Captain Harding

At page 157, the colonists, as they call themselves, have done quite well for themselves. They did find Captain Harding, an engineer, but it was under mysterious circumstances. Neb found him first, sending Harding’s dog, Top, back to his companions. They discovered that Harding had no memory of getting to shore; he only remembered sinking into the see with Top, before awakening to their concerned faces. Footsteps ran along the beach, however, that matched his shoes, seeming to suggest amnesia.

Since getting there, Harding has become a rallying point for the men, taking over the position of de facto leader from Pencroft (who has now been reduced to a meat and tabacco-obsessed follower). He has managed to make bricks, steel, nitroglycerin, and (using the nitroglycerin) a comfortable cave-home. He also discovered, using geometry and the pocket watches he and Gideon had (Gideon’s is still set to EST, as he threw it onto shore before he hit the water) the latitude (from 35-37 degrees South) and longitude (152 degrees West) of the island. This places them at least 1,200 miles from the nearest civilized landmass (that being Tahiti and the islands around it). Traveling there in a ramshackle boat would be impossible.

They also named places on the island, such as Lake Grant, Cape Claw, and the island itself is named Lincoln Island (this is set slightly before he was assassinated).

However, some causes for suspicion have also arisen (remember, this is a science-fiction book). Besides the appearance of Captain Harding, Top also had an encounter with a manatee in Lake Grant. They fought under the water before Top was propelled several feet above the water, and the manatee surfaced with what looked like a knife’s cut on its throat.

It’s interesting to see the changes of view through 130 years. Harding, certainly the most learned man in the group, “knows” that continents were first formed by nature which “heaved up the land” in fire. New ones, he believes, are formed by coral over long periods of time. This is almost certainly representative of the thoughts of the time, as plate tectonics had not yet been discovered when Jules Verne was writing.

I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to write about the siege of Richmond when it had taken place just a few years ago. Perhaps that’s why he skirted around the subject.

Also interesting are the misconceptions about animals that existed at the time. Sloths and
koalas seem to be considered the same thing, and there is even talk of deaf vipers with forked tails and vipers with ears and wings. Plus, this is brought up by the omniscient narrator; did Jules Verne really believe such things existed?

This is a terrific book so far, and I can’t wait to see the ending and the solution to the mysteries of the island (in addition to those mentioned above, there are far too many different types of animals on the island; from kangaroos to antarctic foxes to something called an American rabbit).
I’m disappointed in Pencroft, however, as he was, as I said before, he had been my favorite character. He seemed to have taken leadership, and was the only one who was realistic enough to realize that Harding wouldn’t be able to make it to sure on his own (call it pessimistic if you wish, I’ll call it realistic). Now, however, the only mentions of him are for the humor of only being interesting in animals as being edible or inedible, of his loud “Hurrah!”s whenever Harding does something interesting, and his constant badgering of the captain for guns. I wish he had been characterized better.

"The Mysterious Island"

At page 27, the story is well under way in “The Mysterious Island,” by Jules Verne. There have been five characters introduced; Captain Cyrus Harding, a union officer, Gideon Spilett, a reporter for the NY Herald who had been reporting on the war, the captain’s free, willing black servant Neb, a sailor named Pencroft, and Pencroft’s young friend Herbert. They were all trapped in Richmond during Ulysses S. Grant’s siege, and the story begins after they have escaped on a hot air balloon in hurricane-force winds (which stopped the fighting).

The winds sweep them out to sea, and as they approach land their balloon begins to fall. Everything of weight is thrown off to keep the balloon in the air, including pocket knives and the basket they stood in (they hung to the net). When they reach land, Captain Harding is found to be missing, and they search for him. Pencroft is doubtful about his chances of survival, but says nothing to the effect, opting to keep his companions’ hopes up. While searching they cross off of the island they were on to a larger island very near it. Here Pencroft and Herbert find food and shelter, while Neb and Gideon continue the search.

The book is quite interesting, especially since I have not read any of the supposedly common “stranded on a island” books. What’s even better is that the characters have nothing but their wits to use to survive. Thankfully, Herbert seems to be fairly well-versed in a variety of animals (he knew the difference between a mussel and a lithodome, for instance.

Pencroft is already my favorite character; he’s the only one who isn’t disillusioned about Captain Harding’s chances of making it to shore in the crashing waves (although he probably will for the sake of the story). We don’t know that much about the characters yet, however, so that could change at any time.

According to the introduction this book will also tie up some loose ends from one of Verne’s other novels, which I hope will be one of the ones that I have read.