Chapter 21 - Page 2

blasting to take place on the following morning,
but when daylight appeared we found that the men, although they
had laboured with a will, had only been able to work for an hour
at low water and that four tides must ebb before the mine had
been sunk to the required depth.

Not until eight o'clock on the morning of the 23rd was the work
complete. The hole was bored obliquely in the rock, and was
large enough to contain about ten pounds of explosive matter.
Just as the picrate was being introduced into the aperture,
Falsten interposed:--

"Stop," he said, "I think it will be best to mix the picrate with
common powder, as that will allow us to fire the mine with a
match instead of the gun-priming which would be necessary to
produce a shock. Besides, it is an understood thing that the
addition of gunpowder renders picrate far more effective in
blasting such rocks as this, as then the violence of the picrate
prepares the way for the powder which, slower in its action, will
complete the disseverment of the basalt."

Falsten is not a great talker, but what he does say is always
very much to the point. His good advice was immediately followed;
the two substances were mixed together, and after a match had
been introduced the compound was rammed closely into the hole.

Notwithstanding that the "Chancellor" was at a distance from the
rocks that insured her from any danger of being injured by the
explosion, it was thought advisable that the passengers and crew
should take refuge in the grotto at the extremity of the reef,
and even Mr. Kear, in spite of his many objections, was forced to
leave the ship. Falsten, as soon as he had set fire to the
match, joined us in our retreat.

The train was to burn for ten minutes, and at the end of that
time the explosion took place; the report, on account of the
depth of the mine, being muffled, and much less noisy than we had
expected. But the operation had been perfectly successful.
Before we reached the ridge we could see that the basalt had been
literally reduced to powder, and that a little channel, already
being filled by the rising tide, had been cut right through the
obstacle. A loud hurrah rang through the air; our prison-doors
were opened, and we were prisoners no more!

At high tide the "Chancellor" weighed anchor and floated out into
the open sea, but she was not in a condition to sail until she
had been ballasted; and for the next twenty-four hours the crew
were busily employed in taking up blocks of stone, and such of
the bales of cotton as had sustained the least amount of injury.

In the course of the day, M. Letourneur, Andre, Miss Herbey, and
I took a farewell walk round the reef, and Andre with artistic
skill,