Fortunately, this cone inclined to the north, and had fallen upon the plain of sand and tufa stretching between the volcano and the sea.The aperture of the crater being thus enlarged projected towards the sky a glare so intense that by the simple effect of reflection the atmosphere appeared red-hot.At the same time a torrent of lava, bursting from the new summit, poured out in long cascades, like water escaping from a vase too full, and a thousand tongues of fire crept over the sides of the volcano.
"The corral! the corral!" exclaimed Ayrton.
It was, in fact, towards the corral that the lava was rushing as the new crater faced the east, and consequently the fertile portions of the island, the springs of Red Creek and Jacamar Wood, were menaced with instant destruction.
At Ayrton's cry the colonists rushed to the onagers' stables.The cart was at once harnessed.All were possessed by the same thought-to hasten to the corral and set at liberty the animals it enclosed.
Before three in the morning they arrived at the corral.The cries of the terrified musmons and goats indicated the alarm which possessed them.
Already a torrent of burning matter and liquefied minerals fell from the side of the mountain upon the meadows as far as the side of the palisade.
The gate was burst open by Ayrton, and the animals, bewildered with terror, fled in all directions.
An hour afterwards the boiling lava filled the corral, converting into vapor the water of the little rivulet which ran through it, burning up the house like dry grass, and leaving not even a post of the palisade to mark the spot where the corral once stood.
To contend against this disaster would have been folly--nay, madness.In presence of Nature's grand convulsions man is powerless.
It was now daylight--the 24th of January.Cyrus Harding and his companions, before returning to Granite House, desired to ascertain the probable direction this inundation of lava was about to take.The soil sloped gradually from Mount Franklin to the east coast, and it was to be feared that, in spite of the thick Jacamar Wood, the torrent would reach the plateau of Prospect Heights.
"The lake will cover us," said Gideon Spilett.
"I hope so!" was Cyrus Harding's only reply.
The colonists were desirous of reaching the plain upon which the superior cone of Mount Franklin had fallen, but the lava arrested their progress.It had followed, on one side, the valley of Red Creek, and on the other that of Falls River, evaporating those watercourses in its passage.There was no possibility of crossing the torrent of lava; on the contrary, the colonists were obliged to retreat before it.The volcano, without its crown, was no longer recognizable, terminated as it was by a sort of flat table which replaced the ancient crater.From two openings in its southern and eastern sides an unceasing flow of lava poured forth, thus forming two distinct streams.Above the new crater a cloud of smoke and ashes, mingled with those of the atmosphere, massed over the island.Loud peals of thunder broke, and could scarcely be distinguished from the rumblings of the mountain, whose mouth vomited forth ignited rocks, which, hurled to more than a thousand feet, burst in the air like shells.Flashes of lightning rivaled in intensity the volcano's eruption.
Towards seven in the morning the position was no longer tenable by the colonists, who accordingly took shelter in the borders of Jacamar Wood.Not only did the projectiles begin to rain around them, but the lava, overflowing the bed of Red Creek, threatened to cut off the road to the corral.The nearest rows of trees caught fire, and their sap, suddenly transformed into vapor, caused them to explode with loud reports, while others, less moist, remained unhurt in the midst of the inundation.
The colonists had again taken the road to the corral.They proceeded but slowly, frequently looking back; but, in consequence of the inclination of the soil, the lava gained rapidly in the east, and as its lower waves became solidified others, at boiling heat, covered them immediately.
Meanwhile, the principal stream of Red Creek Valley became more and more menacing.All this portion of the forest was on fare, and enormous wreaths of smoke rolled over the trees, whore trunks were already consumed by the lava.
The colonists halted near the lake, about half a mile from the mouth of Red Creek.A question of life or death was now to be decided.
Cyrus Harding, accustomed to the consideration of important crises, and aware that he was addressing men capable of hearing the truth, whatever it might be, then said,--"Either the lake will arrest the progress of the lava, and a part of the island will be preserved from utter destruction, or the stream will overrun the forests of the Far West, and not a tree or plant will remain on the surface of the soil.We shall have no prospect but that of starvation upon these barren rocks--a death which will probably be anticipated by the explosion of the island.""In that case," replied Pencroft, folding his arms and stamping his foot, "what's the use of working any longer on the vessel?""Pencroft," answered Cyrus Harding, "we must do our duty to the last!"At this instant the river of lava, after having broken a passage through the noble trees it devoured in its course, reached the borders of the lake.
At this point there was an elevation of the soil which, had it been greater, might have sufficed to arrest the torrent.
"To work!" cried Cyrus Harding.
The engineer's thought was at once understood.it might be possible to dam, as it were, the torrent, and thus compel it to pour itself into the lake.
The colonists hastened to the dockyard.They returned with shovels, picks, axes, and by means of banking the earth with the aid of fallen trees they succeeded in a few hours in raising an embankment three feet high and some hundreds of paces in length.It seemed to them, when they had finished, as if they had scarcely been working more than a few minutes.
