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“Or the projectile, maintained in an immutable orbit, will gravitate round the lunar disc till the end of time.

“Observation will settle this point some day, but until now the experiment of the Gun Club has had no other result than that of providing our solar system with a new star.

“J BELFAST.”

What discussions this unexpected _dénouement_ gave rise to! What a situation full of mystery the future reserved for the investigations of science! Thanks to the courage and devotion of three men, this enterprise of sending a bullet to the moon, futile enough in appearance, had just had an immense result, the consequences of which are incalculable. The travellers imprisoned in a new satellite, if they have not attained their end, form at least part of the lunar world; they gravitate around the Queen of Night, and for the first time human eyes can penetrate all her mysteries. The names of Nicholl, Barbicane, and Michel Ardan would be for ever celebrated in astronomical annals, for these bold explorers, desirous of widening the circle of human knowledge, had audaciously rushed into space, and had risked their lives in the strangest experiment of modern times.

The notice from Long’s Peak once made known, there spread throughout the universe a feeling of surprise and horror. Was it possible to go to the aid of these bold inhabitants of the earth? Certainly not, for they had put themselves outside of the pale of humanity by crossing the limits imposed by the Creator on His terrestrial creatures. They could procure themselves air for two months; they had provisions for one year; but after? The hardest hearts palpitated at this terrible question.

One man alone would not admit that the situation was desperate. One alone had confidence, and it was their friend—devoted, audacious, and resolute as they—the brave J.T. Maston.

He resolved not to lose sight of them. His domicile was henceforth the post of Long’s Peak—his horizon the immense reflector. As soon as the moon rose above the horizon he immediately framed her in the field of his telescope; he did not lose sight of her for an instant, and assiduously followed her across the stellar spaces; he watched with eternal patience the passage of the projectile over her disc of silver, and in reality the worthy man remained in perpetual communication with his three friends, whom he did not despair of seeing again one day.

“We will correspond with them,” said he to any one who would listen, “as soon as circumstances will allow. We shall have news from them, and they will have news from us. Besides, I know them—they are ingenious men. Those three carry with them into space all the resources of art, science, and industry. With those everything can be accomplished, and you will see that they will get out of the difficulty.”

Main TOC

Contents

Part 1

CHAPTER I THE SHARK

CHAPTER II THE THREE DOCUMENTS

CHAPTER III THE CAPTAIN’S CHILDREN

CHAPTER IV LADY GLENARVAN’S PROPOSAL

CHAPTER V THE DEPARTURE OF THE “DUNCAN”

CHAPTER VI AN UNEXPECTED PASSENGER

CHAPTER VII JACQUES PAGANEL IS UNDECEIVED

CHAPTER VIII THE GEOGRAPHER’S RESOLUTION

CHAPTER IX THROUGH THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN

CHAPTER X THE COURSE DECIDED

CHAPTER XI TRAVELING IN CHILI

CHAPTER XII ELEVEN THOUSAND FEET ALOFT

CHAPTER XIII A SUDDEN DESCENT

CHAPTER XIV PROVIDENTIALLY RESCUED

CHAPTER XV THALCAVE

CHAPTER XVII A SERIOUS NECESSITY

CHAPTER XVIII IN SEARCH OF WATER

CHAPTER XIX THE RED WOLVES

CHAPTER XX STRANGE SIGNS

CHAPTER XXI A FALSE TRAIL

CHAPTER XXII THE FLOOD

CHAPTER XXIII A SINGULAR ABODE

CHAPTER XXIV PAGANEL’S DISCLOSURE

CHAPTER XXV BETWEEN FIRE AND WATER

CHAPTER XXVI THE RETURN ON BOARD

Part 2

CHAPTER I A NEW DESTINATION

CHAPTER II TRISTAN D’ACUNHA AND THE ISLE OF AMSTERDAM

CHAPTER III CAPE TOWN AND M. VIOT

CHAPTER IV A WAGER AND HOW DECIDED

CHAPTER V THE STORM ON THE INDIAN OCEAN

CHAPTER VI A HOSPITABLE COLONIST

CHAPTER VII THE QUARTERMASTER OF THE “BRITANNIA”

CHAPTER VIII PREPARATION FOR THE JOURNEY

CHAPTER IX A COUNTRY OF PARADOXES

CHAPTER X AN ACCIDENT

CHAPTER XI CRIME OR CALAMITY

CHAPTER XII TOLINE OF THE LACHLAN

CHAPTER XIII A WARNING

CHAPTER XIV WEALTH IN THE WILDERNESS

CHAPTER XV SUSPICIOUS OCCURRENCES

CHAPTER XVI A STARTLING DISCOVERY

CHAPTER XVII THE PLOT UNVEILED

CHAPTER XVIII FOUR DAYS OF ANGUISH

CHAPTER XIX HELPLESS AND HOPELESS

Part 3

CHAPTER I A ROUGH CAPTAIN

CHAPTER II NAVIGATORS AND THEIR DISCOVERIES

CHAPTER III THE MARTYR-ROLL OF NAVIGATORS

CHAPTER IV THE WRECK OF THE “MACQUARIE”

CHAPTER V CANNIBALS

CHAPTER VI A DREADED COUNTRY

CHAPTER VII THE MAORI WAR

CHAPTER VIII ON THE ROAD TO AUCKLAND

CHAPTER IX INTRODUCTION TO THE CANNIBALS

CHAPTER X A MOMENTOUS INTERVIEW

CHAPTER XI THE CHIEF’S FUNERAL

CHAPTER XII STRANGELY LIBERATED

CHAPTER XIII THE SACRED MOUNTAIN

CHAPTER XIV A BOLD STRATAGEM

CHAPTER XV FROM PERIL TO SAFETY

CHAPTER XVI WHY THE “DUNCAN” WENT TO NEW ZEALAND

CHAPTER XVII AYRTON’S OBSTINACY

CHAPTER XVIII A DISCOURAGING CONFESSION

CHAPTER XIX A CRY IN THE NIGHT

CHAPTER XX CAPTAIN GRANT’S STORY

CHAPTER XXI PAGANEL’S LAST ENTANGLEMENT

Table of Contents

ON the 26th of July, 1864, a magnificent yacht was steaming along the North Channel at full speed, with a strong breeze blowing from the N. E. The Union Jack was flying at the mizzenmast, and a blue standard bearing the initials E. G., embroidered in gold, and surmounted by a ducal coronet, floated from the topgallant head of the mainmast. The name of the yacht was the DUNCAN, and the owner was Lord Glenarvan, one of the sixteen Scotch peers who sit in the Upper House, and the most distinguished member of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, so famous throughout the United Kingdom.

Lord Edward Glenarvan was on board with his young wife, Lady Helena, and one of his cousins, Major McNabbs.

The DUNCAN was newly built, and had been making a trial trip a few miles outside the Firth of Clyde. She was returning to Glasgow, and the Isle of Arran already loomed in the distance, when the sailor on watch caught sight of an enormous fish sporting in the wake of the ship. Lord Edward, who was immediately apprised of the fact, came up on the poop a few minutes after with his cousin, and asked John Mangles, the captain, what sort of an animal he thought it was.

“Well, since your Lordship asks my opinion,” said Mangles, “I think it is a shark, and a fine large one too.”

“A shark on these shores!”

“There is nothing at all improbable in that,” returned the captain. “This fish belongs to a species that is found in all latitudes and in all seas. It is the ‘balance-fish,’ or hammerheaded shark, if I am not much mistaken. But if your Lordship has no objections, and it would give the smallest pleasure to Lady Helena to see a novelty in the way of fishing, we’ll soon haul up the monster and find out what it really is.”

“What do you say, McNabbs? Shall we try to catch it?” asked Lord Glenarvan.

“If you like; it’s all one to me,” was his cousin’s cool reply.

“The more of those terrible creatures that are killed the better, at all events,” said John Mangles, “so let’s seize the chance, and it will not only give us a little diversion, but be doing a good action.”

“Very well, set to work, then,” said Glenarvan.