Таємничий острів

           Hewouldbeallthattheyliked,"evenaprofessorofdancinganddeportment,"saidhetoNeb,ifthatwasevernecessary.

           NebandPencroftwerefirstofalltoldtoextractthegreasefromthedugong,andtokeeptheflesh,whichwasdestinedforfood.Suchperfectconfidencehadtheyintheengineer,thattheysetoutdirectly,withoutevenaskingaquestion.Afewminutesafterthem,CyrusHarding,Herbert,andGideonSpilett,draggingthehurdle,wenttowardstheveinofcoals,wherethoseshistosepyritesaboundwhicharemetwithinthemostrecenttransitionsoil,andofwhichHardinghadalreadyfoundaspecimen.AllthedaybeingemployedincarryingaquantityofthesestonestotheChimneys,byeveningtheyhadseveraltons.

           Thenextday,the8thofMay,theengineerbeganhismanipulations.Theseshistosepyritesbeingcomposedprincipallyofcoal,flint,alumina,andsulphuretofiron—thelatterinexcess—itwasnecessarytoseparatethesulphuretofiron,andtransformitintosulphateasrapidlyaspossible.Thesulphateobtained,thesulphuricacidcouldthenbeextracted.

           Thiswastheobjecttobeattained.Sulphuricacidisoneoftheagentsthemostfrequentlyemployed,andthemanufacturingimportanceofanationcanbemeasuredbytheconsumptionwhichismadeofit.Thisacidwouldlaterbeofgreatusetothesettlers,inthemanufacturingofcandles,tanningskins,etc.,butthistimetheengineerreserveditforanotheruse.

           CyrusHardingchose,behindtheChimneys,asitewherethegroundwasperfectlylevel.