Jules Verne (1828-1905), “The Mysterious Island”, 1875.

**Daniel** **Defoe** (1661-1731), “Robinson Crusoe”, **1719** was the topic of an earlier blog post.

Here I present: **Jules Verne**, “*The Mysterious Island*”, **1875** a nautical fiction.

The book consists of three (3) parts: I. “Dropped from the Clouds”, II. “The Abandoned”, & III. “The Secret of the Island”. The first sentence of each chapter is shown **BELOW**.

I-1 Are we rising again ? “No, on the contrary”: Are we descending ?

I-2 “Those whom the hurricane had just thrown on this coast were neither aeronauts by profession nor amsteurs.”

I-3 “The engineer, the meshes of the net having given way, had been carried off by the wave “

I-4 “All at once the reporter sprabg up, and telling the sailor that he wiuld rejoin them at the same place, he climbed the cliff in the direction which the Negro Neb had taken a few hours before “

I-5 “Pencroft’s first care, after uploading the raft, was to render the cave habitable by stopping up all the holes which made it draughty.”

I-6 “The inventory of the articles possessed by these castaways from the clouds, thrown upon a coast which appeared to be uninihabited, was soon made out.”

I-7 “Gideon Spilett was standing motionless on the shore, his arms crossed, gazing over the, the horizon of which was lost towards the east in a thick black cloud which was spreading rapidly towards the zenith.”

I-8 “Neb did not move: Pencroft only uttered one word.”

I-9 “In a few words, Gudein Spilett, Herbert, and Neb were made acquainted with what had happened.”

I-10 “In a few minutes the three hunters were before a crackling fire.”

I-11 “Half an hour later Cyrus Harding and Herbert had returned to the encampment.”

I-12 “They now began the descent of the mountain.”

I-13 “Well, Captain, where are we going to begin ?”

I-14 “The next day, the 16th of April, and Easter Sunday.”

I-15 “The next day, the 17th of April, the sailor’s first words were addressed to Gideon Spilett.”

I-16 “It was the 6th of May, a day which corresponds to the 6th of November in countries of the northern hemisphere.”

I-17 “The next day, the 7th of May, Harding and Gideon Spilett, leaving Neb to prepare breakfast, climbed Prospect Heights, while Herbert and Pencroft ascended by the river, to renew their store of wood.”

I-18 “Cyrus Harding’s project had succeeded, but according to his usual habit he showed no satisfaction; with closed lips and a fixed look, he remained motionless.”

I-19 “The next day, the 22nd of May, the arrangement of their new dwelling was commmenced.”

I-20 “The winter season set in with the month of June, which corresponds with the month of December in the northern hemisphere.”

I-21 “From this time Pencroft did not let a single day pass without going to visit what he gravely called a corn-field.”

I-22 “This intense cold lasted till the 15th of August, without, however, passing the degree of Fahrenheit already mentioned.”

II-1 “It was now exactly seven months since the balloon voyagers had been thrown on Lincoln Island.”

II-2 “On the 9th of October the bark canoe was entirely finished.”

II-3 “The next day, the 30th of October, all was ready for the proposed exploring expedition, which recent events had rendered so necessary.”

II-4 “It was six o’clock in morning when the settlers, after hasty breakfast, set out to reach by the shortest way, the western coast of the island.”

II-5 “Cyrus Harding and his companions slept like innocent marmots in the cave which the jaguar had so politely left at their disposal.”

II-6 “Cyrus Harding stood still, without saying a word.”

II-7 “The settlers in Lincoln Island had now regained their dwelling, without having been obliged to reach it by the old opening, and were therefore spared the trouble of mason’s work.”

II-8 “The first week of January was devoted to the manufacture of linen garments required by the colony.”

II-9 “The weather changed during the first week of March.”

II-10 “When Pencroft had once got a plan into his head, he had no peace till it was executed.”

II-11 “Winter arrived with the month of June, which is the December of the northern zones, and the great business was the making of warm and solid clothing.”

II-12 “In the evening the hunters returned, having enjoyed good sport, and being literally loaded with game; and indeed, they had as much as four men could possibly carry.”

II-13 “A castaway ! exclaimed Pencroft; left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us !”

II-14 “Pencroft, Herbert, and Gideon Spilett remained silent in the midst of the darkness.”

II-15 “The next day, the 20th of October, at seven o’clock in the morning, after a voyage of four days the Bonadventure gently glided up to the beach at the mouth of the Mercy.”

II-16 “Yes ! the unfortunate man had wept !”

II-17 “These last words justified the colonists’ presentment.”

II-18 “Poor man ! said Herbert, who had rushed to the door, but returned, having seen Ayrton slide down the rope on the lift and disappeared in the darkness.”

II-19 “Two years already ! and for two years the colonists had had no communication with their fellow-creatures.”

II-20 “Things happened as Pencroft had predicted, he being seldom mistaken in his prognostications.”

III-1 “It was now two years and a half since the castaways from the balloon had been thrown on Lincoln Island.”

III-2 “There was no longer any doubt as to the pirate’s intentions.”

III-3 “The night passed without incident”

III-4 “She has blown up! cried Herbert.”

III-5 “So, then, all was explained by the submarine explosion of this torpedo.”

III-6 “However, the chief business of the colonists was to make that complete exploration of the island which had been decided upon, and which would have two objects.”

III-7 “At Herbert’s cry Pencroft, letting his gun fall, rushed towards him.”

III-8 “So the convicts were still there, watching the coral, and determined to kill the settlers one after the other.”

III-9 “The convalescence of the young invalid was regularly progressing.”

III-10 “Of the convicts, the danger which menaced Granite House, the ruins with which the plateau was covered, colonists thought no longer.”

III-11 “Gideon Spilett took the box and opened it.”

III-12 “The next day, the 18th of February, was devoted to the exploration of all that wooden region forming the shore from Reptile-end to Falls River.”

III-13 “How had it happened: who had killed the convicts.”

III-14 “There years had passed away since the escape of the prisoners from Richmond, and how often during those three years had they spoken of their country, always present in their thoughts.”

III-15 “The colonists, warned by the engineer, left their work and gazed in silence at the summit of Mount Franklin.”

III-16 “At these words the reclining figure rose, and the electric light fell upon his countenance.”

III-17 “Day had returned: no ray of light penetrated into the profundity of the cavern.”

III-18 “At break of day the colonists regained in silence the entrance of the cavern, to which they gave the name of Dakkar Grotto, in memory of Captain Nemo.”

III-19 “The next day, the 8th day of January, after a day and night passed at the corral, where they left all in order, Cyrus Harding and Ayrton arrived at Granite House.”

III-20 “An isolated rock, thirty feet in length, twenty in breadth, scarcely ten from the waters edge, such was the only solid point which the waves of the Pacific had not engulfed.”

Ending “That island which, during four years, had supplied all their wants, and of which there remained but a fragment of granite washed by the waves of the Pacific, the tomb of him who had borne the name of Captain Nemo.”

Here I presented: Jules Verne, “The Mysterious Island”, 1875 a nautical fiction.
SUMMARY.

In “The Mysterious Island” a group of men escape imprisonment during the American Civil War by stealing a balloon.

Blown across the world, they are air-wrecked on a remote desert island. In a manner reminiscent of Robinson Crusoe, the men apply their scientific knowledge and technical skill to exploit the island s bountiful resources, eventually constructing a sophisticated society in miniature.

The book is also an intriguing mystery story, for the island has a secret… (part III is “The Secret of the Island”).

Daniel Defoe (1661-1731), “Robinson Crusoe”, 1719 was the topic of an earlier blog post.

Jules Verne (1828-1905), “The Mysterious Island”, 1875.

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I-1	Are we rising again ? “No, on the contrary”: Are we descending ?
I-2	“Those whom the hurricane had just thrown on this coast were neither aeronauts by profession nor amsteurs.”
I-3	“The engineer, the meshes of the net having given way, had been carried off by the wave “
I-4	“All at once the reporter sprabg up, and telling the sailor that he wiuld rejoin them at the same place, he climbed the cliff in the direction which the Negro Neb had taken a few hours before “
I-5	“Pencroft’s first care, after uploading the raft, was to render the cave habitable by stopping up all the holes which made it draughty.”
I-6	“The inventory of the articles possessed by these castaways from the clouds, thrown upon a coast which appeared to be uninihabited, was soon made out.”
I-7	“Gideon Spilett was standing motionless on the shore, his arms crossed, gazing over the, the horizon of which was lost towards the east in a thick black cloud which was spreading rapidly towards the zenith.”
I-8	“Neb did not move: Pencroft only uttered one word.”
I-9	“In a few words, Gudein Spilett, Herbert, and Neb were made acquainted with what had happened.”
I-10	“In a few minutes the three hunters were before a crackling fire.”
I-11	“Half an hour later Cyrus Harding and Herbert had returned to the encampment.”
I-12	“They now began the descent of the mountain.”
I-13	“Well, Captain, where are we going to begin ?”
I-14	“The next day, the 16th of April, and Easter Sunday.”
I-15	“The next day, the 17th of April, the sailor’s first words were addressed to Gideon Spilett.”
I-16	“It was the 6th of May, a day which corresponds to the 6th of November in countries of the northern hemisphere.”
I-17	“The next day, the 7th of May, Harding and Gideon Spilett, leaving Neb to prepare breakfast, climbed Prospect Heights, while Herbert and Pencroft ascended by the river, to renew their store of wood.”
I-18	“Cyrus Harding’s project had succeeded, but according to his usual habit he showed no satisfaction; with closed lips and a fixed look, he remained motionless.”
I-19	“The next day, the 22nd of May, the arrangement of their new dwelling was commmenced.”
I-20	“The winter season set in with the month of June, which corresponds with the month of December in the northern hemisphere.”
I-21	“From this time Pencroft did not let a single day pass without going to visit what he gravely called a corn-field.”
I-22	“This intense cold lasted till the 15th of August, without, however, passing the degree of Fahrenheit already mentioned.”
II-1	“It was now exactly seven months since the balloon voyagers had been thrown on Lincoln Island.”
II-2	“On the 9th of October the bark canoe was entirely finished.”
II-3	“The next day, the 30th of October, all was ready for the proposed exploring expedition, which recent events had rendered so necessary.”
II-4	“It was six o’clock in morning when the settlers, after hasty breakfast, set out to reach by the shortest way, the western coast of the island.”
II-5	“Cyrus Harding and his companions slept like innocent marmots in the cave which the jaguar had so politely left at their disposal.”
II-6	“Cyrus Harding stood still, without saying a word.”
II-7	“The settlers in Lincoln Island had now regained their dwelling, without having been obliged to reach it by the old opening, and were therefore spared the trouble of mason’s work.”
II-8	“The first week of January was devoted to the manufacture of linen garments required by the colony.”
II-9	“The weather changed during the first week of March.”
II-10	“When Pencroft had once got a plan into his head, he had no peace till it was executed.”
II-11	“Winter arrived with the month of June, which is the December of the northern zones, and the great business was the making of warm and solid clothing.”
II-12	“In the evening the hunters returned, having enjoyed good sport, and being literally loaded with game; and indeed, they had as much as four men could possibly carry.”
II-13	“A castaway ! exclaimed Pencroft; left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us !”
II-14	“Pencroft, Herbert, and Gideon Spilett remained silent in the midst of the darkness.”
II-15	“The next day, the 20th of October, at seven o’clock in the morning, after a voyage of four days the Bonadventure gently glided up to the beach at the mouth of the Mercy.”
II-16	“Yes ! the unfortunate man had wept !”
II-17	“These last words justified the colonists’ presentment.”
II-18	“Poor man ! said Herbert, who had rushed to the door, but returned, having seen Ayrton slide down the rope on the lift and disappeared in the darkness.”