Blown to Bits; or, The Lonely Man of Rakata
AUTHOR OF BLUE LIGHTS, OR HOT WORK IN THE SOUDAN; THE FUGITIVES; RED ROONEY; THE ROVER OF THE ANDES; THE WILD MAN OF THE WEST; THE RED ERIC; FREAKS ON THE FELLS; THE YOUNG TRAWLER; DUSTY DIAMONDS; THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER; POST HASTE; BLACK IVORY; THE IRON HORSE; FIGHTING THE FLAMES; THE LIFEBOAT; ETC. ETC.
With Illustrations by the Author.
EIGHTH THOUSAND .
The extremely violent nature of the volcanic eruption in Krakatoa in 1883, the peculiar beauty of those parts of the eastern seas where the event occurred, the wide-spread influences of the accompanying phenomena, and the tremendous devastation which resulted, have all inspired me with a desire to bring the matter, in the garb of a tale, before that portion of the juvenile world which accords me a hearing.
For most of the facts connected with the eruption which have been imported into my story, I have to acknowledge myself indebted to the recently published important and exhaustive Report of the Krakatoa Committee, appointed by the Royal Society to make a thorough investigation of the whole matter in all its phases.
I have also to acknowledge having obtained much interesting and useful information from the following among other works:— The Malay Archipelago , by A.R. Wallace; A Naturalist's Wanderings in the Eastern Archipelago , by H.O. Forbes; and Darwin's Journal of Researches round the world in H.M.S. Beagle.
R.M. BALLANTYNE.
HARROW-ON-THE HILL, 1889.
Blown to bits; bits so inconceivably, so ineffably, so microscopically small that—but let us not anticipate.
About the darkest hour of a very dark night, in the year 1883, a large brig lay becalmed on the Indian Ocean, not far from that region of the Eastern world which is associated in some minds with spices, volcanoes, coffee, and piratical junks, namely, the Malay Archipelago.
R. M. Ballantyne
---
"CAME UNEXPECTEDLY ON A CAVERN."
BLOWN TO BITS
OR
THE LONELY MAN OF RAKATA.
A Tale of the Malay Archipelago.
PREFACE.
CONTENTS.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
BLOWN TO BITS
A TALE OF THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO.
THE PLAY COMMENCES.
THE HAVEN IN THE CORAL RING.
INTERESTING PARTICULARS OF VARIOUS KINDS.
NIGEL UNDERGOES SOME QUITE NEW AND INTERESTING EXPERIENCES.
ART ON THE KEELING ISLANDS
FOOTNOTES:
CAPTAIN ROY SURPRISES AND GRATIFIES HIS SON, WHO SURPRISES A NEGRO, AND SUDDENLY FORMS AN ASTONISHING RESOLVE.
THE HERMIT OF RAKATA INTRODUCED.
WONDERS OF THE HERMIT'S CAVE AND ISLAND.
PERBOEWATAN BECOMES MODERATELY VIOLENT.
FOOTNOTES:
DESCRIBES, AMONG OTHER THINGS, A SINGULAR MEETING UNDER PECULIAR CIRCUMSTANCES.
A CURIOUS SEA-GOING CRAFT—THE UNKNOWN VOYAGE BEGUN.
CANOEING ON THE SEA—A MYSTERIOUS NIGHT-SURPRISE AND SUDDEN FLIGHT.
WEATHERING A STORM IN THE OPEN SEA.
FRIENDS ARE MET WITH, ALSO PIRATES, AND A LIFE-OR-DEATH PADDLE ENSUES.
THEY DISCOVER A PIRATES' BIVOUAC
A NEW FRIEND FOUND—NEW DANGERS ENCOUNTERED AND HEW HOPES DELAYED.
"DO YOU HEAR?" SAID VERKIMIER, STERNLY
HUNTING THE GREAT MAN-MONKEY.
BEGINS WITH A TERRIBLE FIGHT AND ENDS WITH A HASTY FLIGHT.
TELLS OF THE JOYS, ETC., OF THE PROFESSOR IN THE SUMATRAN FORESTS, ALSO OF A CATASTROPHE AVERTED.
A TRYING ORDEAL—DANGER THREATENS AND FLIGHT AGAIN RESOLVED ON.
A TERRIBLE MURDER AND A STRANGE REVELATION.
NIGEL MAKES A CONFIDANT OF MOSES—UNDERTAKES A LONELY WATCH AND SEES SOMETHING WONDERFUL.
IN WHICH THE PROFESSOR DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF.
A PYTHON DISCOVERED AND A GEYSER INTERVIEWED.
TELLS OF VOLCANIC FIRES AND A STRANGE RETURN "HOME."
AN AWFUL NIGHT AND TERRIBLE MORNING.
BLOWN TO BITS
ADVENTURES OF THE "SUNSHINE" AND AN UNEXPECTED REUNION.
A CLIMAX.
"BLOWN TO BITS."
THE FATE OF THE "SUNSHINE."
TELLS CHIEFLY OF THE WONDERFUL EFFECTS OF THIS ERUPTION ON THE WOULD AT LARGE.
COMING EVENTS, ETC.—WONDERFUL CHANGES AMONG THE ISLANDS.
ENDS WITH A STRUGGLE BETWEEN INCLINATION AND DUTY.
THE LAST.
THE END
SELECT LIST OF BOOKS
PRESENTS AND PRIZES,
WORKS by Mrs. MARSHALL.
Mrs. MARSHALL'S WORKS—continued.
Mr. R.M. BALLANTYNE'S BOOKS—continued.
MR. R.M. BALLANTYNE'S MISCELLANY—continued.
AGNES GIBERNE'S WORKS—continued
REVISED BY THE QUEEN.
THE "CHIMES" SERIES.
THE "LAUREL" SERIES.
THE "SUNSHINE" SERIES.
THE "MARBECK" SERIES.
THE "SWEETBRIAR" SERIES.
THE "ROUNDABOUT" SERIES.
BIBLE HISTORY FOR THE YOUNG.
"THE WORD" SERIES.
THE GOLDEN LADDER SERIES.
THE "GOLDEN SILENCE" SERIES OF TALES.
"DOLLY'S CHARGE" SERIES.
NISBET'S JUVENILE LIBRARY.
THE SELECT SERIES OF BOOKS SUITABLE FOR PRESENTS AND PRIZES.
THE "PILGRIM" SERIES.
SELECT LIST OF BOOKS
DEVOTIONAL AND PRACTICAL
THE CHRISTIAN UNDER REVIEW.
Lectures on Ecclesiastical History delivered in Norwich Cathedral.
NISBET'S MINIATURE CHRISTIAN CLASSICS.
LIST OF BOOKS OF FAMILY PRAYERS.
WORKS BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
Язык
Английский
Год издания
2005-03-13
Темы
Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Islands -- Juvenile fiction; Canoes and canoeing -- Juvenile fiction; Friendship -- Juvenile fiction; Pirates -- Juvenile fiction; Adventure and adventurers -- Juvenile fiction; Natural history -- Juvenile fiction; Hunting -- Juvenile fiction; Hermits -- Juvenile fiction; Murder -- Juvenile fiction; Malay Archipelago -- Juvenile fiction; Krakatoa (Indonesia) -- Juvenile fiction