!And from the rusty spots of the pickaxes and hoops, and the thick and unkempt undergrowth at the entrance of the cave, it was enough to prove that he must have been dead for many years.Will they still make new discoveries that turn these hypotheses into facts?

The search continued, and other things were found one after another; a pocket knife with a broken edge, a set of compasses, a water jug, an iron ring, a wire needle.But no nautical instruments were found.No telescope; no sailor's compass; not even a musket. It appears that the man survived only by trapping wild animals, not hunting them with a gun.So they were thinking, when suddenly Wilcox cried out, "What's that?" "What?" Sovis asked. "He can play bocce?" Wilcox said. "Bocce ball?" Bryant asked in surprise.But at once he understood the purpose of the two round stones Wilcox had picked up.This is a kind of meteor hammer that connects two round stones with a rope. It is a tool commonly used by South American Indians.When a well-trained meteor hammer player throws the ball, the rope between the two balls will wrap around the four feet of the animal, which makes it easier for the hunter to catch the prey.

In addition to making this meteor hammer, the person who lived here also made a ring lasso made of leather.Use it to catch prey at close range. But who is this person?Was he an officer or a very ordinary sailor?He can actually apply what he learned in books.Unless the relevant circumstances can be further discovered, otherwise, all this is difficult to determine. Under the bedside rag that Bryant had thrown aside, Wilcox found a watch hanging by a string from the cave wall. This is no ordinary watch for the average sailor, but a well-crafted watch.The case, crown and bracelet are all silver.

"Look! Time, time!" Sovis screamed. "The time on this watch doesn't tell you anything," Bryant said. "The watch probably stopped long before this unfortunate man died." Bryant opened the watch cover without much effort.The hinges inside the case are rusted, and the hands are pointing to 3:27. "But," said Donagan, "this watch should have the maker's name on it, so that might tell us..." "You're quite right," Bryant agreed immediately. He checked the case right away.It took him a lot of effort to make out the words engraved on the case—"Del Peuch, Saint Malo."

This is the name and address of the manufacturer. "Then he's French!" Bryant exclaimed. In this way, the man who lived in the cave until his death was a poor Frenchman. When Donagan opened the straw mattress on the bed, he found another notebook full of pencil writing.The paper in the notebook has already turned yellow.Thus, this presumption is further confirmed. Sadly, most of the handwriting on the notebook has become illegible and illegible.But you can barely make out the French letter - Frm-cois Baudoin (Franxiu Baoding).The initials of the name are the same as the two capital letters they found carved into the tree.This notebook is a record of the daily trifles of the shipwrecked man who came to this island.In these few words, Bryant barely recognized the words "Douguia-Troy".This was apparently the name of the little boat that had been lost in a desolate corner of the Pacific.

On the front of the notebook, they also recognized the date - 1807.This date is exactly the same as the date engraved on the tree. In this way, Franche Bowden has been living on this beach for 53 years, and he has not received outside help since his ship was wrecked.Since he did not move to other parts of the continent, was it because he encountered insurmountable obstacles? The kids are finally getting the sense that things are a lot more serious than ever.It is difficult for an adult who can bear hardships and stand hard work to overcome these obstacles, so how easy is it for these children?

However, a subsequent discovery dashed their desire to leave the land. Flipping through the notebook, Donagan found a fold between the pages.On the fold was a map drawn in ink made of a mixture of black ash and water. "Here's a map!" he screamed. "It was painted by François Bowden himself," Bryant said. "If that's the case," Wilcox pointed out, "this man is no ordinary seaman, but Duguia, an officer on board the Troy. He drew the map to-" "This is the real situation," Donagan interrupted. There is nothing wrong with this map.With just one look the boys made out the bay where their schooner had wrecked, the reefs, and the beach where they camped.The lake they walked west along the edge, the three islands in the sea, the cliffs rising along the banks, and the woods covering the central area. On the other side of the lake there is a forest stretching out to another shore, which is surrounded by sea water on all sides. Their hopes of finding safe shelter eastward had been utterly dashed.At the end of the day, Bryant was right and Donagan was completely wrong.This imaginary land is surrounded on all sides by the ocean.It was a small island, no wonder François Balding could not escape from this isolated island. Obviously, the map is correct, but its distances are estimated.Because he has tossed and turned here many times, instead of measuring with a triangular ruler.But as far as they know, those errors are irrelevant. Now everything is clear.The shipwrecked crew member has traveled all over the island, and he has marked some locations throughout the island.The huts along the road and the stone masonry leading from the river to the cliffs must have been built by him. As François Bowden drew, the island is an oblong shape, resembling a gigantic butterfly with only one pair of wings outstretched.In the middle of the woods is a large lake eighteen miles long and five miles wide.Because of the size of the lake, the boys could not see the far shore, especially the river that ran past the front of the cave and emptied into the bay near their camp. The most important place on this island is the cliff near the north of the island.The southern part of the island shows up on the map as nothing but sand dunes and barren land.There is a very open swamp near the creek.Extending all the way to the south.There is a long stretch of sand dunes in the northeast and southeast of the island.It seemed that this shore was quite different from the bay where their sailboat had wrecked. According to the scale at the lower end of the map, the island is about 50 miles long from south to north, and 25 miles long from east to west.Based on its irregular shape, the circumference of the island is about 150 miles.But I don't know which island this small island belongs to in the Polynesian archipelago, or whether it is a lonely desert island in the Pacific Ocean.But one thing is certain, that is, they had to stay on the island, and there was no way out at all.Since the cave provided natural shelter, it was best for them to move all their belongings into the cave before the storm smashed their sailboat to pieces. The first thing to do now is to return immediately to the place where they originally camped.Gordon must be in a hurry now.It had been three days since Bryant and his companions left Gordon.Gordon must have wondered if something had happened to them. Bryant suggested that they should start at 11 o'clock that day.They did not have to scale the cliff at all, for the map showed that the shortest way was along the right bank of the river, from east to west to the bay.The middle is only 7 miles at most, and it only takes a few hours to walk. Before leaving, the boys paid their last respects to the fallen Frenchman.They used iron picks to dig a pit under the beech tree on which Franche Bowden's name was engraved, and buried Franche Bowden's bones, and placed a wooden cross on his grave as a mark. After completing this devout memorial service, they returned to the cave and closed the entrance to keep the animals out.Then they ate what was left of their dry food, and began to walk along the right bank of the river at the foot of the cliff.An hour later, they reached the plateau that stretched to the northwest.Walking along the river bank is very easy, because the river bank is far away from the woods and bushes. As Bryant walked, he took careful note of the features along the river.It flows from the lake to the sea.Up the river, it seemed to him, they could at least punt or push their boats.In this way, it can make moving things more convenient and quicker.They can even swim upstream with the help of high tide.There is no rapids in the middle of the riverbed, and there is no narrow or shallow place, which is very suitable for boats.By the end of the first three miles, Bryant felt as though everything had gone according to his plan. But by 4 o'clock in the afternoon, they had to abandon the road along the river bank, because the river bed slowly widened into a large swamp.They didn't dare to take risks, so they had to walk obediently through the mountains and forests. Compass in hand, Bryant led the men northeast so they could take the shortest route to the bay.However, due to the dense bushes in the forest and the obstacles of tall birch, pine and beech branches, they still delayed a lot of time along the way.When the sun goes down, it gets dark all of a sudden. They walked another 2 miles with great difficulty.After rounding the swamp that stretched far to the north, their best plan was to return to the river without hesitation.But doing so would increase their distance out of thin air.Neither Bryant nor Donagan felt it was worth wasting their time.So they continued to shuttle in the mountains and forests.It wasn't until 7 o'clock in the evening that they realized they were a little lost. Would they have to spend the night under a tree again?A night under a tree was nothing if they hadn't finished their rations. "Cheer up, everyone," Bryant yelled. "If we keep going west, we'll make it to camp." "Unless the map is wrong," Donagan said, "or unless the river doesn't flow into the bay." "How could this map be wrong, Donagan?" "How can you say this map is infallible, Bryant?" Clearly, Donagan is still brooding over his mistakes.So he expressed doubts about Baoding's map.But since children are walking in the direction of the map icon, why hasn't the map been proven correct so far? Bryant didn't see any good in the blah blah blah blah, so he just strode west. By 8pm, it was getting so dark that it was impossible to see the road ahead, but the end of the woods seemed out of reach. Suddenly, through a gap in the trees, they saw a flash of light piercing the night sky. "What's that?" Sovis asked. "It's probably a meteorite," Wilcox said. "No, that's a rocket!" Bryant replied. "It was the sky cannon fired by the people on the sailboat!" "That must be the signal!" Donagan said excitedly, firing a shot into the air in response.Sure enough, another soaring cannon shot into the sky.Bryant and his partners hurried on, and after about 45 minutes, they finally returned to the sailboat.