The Moon-Voyage, page 49
CHAPTER XX.
THE SOUNDINGS OF THE SUSQUEHANNA.
Well, lieutenant, and what about those soundings?"
"I think the operation is almost over, sir. But who would have expectedto find such a depth so near land, at 100 leagues only from the Americancoast?"
"Yes, Bronsfield, there is a great depression," said Captain Blomsberry."There exists a submarine valley here, hollowed out by Humboldt'scurrent, which runs along the coasts of America to the Straits ofMagellan."
"Those great depths," said the lieutenant, "are not favourable for thelaying of telegraph cables. A smooth plateau is the best, like the onethe American cable lies on between Valentia and Newfoundland."
"I agree with you, Bronsfield. And, may it please you, lieutenant, whereare we now?"
"Sir," answered Bronsfield, "we have at this moment 21,500 feet of lineout, and the bullet at the end of the line has not yet touched thebottom, for the sounding-lead would have come up again."
"Brook's apparatus is an ingenious one," said Captain Blomsberry. "Itallows us to obtain very correct soundings."
"Touched!" cried at that moment one of the forecastle-men who wassuperintending the operation.
The captain and lieutenant went on to the forecastle-deck.
"What depth are we in?" asked the captain.
"Twenty-one thousand seven hundred and sixty-two feet," answered thelieutenant, writing it down in his pocket-book.
"Very well, Bronsfield," said the captain, "I will go and mark theresult on my chart. Now have the sounding-line brought in--that is awork of several hours. Meanwhile the engineer shall have his fireslighted, and we shall be ready to start as soon as you have done. It is10 p.m., and with your permission, lieutenant, I shall turn in."
"Certainly, sir, certainly!" answered Lieutenant Bronsfield amiably.
The captain of the Susquehanna, a worthy man if ever there was one, thevery humble servant of his officers, went to his cabin, took hisbrandy-and-water with many expressions of satisfaction to the steward,got into bed, not before complimenting his servant on the way he madebeds, and sank into peaceful slumber.
It was then 10 p.m. The eleventh day of the month of December was goingto end in a magnificent night.
The Susquehanna, a corvette of 500 horse power, of the United StatesNavy, was taking soundings in the Pacific at about a hundred leaguesfrom the American coast, abreast of that long peninsula on the coast ofNew Mexico.
The wind had gradually fallen. There was not the slightest movement inthe air. The colours of the corvette hung from the mast motionless andinert.
The captain, Jonathan Blomsberry, cousin-german to Colonel Blomsberry,one of the Gun Club members who had married a Horschbidden, thecaptain's aunt and daughter of an honourable Kentucky merchant--CaptainBlomsberry could not have wished for better weather to execute thedelicate operation of sounding. His corvette had felt nothing of thatgreat tempest which swept away the clouds heaped up on the RockyMountains, and allowed the course of the famous projectile to beobserved. All was going on well, and he did not forget to thank Heavenwith all the fervour of a Presbyterian.
The series of soundings executed by the Susquehanna were intended forfinding out the most favourable bottoms for the establishment of asubmarine cable between the Hawaiian Islands and the American coast.
It was a vast project set on foot by a powerful company. Its director,the intelligent Cyrus Field, meant even to cover all the islands ofOceania with a vast electric network--an immense enterprise worthy ofAmerican genius.
It was to the corvette Susquehanna that the first operations of soundinghad been entrusted. During the night from the 11th to the 12th ofDecember she was exactly in north lat. 27 deg. 7' and 41 deg. 37' long., westfrom the Washington meridian.
The moon, then in her last quarter, began to show herself above thehorizon.
After Captain Blomsberry's departure, Lieutenant Bronsfield and a fewofficers were together on the poop. As the moon appeared their thoughtsturned towards that orb which the eyes of a whole hemisphere were thencontemplating. The best marine glasses could not have discovered theprojectile wandering round the demi-globe, and yet they were all pointedat the shining disc which millions of eyes were looking at in the samemoment.
"They started ten days ago," then said Lieutenant Bronsfield. "What canhave become of them?"
"They have arrived, sir," exclaimed a young midshipman, "and they aredoing what all travellers do in a new country, they are looking aboutthem."
"I am certain of it as you say so, my young friend," answered LieutenantBronsfield, smiling.
"Still," said another officer, "their arrival cannot be doubted. Theprojectile must have reached the moon at the moment she was full, atmidnight on the 5th. We are now at the 11th of December; that makes sixdays. Now in six times twenty-four hours, with no darkness, they havehad time to get comfortably settled. It seems to me that I see our bravecountrymen encamped at the bottom of a valley, on the borders of aSelenite stream, near the projectile, half buried by its fall, amidstvolcanic remains, Captain Nicholl beginning his levelling operations,President Barbicane putting his travelling notes in order, Michel Ardanperforming the lunar solitudes with his Londres cigar--"
"Oh, it must be so; it is so!" exclaimed the young midshipman,enthusiastic at the ideal description of his superior.
"I should like to believe it," answered Lieutenant Bronsfield, who wasseldom carried away. "Unfortunately direct news from the lunar worldwill always be wanting."
"Excuse me, sir," said the midshipman, "but cannot President Barbicanewrite?"
A roar of laughter greeted this answer.
"Not letters," answered the young man quickly. "The post-office hasnothing to do with that."
"Perhaps you mean the telegraph-office?" said one of the officersironically.
"Nor that either," answered the midshipman, who would not give in. "Butit is very easy to establish graphic communication with the earth."
"And how, pray?"
"By means of the telescope on Long's Peak. You know that it brings themoon to within two leagues only of the Rocky Mountains, and that itallows them to see objects having nine feet of diameter on her surface.Well, our industrious friends will construct a gigantic alphabet! Theywill write words 600 feet long, and sentences a league long, and thenthey can send up news!"
The young midshipman, who certainly had some imagination was loudlyapplauded. Lieutenant Bronsfield himself was convinced that the ideacould have been carried out. He added that by sending luminous rays,grouped by means of parabolical mirrors, direct communications couldalso be established--in fact, these rays would be as visible on thesurface of Venus or Mars as the planet Neptune is from the earth. Heended by saying that the brilliant points already observed on thenearest planets might be signals made to the earth. But he said, thatthough by these means they could have news from the lunar world, theycould not send any from the terrestrial world unless the Selenites haveat their disposition instruments with which to make distantobservations.
"That is evident," answered one of the officers, "but what has become ofthe travellers? What have they done? What have they seen? That is whatinterests us. Besides, if the experiment has succeeded, which I do notdoubt, it will be done again. The Columbiad is still walled up in thesoil of Florida. It is, therefore, now only a question of powder andshot, and every time the moon passes the zenith we can send it a cargoof visitors."
"It is evident," answered Lieutenant Bronsfield, "that J.T. Maston willgo and join his friends one of these days."
"If he will have me," exclaimed the midshipman, "I am ready to go withhim."
"Oh, there will be plenty of amateurs, and if they are allowed to go,half the inhabitants of the earth will soon have emigrated to the moon!"
This conversation between the officers of the Susquehanna was kept uptill about 1 a.m. It would be impossible to transcribe the overwhelmingsystems and theories which were emitted by these audacious minds. SinceBarbicane's attempt it seemed that nothing was impossible to Americans.They had already formed the project of sending, not another commissionof _savants_, but a whole colony, and a whole army of infantry,artillery, and cavalry to conquer the lunar world.
At 1 a.m. the sounding-line was not all hauled in. Ten thousand feetremained out, which would take several more hours to bring in. Accordingto the commander's orders the fires had been lighted, and the pressurewas going up already. The Susquehanna might have started at once.
At that very moment--it was 1.17 a.m.--Lieutenant Bronsfield was aboutto leave his watch to turn in when his attention was attracted by adistant and quite unexpected hissing sound.
His comrades and he at first thought that the hissing came from anescape of steam, but upon lifting up his head he found that it was highup in the air.
They had not time to question each other before the hissing became offrightful intensity, and suddenly to their dazzled eyes appeared anenormous bolis, inflamed by the rapidity of its course, by its frictionagainst the atmospheric strata.
This ignited mass grew huger as it came nearer, and fell with the noiseof thunder upon the bowsprit of the corvette, which it smashed off closeto the stem, and vanished in the waves.
A few feet nearer and the Susquehanna would have gone down with all onboard.
At that moment Captain Blomsberry appeared half-clothed, and rushing inthe forecastle, where his officers had preceded him--
"With your permission, gentlemen, what has happened?" he asked.
And the midshipman, making himself the mouthpiece of them all, criedout--
"Commander, it is 'they' come back again."
