Chapter 30 Chapter Fourteen

The title of this chapter already indicates that there will be a very brief account of the adventures of William Guy and his companions after the wreck of the English brig, and of their camp after Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters had gone. Life on Lal Island. William Guy and three other sailors, Trienko, Roberts, and Corvin, were carried into the cave and finally came to life.In fact, these poor people are in a state of near-death weakness from starvation--nothing more than starvation. Give them a little food in moderation, and drink a few cups of scalding tea with a little whiskey in it, and they recover almost immediately.

The touching scene when William recognized his brother Lan touched our hearts deeply.I am not going to go into details here.Tears welled up in everyone's eyes, and they couldn't help expressing their gratitude to God.We have no time to think about what will happen to us in the future, and we are completely immersed in the joy in front of us.Perhaps, by virtue of this small boat reaching the shore of Halle Brenad, our situation will change! I should say that William Guy knew the course of our adventure before he related what happened to him.In a few brief words, he understood what he was eager to know-how to meet Patterson's body, how our ketch sailed to Zalar Island, how to set off to higher latitudes, at the foot of the iceberg The wreck of the ship, and how the last part of the crew mutinied, left us on this land.

He also learns what Dirk Peters knows about Arthur Pym, and the half-breed's hope of finding his mate.In William Guy's view, the assumption on which this hope was based was not well founded, and Arthur Pym was undoubtedly dead, like the rest of the Jenny's crew, who were crushed at Crocker. —Under Crocker Hill, there is no doubt that he has died. William Guy then gives a brief account of the eleven years he spent on Zalal Island as a writer. I'm afraid everyone has not forgotten that on February 8, 1828, the crew of the "Jenny" disembarked and disembarked without any suspicion of the malicious intentions of the residents of Zalal Island and their leader "Too Smart", and went to Crocker-Crocker. Rock Village.They left six people on board, enabling the ship to defend itself.

The crew on board, including Captain William, first mate Patterson, Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters, formed a team of thirty-two people, armed with long guns, pistols, short knives and other weapons.The puppy "Tiger" also went with him. After reaching the narrow valley leading to the village, the "too smart" warriors were numerous and surrounded, and the team dispersed.Arthur Pym, Dirk Peters, and Sailor Allen enter a crevice in the hill.Their partners haven't seen them since. After a while, the earth shook and the mountains shook.The whole of the opposite hill fell, and William Guy and his twenty-eight companions were buried in it.

Twenty-two of these unfortunates were crushed to death on the spot, and their bodies were never found under a heap of earth. It is miraculous to say that there is a wide gap in the hill, and seven people are at the end of the gap, covered and escaped.That was William Guy, Patterson, Roberts, Corvin, Trienko—plus Forbes and Rexton, who later died.As for the "tiger", whether they died in the collapse or survived, they don't know anything. William Guy and his six companions could not stay long in this narrow, dark place, and the air to breathe would soon be scarce.Like Arthur Pym's first consideration, they also thought they were victims of the earthquake.However, like Arthur Pym, they soon discovered that the reason why the canyon was filled with more than one million tons of earth and rock debris was because the collapse was "too clever" and artificially prepared by the islanders of Zalal Island. of.Like Arthur Pym, they must escape as soon as possible from this dark, airless place, and the suffocating smell of damp soil,-in the original words of the novel, "They have been exiled beyond the furthest hope world, and in the special circumstances of death."

Like the hill on the left, there are also labyrinthine caves in the hill on the right.William Guy, Patterson, and the others crawled along the dark corridor to a larger cavern that allowed plenty of sunlight and air. The "Jenny" was attacked by more than sixty canoes, the six men who remained on board fought hard, the stone cannons fired shells and bursts, the brig was overrun by savages, and finally the ship exploded, causing more than a thousand people to die. The deaths of the natives and the complete destruction of the ships they saw from the cave. "Too Smart" and the people from Zalal Island were initially stunned by the explosion, but they were probably more frustrated.Because their plundering instincts were not satisfied, the hull, rigging, and stores exploded, leaving only worthless fragments.

They probably thought that the crew also died entirely in the collapse of the hill, and it never occurred to them that a few survived.Thus Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters, on one side, and William Guy and his men on the other, lived safe and sound in the depths of the Crocker-Crocker maze.They feed on plover meat and sticks.Plover is very easy to catch by hand; there are many stick trees growing all over the hillside.They made fire by rubbing together pieces of softwood and pieces of hardwood.Softwoods and hardwoods abound around them. At last, after seven days of captivity, Arthur Pym and the half-breed at last--as we all know--leaved their hiding-places, went down to the shore, seized the boat, and left the Isle of Zalar.And William Guy and his companions had not yet found a chance of escape.

After twenty-one days, the captain of the "Jenny" and his men have been imprisoned in the maze, seeing that the birds they depend on for their livelihood will be exhausted.In order to escape the threat of starvation—there was no question of thirst, for there was a spring in the cave to supply them with clear water—there was only one way: to reach the coast and take a native boat to try their luck at sea... ...seriously, where could they escape?Without provisions, what will be their fate? ...they would not hesitate to take risks if they could take advantage of a few hours of darkness.However, at that time, the sun had not yet set behind the horizon at the 24th parallel from the South Pole.

If the situation had not changed due to the following circumstances, it is very likely that they would have to sit and wait to end all these sufferings. It happened one morning—the twenty-second of February.In the morning, William Guy and Patterson, distraught, chatted at the mouth of the cave.The mouth of the hole faces the field.By then they had reached the point where they lived on nothing but hazelnuts, causing severe head and stomach pains.How to find food for seven people?There was nothing more they could do.In the distance, they saw huge sea turtles crawling along the shore.But the sand was occupied by hundreds of Zalars, coming and going, going about their business, uttering their insistent cry of "Dai Keli-li."How could the man hiding in the cave risk chasing the turtle?

Suddenly, the crowd became agitated.Men, women and children fled in all directions.Some wildlings jumped into the boats, as if some great danger threatened them... What happened? ... The reason for such violent commotion on the coast of this part of the island was soon apparent to them. It turned out that an animal had just appeared, a quadruped.The beast threw itself among the islanders, jumped on their necks, biting desperately, spraying foam from its mouth, and roaring hoarsely. However, this four-legged beast is only single-handed, and it can be killed with stones, bows and arrows... Why do hundreds of savages behave in such a panic, why do they run away in a hurry, why do they seem afraid of defending themselves against the wild beasts that are rushing towards them? ?

It turned out that the animal had white hair.As soon as they saw it, a phenomenon that had been seen before occurred. The fear of whiteness among all the indigenous residents of Zalar, without exception, could not be explained... No!In addition to shouting "Dakaili-li", they also shouted "Anamomo" and "Rama-Rama". The terrified scene was unimaginable! When William Guy and his mates recognized it as the puppy Tiger, he was stunned! ... yes! The "Tiger" escaped the collapse of the hill and fled to the interior of the island... It wandered around the village of Crocker-Crocker for several days, and now it returned, causing a panic among the savages... You must remember that this poor little animal had symptoms of hydrophobia in the cargo hold of the "Orca"... This time, it really got rabies! ……yes!It went berserk, biting everywhere, threatening the terrified residents... That's why most of the residents of Zalar Island have fled!Their leader "Too Smart" and the Wanbos family, the main characters of the Crocker-Crocker village, also fled... It was in this unusual situation that they abandoned not only the village, but the entire island.No powerful force can hold them back, and they will probably never set foot on this land again! ... However, small boats were sufficient to transport most of the inhabitants to the neighboring islands, and there were several hundred natives who could not escape and had to stay on Zalar Island.Several people have been bitten by "tigers", and after a short incubation period, rabies occurred.And so—in a state of indescribable misery—they fell upon each other, and tore each other's flesh with their teeth... The heaps of bones we met near the village of Crocker-Crocker were the skeletons of these savages.For eleven years, he has become a bone of bones there! ... As for the poor puppy, it walked to a corner by the sea and died.Its skeleton was later found by Dirk Peters, with the collar engraved with Arthur Pym's name on it... And so, because of this catastrophe—which only a genius like Edgar Allan Poe could have invented—Zaral Island was utterly abandoned.The natives fled to the archipelago to the southwest, leaving forever the island where the White Beast had brought terror and death... After all those who failed to escape died in this rabies pandemic, William Guy, Patterson, Trienko, Corvin, Roberts, Forbes, Rexton, bravely walked out of the maze, They were starving to death in the cave. How did the seven survivors of the expedition fare in the years that followed? ... In a word, it's not as tough as one might think.The extremely fertile soil provided the products of nature, and a certain number of poultry ensured their subsistence.They just couldn't leave Zalar Island, return to the vicinity of the ice pack, and cross the polar circle again.At the beginning, the "Jenny" was hit by a violent storm, hit by drift ice, threatened by hail and snowstorms, went through all kinds of difficulties and dangers, and finally opened the passage to the polar circle! As for constructing a boat capable of withstanding such perilous voyages, how could William Guy and his companions, without the necessary implements, with the only weapons they had, lance, pistol, and knives, do it? ... Therefore, we can only consider settling down as well as possible and wait for the time to leave the island.Where does this timing come from?Of course only from chance at the mercy of God alone... First, in accordance with the opinion of the captain and first mate, it was decided to set up camp on the northwest coast.From the village of Crocker-Crocker, there is no view of the sea.And the most important thing for them is to be able to see the sea constantly, just to--ah!I'm afraid it's unlikely - a ship appeared in the waters near Zalar! Captain William Guy, Paterson, and their five companions then descended through the valley.The rubble and soil from the collapsed hill filled half the valley.Bits of metal gleamed among crisp volcanic cinders, black chunks of granite, and powdered clay.Such was the picture of this desolate country to Arthur Pym, who, in his own words, "Here is the ruins of Babylon! . . . " Before leaving the ravine, William Guy thought of searching the right-hand chasm from which Arthur Pym, Dirk Peters, and Allen had vanished.The fissures were blocked, and he couldn't get inside the solid mass.Therefore, he had no idea that there was also a natural or artificial labyrinth on this side, which was very similar to the cave he had just left.Maybe, the two caves are connected under the dry torrent river bed. The chaotic barriers cut off the way to the north.This small group of people crossed this obstacle and walked quickly towards the northwest. There they settled at last in a cave about three miles off the coast from the village of Crocker-Crocker.That cave is very similar to the one we live in right now on the shore of Halle Brenad. In that place, the seven survivors of the "Jenny" survived a long, sad and hopeless age.We are about to begin this kind of life ourselves. ——Of course their conditions are better than ours: Zalar Island has fertile soil and can provide food sources, while Halle Brena lacks food sources.In fact, when our supplies run out, we are doomed to perish, and they will not.They could wait indefinitely...and they waited... Arthur Pym, Dirk Peters, and Allen had died in the collapse, there was no doubt in their minds--for Allen, of course, it was certain.They never imagined that Arthur Pym and the half-breed had snatched a boat and sailed on the sea! ... As William Guy tells us, not a single incident broke the monotony of these eleven years.The islanders have not even appeared once, and their fear keeps them from approaching Zalar Island.At this stage, there is no danger threatening them either.On the other hand, as time goes by, they lose more and more hope of being rescued someday.At first, whenever the warm season came and the sea became a free-flowing sea again, they had thought in their hearts that a ship would be sent to find the Jenny.But after four or five years, they lost all hope... Besides the produce of the soil--among them the precious anti-septic crops, horseradish, and parsley, which grew luxuriantly around the cave--William Gay brought home poultry from the village, chickens, fine-bred ducks, and A large number of black pigs breed rapidly on the island.Moreover, the jet-black plovers are easily brought down without the aid of firearms.To this variety of food sources should be added the eggs of albatrosses and Galapagos tortoises, which lay in the hundreds and are buried in the sand of the beach.The huge turtle alone, the turtle meat nourishes the body and is good for health, is enough for these people who spend the winter in Antarctica to enjoy. There are also inexhaustible reserves of the sea, in Jenny Bay to the depths of the cove, rich in fish of all kinds-salmon, cod, rays, sole, bream, mullet, turbot, parrot Mouth fish.And that's not counting the delicious sea cucumber among the molluscs.The British two-masted sailing ship was originally intended to be filled with a boatload of sea cucumbers, and then shipped to the Chinese Empire market for sale. As to the period from 1828 to 1839, I think I need not dwell on it.Winter is naturally hard.Indeed, the generosity of summer made the Zaral Islands feel its benevolent influence; and the rigors of winter did not pardon them, when snows, rains, winds, and blizzards accompanied the cold season.On the entire Antarctic land, it was extremely cold.The sea surface is congested with floating ice, and the sea water is usually frozen for six to seven months.You have to wait until the sun reappears to see the free-flowing sea water again.This is the free-flowing ocean that Arthur Pym saw first hand, and it's the free-flowing ocean we've encountered since we crossed the Great Ice Floe. All in all, it is relatively easy to survive on Zhalal Island.Will it be the same on the barren coast of Halle Brenad, which we occupy?No matter how abundant our supplies are, they will one day be exhausted.And when winter comes, won't the giant tortoise move to lower latitudes? ... It is also certain that, up to seven months ago, Captain William Guy's men had survived the Crocker-Croker ambush without a single loss.It all depends on their strong physique, hard work, and strong will... Sigh!They will soon have another catastrophe! It was May—the equivalent of November here in the northern hemisphere—and the ice was already beginning to float off the sea at Zalar, the current carrying it north. One day, one of the seven did not return to the cave.Call him, wait for him, start looking for him...in vain...some accident must have happened, he fell into the water and drowned.Never came back...presumably never. This person is Paterson, the first mate of the "Jenny" and a loyal comrade-in-arms of William Gay. The death of a man, the death of a good man, what sorrow does it cause in the hearts of these brave men? ... Isn't this a harbinger of the coming disaster? ... We told William Gay, who did not yet know the truth, that Patterson had been carried away on the surface of an ice floe, in what circumstances we shall never know.On ice, he was quickly starved to death.Later, when the floe arrived near Prince Edward Island, it was eroded by warmer sea water and was about to melt.At this moment, the bosun found the body of the first mate of the "Jenny" on the ice... When Captain Lan Guy related how he found the notes in the pockets of his unfortunate comrade-in-arms, thanks to which the Halbrenaer sailed for the Antarctic sea, his brother could not help weeping... Immediately following this first misfortune, others followed. Only six of the seven survivors of the Jenny remained.Before long they were reduced to running for their lives, and thereafter only four remained. Just five months after Patterson's disappearance, in mid-October, an earthquake turned Zhalal upside down and nearly completely capsized the southwestern archipelago. The intensity of this earthquake is unimaginable to ordinary people.We sailed from the schooner in a skiff, landed on the rocky cliff Arthur Pym pointed out, and managed to judge.William Guy and his five companions must soon perish if there is no means of escape from the island.Now the island refuses to raise them! Two days later, a few hundred duoises from their cave, the current brought a small boat, which had been rolled out to sea from the islands to the south-west. William Guy, Roberts, Corwin, Trienko, Forbes, and Rexton, loaded their boats with provisions as best they could, and boarded to flee the island, which had become uninhabitable, before twenty-four hours. Unfortunately, there was a strong wind at sea, caused by an earthquake that disturbed the depths of the earth and the depths of the sky.It was impossible to fight the wind, so the wind threw the boat south and drifted with the current.Our icebergs also drifted along this current to the coast of Halle Brena. For two and a half months these poor creatures crossed the free-flowing sea, never being able to change their course.It was not until this year, January 2, 1840, that they saw a piece of land--the very land bordering Jenny Bay to the east. We have identified this landmass within fifty nautical miles of Halle Brenad Land.yes!The person we have traveled thousands of miles across the Antarctic region to find, the person we no longer expect to see again, is so close to us! Compared with our position, William Gay's boat landed at the Great South East.There, compared with Zhalal Island, it is really a world of difference, but it is very similar to Halle Brena!The soil is uncultivable, sandy and rocky, no trees, no shrubs, no plants of any kind!Their provisions were almost exhausted, and William Guy and his companions soon found themselves in a most miserable condition, and both Forbes and Rexton died... On this shore they are doomed to starve.The remaining four, William Gaye, Roberts, Cowen and Trienko, did not want to stay here for another day!Carrying what little supplies they had left, they boarded the boat and drifted down the river again.Without instruments, they could not even determine their own position. In this condition they sailed for twenty-five days, their provisions exhausted.When they lay on the bottom of the boat without water for forty-eight hours, unable to move, dying, their boat appeared near the land of Halle Brena. Just then the bosun saw the boat in the distance, and Dirk Peters jumped into the sea to give chase, steer the boat, and haul it back to shore. Once on board, the half-breed recognized Roberts, Triink and Corwin, the captain and sailors of the Jenny.After checking, they were all still alive.He took the scull and paddled towards the land.When he was only a strand from the shore, he lifted William Guy's head and cried: "Alive...alive!" The voice was extremely loud and reached our ears. Now, in the land of Halle Brena, at the end of the world, the two brothers are finally reunited.