《黎明踏浪號》第5章:風暴和餘波
IT was nearly three weeks after their landing that the Dawn Treader was towed out of Narrowhaven harbour. Very solemn farewells had been spoken and a great crowd had assembled to see her departure. There had been cheers, and tears too, when Caspian made his last speech to the Lone Islanders and parted from the Duke and his family, but as the ship, her purple sail still flapping idly, drew further from the shore, and the sound of Caspian's trumpet from the poop came fainter across the water, everyone became silent. Then she came into the wind. The sail swelled out, the tug cast off and began rowing back, the first real wave ran up under the Dawn Treader's prow, and she was a live ship again. The men off duty went below, Drinian took the first watch on the poop, and she turned her head eastward round the south of Avra.
The next few days were delightful. Lucy thought she was the most fortunate girl in the world; as she woke each morning to see the reflections of the sunlit water dancing on the ceiling of her cabin and looked round on all the nice new things she had got in the Lone Islands - seaboots and buskins and cloaks and jerkins and scarves. And then she would go on deck and take a look from the forecastle at a sea which was a brighter blue each morning and drink in an air that was a little warmer day by day. After that came breakfast and such an appetite as one only has at sea.
She spent a good deal of time sitting on the little bench in the stern playing chess with Reepicheep. It was amusing to see him lifting the pieces, which were far too big for him, with both paws and standing on tiptoes if he made a move near the centre of the board. He was a good player and when he remembered what he was doing he usually won. But every now and then Lucy won because the Mouse did something quite ridiculous like sending a knight into the danger of a queen and castle combined. This happened because he had momentarily forgotten it was a game of chess and was thinking of a real battle and making the knight do what he would certainly have done in its place. For his mind was full of forlorn hopes, death-or-glory charges, and last stands.
But this pleasant time did not last. There came an evening when Lucy, gazing idly astern at the long furrow or wake they were leaving behind them, saw a great rack of clouds building itself up in the west with amazing speed.
Then a gap was torn in it and a yellow sunset poured through the gap. All the waves behind them seemed to take on unusual shapes and the sea was a drab or yellowish colour like dirty canvas. The air grew cold. The ship seemed to move uneasily as if she felt danger behind he The sail would be flat and limp one minute and wildly the next. While she was noting these things and wondering at a sinister change which had come over the very noise the wind, Drinian cried, "All hands on deck." In a moment everyone became frantically busy. The hatches wet battened down, the galley fire was put out, men went aloft to reef the sail. Before they had finished the storm struck them. It seemed to Lucy that a great valley in the sea opened just before their bows, and they rushed down in it, deeper down than she would have believed possible. A great grey hill of water, far higher than the mast, rushed to meet them; it looked certain death but they were tossed to the top of it. Then the ship seemed to spin round. A cataract of water poured over the deck; the poop and forecastle were like two islands with a fierce sea between them. aloft the sailors were lying out along the yard desperate trying to get control of the sail. A broken rope stood out sideways in the wind as straight and stiff as if it was poker.
"Get below, Ma'am," bawled Drinian. And Lucy knowing that landsmen - and landswomen - are a nuisance to the crew, began to obey. It was not easy. The Dawn Treader was listing terribly to starboard and the deck sloped like the roof of a house. She had to clamber round to the top of the ladder, holding on to the rail, and the stand by while two men climbed up it, and then get down as best she could. It was well she was already holding tight for at the foot of the ladder another wave roar across the deck, up to her shoulders. She was already almost wet through with spray and rain but this was colder. Then she made a dash for the cabin door and got in and shut out for a moment the appalling sight of the speed with which they were rushing into the dark, but not of course the horrible confusion of creakings, groanings, snappings, clatterings, roarings and boomings which only sounded more alarming below than they had done on the poop.
And all next day and all the next it went on. It went on till one could hardly even remember a time before it had begun. And there always had to be three men at the tiller and it was as much as three could do to keep any kind of a course. And there always had to be men at the pump. And there was hardly any rest for anyone, and nothing could be cooked and nothing could be dried, and one man was lost overboard, and they never saw the sun.
When it was over Eustace made the following entry in his diary.
"3 September. The first day for ages when I have been able to write. We had been driven before a hurricane for thirteen days and nights. I know that because I kept a careful count, though the others all say it was only twelve. Pleasant to be embarked on a dangerous voyage with people who can't even count right! I have had a ghastly time, up and down enormous waves hour after hour, usually wet to the skin, and not even an attempt at giving us proper meals. Needless to say there's no wireless or even a rocket, so no chance of signalling anyone for help. It all proves what I keep on telling them, the madness of setting out in a rotten little tub like this. It would be bad enough even if one was with decent people instead of fiends in human form. Caspian and Edmund are simply brutal to me. The night we lost our mast (there's only a stump left now), though I was not at all well, they forced me to come on deck and work like a slave. Lucy shoved her oar in by saying that Reepicheep was longing to go only he was too small. I wonder she doesn't see that everything that little beast does is all for the sake of showing off. Even at her age she ought to have that amount of sense. Today the beastly boat is level at last and the sun's out and we have all been jawing about what to do. We have food enough, pretty beastly stuff most of it, to last for sixteen days. (The poultry were all washed overboard. Even if they hadn't been, the storm would have stopped them laying.) The real trouble is water. Two casks seem to have got a leak knocked in them and are empty. (Narnian efficiency again.) On short rations, half a pint a day each, we've got enough for twelve days. (There's still lots of rum and wine but even they realize that would only make them thirstier.)
"If we could, of course, the sensible thing would be to turn west at once and make for the Lone Islands. But it took us eighteen days to get where we are, running like mad with a gale behind us. Even if we got an east wind it might take us far longer to get back. And at present there's no sign of an east wind - in fact there's no wind at all. As for rowing back, it would take far too long and Caspian says the men couldn't row on half a pint of water a day. I'm pretty sure this is wrong. I tried to explain that perspiration really cools people down, so the men would need less water if they were working. He didn't take any notice of this, which is always his way when he can't think of an answer. The others all voted for going on in the hope of finding land. I felt it my duty to point out that we didn't know there was any land ahead and tried to get them to see the dangers of wishful thinking. Instead of producing a better plan they had the cheek to ask me what I proposed. So I just explained coolly and quietly that I had been kidnapped and brought away on this idiotic voyage without my consent, and it was hardly my business to get them out of their scrape.
"4 September. Still becalmed. Very short rations for dinner and I got less than anyone. Caspian is very clever at helping and thinks I don't see! Lucy for some reason tried to make up to me by offering me some of hers but that interfering prig Edmund wouldn't let her. Pretty hot sun. Terribly thirsty all evening.
"5 September. Still becalmed and very hot. Feeling rotten all day and am sure I've got a temperature. Of course they haven't the sense to keep a thermometer on board.
"6 September. A horrible day. Woke up in the night knowing I was feverish and must have a drink of water. Any doctor would have said so. Heaven knows I'm the last person to try to get any unfair advantage but I never dreamed that this water-rationing would be meant to apply to a sick man. In fact I would have woken the others up and asked for some only I thought it would be selfish to wake them. So I got up and took my cup and tiptoed out of the Black Hole we slept in, taking great care not to disturb Caspian and Edmund, for they've been sleeping badly since the heat and the short water began. I always try to consider others whether they are nice to me or not. I got out all right into the big room, if you can call it a room, where the rowing benches and the luggage are. The thing of water is at this end. All was going beautifully, but before I'd drawn a cupful who should catch me but that little spy Reep. I tried to explain that I was going on deck for a breath of air (the business about the water had nothing to do with him) and he asked me why I had a cup. He made such a noise that the whole ship was roused. They treated me scandalously. I asked, as I think anyone would have, why Reepicheep was sneaking about the water cask in the middle of the night. He said that as he was too small to be any use on deck, he did sentry over the water every night so that one more man could go to sleep. Now comes their rotten unfairness: they all believed him. Can you beat it?
"I had to apologize or the dangerous little brute would have been at me with his sword. And then Caspian showed up in his true colours as a brutal tyrant and said out loud for everyone to hear that anyone found "stealing" water in future would "get two dozen". I didn't know what this meant till Edmund explained to me. It comes in the sort of books those Pevensie kids read.
"After this cowardly threat Caspian changed his tune and started being patronizing. Said he was sorry for me and that everyone felt just as feverish as I did and we must all make the best of it, etc., etc. Odious stuck-up prig. Stayed in bed all day today.
"7 September. A little wind today but still from the west.
Made a few miles eastward with part of the sail, set on what Drinian calls the jury-mast-that means the bowsprit set upright and tied (they call it "lashed") to the stump of the real mast. Still terribly thirsty.
"8 September. Still sailing east. I stay in my bunk all day now and see no one except Lucy till the two fiends come to bed. Lucy gives me a little of her water ration. She says girls don't get as thirsty as boys. I had often thought this but it ought to be more generally known at sea.
"9 September. Land in sight; a very high mountain a long way off to the south-east.
"10 September. The mountain is bigger and clearer but still a long way off. Gulls again today for the first time since I don't know how long.
"11 September. Caught some fish and had them for dinner. Dropped anchor at about 7 p.m. in three fathoms of water in a bay of this mountainous island. That idiot Caspian wouldn't let us go ashore because it was getting dark and he was afraid of savages and wild beasts. Extra water ration tonight."
What awaited them on this island was going to concern Eustace more than anyone else, but it cannot be told in his words because after September 11 he forgot about keeping his diary for a long time.
When morning came, with a low, grey sky but very hot, the adventurers found they were in a bay encircled by such cliffs and crags that it was like a Norwegian fjord. In front of them, at the head of the bay, there was some level land heavily overgrown with trees that appeared to be cedars, through which a rapid stream came out. Beyond that was a steep ascent ending in a jagged ridge and behind that a vague darkness of mountains which ran into dull-coloured clouds so that you could not see their tops. The nearer cliffs, at each side of the bay, were streaked here and there with lines of white which everyone knew to be waterfalls, though at that distance they did not show any movement or make any noise. Indeed the whole place was very silent and the water of the bay as smooth as glass. It reflected every detail of the cliffs. The scene would have been pretty in a picture but was rather oppressive in real life. It was not a country that welcomed visitors.
The whole ship's company went ashore in two boatloads and everyone drank and washed deliciously in the river and had a meal and a rest before Caspian sent four men back to keep the ship, and the day's work began. There was everything to be done. The casks must be brought ashore and the faulty ones mended if possible and all refilled; a tree - a pine if they could get it - must be felled and made into a new mast; sails must be repaired; a hunting party organized to shoot any game the land might yield; clothes to be washed and mended; and countless small breakages on board to be set right. For the Dawn Treader herself - and this was more obvious now that they saw her at a distance - could hardly be recognized as the same gallant ship which had left Narrowhaven. She looked a crippled, discoloured hulk which anyone might have taken for a wreck. And her officers and crew were no better - lean, pale, red-eyed from lack of sleep, and dressed in rags.
As Eustace lay under a tree and heard all these plans being discussed his heart sank. Was there going to be no rest? It looked as if their first day on the longed-for land was going to be quite as hard work as a day at sea. Then a delightful idea occurred to him. Nobody was looking they were all chattering about their ship as if they actually liked the beastly thing. Why shouldn't he simply slip away? He would take a stroll inland, find a cool, airy place up in the mountains, have a good long sleep, and not rejoin the others till the day's work was over. He felt it would do him good. But he would take great care to keep the bay and the ship in sight so as to be sure of his way back. He wouldn't like to be left behind in this country.
He at once put his plan into action. He rose quietly from his place and walked away among the trees, taking care to go slowly and in an aimless manner so that anyone who saw him would think he was merely stretching his legs. He was surprised to find how quickly the noise of conversation died away behind hiin and how very silent and warm and dark green the wood became. Soon he felt he could venture on a quicker and more determined stride.
This soon brought him out of the wood. The ground began sloping steeply up in front of him. The grass was dry and slippery but manageable if he used his hands as well as his feet, and though he panted and mopped his forehead a good deal, he plugged away steadily. This showed, by the way, that his new life, little as he suspected it, had already done him some good; the old Eustace, Harold and Alberta's Eustace, would have given up the climb after about ten minutes.
Slowly, and with several rests, he reached the ridge. Here he had expected to have a view into the heart of the island, but the clouds had now come lower and nearer and a sea of fog was rolling to meet him. He sat down and looked back. He was now so high that the bay looked small beneath him and miles of sea were visible. Then the fog from the mountains closed in all round him, thick but not cold, and he lay down and turned this way and that to find the most comfortable position to enjoy himself.
But he didn't enjoy himself, or not for very long. He began, almost for the first time in his life, to feel lonely. At first this feeling grew very gradually. And then he began to worry about the time. There was not the slightest sound. Suddenly it occurred to him that he might have been lying there for hours. Perhaps the others had gone! Perhaps they had let him wander away on purpose simply in order to leave him behind! He leaped up in a panic and began the descent.
At first he tried to do it too quickly, slipped on the steep grass, and slid for several feet. Then he thought this had carried him too far to the left - and as he came up he had seen precipices on that side. So he clambered up again, as near as he could guess to the place he had started from, and began the descent afresh, bearing to his right. After that things seemed to be going better. He went very cautiously, for he could not see more than a yard ahead, and there was still perfect silence all around him. It is very unpleasant to have to go cautiously when there is a voice inside you saying all the time, "Hurry, hurry, hurry." For every moment the terrible idea of being left behind grew stronger. If he had understood Caspian and the Pevensies at all he would have known, of course, that there was not the least chance of their doing any such thing. But he had persuaded himself that they were all fiends in human form.
"At last!" said Eustace as he came slithering down a slide of loose stones (scree, they call it) and found himself on the level. "And now, where are those trees? There is something dark ahead. Why, I do believe the fog is clearing."
It was. The light increased every moment and made him blink. The fog lifted. He was in an utterly unknown valley and the sea was nowhere in sight.
凱斯賓向孤獨羣島島民發表告別講話，跟公爵和他全家分手時大家又是歡呼，又是掉淚，但等這條船啓碇，紫紅色的風帆依然懶懶地飄動，船給拖得離岸越來越遠，船尾樓上凱斯賓的號聲隔着海面傳來，越來越弱，這時大家都默不作聲。接着船遇上風了。風帆鼓了出來，拖船解纜，劃回去了。黎明踏浪號的船頭下初次涌起了真正的海浪，頓時又成了一艘生氣勃勃的船。不值班的水手都下艙去了，德里寧在船尾樓值第一班，把船頭掉向東，繞過阿芙拉島南面駛去。
接着幾天過得很愉快。露茜認爲自己是天下最幸運的女孩。她每天一早醒來，就看見水面陽光的倒影在天花板上盪漾，環顧四周都是她在孤獨羣島上得到的精美的新東西——高統防水靴、半統靴、披風、皮夾克和披巾。於是她就走上甲板，在船首樓上眺望大海，每天早上碧藍的海面都是一片燦爛，她呼吸到的空氣一天比一天暖和。然後就吃早餐，這麼好的胃口只有在海上旅行的人才有。
她有好多時間坐在船尾的小凳上，同雷佩契普下棋。棋子太大，它拿不動，如果它要把棋子走到棋盤中間，就兩爪舉着棋子，踞起腳尖，瞧那模樣真逗。它棋藝不錯，當它記住自己是在下棋時，往往取勝。不過露茜偶爾也取勝，因爲老鼠下了幾着可笑的棋子，把馬送到由車①護駕的王后面前。發生這種事是因爲它一時忘了自己是在下棋，想起了真正的打仗，就按戰場上騎士應該採取的行動做了。因爲它滿腦想的都是絕望、死亡或光榮的衝鋒陷陣和死守陣地。
不過這種快樂時光不長。有天傍晚，露茜懶洋洋地在船尾盯着船身開過時海面留下的深溝(又稱尾波)，看見西邊一大片浮雲速度驚人地越積越厚。於是雲層間裂了一個口子，黃澄澄的夕陽穿過雲層豁口，噴射而出。船後的波濤奇形怪狀，海面一片淡褐，一片土黃，像骯髒的風帆。空氣轉冷了。船身似乎動盪不安，彷彿感覺到船後面有危險。船帆一會兒癟掉，綿軟無力，一會兒又鼓得滿滿的。她正在注意這些情況，對風聲中傳來的不祥的變化感到納悶，德里寧就大聲喊叫了"全體船員準備。"一會兒人人都忙得沒命。艙口蓋釘上扣板封死了，廚房裏的火也滅了，水手爬到桅杆高處去收縮帆篷。他們還沒完事，風暴就襲擊他們了。露茜似乎覺得海就在他們船頭前開出一個大峽谷，他們就一頭扎進去，深得出乎她意料。一個灰壓壓大山似的海浪，遠比槍桿還要高，迎面涌來;看來準是死路一條了，不料船身卻被拋到浪峯頂上。這時船身似乎打轉了。一陣瀑布似的海水瀉在甲板上;船首樓和船尾樓像兩個孤島，當中隔着一片洶涌的大海。桅杆高處的水手把身子躺在帆桁上，拼命想穩住船帆。一根繃斷的纜繩從斜裏挺出，在風中像根撥火棍一樣又直又硬。
①在國際象棋中馬的英文名稱爲knight，此字原義是騎士;車的英文名稱爲castle，原義是城堡，所以下文說雷佩契普把象棋中的"馬"同戰場上的"騎士"混爲一談了。
"下面去，女王陛下。"德里寧吼道。露茜知道陸地上的人，無論男女，對水於來說是一大麻煩，所以聽從了。可這不容易辦到。黎明踏浪號向右舷傾斜得很厲害，甲板像屋頂般傾斜。她只得四處爬着，爬到梯子上邊，一把抓住欄杆，這時有兩個水手爬上梯子，她就站在一邊，然後儘快爬下梯子。幸好第二個浪頭呼嘯着打過甲板，漫到她肩膀時，她已經在梯腳處緊緊抓住了。雖然她早已給浪花和暴雨打得幾乎渾身透溼，但是這個浪頭更涼。後來她就奔向艙門，走了進去，把飛快衝進黑暗裏的大浪那嚇人景象擋在門外片刻，但是當然擋不住一片可怕的混亂聲，在下面，這片吱吱嘎嘎、哼哼唧唧、噼噼啪啪、咔嗒咔嗒、呼嚕呼嚕、轟隆轟隆的大合唱，反而比在船尾樓上聽上去更驚心動魄。
第二天，第三天，接連好幾天都是整天這樣鬧下去，鬧得你簡直記不住鬧了幾天啦。船上掌舵一直得有三個人，有三個人才能保持一種航向。而且一直得有人用水泵抽水。大家簡直都沒法休息，沒東西好煮，沒東西好烘，一個水手落水失蹤了，大家一點也看不見太陽。
等到風暴過後，尤斯塔斯纔在日記中記下這麼幾條:
九月三日多天來我頭一天能寫字。我們順着十二級大風開船，足足有十三個晝夜。我知道日子，因爲我有本細賬，雖然大家都說只有十二個晝夜。上船跟一批連數字都數不準的人一起冒着危險航海可真妙！我吃了不少苦頭，連續幾小時在巨浪上顛簸，往往渾身溼透，連好好吃頓熱飯都休想。更不用說沒有無線電報，連火箭都沒有，所以沒有向任何船隻發信號求救的機會。這一切都證明我不斷告誡他們的話一點不錯，乘坐這麼一條小破船出海真是發瘋。即使是跟正人君子出海，不是跟披着人皮的惡鬼出海也夠糟的了。凱斯賓和愛德蒙對我真粗暴極了。我們桅杆折斷的那天晚上(現在只剩下一個木頭板子了)，雖然我身體根本不行，他們還是逼我上甲板，像奴隸似的幹活。露茜還多管閒事說雷佩契普正巴不得去幹活呢，只是它個子大小了。我感到奇怪，她竟看不出那小畜生的所作所爲都是爲了顯露自己。即使她那樣的年紀也應當有那麼多的心眼。今天這條該死的船終於平穩了，太陽出來了，我們一直都在扯着該幹些什麼。我們的糧食還夠吃十六天，大部分都是相當難吃的東西。(家禽都給衝下海去了。即使沒落水，風暴這一刮也會使它們不下蛋的。)真正麻煩的是淡水。兩個水桶看來給撞了道裂縫，水都流光了。(又是納尼亞人辦事的效率。)配給量縮減，每天只有半品脫，我們的水只夠喝十二天。甜酒和葡萄酒倒是還有不少，不過連他們都知道酒可越喝越渴。
如果可能，最明智的辦法當然是馬上掉頭往西，開往孤獨羣島去。不過開到這裏已經十八天了，後面又有大風推送，船開得像發瘋。即使我們遇上東風，要開回去也要花更長的時間——事實上，根本沒有風。至於划槳回去吧，花的時間就更長了，凱斯賓說水手一天喝半品脫水劃不動槳。這話肯定不對。我竭力解釋，出汗真正能降低體溫，所以如果水手在工作，需要的水就不多。他一點也不理會這話，碰到他想不出話來回答總是這樣。其他人都一致贊成繼續向前開，盼望能找到陸地。我感到自己有責任指出，我們並不知道前面有沒有什麼陸地，我竭力讓他們明白一相情願的危險。他們不但不提出一個更好的計劃，反而厚着臉皮問我有何見教。於是我非常冷靜沉着地說明，我是給拐騙來的，未經我同意就給帶上船來做這次白癡的航行，所以幫他們擺脫困境跟我也沒多大關係。
九月四日依然風平浪靜。午飯配給量很少，我比誰都分得少。凱斯賓在分菜時很精明，以爲我看不出！不知什麼原因露茜竟想把她的份額分點給我，可是那個多管閒事的討慶鬼愛德蒙偏不讓她分。太陽真毒辣。整個晚上口渴難忍。
九月五日依然風平浪靜，天很熱。全天感到身體很難受，肯定有熱度。他們當然不懂得在船上備一個體溫表。:
九月六日可怕的一天。夜裏醒來，明知身體發燒，必須喝水。任何醫生都會這麼說。天知道，我這人最不會設法去佔任何非法的便直，不過我做夢也決沒想到配給水的規定竟對病人也適用。其實我原來可以叫醒別人，要點水喝，只是我想吵醒人家未免自私。所以我就起身，拿了我的杯子，距着腳尖走出我們睡覺的黑洞，小心翼翼，不要打擾凱斯賓和愛德蒙，因爲他們自從天熱和缺水以來，一直睡不好。不管人家對我是好是壞，我總是儘量爲別人着想。我順利走進那大房間，如果你能把它稱做房間的話，那兒都是划槳坐的長凳和行李。水那東西就在這一頭。一切都順順當當，可是我還沒斟滿一杯，就被逮住了，要不是碰上那小探子雷普可沒人抓我。我想法解釋說我上甲板去吸吸新鮮空氣(水的問題管它屁事)，它卻問我拿個杯子幹嗎。它大聲吵鬧，吵得全船的人都醒了。他們待我那態度令人反感之極。我問，爲什麼雷佩契普半夜三更偷偷摸到水桶那兒，我想任何人都會這樣問的。它說，因爲它個子大小，甲板上派不了用處，它就每夜值班看水，這樣就可以多一個人去睡覺。瞧，他們那套混賬的不公平做法又來了:他們全都相信它，真是豈有此理！/
我只得賠禮道歉，不然險惡的小畜生又要拿劍對着我了。這時凱斯賓露出他蠻橫暴君的真面目，大聲說給每個人聽，說將來凡是發現有人"偷"水，就"罰兩打"。愛德蒙跟我解釋了我才明白這話是什麼意思。原來這話是出於佩文西家孩子看的那種書裏的。
凱斯賓這樣虛張聲勢地威脅一通後，又改變語調，儼然以恩人自居，說他對我是愛莫能助，因爲人人都跟我一樣感到發燒，我們大家都必須盡力克服等等等等。裝腔作勢、自以爲是的討厭鬼。今天全天賴在牀上。8
九月七日今天有點風，不過仍然是西風。靠支在德里寧所謂的應急桅杆上的部分船帆向東行駛了幾英里就是將第一斜桅豎直，綁(他們稱做”捆”)在真正桅杆的板子上。仍感到口渴難忍。
九月八日依然向東行駛。現在我整天待在鋪位上，除了露茜，什麼人都看不見，直到兩個惡鬼上鋪睡覺。露茜給我一些她的配給水。她說女孩不像男孩那樣口渴。我常想着這點，可是這點應當讓航海的人普遍知道。(
九月九日看見陸地了。東南方向遠處有一座很高的大山。
九月十日山越來越大，越來越清晰，可是仍隔着很長一段路程。不知多久沒見海鷗了，今天第一次又見到。
九月十一日捕到些魚做中飯。晚上七點在這山島一個海灣三英尋深的水裏拋錨。凱斯賓那個白癡不讓我們上岸，因爲天黑了，他怕野人和野獸。今晚額外配給水。
在這島上等待他們的將關係到尤斯塔斯的命運，這關係比對任何人都重大，可是這些事不能用他自己的話來交代，因爲九月十一日以後，他有很長一段時期忘了記日記了。
到了早上，天空低垂灰沉，但很熱，這些探險的人只見自己身在一個周圍都是斷巖峭壁的海灣，很像挪威海岸的峽灣。在他們面前，海灣灘頭上有些平地，密密麻麻長滿樹木，看上去是雪松，林間流出一條激流。激流那頭是個陡峭的山坡，坡頂是巉巖林立的山脊，後面是莽莽蒼蒼的羣山，聳立在黑沉沉的雲堆中，所以看不見山頂。海灣每一邊近一點的峭壁，都有一道道白練，大家都知道這是瀑布，雖然隔
着那麼段距離不見動靜，也聽不見什麼響聲。整個地方確實非常幽靜，海灣水面平滑如鏡，鉅細無遺地倒映出峭壁來。這景色在畫面裏雖然很好看，可是在實際生活中卻相當壓抑。這裏不是個歡迎外人的地方。
全船人分坐兩條小船上岸，人人都到河裏喝水，美美洗了個澡，還吃了頓飯，休息了一下，凱斯賓纔派四個人回去照管大船，白天的工作就開始了。要做的工作千頭萬緒。水桶必須搬上岸來，損壞的能修則修，全得灌滿;必須砍下一棵樹——找得到松樹最好——一再做成一根新槍桿;船帆必須修理;組織一支持獵隊去打獵，島上出產什麼野物就打什麼野物，衣物必須洗洗補補;船上無數破損的地方都得修好。因爲乍一看簡直認不出黎明踏浪號就是離開狹港時那艘雄偉的大船了，這回他們在遠處看去更加明顯。這條船看來像條開動不了、污染褪色的廢船，任何人都會把它當成一堆破爛。船員上上下下都好不了多少——骨瘦如柴，臉色蒼白，缺少睡眠，眼睛熬得通紅，衣服破破爛爛。
尤斯塔斯正躺在樹下，聽到大家在討論這一切計劃，心不由沉了下來。難道回頭不休息了嗎？看樣子他們到達盼望已久的陸地的頭一天就打算像在海上一樣幹一天苦活。這時他計上心頭。沒人看着他——一他們都七嘴八舌在扯船的事，彷彿他們真的喜歡這種討厭事似的。他何不乾脆溜掉呢？他不妨到內陸溜達溜達，在山上找一個涼快的地方，好好睡上一覺，等到大家幹完一天的活纔去找他們。他覺得這樣對他大有好處。不過他要好好留神，待在看得見海灣和船的地方，這樣就可以確定回來的路線。他纔不願意流落在這種地方呢。
他當即實施自己這條妙計。悄悄起身，在樹叢間走掉，一邊小心慢慢走，裝做漫無目標的模樣，這樣任何人看見他都會當他只是在散步而已。沒想到一下子身後的說話聲就消失了，林子裏變得非常幽靜、溫暖，一片深綠。不久他就感到自己可以把步子跨得快些、果斷些了。
他三腳兩步一下子就走出樹林。眼前的地面開始成了陡峭的斜坡。野草乾燥而溜滑，要是手腳並用倒還能湊合，雖然他氣喘吁吁，拼命擦腦門的汗水，但還是不斷拼命爬着。順便說一句，儘管他自己不大覺察到，這表明他的新生活已經對他有些好處了;過去的尤斯塔斯可是爹孃的寶貝，爬上十分鐘早就罷手了。
歇了幾回，他慢慢爬上山脊。他原以爲在這兒可以看看島嶼中心，誰知雲層越來越低，越來越近，一片霧海迎面滾滾而來。他坐下，回頭看看。現在他爬得那麼高，下面的海灣看上去很小，還看得見好幾英里長的海面。隨後山上的迷霧從四面八方向他逼近)。濃雖濃，倒還不冷，他索性躺下，這裏翻翻，那裏翻翻，以便找個最舒服的姿勢享受一下。
可是他並沒享受到，或者說沒享受多久。他就開始感到孤獨了，這幾乎是他生平頭一回感到孤獨。開頭這股感覺是一步步來的。接着他開始擔心時間。一點聲音都聽不到。他忽然一下子想到他可能已經躺了好幾個小時了。也許其他人早走了！也許他們存心讓他走開，乾脆就爲了把他扔下|他慌慌張張跳起來，開始爬下山去。
開頭他操之過急，在陡峭的草坡上滑倒了，而且滑了好幾步。接着他覺得這一滑太偏向左面了——一因爲他爬上山時看見過那一面有懸崖。所以他重新爬上去，儘量靠近他猜想中的原先出發的地方，
再重新開始下山，靠右邊走。後來似乎順利些了。他非常謹慎地爬着，因爲前面一碼以外的地方就什麼也看不見，而且四下依然一片死寂。如果內心一直有個聲音在催着說，"趕快，趕快，趕快"，卻不得不謹慎行事，這是很不舒服的。因爲被拋棄的可怕念頭時時刻刻都在，而且變得越來越強烈。假如他真瞭解凱斯賓和佩文西兄妹的話，他當然就會知道他們是決不會做任何這類事的。不過他心裏卻在說服自己，他們都是披着人皮的惡鬼。
"終於到了！"尤斯塔斯順着一條石子鬆散的滑坡(他們稱作碎石堆)滑下去，不覺落到平地上，不由說。"唉，那些樹到哪兒去了？前面有些黑糊糊的。啊，我相信霧在散了。
果然如此，光線越來越亮，亮得他直眨眼睛。霧消失了。
他落在一個完全不知所在的山谷裏，根本看不見大海。
