In Search of the Castaways | Page 8

"Well, we'll go on," resumed Glenarvan. "Here is the word ABOR; that is clearly the root
of the verb ABORDER. The poor men have landed somewhere; but where?
CONTIN--does that mean continent? CRUEL!"
"CRUEL!" interrupted John Mangles. "I see now what GRAUS is part of in the second

document. It is GRAUSAM, the word in German for CRUEL!"
"Let's go on," said Lord Glenarvan, becoming quite excited over his task, as the
incomplete words began to fill up and develop their meaning. "INDI,--is it India where
they have been shipwrecked? And what can this word ONGIT be part of? Ah! I see--it is
LONGITUDE; and here is the latitude, 37 degrees 11". That is the precise indication at
last, then!"
"But we haven't the longitude," objected McNabbs.
"But we can't get everything, my dear Major; and it is something at all events, to have the
exact latitude. The French document is decidedly the most complete of the three; but it is
plain enough that each is the literal translation of the other, for they all contain exactly
the same number of lines. What we have to do now is to put together all the words we
have found, and translate them into one language, and try to ascertain their most probable
and logical sense."
"Well, what language shall we choose?" asked the Major.
"I think we had better keep to the French, since that was the most complete document of
the three."
"Your Lordship is right," said John Mangles, "and besides, we're all familiar with the
language."
"Very well, then, I'll set to work."
In a few minutes he had written as follows:
7 Juin 1862 trois-mats Britannia Glasgow sombre gonie austral a terre deux matelots
capitaine Gr abor contin pr cruel indi jete ce document de longitude et 37 degrees 11" de
latitude Portez-leur secours perdus.
[7th of June, 1862 three-mast BRITANNIA Glasgow] foundered gonie southern on the
coast two sailors Gr Captain landed contin pr cruel indi thrown this document in
longitude and 37 degrees 11" latitude Bring them assistance lost
Just at that moment one of the sailors came to inform the captain that they were about
entering the Firth of Clyde, and to ask what were his orders.
"What are your Lordship's intentions?" said John Mangles, addressing Lord Glenarvan.
"To get to Dunbarton as quickly as possible, John; and Lady Helena will return to
Malcolm Castle, while I go on to London and lay this document before the Admiralty."
The sailor received orders accordingly, and went out to deliver them to the mate.
"Now, friends," said Lord Glenarvan, "let us go on with our investigations, for we are on

the track of a great catastrophe, and the lives of several human beings depend on our
sagacity. We must give our whole minds to the solution of this enigma."
"First of all, there are three very distinct things to be considered in this document--the
things we know, the things we may conjecture, the things we do not know."
"What are those we know? We know that on the 7th of June a three-mast vessel, the
BRITANNIA of Glasgow, foundered; that two sailors and the captain threw this
document into the sea in 37 degrees 11" latitude, and they entreat help."
"Exactly so," said the Major.
"What are those now we may conjecture?" continued Glenarvan. "That the shipwreck
occurred in the southern seas; and here I would draw your attention at once to the
incomplete word GONIE. Doesn't the name of the country strike you even in the mere
mention of it?"
"Patagonia!" exclaimed Lady Helena.
"Undoubtedly."
"But is Patagonia crossed by the 37th parallel?" asked the Major.
"That is easily ascertained," said the captain, opening a map of South America. "Yes, it is;
Patagonia just touches the 37th parallel. It cuts through Araucania, goes along over the
Pampas to the north, and loses itself in the Atlantic."
"Well, let us proceed then with our conjectures. The two sailors and the captain
LAND--land where? CONTIN--on a continent; on a continent, mark you, not an island.
What becomes of them? There are two letters here providentially which give a clew to
their fate--PR, that must mean prisoners, and CRUEL INDIAN is evidently the meaning
of the next two words. These unfortunate men are captives in the hands of cruel Indians.
Don't you see it? Don't the words seem to come of themselves, and fill up the blanks?
Isn't the document quite clear now? Isn't the sense self-evident?"
Glenarvan spoke in a tone of absolute conviction, and his enthusiastic confidence
appeared contagious, for the others all exclaimed, too, "Yes, it is evident, quite evident!"
After an instant, Lord Edward said again, "To my own mind the hypothesis is so
plausible, that I have no doubt whatever the event occurred on the coast