Part 19 (1/2)
It increased in clearness in the gathering shades of evening. ”Can it be a s.h.i.+p?” asked the captain.
”If so, it must be in flames; otherwise we should not be able to see it so far off,” replied Procope.
”It does not move,” said Servadac; ”and unless I am greatly deceived, I can hear a kind of reverberation in the air.”
For some seconds the two men stood straining eyes and ears in rapt attention. Suddenly an idea struck Servadac's mind. ”The volcano!” he cried; ”may it not be the volcano that we saw, whilst we were on board the _Dobryna?_”
The lieutenant agreed that it was very probable.
”Heaven be praised!” e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the captain, and he went on in the tones of a keen excitement: ”Nature has provided us with our winter quarters; the stream of burning lava that is flowing there is the gift of a bounteous Providence; it will provide us all the warmth we need. No time to lose! To-morrow, my dear Procope, to-morrow we will explore it all; no doubt the life, the heat we want is reserved for us in the heart and bowels of our own Gallia!”
Whilst the captain was indulging in his expressions of enthusiasm, Procope was endeavoring to collect his thoughts. Distinctly he remembered the long promontory which had barred the _Dobryna's_ progress while coasting the southern confines of the sea, and which had obliged her to ascend northwards as far as the former lat.i.tude of Oran; he remembered also that at the extremity of the promontory there was a rocky headland crowned with smoke; and now he was convinced that he was right in identifying the position, and in believing that the smoke had given place to an eruption of flame.
When Servadac gave him a chance of speaking, he said, ”The more I consider it, captain, the more I am satisfied that your conjecture is correct. Beyond a doubt, what we see is the volcano, and to-morrow we will not fail to visit it.”
On returning to the gourbi, they communicated their discovery to Count Timascheff only, deeming any further publication of it to be premature.
The count at once placed his yacht at their disposal, and expressed his intention of accompanying them.
”The yacht, I think,” said Procope, ”had better remain where she is; the weather is beautifully calm, and the steam-launch will answer our purpose better; at any rate, it will convey us much closer to sh.o.r.e than the schooner.”
The count replied that the lieutenant was by all means to use his own discretion, and they all retired for the night.
Like many other modern pleasure-yachts, the _Dobryna_, in addition to her four-oar, was fitted with a fast-going little steam-launch, its screw being propelled, on the Oriolle system, by means of a boiler, small but very effective. Early next morning, this handy little craft was sufficiently freighted with coal (of which there was still about ten tons on board the _Dobryna_), and manned by n.o.body except the captain, the count, and the lieutenant, left the harbor of the Shelif, much to the bewilderment of Ben Zoof, who had not yet been admitted into the secret. The orderly, however, consoled himself with the reflection that he had been temporarily invested with the full powers of governor general, an office of which he was not a little proud.
The eighteen miles between the island and the headland were made in something less than three hours. The volcanic eruption was manifestly very considerable, the entire summit of the promontory being enveloped in flames. To produce so large a combustion either the oxygen of Gallia's atmosphere had been brought into contact with the explosive gases contained beneath her soil, or perhaps, still more probable, the volcano, like those in the moon, was fed by an internal supply of oxygen of her own.
It took more than half an hour to settle on a suitable landing-place.
At length, a small semi-circular creek was discovered among the rocks, which appeared advantageous, because, if circ.u.mstances should so require, it would form a safe anchorage for both the _Dobryna_ and the _Hansa_.
The launch securely moored, the pa.s.sengers landed on the side of the promontory opposite to that on which a torrent of burning lava was descending to the sea. With much satisfaction they experienced, as they approached the mountain, a sensible difference in the temperature, and their spirits could not do otherwise than rise at the prospect of having their hopes confirmed, that a deliverance from the threatened calamity had so opportunely been found. On they went, up the steep acclivity, scrambling over its rugged projections, scaling the irregularities of its gigantic strata, bounding from point to point with the agility of chamois, but never alighting on anything except on the acc.u.mulation of the same hexagonal prisms with which they had now become so familiar.
Their exertions were happily rewarded. Behind a huge pyramidal rock they found a hole in the mountain-side, like the mouth of a great tunnel.
Climbing up to this orifice, which was more than sixty feet above the level of the sea, they ascertained that it opened into a long dark gallery. They entered and groped their way cautiously along the sides.
A continuous rumbling, that increased as they advanced, made them aware that they must be approaching the central funnel of the volcano; their only fear was lest some insuperable wall of rock should suddenly bar their further progress.
Servadac was some distance ahead.
”Come on!” he cried cheerily, his voice ringing through the darkness, ”come on! Our fire is lighted! no stint of fuel! Nature provides that!
Let us make haste and warm ourselves!”
Inspired by his confidence, the count and the lieutenant advanced bravely along the unseen and winding path. The temperature was now at least fifteen degrees above zero, and the walls of the gallery were beginning to feel quite warm to the touch, an indication, not to be overlooked, that the substance of which the rock was composed was metallic in its nature, and capable of conducting heat.
”Follow me!” shouted Servadac again; ”we shall soon find a regular stove!”
Onwards they made their way, until at last a sharp turn brought them into a sudden flood of light. The tunnel had opened into a vast cavern, and the gloom was exchanged for an illumination that was perfectly dazzling. Although the temperature was high, it was not in any way intolerable.