Lighthouse at the End of the World by Jules Verne & William Butcher (trans)

Author:Jules Verne & William Butcher (trans) [Verne, Jules & Butcher, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: A&A, classics, sea
Published: 2010-09-01T07:00:00+00:00

To repair the damaged schooner, ready her for a long voyage across the Pacific, load her with the cargo from the cave, and set sail as soon as possible: this was the job Kongre and his men had taken on, and they intended to waste no time.*

All in all, repairing the Maule's hull would not amount to a huge job. Carpenter Vargas knew what he was doing. He had all the tools and materials needed, and he had the right conditions to get the job done.*

But first they needed to remove the ballast, and haul the schooner into the inlet. Then they would have to bring her about to repair her exterior and replace some of the planking in her hull.

So it might take some time, but Kongre had plenty. The fine weather was due to last two long months more.

He knew about the arrival of the relief ship, for the ledger in the keepers' living quarters had told him everything he needed to know. Relief was due only every three months. The sloop Santa Fe would not be coming back to Elgor Bay until early March, and it was now only the beginning of January.

The ledger also identified three keepers, Moriz, Felipe, and Vasquez, and the bedroom was laid out for three. So one of them had managed to avoid his colleague's fate. Where he had hidden seemed of little consequence; as we know, Kongre did not care much whether this man even remained on the island. Alone and without resources, he would soon succumb to want and hunger.

Yes, they had plenty of time to repair the schooner, although they would have to allow for possible delays. And in fact, no sooner had they set to work than they found themselves unable to continue.

The problem was an abrupt change of weather on the night of 3 January. Indeed, if the Maule had traveled to Elgor Bay twentyfour hours later, she would probably have been destroyed on the rocks of Several Point.

That night saw massive clouds crowding the southern horizon. The temperature rose to sixteen degrees while the barometer fell to storm level. Lightning flashed continually, and thunder rolled in from all directions. Furious gales were unleashed, the sea raged in across the reefs, and breakers whitened the cliffs' peaks. Any vessel, under sail or steam, would have been in grave danger of dashing herself against the island's coasts, however great her tonnageto say nothing of a ship of as small a burden as the Maule.

So fierce was the tempest that at high tide a swell from the open sea swept through the bay, rose against the cliffs, and engulfed the shore. Waves broke against the quarters, with the spray flying as far as the beech copse, half a mile inland.

Kongre and his companions devoted their energy to keeping the Maule at anchor. Several times she tugged on it, threatening to wreck herself on the coast, and they had to cast a second anchor to reinforce the first. On two occasions the men had reason to fear total disaster.

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