The Floating Island (33 page)

It was only right to prolong the
investigations in the name of humanity.

The governor conferred with
Commodore Simcoe. Orders were given to the engineers to stop the engines, and
to the electric launches of both ports to proceed to sea.

The search, which extended over a
range of five or six miles, yielded no result. It seemed only too true that the
vessel, rammed below the water line, had sunk without leaving a trace of her
disappearance.

Commodore Simcoe then resumed his
ordinary speed.

At noon the observation indicated
that Floating Island was a hundred and fifty miles south-west of Samoa.

Meanwhile, the look-outs were
instructed to watch with extreme care.

About five o’clock in the evening
they reported thick smoke in the south-west.

Was this smoke due to the final
eruptions of the volcano which had so greatly troubled these regions? This was hardly
likely as the charts showed neither an island nor an islet in the vicinity. Had
a new crater arisen from the sea?

No, and it was manifest that the
smoke was approaching Floating Island.

An hour afterwards three vessels
came in sight together, approaching rapidly.

Half an hour later they were
recognized as ships of war. It was the division of the British squadron which,
five weeks before, had passed Floating Island.

At nightfall the ships were
within four miles of Prow Battery. Were they going to pass in the offing and
continue their course? It was not probable, as from their lights they seemed to
be remaining stationary.

“These vessels evidently intend
to communicate with us,” said the commodore to the governor.

“Wait and see,” replied Cyrus
Bikerstaff.

But in what way would the
governor reply to the commander of the division if he had come to make a claim
with regard to the recent collision? It was possible, in fact, that such was
his intention; perhaps the crew had been picked up, perhaps they had been saved
in their boats. It would be time to act when they knew what was the matter.

They knew in the morning very
early.

At sunrise, the flag of the
rear-admiral floated from the mizen of the leading cruiser, which slowly
approached within two miles of Larboard Harbour. A boat was launched, and came
towards the port.

A quarter of an hour afterwards
Commodore Simcoe received the message,
—

“Captain Turner, of Her Britannic
Majesty’s cruiser
Herald
desires to be conducted at once to the governor
of Floating Island.”

Cyrus Bikerstaff, being informed
of this, authorized the officer of the port to allow the landing to take place,
and replied that he would await Captain Turner at the town hall.

Ten minutes afterwards a car
placed at the disposal of the chief of the staff, who was accompanied by a
lieutenant, deposited these two personages before the municipal palace.

The governor immediately received
them in the room adjoining his office.

The usual salutations were
exchanged
—
very
stiffly on both sides.

Then carefully punctuating his
words, as if he were reciting some quotations from current literature, Captain
Turner expressed himself thus in one long interminable sentence,
—

“I have the honour to acquaint
his Excellency the Governor of Floating Island, at this moment in a hundred and
seventy-seven degrees thirteen minutes east of the meridian of Greenwich, and
in sixteen degrees fifty-four minutes south latitude, that during the night of
the 31st of December and the 1st of January, the steamer Glen, of Glasgow, of
three thousand five hundred tons, laden with wheat, indigo, rice, and wine, a
cargo of considerable value, was run into by Floating Island, belonging to the
Floating Island Company, Limited, whose offices are at Madeleine Bay, Lower
California, United States of America, although the steamer was showing the
regulation lights, a white at the foremast, green at the starboard side, and
red at the port side, and that having got clear after the collision she was met
with next morning thirty-five miles from the scene of the disaster, ready to
sink on account of a gap in her port side, and that she did sink after
fortunately putting her captain, his officers and crew on board the
Herald
,
Her Britannic Majesty’s cruiser of the first-class under the flag of
Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Collinson, who reports the fact to his Excellency
Governor Cyrus Bikerstaff, requesting him to acknowledge the responsibility of
the Floating Island Company, Limited, under the guarantee of the inhabitants of
the said Floating Island, in favour of the owners of the said
Glen
, the
value of which in hull, engines, and cargo amounts to the sum of twelve hundred
thousand pounds sterling, that is six millions of dollars, which sum should be
paid into the hands of the said Admiral Sir Edward Collinson, or in default he
will forcibly proceed against the said Floating Island.”

One long sentence of about three
hundred words, cut up with commas, but without a single full-stop. But it said
all and left no way of escape. Yes or no, would the governor decide to admit
the claim made by Sir Edward Collinson, and accept the statement as to the
responsibility of the Company and the estimated value of twelve hundred
thousand pounds attributed to the steamer
Glen
, of Glasgow?

Cyrus Bikerstaff replied by the
usual arguments in cases of collision.

The weather was very obscure on
account of a volcanic eruption which had happened in the westward. If the
Glen
had her lights going, so had Floating Island. Neither of them could see each
other. The matter was beyond the control of either party; and according to the
usual practice in such matters, each had to bear his own losses, and there was
no question of claim or responsibility.

Captain Turner’s reply,
—

“His Excellency would doubtless
be right in the case of two vessels navigating under ordinary conditions. If
the
Glen
fulfilled these conditions, it was manifest that Floating
Island did not; it could not be considered a ship; it constituted a constant
danger in moving its enormous mass across the maritime routes; it was like an
island, an islet, a reef which shifted its position in such a way that it could
not be placed on the chart. England had always protested against this obstacle
to which it was impossible to give a definite position hydrographically, and
Floating Island would always be responsible for accidents of this nature,
&c., &c.”

It was evident that Captain
Turner’s arguments were not devoid of a certain logic. In his heart Cyrus
Bikerstaff felt that they were just. But he could not himself give a decision.
The matter would be brought before those who had the right to do so, and all he
could do was to acknowledge the receipt of Sir Edward Collinson’s claim.
Fortunately there had been no loss of life.

“Very fortunately,” replied
Captain Turner, “but there has been the loss of the ship, and thousands have
been swallowed up in the damage done by Floating Island. Will the Governor
consent to hand over to Admiral Sir Edward Collinson the estimated value of the
Glen
and her cargo?”

How could the governor consent to
this payment? After all, Floating Island offered a sufficient guarantee. It was
there to answer for any damage, if the tribunals decided that it was
responsible, after investigating the causes of the accident and the value of
the loss.

“That is your Excellency’s last
word?” asked Captain Turner.

“That is my last word,” said
Cyrus Bikerstaff, “for I am not in a position to admit the Company’s
responsibility.”

Further salutes, stiffer than
ever, exchanged between the governor and the English captain. Departure of the
latter by the car which took him to Larboard Harbour, and return to the
Herald
by the steam launch.

When Cyrus Bikerstaff’s reply was
made known to the council of notables, it received their full and entire
approbation, as it did that of the whole population of Floating Island.

That being settled, Commodore
Simcoe gave orders for Floating Island to resume its voyage at full speed.

But if Admiral Collinson
persisted, would it be possible to evade his pursuit? Were not his vessels of
much superior speed? And if he enforced his claim with a few melinite shells,
would it be possible to resist it? Doubtless the batteries of the island were
capable of replying to the Armstrongs with which the cruisers of the division
were armed. But the field offered to the English fire was infinitely greater.
What would become of the women and children under the impossibility of finding
shelter? Every shot would tell, while the batteries of the Prow and Stern would
lose about fifty per cent, of her projectiles in aiming at a small and moving
target.

It was therefore necessary to
wait and see what Admiral Sir Edward Collinson would do.

They had not to wait long.

At nine forty-five a blank
cartridge was fired from the central turret of the
Herald
, at the same
time as the flag of the United Kingdom ran up to the mast-head.

Under the presidency of the
governor and his assistants the council of notables was in session at the town
hall. This time Jem Tankerdon and Nat Coverley were of the same opinion. These
Americans, being practical men, did not think of attempting a resistance which
might endanger the safety of everybody and everything on Floating Island.

A second gun was fired. This time
a shell whistled over, aimed in such a way as to fall half a cable’s length off
in the sea, where it exploded with formidable violence, throwing up enormous
masses of water.

By the governor’s orders
Commodore Simcoe hauled down the flag which had been hoisted in reply to that
of the
Herald
. Captain Turner returned to Larboard Harbour. There he
received securities signed by Cyrus Bikerstaff, and endorsed by the chief
notables, for the sum of twelve hundred thousand pounds.

Three hours later the smoke of
the squadron disappeared in the west, and Floating Island continued its course
towards the Tonga archipelago.

“AND then,” said Yvernès, “we
shall put in at the principal islands of Tonga-Tabou.”

“Yes, my dear fellow,” replied
Calistus Munbar, “you will have time to make acquaintance with this
archipelago, which you can call the archipelago of Hapai, and even the Friendly
Islands, as they were called by Captain Cook in acknowledgment of the good
welcome he received.”

“And we shall probably be better
treated than we were at Cook’s Islands,” said Pinchinat.

“That is probable.”

“Shall we visit all the islands
of this group?” inquired Frascolin.

“Certainly not, considering that
there are about a hundred and fifty of them.”

“And afterwards?” asked Yvernès.

“Afterwards, we shall go to the
Fijis, then to the New Hebrides, then as soon as we have landed those Malays we
shall return to Madeleine Kay, where our campaign will end.”

“Will Floating Island stop at
many places in the Tonga Islands?”

“At Vavao and at Tonga-Tabou
only,” replied the superintendent, “and it is not there that you will find the
real savages of your dreams, my dear Pinchinat.”

“Evidently there are none in the
West Pacific,” replied his Highness.

“Pardon me, there are a
respectable number in the New Hebrides and Solomon Islands. But at Tonga the
subjects of George the First are almost civilized, and I may add the ladies are
charming. I would not, however, advise you to marry one of these delightful
Tongans.”

“For what reason?”

“Because marriages between
foreigners and natives are not usually happy. There is generally
incompatibility of temper.”

“Good!” exclaimed Pinchinat, “and
yet this old fiddler Zorn was thinking of getting married at Tonga-Tabou!”

“I!”  retorted the violoncellist,
shrugging his shoulders. “Neither at Tonga-Tabou nor elsewhere, understand, you
clumsy joker.”

“Evidently our conductor is a
wise man,” replied Pinchinat. “You see, my dear Calistus
—
and even allow me to call you
Eucalistus, so much do you inspire me with sympathy
—
”

“I have no objection, Pinchinat.”

“Well, my dear Eucalistus, a man
does not scrape the strings of a violoncello for forty years without becoming a
philosopher, and philosophy teaches that the only way of being happy in
marriage is not to get married.”

In the morning of the 6th of
January the heights of Vavao appeared on the horizon, the most important island
of the northern group. This group is very different, owing to its volcanic
formation, from the two others, Hapai and Tonga-Tabou. The three lay between
seventeen and twenty-two degrees south latitude and a hundred and seventy-six
and a hundred and seventy-eight degrees west latitude. They have an area of two
thousand four hundred square kilometres distributed over a hundred and fifty
islands, peopled by sixty thousand inhabitants.

The ships of Tasman were there in
1643, and Cook’s ships in 1773, during his second voyage of discovery in the
Pacific. After the overthrow of the dynasty of Finare-Finare, and the
foundation of a Federal State in 1797, a civil war decimated the population of
the archipelago.

Navigation is difficult enough
amid this maze of islands and islets planted with cocoanut trees which it is
necessary to follow to reach Nu-Ofa, the capital of the Vavao group. Vavao is
volcanic, and being such is subject to earthquakes. This is taken into account
in building the houses, not one of which has a nail in it. Wattled rushes form
the walls with laths of cocoanut wood, and on piles or trunks of trees an oval
roof is laid. The whole is very fresh and neat. This more particularly
attracted the notice of our artistes posted at Prow Battery, while Floating Island
passed along the channels bordered with Kanaka villages. Here and there a few
European houses displayed the flags of Germany or England.