Gideon Spilett inscribed the names on his map.
The engineer’s proposition was unanimously adopted. The island was there under their eyes like an open map, and they had only to specify names for all its features. Gideon Spilett would draw it to scale and the geographical nomenclature of the island would be formally adopted.
First they named Union Bay, Washington Bay, and Mount Franklin, as the engineer had proposed.
“Now,” said the reporter, “this peninsula which projects to the southwest of the island, I propose to give it the name of Serpentine Peninsula, and the name Reptile End to the curved tail at its end because it’s truly a reptile’s tail.”
“Adopted,” said the engineer.
“Now,” said Harbert, “for this other extremity of the island, this gulf which so singularly resembles an open jaw, let’s call it Shark Gulf.”
“Well done!” said Pencroff, “and we’ll complete the picture by giving the two parts of the jaw the name Mandible Cape.”
“But there are two capes,” observed the reporter.
“Well then,” replied Pencroff, “we’ll have North Mandible Cape and South Mandible Cape.”
“They’re so registered,” replied Gideon Spilett.
“How about the point at the southeast end of the island?” said Pencroff.
“You mean the end of Union Bay?” replied Harbert.
“Cape Claw,” Neb shouted out. He also wanted to be the godfather of some piece of this domain.
In truth, Neb had found an excellent name because this cape really represented the powerful claw of the fantastic animal which resembled the outline of the island.
Pencroff was delighted by this turn of events. And their somewhat overexcited imaginations had soon given:
To the river, which furnished fresh water to the colonists near where the balloon had thrown them, the name of the Mercy, a true thanks to Providence;
To the islet, on which the castaways had first set foot, the name of Safety Island;
To the plateau, which crowned the high wall of granite above the Chimneys and from where they could see all of the vast bay, the name Grand View Plateau;
Finally to this massive impenetrable woods, which covered Serpentine Peninsula, the name Forests of the Far West.
The nomenclature of the visible and known parts of the island was finished, and later they would complete it with new discoveries as they went along.
As to the geographical orientation of the island, the engineer had determined it approximately by the height and position of the sun which put Union Bay and all of Grand View Plateau to the east. But the next day, by taking the exact time of sunrise and sunset and by determining the sun’s position at the midpoint between sunrise and sunset, he would calculate exactly the north of the island. Because they were located in the southern hemisphere, the sun, at the precise moment of reaching its highest point, would pass to the north and not to the south in its apparent movement, as it seems to do in locales in the northern hemisphere.
Everything was thus finished, and the colonists had only to climb down Mount Franklin to return to the Chimneys, when Pencroff said:
“What incredible dopes we are!”
“Why do you say that?” asked Gideon Spilett, who had closed his notebook and was getting ready to leave.
“What about our island itself? We’ve forgotten to name it.”
Harbert was going to propose the engineer’s name and all his companions would have applauded this choice, when Cyrus Smith simply said:
“Let’s name it after that great citizen, my friends, who now fights to defend the unity of the American republic. Let’s call it Lincoln Island.”3
Three hurrahs cheered the engineer’s proposition.
And that evening, before going to sleep, the new colonists spoke of the country they all longed for; they spoke of this terrible war which was staining it with blood; they could not doubt that the South would soon be subdued and that the cause of the North, the cause of justice, could only triumph thanks to Grant and thanks to Lincoln.
So passed the 30th of March 1865. They could scarcely know that, two weeks and a day later, a horrible crime would be committed in Washington and that, on Good Friday, Abraham Lincoln would be murdered by a fanatic.
*Approximately 45 leagues of 4 kilometers.
CHAPTER XII
The colonists of Lincoln Island cast one last glance around, then proceeded around the crater by its narrow ridge and, a half hour later, climbed down to the first plateau to their night camp.
Pencroff thought it was mealtime, and he raised the question of adjusting the two watches belonging to Cyrus Smith and the reporter.
Gideon Spilett’s watch had not been damaged by the sea water since the reporter had been thrown on the beach from the first, out of reach of the waves. It was an instrument of excellent accuracy, a real pocket chronometer, which Gideon Spilett had never forgotten to wind carefully each day.
As to the engineer’s watch, it had obviously stopped during the time Cyrus Smith spent on the dunes.
The engineer reset it, estimating approximately from the height of the sun that it was about nine o’clock in the morning. He set his watch to that hour.
Gideon Spilett was about to do the same when the engineer held him back saying:
“No, my dear Spilett, wait. You’ve kept the time of Richmond, haven’t you?”
“Yes, Cyrus.”
“Consequently your watch is set to the meridian of that city, a meridian which is very nearly that of Washington?”
“No doubt.”
“Very well, then keep that setting. Remember to wind it carefully but don’t touch the hands. This will be useful.”
“What good will that be?” thought the sailor.
They ate so well that the supply of game and almonds was now completely exhausted. But Pencroff was not uneasy. They would resupply themselves en route. Top, whose portion was meager, would know how to find some new game under the cover of the brushwood. Moreover, the sailor simply intended to ask the engineer to make powder and one or two hunting guns, thinking this would present no difficulty for Cyrus Smith.
On leaving the plateau, Cyrus Smith proposed that they take a new road back to the Chimneys. He wanted to explore Lake Grant which was so magnificently surrounded by a border of trees. They followed the crest of one of the foothills where the creek* that fed the lake probably found its source. While chatting, the colonists were already using the proper names that they had chosen, and this facilitated the exchange of ideas. Harbert and Pencroff—the one young and the other like a small child—were delighted and, while walking along, the sailor said:
“Hey, Harbert, how things are coming along! We can’t possibly get lost, my boy, since whether we follow the road to Lake Grant or we rejoin the Mercy by crossing the woods of the Far West, we’ll necessarily arrive at Grand View Plateau and consequently at Union Bay.”
Even though they had not formed a compact group, the colonists would not wander too far from each other. Very certainly some dangerous animals inhabited the thick forests of the island, and it would be prudent to be on guard. As a rule, Pencroff, Harbert, and Neb went on ahead, preceded by Top who poked his nose into every corner. The reporter and the engineer went together.