 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne. Part 1 Chapter 1 Are we rising again? No, on the contrary. Are we descending? Worse than that, Captain, we are falling. For heaven's sake, heave out the ballast. There, the last sack is empty. Does the balloon rise? No! I hear a noise like a dashing of waves. The sea is below the car. It cannot be more than five hundred feet from us. Overboard with every weight, everything. Such were the loud and startling words which resounded through the air above the vast watery desert of the Pacific about four o'clock in the evening of the twenty-third of March, 1865. Few can possibly have forgotten the terrible storm from the northeast in the middle of the equinox of that year. The tempest raged without intermission from the eighteenth to the twenty-sixth of March. Its ravages were terrible in America, Europe, and Asia, covering a distance of eighteen hundred miles, and extending obliquely to the equator from the thirty-fifth north parallel to the fortieth south parallel. Towns were overthrown, forests uprooted, coast devastated by the mountains of water which were precipitated on them, vessels cast on the shore which the published accounts numbered by hundreds, whole districts leveled by waterspouts which destroyed everything they passed over. Several thousand people crushed on land or drowned at sea. Such were the traces of its fury left by this devastating tempest. It surpassed in disasters those which so frightfully ravaged Havana and Guadalupe, one on the twenty-fifth of October, 1810, the other on the twenty-sixth of July, 1825. While so many catastrophes were taking place on land and at sea, a drama not less exciting was being enacted in the agitated air. In fact, a balloon, as a ball might be carried on the summit of a waterspout, had been taken into the circling movement of a column of air and had traversed space at the rate of ninety miles an hour, turning round and as if seized by some aerial millstrump. Beneath the lower point of the balloon swung a car, containing five passengers, scarcely visible in the midst of the thick vapor mingled with spray which hung over the surface of the ocean. Wents, it may be asked, had come that plaything of the tempest. From what part of the world did it rise? It surely could not have started during the storm. But the storm had raged five days already, and the first symptoms were manifested on the eighteenth. It cannot be doubted that the balloon came from a great distance, for it could not have traveled less than two thousand miles in twenty-four hours. At any rate, the passengers' destitute of all marks for their guidance could not have possessed the means of reckoning the route traversed since their departure. It was a remarkable fact that, although in the very midst of the furious tempest, they did not suffer from it. They were thrown about and whirled round and round, without feeling the rotation in the slightest degree, or being sensible that they were removed from a horizontal position. Their eyes could not pierce through the thick mist which had gathered beneath the car. Dark vapor was all around them. Such was the density of the atmosphere that they could not be certain whether it was day or night. No reflection of light, no sound from inhabited land, no roaring of the ocean, could have reached them, through the obscurity while suspended in those elevated zones. Their rapid descent alone had informed them of the dangers which they ran from the waves. However, the balloon, lightened of heavy articles such as ammunition, arms, and provisions, had risen into the higher layers of the atmosphere to a height of 4,500 feet. The voyagers, after having discovered that the sea extended beneath them, and thinking the dangers above less dreadful than those below, did not hesitate to throw overboard even their most useful articles while they endeavored to lose no more of that fluid, the life of their enterprise which sustained them above the abyss. The night passed in the midst of alarms which would have been death to less energetic souls. Again the day appeared, and with it the tempest began to moderate. From the beginning of that day, the 24th of March, it showed symptoms of abating. At dawn some of the lighter clouds had risen into the more lofty regions of the air. In a few hours the wind had changed from a hurricane to a fresh breeze. That is to say, the rate of the transit of the atmospheric layers was diminished by half. It was still what sailors call a close, reefed top sail breeze, but the commotion in the elements had nonetheless considerably diminished. Towards eleven o'clock the lower region of the air was sensibly clearer. The atmosphere threw off that chilly dampness which is felt after the passage of a great meteor. The storm did not seem to have gone farther to the west. It appeared to have exhausted itself. Could it have passed away in electric sheets, as is sometimes the case with regard to the typhoons of the Indian Ocean? But at the same time it was also evident that the balloon was again slowly descending with a regular movement. It appeared, as if it were, little by little collapsing, and that its case was lengthening and extending, passing from a spherical to an oval form. Towards midday the balloon was hovering above the sea at a height of only two thousand feet. It contained fifty thousand cubic feet of gas, and, thanks to its capacity, it could maintain itself a long time in the air, although it should reach a great altitude or might be thrown into a horizontal position. Perceiving their danger, the passengers cast away the last articles which still weighed down the car, the few provisions they had kept, everything, even to their pocket knives, and one of them, having hoist himself on to the circles which united the cords of the net, tried to secure more firmly the lower point of the balloon. It was, however, evident to the voyagers that the gas was failing, and that the balloon could no longer be sustained in the higher regions. They must infallibly perish. There was not a continent, nor even an island, visible beneath them. The watery expanse did not present a single speck of land, not a solid surface upon which their anchor could hold. It was the open sea, whose waves were still dashing with tremendous violence. It was the ocean, without any visible limits, even for those whose gaze, from their commanding position, extended over a radius of forty miles. The vast liquid plain, lashed without mercy by the storm, appeared as if covered with herds of furious chargers whose white and disheveled crests were streaming in the wind. No land was in sight, not a solitary ship could be seen. It was necessary at any cost to arrest their downward course, and to prevent the balloon from being engulfed in the waves. The voyagers directed all their energies to this urgent work, but notwithstanding their efforts, the balloon still fell, and at the same time shifted with the greatest rapidity, following the direction of the wind. That is to say, from the northeast to the southwest. Frightful indeed was the situation of these unfortunate men. They were evidently no longer masters of the machine. All their attempts were useless. The case of the balloon collapsed more and more. The gas escaped without any possibility of retaining it. Their descent was visibly accelerated, and soon after midday the car hung within six hundred feet of the ocean. It was impossible to prevent the escape of gas, which rushed through a large rent in the silk. By lighting the car of all the articles which it contained, the passengers had been able to prolong their suspension in the air for a few hours. But the inevitable catastrophe could only be retarded, and if land did not appear before night, voyagers, car, and balloon must to a certainty vanish beneath the waves. They now resorted to the only remaining expedient. They were truly dauntless men who knew how to look death in the face. Not a single murmur escaped from their lips. They were determined to struggle to the last minute to do anything to retard their fall. The car was only a sort of willow basket unable to float, and there was not the slightest possibility of maintaining it on the surface of the sea. Two more hours passed, and the balloon was scarcely four hundred feet above the water. At that moment a loud voice, the voice of a man whose heart was inaccessible to fear, was heard. To this voice responded others, less determined. Is everything thrown out? No, here are still two thousand dollars in gold. A heavy bag immediately plunged into the sea. Does the balloon rise? A little, but it will not be long before it falls again. What still remains to be thrown out? Nothing. Yes, the car. Let us catch hold of the net and into the sea with the car. This was, in fact, the last and only mode of lightening the balloon. The ropes which held the car were cut, and the balloon, after its fall, mounted two thousand feet. The five voyagers had hoisted themselves into the net, and clung to the meshes, gazing at the abyss. The delicate sensibility of balloons is well known. It is sufficient to throw out the lightest article to produce a difference in its vertical position. The apparatus in the air is like a balance of mathematical precision. It can be thus easily understood that when it is lightened of any considerable weight, its movement will be impetuous and sudden. So it happened on this occasion. But after being suspended for an instant aloft, the balloon began to re-descend the gas escaping by the rent which it was impossible to repair. The men had done all that men could do. No human efforts could save them now. They must trust to the mercy of him who rules the elements. At four o'clock the balloon was only five hundred feet above the surface of the water. A loud barking was heard. A dog accompanied the voyagers and was held close to his master in the meshes of the net. Top has seen something, cried one of the men. Then immediately a loud voice shouted, Land! Land! The balloon, which the wind still drove towards the southwest, had since daybreak gone a considerable distance, which might be reckoned by hundreds of miles, and a tolerably high land had, in fact, appeared in that direction. But this land was still thirty miles off. It would not take less than an hour to get to it. And then there was the chance of falling to Leeward. An hour. Might not the balloon before that be emptied of all the fluid it yet retained? Such was the terrible question. The voyagers could distinctly see that solid spot which they must reach at any cost. They were ignorant of what it was, whether an island or a continent, for they did not know to what part of the world the hurricane had driven them. But they must reach this land, whether inhabited or desolate, whether hospitable or not. It was evident that the balloon could no longer support itself. Several times already had the crests of the enormous billows licked the bottom of the net, making it still heavier, and the balloon only half rose like a bird with a wounded wing. Half an hour later the land was not more than a mile off, but the balloon exhausted, flabby, hanging in great folds, had gas in its upper part alone. The voyagers, clinging to the net, were still too heavy for it, and soon half plunged into the sea they were beaten by the furious waves. The balloon case bulged out again, and the wind, taking it, drove it along like a vessel. Might it not possibly thus reach the land? But when only two fathoms off, terrible cries resounded from four pairs of lungs at once. The balloon, which it appeared as if it would never again rise, suddenly made an unexpected bound after having been struck by a tremendous sea, as if it had been at that instant relieved of a new part of its weight. It mounted to a height of 1500 feet, and here it met a current of wind, which instead of taking it directly to the coast, carried it on a nearly parallel direction. At last, two minutes later, it re-approached obliquely, and finally fell on a sandy beach out of the reach of the waves. The voyagers, aiding each other, managed to disengage themselves from the meshes of the net. The balloon, relieved of their weight, was taken by the wind, and like a wounded bird, which revives for an instant, disappeared into space. But the car had contained five passengers with a dog, and the balloon only left four on the shore. The missing person had evidently been swept off by the sea, which had just struck the net, and it was owing to this circumstance that the lightened balloon rose the last time, and then soon after reached the land. Scarcely had the four castaways set foot on firm ground, then they all, thinking of the absent one, simultaneously exclaimed, Perhaps he will try to swim to land. Let us save him! Let us save him! Chapter 2. Those whom the hurricane had just thrown on this coast were neither aeronauts by profession nor amateurs. They were prisoners of war, whose boldness had induced them to escape in the sixjortnery manner. A hundred times they had almost perished. A hundred times had they almost fallen from their torn balloon into the depths of the ocean. But heaven had reserved them for a strange destiny, and after having, on the 20th of March, escaped from Richmond, besieged by the troops of General Ulysses Grant, they found themselves seven thousand miles from the capital of Virginia, which was the principal stronghold of the South during the terrible war of secession. Their aerial voyage had lasted five days. The curious circumstances which led to the escape of the prisoners were as follows. That same year, in the month of February 1865, in one of the coup-domain by which General Grant attempted, though in vain, to possess himself of Richmond, several of his officers fell into the power of the enemy and were detained in the town. One of the most distinguished was Captain Cyrus Harding. He was a native of Massachusetts, a first-class engineer, to whom the government had confided during the war the direction of the railways, which were so important at that time. A true northerner, thin, bony, lean, about forty-five years of age, his close-cut hair and his beard, of which he only kept a thick mustache, were already getting gray. He had one of those finely developed heads which appear made to be struck on a metal, piercing eyes, a serious mouth, the physiognomy of a clever man of the military school. He was one of those engineers who began by handling the hammer and pickaxe, like generals who first act as common soldiers. Besides mental power, he also possessed great manual dexterity. His muscles exhibited remarkable proofs of tenacity. A man of action, as well as a man of thought, all he did was without effort to one of his vigorous and sanguine temperament. Learned, clear-headed, and practical, he fulfilled in all emergencies those three conditions which united ought to ensure human success, activity of mind and body, impetuous wishes, and powerful will. He might have taken for his motto that of William of Orange in the seventeenth century. I can undertake and persevere even without hope of success. Cyrus Harding was courage personified. He had been in all the battles of that war. After having begun as a volunteer at Illinois, under Ulysses Grant, he fought at Paducah, Belmont, Pittsburgh Landing, at the Siege of Corinth, Port Gibson, Black River, Chattanooga, the Wilderness, on the Potomac, everywhere and valiantly. A soldier worthy of the general who said, I never count my dead. And hundreds of times Captain Harding had almost been among those who were not counted by the terrible Grant. But in these combats where he never spared himself, Fortune favored him, till the moment when he was wounded and taken prisoner on the field of battle near Richmond. At the same time and on the same day another important personage fell into the hands of the souvenirs. This was no other than Gideon Spillett, a reporter for the New York Herald, who had been ordered to follow the changes of the war in the midst of the northern armies. Gideon Spillett was one of that race of indomitable English or American chroniclers, like Stanley and others, who stop at nothing to obtain exact information and transmit it to their journal in the shortest possible time. The newspapers of the Union, such as the New York Herald, are genuine powers, and their reporters are meant to be reckoned with. Gideon Spillett ranked among the first of those reporters, a man of great merit, energetic, prompt and ready for anything, full of ideas, having traveled over the whole world, soldier and artist, enthusiastic and counsel, resolute in action, caring neither for trouble, fatigue nor danger, when in pursuit of information, for himself first and then for his journal, a perfect treasury of knowledge on all sorts of curious subjects, of the unpublished, of the unknown, and of the impossible. He was one of those intrepid observers who write under fire, reporting, among bullets, and to whom every danger is welcome. He also had been in all the battles, in the first rank revolver in one hand, no book in the other. Grape-shot never made his pencil tremble. He did not fatigue the wires with incessant telegrams, like those who speak when they have nothing to say, but each of his notes, short, decisive and clear, threw light on some important point. Besides, he was not wanting any humor. It was he who, after the affair of the Black River, determined at any cost to keep his place at the wicket of the telegraph office, and after having announced to his journal the result of the battle, telegraphed for two hours the first chapters of the Bible. It cost the New York Herald two thousand dollars, but the New York Herald published the first intelligence. Gideon Spillett was tall. He was rather more than forty years of age. Light whiskers bordering on red surrounded his face. His eye was steady, lively, rapid in its changes. It was the eye of a man accustomed to take in at a glance all the details of a scene. Well-built, he was inured to all climates, like a bar of steel hardened in cold water. For ten years Gideon Spillett had been the reporter of the New York Herald, which he enriched by his letters and drawings, for he was as skillful in the use of the pencil as of the pen. When he was captured he was in the act of making a description and sketch of the battle. The last words in his notebook were these. A southern rifleman has just taken aim at me, but the southerner, not withstanding, missed Gideon Spillett, who, with his usual fortune, came out of this affair without a scratch. Gideon's Harding and Gideon Spillett, who did not know each other except by reputation, had both been carried to Richmond. The engineer's wounds rapidly healed, and it was during his convalescence that he made acquaintance with the reporter. The two men then learned to appreciate each other. Soon their common aim had but one object, that of escaping, rejoining Grant's army and fighting together in the ranks of the Federals. The two Americans had from the first determined to seize every chance, but although they were allowed to wander at liberty in the town, Richmond was so strictly guarded that escape appeared impossible. In the meanwhile Captain Harding was rejoined by a servant who was devoted to him in life and in death. This intrepid fellow was a negro born on the engineer's estate, of a slave father and mother, but to whom Cyrus, who was an abolitionist from conviction and heart, had long since given his freedom. The once-slave, though free, would not leave his master. He would have died for him. He was a man of about thirty, vigorous, active, clever, intelligent, gentle, and calm, sometimes naive, always merry, obliging and honest. His name was Nebuchadnezzar, but he only answered to the familiar abbreviation of Neb. When Neb heard that his master had been made prisoner, he left Massachusetts without hesitating an instant, a ride before Richmond, and by dint of stratagem and shrewdness, after having risked his life twenty times over, managed to penetrate into the besieged town. The pleasure of Harding on seeing his servant and the joy of Neb at finding his master can scarcely be described. But though Neb had been able to make his way into Richmond, it was quite another thing to get out again, for the northern prisoners were very strictly watched. Some extraordinary opportunity was needed to make the attempt with any chance of success, and this opportunity not only did not present itself, but was very difficult to find. Meanwhile Grant continued his energetic operations. The victory of Petersburg had been very dearly bought. His forces, united to those of Butler, had as yet been unsuccessful before Richmond, and nothing gave the prisoners any hope of a speedy deliverance. The reporter, to whom his tedious captivity did not offer a single incident worthy of note, would stand it no longer. His usually active mind was occupied with one soul thought, how he might get out of Richmond at any cost. Several times had he even made the attempt, but was stopped by some insurmountable obstacle. However the siege continued, and if the prisoners were anxious to escape and join Grant's army, certain of the besieged were no less anxious to join the southern forces. Among them was one Jonathan Forster, a determined southerner. The truth was, that if the prisoners of the secessionists could not leave the town, neither could the secessionists themselves while the northern army invested it. The governor of Richmond, for a long time, had been unable to communicate with General Lee, and he very much wished to make known to him the situation of the town, so as to hasten the march of the army to their relief. Thus Jonathan Forster accordingly conceived the idea of rising in a balloon so as to pass over the besieging lines, and in that way reached the secessionist camp. The governor authorized the attempt. A balloon was manufactured and placed at the disposal of Forster, who was to be accompanied by five other persons. They were furnished with arms in case they might have to defend themselves when they alighted, and with provisions in the event of their aerial voyage being prolonged. The departure of the balloon was fixed for the eighteenth of March. It should be affected during the night, with the northwest wind of moderate force, and the aeronauts calculated that they would reach General Lee's camp in a few hours. But this northwest wind was not a simple breeze. From the eighteenth it was evident that it was changing to a hurricane. The tempest soon became such that Forster's departure was deferred, for it was impossible to risk the balloon and those whom it carried in the midst of the furious elements. The balloon, inflated on the great square of Richmond, was ready to depart on the first abatement of the wind, and, as may be supposed, the impatience among the besieged to see the storm moderate was very great. The eighteenth, the nineteenth of March passed without any alteration in the weather. There was even great difficulty in keeping the balloon fastened to the ground as the squalls dashed it furiously about. The night of the nineteenth passed, but the next morning the storm blew with redoubled force. The departure of the balloon was impossible. In that day the engineer, Cyrus Harding, was accosted in one of the streets of Richmond by a person whom he did not in the least know. This was a sailor named Pencroft, a man of about thirty-five or forty years of age, strongly built, very sunburnt, and possessed of a pair of bright sparkling eyes and a remarkably good physiognomy. Pencroft was an American from the north, who had sailed all the ocean over, and who had gone through every possible and almost impossible adventure that a being with two feet and no wings could encounter. It is needless to say that he was a bold dashing fellow, ready to dare anything, and was astonished at nothing. Pencroft at the beginning of the year had gone to Richmond on business, with a young boy of fifteen from New Jersey, son of a former captain, an orphan whom he loved as if he had been his own child. Not having been able to leave the town before the first operations of the siege, he found himself shut up to his great disgust. But not accustomed to succumb to difficulties, he resolved to escape by some means or other. He knew the engineer officer by reputation. He knew with what impatience that determined man chafed under his restraint. On this day he did not therefore hesitate to accost him, saying without circumlocution, Have you had enough of Richmond, Captain? The engineer looked fixedly at the man who spoke, and who added in a low voice, Captain Harding, will you try to escape? When, asked the engineer quickly, and it was evident that this question was uttered without consideration, for he had not yet examined the stranger who addressed him. But after having with a penetrating eye observed the open face of the sailor, he was convinced that he had before him an honest man. Who are you? he asked briefly. Pencroft made himself known. Well, replied Harding, and in what way do you propose to escape? By that lazy balloon which is left there doing nothing, and which looks to me as if it was waiting on purpose for us. There was no necessity for the sailor to finish his sentence. The engineer understood him at once. He seized Pencroft by the arm, and dragged him to his house. There the sailor developed his project, which was indeed extremely simple. They risked nothing but their lives in its execution. The hurricane was in all its violence. It is true, but so clever and daring an engineer as Cyrus Harding knew perfectly well how to manage a balloon. Had he himself been as well acquainted with the art of sailing in the air, as he was with the navigation of a ship, Pencroft would not have hesitated to set out, of course taking his young friend Herbert with him. For accustomed to brave the fiercest tempest of the ocean, he was not to be hindered on account of the hurricane. Even Harding had listened to the sailor without saying a word. But his eyes shone with satisfaction. Here was the long sought-for opportunity. He was not a man to let it pass. The plan was feasible, though it must be confessed dangerous and the extreme. In the night, in spite of their guards, they might approach the balloon, slip into the car, and then cut the cords that held it. There was no doubt that they might be killed, but on the other hand they might succeed, and without this storm the balloon would have started already, and the looked-for opportunity would not have them presented itself. I am not alone, said Harding at last. How many people do you wish to bring with you? asked the sailor. Two. My friend Spillett and my servant Nebb. That will be three, replied Pencroft, and with Herbert and me five. But the balloon will hold six. That will be enough. We will go. Answered Harding in a firm voice. This we included Spillett, for the reporter, as his friend well knew, was not a man to draw back, and when the project was communicated to him he approved of it unreservedly. What astonished him was that so simple an idea had not occurred to him before. As to Nebb he followed his master wherever his master wished to go. This evening, then, said Pencroft, we will all meet out there. This evening at ten o'clock, replied Captain Harding, and heaven grant that the storm does not abate before our departure. Pencroft took leave of the two friends and returned to his lodging, where young Herbert Brown had remained. The courageous boy knew of the sailor's plan, and it was not without anxiety that he awaited the result of the proposal being made to the engineer. Thus five determined persons were about to abandon themselves to the mercy of the tempestuous elements. No, the storm did not abate, and neither Jonathan Forster nor his companions dreamed of confronting it in that frail car. It would be a terrible journey. The engineer only feared one thing. It was that the balloon held to the ground and dashed about by the wind would be torn into shreds. For several hours he roamed around the nearly deserted square surveying the apparatus. Pencroft did the same on his side, his hands in his pockets, yawning now and then like a man who did not know how to kill the time, but really dreading, like his friend, either the escape or destruction of the balloon. Evening arrived. The night was dark in the extreme. Thick mists passed like clouds close to the ground. Rain fell mingled with snow. It was very cold. A mist hung over Richmond. It was as if the violent storm had produced a truce between the besiegers and the besieged, in that the cannon were silenced by the louder detonations of the storm. The streets of the town were deserted. It had not even appeared necessary in that horrible weather to place a guard in the square in the midst of which plunged the balloon. Everything favored the departure of the prisoners, but what might possibly be the termination of the hazardous voyage they contemplated in the midst of the furious elements? Dirty weather, exclaimed Pencroft, fixing his hat firmly on his head with a blow of his fist. But, pshaw, we shall succeed all the same. At half-past nine, Harding and his companions glided from different directions into the square which the gas-lamps, extinguished by the wind, had left in total obscurity. Even the enormous balloon almost beaten to the ground could not be seen, independently of the sacks of ballast to which the cords of the net were fastened. The car was held by a strong cable passed through a ring in the pavement. The five prisoners met by the car. They had not been perceived, and such was the darkness that they could not even see each other. Without speaking a word, Harding, Spillett, Nebb and Herbert took their places in the car, while Pencroft by the engineer's order detached successively the bags of ballast. It was the work of a few minutes only, and the sailor rejoined his companions. The balloon was then only held by the cable, and the engineer had nothing to do but to give the word. At that moment a dog sprang with a bound into the car. It was top, a favourite of the engineer. The faithful creature, having broken its chain, had followed his master. He however, fearing that its additional weight might impede their assent, wished to send away the animal. One more will make but little difference, poor beast, exclaimed Pencroft heaving out two bags of sand, and as he spoke, letting go the cable, the balloon ascending in an oblique direction, disappeared after having dashed the car against two chimneys which it threw down as it swept by them. Then indeed the full rage of the hurricane was exhibited to the voyagers. During the night the engineer could not dream of descending, and when day broke even a glimpse of the earth below was intercepted by fog. Five days had passed when a partial clearing allowed them to see the wide extending ocean beneath their feet, now lashed into the mattest fury by the gale. Our readers will recollect what befell those five daring individuals who set out on their hazardous expedition in the balloon on the twentieth of March. Five days afterwards four of them were thrown on a desert coast seven thousand miles from their country. But one of their number was missing, the man who was to be their guide, their leading spirit, the engineer Captain Harding. The instant they had recovered their feet they all hurried to the beach in the hopes of rendering him assistance. CHAPTER III The engineer, the meshes of the net having given way, had been carried off by a wave. His dog also had disappeared. The faithful animal had voluntarily leaped out to help his master. FORWARD, cried the reporter, and all four, Spillett, Herbert, Pencroft and Nebb, forgetting their fatigue, began their search. Poor Nebb shed bitter tears, giving way to despair at the thought of having lost the only being he loved on earth. Only two minutes had passed from the time when Cyrus Harding disappeared to the moment when his companion set foot on the ground. They had hoped, therefore, of arriving in time to save him. "'Let us look for him. Let us look for him,' cried Nebb. "'Yes, Nebb,' replied Gideon Spillett, and we will find him, too.' "'Living, I trust.' "'Still living.' "'Can he swim?' asked Pencroft. "'Yes,' replied Nebb. "'And besides, Top is there.' The sailor, observing the heavy surf on the shore, shook his head. The engineer had disappeared to the north of the shore, and nearly half a mile from the place where the castaways had landed. The nearest point of the beach he could reach was thus fully that distance off. It was then nearly six o'clock. A thick fog made the night very dark. The castaways proceeded towards the north of the land on which chance had thrown them, an unknown region, the geographical situation of which they could not even guess. They were walking upon a sandy soil, mingled with stones, which appeared destitute of any sort of agitation. The ground, very unequal and rough, was in some places perfectly riddled with holes, making walking extremely painful. From these holes escaped every minute great birds of clumsy flight, which flew in all directions. Others, more active, rose in flocks and passed in clouds over their heads. The sailor thought he recognized gulls and cormorants, whose shrill cries rose above the roaring of the sea. From time to time the castaways stopped and shouted, then listened for some response from the ocean, for they thought that if the engineer had landed and they had been near to the place, they would have heard the barking of the dog Top, even should Harding himself had been unable to give any sign of existence. They stopped to listen, but no sound arose above the roaring of the waves and the dashing of the surf. The little band then continued their march forward, searching into every hollow of the shore. After walking for twenty minutes, the forecast of waves were suddenly brought to a standstill by the sight of foaming billows close to their feet. The solid ground ended here. They found themselves at the extremity of a sharp point on which the sea broke furiously. "'It is a promontory,' said the sailor. We must retrace our steps, holding towards the right, and we shall thus gain the mainland. "'But if he is there,' said Neb, pointing to the ocean, whose waves shone of a snowy white in the darkness, "'Well, let us call again.' In all uniting their voices, they gave a vigorous shout, but there came no reply. They waited for a lull, then began again. Still no reply. The castaways accordingly returned, following the opposite side of the promontory, over a soil equally sandy and rugged. However, Pencroft observed that the shore was more equal, that the ground rose, and he declared that it was joined by a long slope to a hill whose massive front he thought that he could see looming indistinctly through the mist. The birds were less numerous on this part of the shore, the sea was also less tumultuous, and they observed that the agitation of the waves was diminished. The noise of the surf was scarcely heard. This side of the promontory evidently formed a semi-circular bay, which the sharp point sheltered from the breakers of the open sea. But to follow this direction was to go south, exactly opposite to that part of the coast where Harding might have landed. After a walk of a mile and a half, the shore presented no curve which would permit them to return to the north. This promontory, of which they had turned the point, must be attached to the mainland. The castaways, although their strength was nearly exhausted, still marched courageously forward, hoping every moment to meet with a sudden angle which would set them in the first direction. What was their disappointment when, after trudging nearly two miles, having reached an elevated point composed of slippery rocks, they found themselves again, stopped by the sea. "'We are on an islet,' said Pencroft, and we have surveyed it from one extremity to the other. The sailor was right. They had been thrown, not on a continent, not even on an island, but on an islet, which was not more than two miles in length, and with even a less breadth. Was this barren spot the desolate refuge of sea-birds, strewn with stones and destitute of vegetation attached to a more important archipelago? It was impossible to say. When the voyagers from their car saw the land through the mist, they had not been able to reconnoiter it sufficiently. However, Pencroft, accustomed with his sailor eyes to pierce through the gloom, was almost certain that he could clearly distinguish in the west confused masses which indicated an elevated coast. But they could not in the dark determine whether it was a single island or connected with others. They could not leave it either, as the sea surrounded them. They must therefore put off till the next day their search for the engineer, from whom, alas, not a single cry had reached them to show that he was still in existence. The silence of our friend proves nothing, said the reporter. Perhaps he is fainted or is wounded, and unable to reply directly, so we will not despair. The reporter then proposed to light a fire on a point of the islet, which would serve as a signal to the engineer. But they searched in vain for wood or dry brambles. Nothing but sand and stones were to be found. The grief of Nebb and his companions, who were all strongly attached to the intrepid harding, can be better pictured than described. It was too evident that they were powerless to help him. They must wait with what patience they could for daylight. Either the engineer had been able to save himself, and had already found a refuge on some point of the coast, or he was lost forever. The long and painful hours passed by. The cold was intense. The castaways suffered cruelly, but they scarcely perceived it. They did not even think of taking a minute's rest. Forgetting everything but their chief, hoping or wishing to hope on, they continued to walk up and down on this sterile spot, always returning to its northern point, where they could approach nearest to the scene of the catastrophe. They listened, they called, and then uniting their voices, they endeavored to raise even a louder shout than before, which would be transmitted to a great distance. The wind had now fallen almost to a calm, and the noise of the sea began also to subside. One of Nebb's shouts even appeared to produce an echo. Herbert directed Pencroft's attention to it, adding, That proves that there is a coast to the west at no great distance. The sailor nodded. Besides, his eyes could not deceive him. If he had discovered land, however indistinct it might appear, land was sure to be there. But that distant echo was the only response produced by Nebb's shouts, while a heavy gloom hung over all the part east of the island. Meanwhile the sky was clearing little by little. Towards midnight the stars shone out, and if the engineer had been there with his companions, he would have remarked that these stars did not belong to the northern hemisphere. The polar star was not visible. The constellations were not those which they had been accustomed to see in the United States. The southern cross glittered brightly in the sky. The night passed away. Towards five o'clock in the morning of the twenty-fifth of March the sky began to lighten. The horizon still remained dark, but with daybreak a thick mist rose from the sea so that the eye could scarcely penetrate beyond twenty feet or so from where they stood. At length the fog gradually unrolled itself in great heavily moving waves. It was unfortunate, however, that the castaways could distinguish nothing around them. While the gaze of the reporter and Nebb were cast upon the ocean, the sailor and Herbert looked eagerly for the coast in the west. But not a speck of land was visible. Never mind, said Pencroft, though I do not see the land, I feel it. It is there. There, as sure as the fact that we are no longer at Richmond. But the fog was not long in rising. It was only a fine weather mist. A hot sun soon penetrated to the surface of the island. About half past six, three-quarters of an hour after sunrise, the mist became more transparent. It grew thicker above, but cleared away below. Soon the isle appeared as if it had descended from a cloud. Then the sea showed itself around them, spreading far away towards the east, but bounded on the west by an abrupt and precipitous coast. Yes, the land was there. Their safety was at least provisionally ensured. The islet and the coast were separated by a channel about half a mile in breadth, through which rushed an extremely rapid current. However, one of the castaways following the impulse of his heart immediately threw himself into the current without consulting his companions, without saying a single word. It was neb. He was in haste to be on the other side, and it climbed towards the north. It had been impossible to hold him back. Pencroft called him in vain. The reporter prepared to follow him, but Pencroft stopped him. Do you want to cross the channel? He asked. Yes, replied Spillett. All right, said the seaman. Wait a bit. Neb is well able to carry help to his master. If we venture into the channel we risk being carried into the open sea by the current, which is running very strong. But if I'm not wrong it is ebbing. See, the tide is going down over the sand. Let us have patience, and at low water it is possible we may find affordable passage. You're right, replied the reporter. We will not separate more than we can help. During this time, neb was struggling vigorously against the current. He was crossing in an oblique direction. His black shoulders could be seen emerging at each stroke. He was carried down very quickly, but he also made way towards the shore. It took more than half an hour to cross from the islet to the land, and he reached the shore several hundred feet from the place which was opposite to the point from which he had started. Landing at the foot of a high wall of granite, he shook himself vigorously, and then, setting off running, soon disappeared behind a rocky point which projected to nearly the height of the northern extremity of the islet. His companions had watched his daring attempt with painful anxiety, and when he was out of sight, they fixed their attention on the land where their hope of safety lay, while eating some shellfish with which the sand was strewn. It was a wretched repast, but still it was better than nothing. The opposite coast formed one vast bay, terminating on the south by a very sharp point, which was destitute of all vegetation, and was of a very wild aspect. This point abutted on the shore in a grotesque outline of high granite rocks. Towards the north, on the contrary, the bay widened, and a more rounded coast appeared, trending from the southwest to the northeast and terminating in a slender cape. The distance between these two extremities, which made the bow of the bay, was about eight miles. Half a mile from the shore rose the islet, which somewhat resembled the carcass of a gigantic whale. Its extreme breath was not more than a quarter of a mile. Opposite the islet, the beach consisted first of sand, covered with black stones, which were now appearing little by little above the retreating tide. The second level was separated by a perpendicular granite cliff, terminated at the top by an unequal edge at a height of at least three hundred feet. It continued thus for a length of three miles, ending suddenly on the right with a precipice which looked as if cut by the hand of man. On the left, above the promontory, this irregular and jagged cliff descended by a long slope of conglomerated rocks till it mingled with the ground of the southern point. On the upper plateau of the coast not a tree appeared. It was a flat table-land, like that above Cape Town at the Cape of Good Hope, but of reduced proportions, at least so it appeared seen from the islet. However, Verdure was not wanting to the right beyond the precipice. They could easily distinguish a confused mass of great trees which extended beyond the limits of their view. This Verdure relieved the eye so long weary by the continued ranges of granite. Lastly, beyond and above the plateau, in a northwesterly direction and at a distance of at least seven miles, glittered a white summit which reflected the sun's rays. It was that of a lofty mountain capped with snow. The question could not at present be decided whether this land formed an island or whether it belonged to a continent. But on beholding the convulsed masses heaped up on the left no geologists would have hesitated to give them a volcanic origin, for they were unquestionably the work of subterranean convulsions. Gideon's spillet, Pencroft and Herbert, attentively examined this land on which they might perhaps have to live many long years, on which indeed they might even die, should it be out of the usual track of vessels, as was likely to be the case. Well, asked Herbert, what do you say, Pencroft? There is some good and some bad, as in everything, replied the sailor. We shall see. But now the ebb is evidently making. In three hours we will attempt the passage, and once on the other side we will try to get out of this scrape, and I hope may find the captain. Pencroft was not wrong in his anticipations. Three hours later at low tide the greater part of the sand forming the bed of the channel was uncovered. Between the islet and the coast there only remained a narrow channel which would, no doubt, be easy to cross. About ten o'clock Gideon's spillet and his companions stripped themselves of their clothes, which they placed in bundles on their heads, and then ventured into the water which was not more than five feet deep. Herbert, for whom it was too deep, swam like a fish, and got through capitalally. All three arrived without difficulty on the opposite shore. Quickly drying themselves in the sun they put on their clothes, which they had preserved from contact with the water, and sat down to take counsel together what to do next. CHAPTER IV All at once the reporter sprang up, and telling the sailor that he would rejoin them at that same place he climbed the cliff in the direction which the negro Neb had taken a few hours before. Anxiety hastened his steps, for he longed to obtain news of his friend, and he soon disappeared round an angle of the cliff. Herbert wished to accompany him. Stop here, my boy, said the sailor. We have to prepare an encampment, and to try and find rather better grub than these shellfish. Our friends will want something when they come back. There is work for everybody. I'm ready, replied Herbert. All right, said the sailor, that will do. We must set about it regularly. We are tired, cold, and hungry. Therefore we must have shelter, fire, and food. There is wood in the forest, and eggs and nests. We have only to find a house. Very well, returned Herbert, I will look for a cove among the rocks, and I shall be sure to discover some hole into which we can creep. All right, said Pencroft, go on, my boy. They both walked to the foot of the enormous wall over the beach, far from which the tide had now retreated. But instead of going towards the north, they went southward. Pencroft had remarked several hundred feet from the place at which they landed, a narrow cutting, out of which he thought a river or a stream might issue. Now, on the one hand it was important to settle themselves in the neighborhood of a good stream of water, and on the other it was possible that the current had thrown Cyrus Harding on the shore there. The cliff, as has been said, rose to a height of three hundred feet, but the mass was unbroken throughout, and even at its base scarcely washed by the sea it did not offer the smallest fissure which would serve as a dwelling. It was a perpendicular wall of very hard granite which even the waves had not worn away. Towards the summit fluttered myriads of sea-fowl, and especially those of the webfooted species with long, flat-pointed beaks, a clamorous tribe, bold in the presence of man, who probably for the first time thus invaded their domains. Pencroft recognized the scua and other gulls among them, the voracious little sea-mew which in great numbers nestled in the crevices of the granite. A shot fired among this swarm would have killed a great number, but to fire a shot a gun was needed, and neither Pencroft nor Herbert had one. Besides this gulls and sea-mews are scarcely eatable, and even their eggs have a detestable taste. However, Herbert, who had gone forward a little more to the left, soon came upon rocks covered with seaweed, which some hours later would be hidden by the high tide. On these rocks in the midst of slippery rack abounded by valve-shell fish not to be despised by starving people. Herbert called Pencroft who ran up hastily. Here are mussels, cried the sailor. These will do instead of eggs. They are not mussels, replied Herbert, who was attentively examining the mollusks attached to the rocks. They are lithodomes. Are they good to eat? asked Pencroft. Perfectly so. Then let us eat some lithodomes. The sailor could rely upon Herbert. The young boy was well up in natural history, and always had had quite a passion for the science. His father had encouraged him in it by letting him attend the lectures of the best professors in Boston who were very fond of the intelligent industrious lad. And his turn for natural history was, more than once in the course of time, of great use, and he was not mistaken in this instance. These lithodomes were oblong shells, suspended in clusters and adhering very tightly to the rocks. They belonged to that species of molluscus perforators which excavate holes in the hardest stone. Their shell is rounded at both ends, a feature which is not remarked in the common mussel. Pencroft and Herbert made a good meal of the lithodomes, which were then half-opened to the sun. They ate them as oysters, and as they had a strong peppery taste, they were palatable without condiments of any sort. Their hunger was thus appeased for the time, but not their thirst, which increased after eating these naturally spiced molluscs. They had then defined fresh water, and it was not likely that it would be wanting in such a capriciously uneven region. Pencroft and Herbert, after having taken the precaution of collecting an ample supply of lithodomes, with which they filled their pockets in handkerchiefs, regained the foot of the cliff. Two hundred paces farther they arrived at the cutting, through which, as Pencroft had guessed, ran a stream of water, whether fresh or not was to be ascertained. At this place the wall appeared to have been separated by some violent subterranean force. At its base was hollowed out a little creek, the farthest part of which formed a tolerably sharp angle. The water-core set that part, measured one hundred feet in breadth, and its two banks on each side were scarcely twenty feet high. The river became strong almost directly between the two walls of granite, which began to sink above the mouth. It then suddenly turned and disappeared beneath the wood of stunted trees half a mile off. Here is the water, and yonder is the wood we require, said Pencroft. Well, Herbert, now we only want the house. The water of the river was limpid. The sailor ascertained that at this time, that is to say, at low tide, when the rising floods did not reach it, it was sweet. This important point established, Herbert looked for some cavity which would serve them as a retreat. But in vain, everywhere the wall appeared smooth, plain, and perpendicular. However, at the mouth of the water-course and above the reach of the high tide, the convulsions of nature had formed not a grotto, but a pile of enormous rocks, such as are often met with in granite countries and which bear the name of chimneys. Pencroft and Herbert penetrated quite far in among the rocks, by sandy passages in which light was not wanting, for it entered through the openings which were left between the blocks, of which some were only sustained by a miracle of equilibrium. But with the light came also air, a regular corridor gale, and with the wind the sharp cold from the exterior. However, the sailor thought that by stopping up some of the openings with a mixture of stones and sand, the chimneys could be rendered habitable. Their geometrical plan represented the typographical sign Ampersand, which signifies, et cetera, abridged. But by isolating the upper mouth of the sign, through which the south and west winds blew so strongly, they could succeed in making the lower part of use. Here's our work, said Pencroft, and if we ever see Captain Harding again, he will know how to make something of this labyrinth. We shall see him again, Pencroft, cried Herbert, and when he returns he must find a tolerable dwelling here. It will be so, if we can make a fireplace in the left passage and keep an opening for the smoke. So we can, my boy, replied the sailor, and these chimneys will serve our turn. Let us set to work, but first come and get a store of fuel. I think some branches will be very useful in stopping up those openings, through which the wind shrieks like so many fiends. Herbert and Pencroft left the chimneys, and, turning the angle, they began to climb the left bank of the river. The current here was quite rapid, and drifted down some dead wood. The rising tide, and it could already be perceived, must drive it back with force to a considerable distance. The sailor then thought that they could utilize this ebb and flow for the transport of heavy objects. After having walked for a quarter of an hour, the sailor and the boy arrived at the angle which the river made in turning towards the left. From this point its course was pursued through a forest of magnificent trees. These trees still retained their verdure, not withstanding the advanced season, for they belonged to the family of Canifere, which has spread over all the regions of the globe, from northern climates to the tropics. The young naturalists recognized especially the Diodara, which are very numerous in the Himalayan zone, and which spread around them a most agreeable odor. Between these beautiful trees sprang up clusters of furs, whose opaque open parasol brows spread wide around. Among the long grass Pencroft felt that his feet were crushing dry branches which crackled like fireworks. Well, my boy, said he to Herbert, if I don't know the name of these trees, at any rate I reckon that we may call them Burning Wood, and just now that's the chief thing we want. Let us get a supply, replied Herbert, who immediately set to work. The collection was easily made. It was not even necessary to lop the trees, for enormous quantities of dead wood were lying at their feet. But if fuel was not wanting, the means of transporting it was not yet found. The wood, being very dry, would burn rapidly. It was therefore necessary to carry to the chimneys a considerable quantity, and the loads of two men would not be sufficient. Herbert remarked this. Well, my boy, replied the sailor, there must be some way of carrying this wood. There's always a way of doing everything. If we had a cart or a boat it would be easy enough. But we have the river, said Herbert. Right, replied Pencroft, the river will be to us like a road which carries of itself, and rafts have not been invented for nothing. Only, observed Herbert, at this moment our road is going the wrong way, for the tide is rising. We shall be all right if we wait until it ebbs, replied the sailor. And then we will trust it to carry our fuel to the chimneys. Let us get the raft ready. The sailor, followed by Herbert, directed his steps towards the river. They both carried, each in proportion to his strength, a load of wood bound in faggots. They found on the bank also a great quantity of dead branches in the midst of grass, among which the foot of man had probably never before trod. The raft began directly to make his raft. In a kind of little bay, created by a point of the shore which broke the current, the sailor and the lad placed some good-sized pieces of wood, which they had fastened together with dry creepers. A raft was thus formed, on which they stacked all they had collected. Sufficient indeed to have loaded at least twenty men. In an hour the work was finished, and the raft moored to the bank, awaiting the turning of the tide. There were still several hours to be occupied, and with one consent Pencroft and Herbert resolved to gain the upper plateau, so as to have a more extended view of the surrounding country. Exactly two hundred feet behind the angle formed by the river, the wall, terminated by a fall of rocks, died away in a gentle slope to the edge of the forest. It was a natural staircase. Herbert and the sailor began their ascent, thanks to the vigor of their muscles they reached the summit in a few minutes, and proceeded to the point above the mouth of the river. On attaining it, their first look was cast upon the ocean, which not long before they had traversed in such a terrible condition. They observed with emotion all that part to the north of the coast, from which the catastrophe had taken place. It was there that Cyrus Harding had disappeared. They looked to see if some portion of their balloon to which a man might possibly cling yet existed. Nothing. The sea was but one vast, watery desert. As to the coast it was solitary also. Neither the reporter nor Neb could be anywhere seen. But it was possible that at this time they were both too far away to be perceived. Something tells me, cried Herbert, that a man as energetic as Captain Harding would not let himself be drowned like other people. He must have reached some point of the shore. Don't you think so, Pencroft? The sailor shook his head sadly. He little expected ever to see Cyrus Harding again, but wishing to leave some hope to Herbert. Doubtless, doubtless, said he. Our engineer is a man who would get out of a scrape to which anyone else would yield. In the meantime he examined the coast with great attention. Stretched out below them was the sandy shore, bounded on the right of the river's mouth by lines of breakers. The rocks which were visible appeared like amphibious monsters reposing in the surf. Beyond the reef the sea sparkled beneath the sun's rays. Through the south a sharp point closed the horizon, and it could not be seen if the land was prolonged in that direction, or if it ran southeast and southwest, which would have made the coast a very long peninsula. At the northern extremity of the bay the outline of the shore was continued to a great distance in a wider curve. There the shore was low, flat, without cliffs, and with great banks of sand which the tide left uncovered. Pencroft and Herbert then returned towards the west. Their attention was first arrested by the snow-topped mountain, which rose at a distance of six or seven miles. From its first cleavities to within two miles of the coast were spread vast masses of wood, relieved by large green patches, caused by the presence of evergreen trees. Then from the edge of this forest to the shore extended a plain scattered irregularly with groups of trees. Here and there on the left sparkled through glades the waters of a little river. They could trace its winding course back towards the spur of the mountain, among which it seemed to spring. At the point where the sailor had left his raft of wood it began to run between the two high granite walls. But if on the left bank the wall remained clear and abrupt. On the right bank, on the contrary, it sank gradually. The massive sides changed to isolated rocks, the rocks to stones, the stones to shingle running to the extremity of the point. Are we on an island, murmured the sailor? At any rate it seems to be big enough, replied the lad. An island, ever so big, is an island all the same, said Pencroft. But this important question could not yet be answered. A more perfect survey had to be made to settle the point. As to the land itself, island or continent it appeared fertile, agreeable in its aspect, and varied in its productions. This is satisfactory, observed Pencroft, and in our misfortune we must thank Providence for it. God be praised, responded Herbert, whose pious heart was full of gratitude to the author of all things. Pencroft and Herbert examined for some time the country on which they had been cast, but it was difficult to guess after so hasty an inspection what the future had in store for them. They then returned, following the southern crest of the granite platform, bordered by a long fringe of jagged rocks, of the most whimsical shapes. Some hundreds of birds lived there nestled in the holes of the stone. Herbert, jumping over the rocks, startled the whole flock of those winged creatures. Oh, cruddy, those are not gulls nor sea-mews. What are they then, asked Pencroft? Upon my word one would say they were pigeons. Just so, but there are wild or rock pigeons, I recognize them by the double band of black on the wing, by the white tail, and by the slate-colored plumage. But if the rock pigeon is good to eat, its eggs must be excellent, and we will soon see how many they may have left in their nests. We will not give them time to hatch, unless it is in the shape of an omelette, replied Pencroft merrily. But what will you make your omelette in, asked Herbert, in your hat? Well, replied the sailor. I am not quite conjurer enough for that. We must come down to eggs in the shell, my boy, and I will undertake to dispatch the hardest. Pencroft and Herbert attentively examined the cavities in the granite, and they really found eggs in some of the hollows. A few dozen being collected were packed in the sailor's handkerchief, and as the time when the tide would be full was approaching, Pencroft and Herbert began to re-descend towards the water-course. When they arrived there, it was an hour after midday. The tide had already turned. They must now avail themselves of the ebb to take the wood to the mouth. Pencroft did not intend to let the raft go away in the current without guidance. Neither did he mean to embark on it himself to steer it. But a sailor is never at a loss when there is a question of cables or ropes, and Pencroft rapidly twisted a cord, a few fathoms long made of dry creepers. This vegetable cable was fastened to the after-part of the raft, and the sailor held it in his hand while Herbert, pushing off the raft with a long pole, kept it in the current. This succeeded capitalally. The enormous load of wood drifted down the current. The bank was very equal. There was no fear that the raft would run aground, and before two o'clock they arrived at the river's mouth, a few paces from the chimneys. Under the cave habitable by stopping up all the holes which made it drafty, sand, stones, twisted branches, wet clay, closed up the galleries open to the south winds. One narrow and winding opening at the side was kept to lead out the smoke and to make the fire draw. The cave was thus divided into three or four rooms, if such dark dens with which a donkey would scarcely have been contented, deserved the name. But they were dry, and there was space to stand upright, at least in the principal room which occupied the center. The floor was covered with fine sand, and taking all in all they were well pleased with it for want of a better. Perhaps, said Herbert, while he and Pencroft were working, our companions have found a superior place to ours. Very likely, replied the seaman. But, as we don't know, we must work all the same. Better to have two strings to one's bow than no string at all. Oh! exclaimed Herbert, how jolly it will be if they were to find Captain Harding and were to bring him back with them. Yes, indeed, said Pencroft. That was a man of the right sort. Was, exclaimed Herbert, do you despair of ever seeing him again? God forbid! replied the sailor. Their work was soon done, and Pencroft declared himself very well satisfied. Now, said he, our friends can come back when they like. They will find a good enough shelter. They now had only to make a fireplace, and to prepare the supper. An easy task. Large flat stones were placed on the ground at the opening of the narrow passage which had been kept. This, if the smoke did not take the heat out with it, would be enough to maintain an equal temperature inside. Their wood was stowed away in one of the rooms, and the sailor laid in the fireplace some logs and brushwood. The seaman was busy with this when Herbert asked him if he had any matches. Certainly, replied Pencroft, and I may say happily, for without matches or tender we should be in a fix. Still we might get fire as the savages do, replied Herbert, by rubbing two bits of dry stick one against the other. All right, try, my boy, and let's see if you can do anything besides exercising your arms. Well, it's a very simple proceeding and much used in the islands of the Pacific. I don't deny it, replied Pencroft, but the savages must know how to do it or employ a peculiar wood. For more than one once I have tried to get fire in that way, but I could never manage it. I must say I prefer matches. By the by where are my matches? Pencroft searched in his waistcoat for the box which was always there, for he was a confirmed smoker. He could not find it. He rummaged the pockets of his trousers, but to his horror he could know where to discover the box. Here's a go, said he, looking at Herbert. The box must have fallen out of my pocket and got lost. Surely, Herbert, you must have something. A tender box? Anything that can possibly make fire? No, I haven't, Pencroft. The sailor rushed out, followed by the boy, on the sand, among the rocks, near the river's bank. They both searched carefully, but in vain. The box was of copper and therefore would have been easily seen. Pencroft asked Herbert, didn't you throw it out of the car? I knew better than that, replied the sailor. But such a small article could easily disappear in the tumbling about we have gone through. I would rather even have lost my pipe. Confound the box, where can it be? Look here, the tide is going down, said Herbert. Let's run to the place where we landed. It was scarcely probable that they would find the box, which the waves had rolled about among the pebbles at high tide, but it was as well to try. Herbert and Pencroft walked rapidly to the point where they had landed the day before, about two hundred feet from the cave. They hunted there, among the shingle, in the clefts of the rocks, but found nothing. If the box had fallen at this place it must have been swept away by the waves. As the sea went down they searched every little crevice with no result. It was a grave loss in their circumstances, and for the time irreparable. Pencroft could not hide his vexation. He looked very anxious, but said not a word. Herbert tried to console him by observing that if they had found the matches they would, very likely, have been wetted by the sea and useless. No, my boy, replied the sailor. They were in a copper box which shut very tightly. And now what are we to do? We shall certainly find some way of making a fire, said Herbert. Captain Harding or Mr. Spillett will not be without them. Yes, replied Pencroft. But in the meantime we are without fire, and our companions will find but a sorry repast on their return. That, said Herbert quickly, do you think it possible that they have no tender or matches? I doubt it, replied the sailor, shaking his head, for neither neb nor Captain Harding's smoke, and I believe that Mr. Spillett would rather keep his notebook than his match-box. Herbert did not reply. The loss of the box was certainly to be regretted. But the boy was still sure of procuring fire in some way or other. Pencroft, more experienced, did not think so, although he was not a man to trouble himself about a small or great grievance. At any rate there was only one thing to be done, to await the return of neb and the reporter, but they must give up the feast of hard eggs which they had meant to prepare, and a meal of raw flesh was not an agreeable prospect either for themselves or for the others. Before returning to the cave, the sailor and Herbert, in the event of fire being positively unattainable, collected some more shellfish, and then silently retraced their steps to their dwelling. Pencroft, his eyes fixed on the ground, still looked for his box. He even climbed up the left bank of the river from its mouth to the angle where the raft had been moored. He returned to the plateau, and over it in every direction, searched among the high grass on the border of the forest, all in vain. It was five in the evening when he and Herbert re-entered the cave. It is useless to say that the darkest corners of the passages were ransacked before they were obliged to give it up in despair. Toward six o'clock, when the sun was disappearing behind the high lands of the West, Herbert, who was walking up and down on the strand, signalized the return of Nebb and Spillett. They were returning alone. The boy's heart sank. The sailor had not been deceived in his forebodings. The engineer, Cyrus Harding, had not been found. The reporter on his arrival sat down on a rock without saying anything. Exhausted with fatigue, dying of hunger, he had not strength to utter a word. As to Nebb, his red eyes showed how he had cried, and the tears which he could not restrain told too clearly that he had lost all hope. The reporter recounted all that they had done in their attempt to recover Cyrus Harding. He and Nebb had surveyed the coast for a distance of eight miles, and consequently much beyond the place where the balloon had fallen the last time but one, a fall which was followed by the disappearance of the engineer and the dog-top. The shore was solitary, not a vestige of a mark, not even a pebble recently displaced, not a trace on the sand, not a human footstep on all that part of the beach. It was clear that that portion of the shore had never been visited by a human being. The sea was as deserted as the land, and it was there a few hundred feet from the coast that the engineer must have found a tomb. As Spillett ended his account, Nebb jumped up, exclaiming in a voice which showed how hope struggled within him. No, he is not dead. He can't be dead. It might happen to anyone else, but never to him. He could get out of anything. Then his strength forsaking him. Oh, I can do no more. He murmured. Nebb said Herbert running to him. We will find him. God will give him back to us. But in the meantime you are hungry and you must eat something. So saying, he offered the poor negro a few handfuls of shellfish, which was indeed wretched and insufficient food. Nebb had not eaten anything for several hours, but he refused them. He could not, would not, live without his master. As to Gideon's Spillett, he devoured the shellfish, then he laid himself down on the sand at the foot of a rock. He was very weak, but calm. Herbert went up to him and, taking his hand, sir, said he, we have found a shelter which will be better than lying here. Night is advancing. Come and rest. Tomorrow we will search farther. The reporter got up, and Gideon by the boy went towards the cave. On the way, Pencroft asked him in the most natural tone, if by chance he happened to have a match or two. The reporter stopped, felt in his pockets, but finding nothing said, I had some, but I must have thrown them away. The seamen then put the same question to Nebb and received the same answer. Confound it! exclaimed the sailor. The reporter heard him, and, seizing his arm, Have you no matches? he asked. Not one, and no firing consequence. Ah! cried Nebb. If my master was here he would know what to do. The forecast away has remained motionless, looking uneasily at each other. Herbert was the first to break the silence by saying, Mr. Spillett, you are a smoker and always have matches about you. Perhaps you haven't looked well. Try again, a single match will be enough. The reporter hunted again in the pockets of his trousers, waistcoat, and greatcoat, and at last, to Pencroft's great joy, no less to his extreme surprise, he felt a tiny piece of wood entangled in the lining of his waistcoat. He seized it with his fingers through the stuff, but he could not get it out. If this was a match and a single one it was of great importance not to rub off the phosphorus. Will you let me try? said the boy, and very cleverly, without breaking it, he managed to draw out the wretched yet precious little bit of wood which was of such great importance to these poor men. It was unused. Hurrah! cried Pencroft. It is as good as having a whole cargo! He took the match, and followed by his companions entered the cave. This small piece of wood, of which so many in an inhabited country are wasted with indifference and are of no value, must here be used with the greatest caution. The sailor first made sure that it was quite dry. That done, we must have some paper, said he. Here, replied Spillett, after some hesitation tearing a leaf out of his notebook. Pencroft took the piece of paper which the reporter held out to him, and knelt down before the fireplace. Some handfuls of grass, leaves, and dry moss were placed under the faggots, and disposed in such a way that the air could easily circulate, and the dry wood would rapidly catch fire. Pencroft then twisted the piece of paper into the shape of a cone, as smokers do in a high wind, and poked it in among the moss. Taking a small rough stone, he wiped it carefully, and with a beating heart, holding his breath, he gently rubbed the match. The first attempt did not produce any effect. Pencroft had not struck hard enough, fearing to rub off the phosphorus. No, I can't do it, said he. My hand trembles, the match has missed fire, I cannot, I will not. And rising he told Herbert to take his place. Certainly the boy had never in all his life been so nervous. Prometheus going to steal the fire from heaven could not have been more anxious. He did not hesitate, however, but struck the match directly. A little spluttering was heard, and a tiny blue flame sprang up, making a choking smoke. Herbert quickly turned the match so as to augment the flame, and then slipped it into the paper cone, which in a few seconds too caught fire, and then the moss. A minute later the dry wood crackled, and a cheerful flame, hosted by the vigorous blowing of the sailor, sprang up in the midst of the darkness. At last! cried Pencroft, getting up. I was never so nervous before in all my life. The flat stones made a capital fireplace. The smoke went quite easily out at the narrow passage. The chimney drew, and an agreeable warmth was not long in being felt. They must now take great care not to let the fire go out, and always to keep some embers alight. It only needed care and attention, as they had plenty of wood and could renew their store at any time. Pencroft's first thought was to use the fire by preparing a more nourishing supper than a dish of shellfish. Two dozen eggs were brought by Herbert. The reporter leaning up in the corner watched these preparations without saying anything. A three-fold thought weighed on his mind. Was Cyrus still alive? If he was alive, where was he? If he had survived from his fall, how was it that he had not found some means of making known his existence? As to Neb, he was roaming about the shore. He was like a body without a soul. Pencroft knew fifty ways of cooking eggs, but this time he had no choice, and was obliged to contend himself with roasting them under the hot cinders. In a few minutes the cooking was done, and the seaman invited the reporter to take his share of the supper. Such was the first repast of the castaways on this unknown coast. The hard eggs were excellent, and his eggs contained everything indispensable to man's nourishment. These poor people thought themselves well off, and were much strengthened by them. Oh, if only one of them had not been missing at this meal! If the five prisoners who escaped from Richmond had been all there, under the piled-up rocks, before this clear crackling fire on the dry sand, what Thanksgiving must they have rendered to heaven? But the most ingenious, the most learned, he who was their unquestioned chief, Cyrus Harding, was alas missing, and his body had not even obtained a burial place. As past the twenty-fifth of March, night had come on. Outside could be heard the howling of the wind, and the monotonous sound of the surf breaking on the shore. The waves rolled the shingle backwards and forwards with a deafening noise. The reporter retired into a dark corner after having shortly noted down the occurrences of the day. The first appearance of this new land, the loss of their leader, the exploration of the coast, the incident of the matches, et cetera, and then overcome by fatigue, he managed to forget his sorrow in sleep. Herbert went to sleep directly. As to the sailor, he passed the night with one eye on the fire, on which he did not spare fuel. But one of the castaways did not sleep in the cave, the inconsolable, despairing web, notwithstanding all that his companions could say to induce him to take some rest, wandered all night long on the shore, calling on his master. CHAPTER VI The inventory of the articles possessed by these castaways from the clouds, thrown upon a coast which appeared to be uninhabited, was soon made out. They had nothing save the clothes which they were wearing at the time of the catastrophe. We must mention, however, a notebook and a watch which Gideon Spillett had kept, doubtless by inadvertence, not a weapon, not a tool, not even a pocket-knife, for while in the car they had thrown out everything to lighten the balloon. The imaginary heroes of Daniel Defoe or of Wiss, as well as Selkirk and Reynald, shipwrecked on Juan Fernandez and on the archipelago of the Auckland's, were never in such absolute destitution. Either they had abundant resources from their stranded vessels, ingrain, cattle, tools, ammunition, or else some things were thrown up on the coast which supplied them with all the first necessities of life. But here, not any instrument whatever, not a utensil. From nothing they must supply themselves with everything. And yet, if Cyrus Harding had been with them, if the engineer could have brought his practical science, his inventive mind to bear on their situation, perhaps all hope would not have been lost. Alas! they must hope no longer again to see Cyrus Harding. The castaways could expect nothing but from themselves and from that providence which never abandons those whose faith is sincere. But ought they to establish themselves on this part of the coast without trying to know to what continent it belonged, if it was inhabited, or if they were on the shore of a desert island? It was an important question, and should be solved with the shortest possible delay. From its answer they would know what measures to take. However, according to Pencroft's advice, it appeared best to wait a few days before commencing an exploration. They must, in fact, prepare some provisions and procure more strengthening food than eggs and mollusks. The explorers before undertaking new fatigues must first of all recruit their strength. The chimneys offered a retreat sufficient for the present. The fire was lighted, and it was easy to preserve some embers. There were plenty of shellfish and eggs among the rocks and on the beach. It would be easy to kill a few of the pigeons which were flying by hundreds about the summit of the plateau, either with sticks or stones. Perhaps the trees of the neighboring forest would supply them with eatable fruit. Lastly, the sweet water was there. It was accordingly settled that for a few days they would remain at the chimneys, so as to prepare themselves for an expedition, either along the shore or into the interior of the country. This plan suited Neb particularly. As obstinate in his ideas as in his presentiments, he was in no haste to abandon this part of the coast, the scene of the catastrophe. He did not. He would not believe in the loss of Cyrus Harding. No, it did not seem to him possible that such a man had ended in this vulgar fashion, carried away by a wave, drowned in the floods a few hundred feet from a shore. As long as the waves had not cast up the body of the engineer, as long as he, Neb, had not seen with his eyes, touch with his hands the corpse of his master, he would not believe in his death. And this idea rooted itself deeper than ever in his determined heart. An illusion, perhaps, but still an illusion to be respected, and one which the sailor did not wish to destroy. As for him, he hoped no longer, but there was no use in arguing with Neb. He was like the dog who will not leave the place where his master is buried, and his grief was such that most probably he would not survive him. This same morning, the 26th of March, at daybreak, Neb had set out on the shore in a northerly direction, and he had returned to the spot where the sea, no doubt, had closed over the unfortunate Harding. That day's breakfast was composed solely of pigeons' eggs and lithodomes. Herbert had found some salt deposited by evaporation in the hollows of the rocks, and this mineral was very welcome. The repast ended. Pencroft asked the reporter if he wished to accompany Herbert and himself to the forest, where they were going to try to hunt. But on consideration it was thought necessary that some one should remain to keep in the fire, and to be at hand in the highly improbable event of Neb requiring aid. The reporter accordingly remained behind. To the chase, Herbert, said the sailor, we shall find ammunition on our way and cut our weapons in the forest. But at the moment of starting, Herbert observed that since they had no tender it would perhaps be prudent to replace it by another substance. A what? asked Pencroft. Pern't Linnan, replied the boy, that could, in case of need, serve for tender. The sailor thought it very sensible advice. Only it had the inconvenience of necessitating the sacrifice of a piece of handkerchief. Notwithstanding, the thing was well worth trying, and a part of Pencroft's large checked handkerchief was soon reduced to the state of a half-burnt rag. This inflammable material was placed in the central chamber at the bottom of a little cavity in the rock, sheltered from all wind and damp. It was nine o'clock in the morning. The weather was threatening, and the breeze blew from the southeast. Herbert and Pencroft turned the angle of the chimneys, not without having cast a look at the smoke which, just at that place, curled round a point of rock. They ascended the left bank of the river. Arrived at the forest, Pencroft broke from the first tree two stout branches which he transformed into clubs, the ends of which Herbert rubbed smooth on a rock. Oh, what would they have not have given for a knife? The two hunters now advanced among the long grass, following the bank. From the turning which directed its course to the southwest, the river narrowed gradually, and the channel lay between high banks over which the trees formed a double arch. Pencroft, lest they should lose themselves, resolved to follow the course of the stream, which would always lead them back to the point from which they started. But the bank was not without some obstacles. Here the flexible branches of the tree bent level with the current. There creepers and thorns which they had to break down with their sticks. Herbert often glided among the broken stumps with the agility of a young cat, and disappeared in the underwood. But Pencroft called him back directly, begging him not to wander away. Meanwhile the sailor attentively observed the disposition and nature of the surrounding country. On the left bank the ground which was flat and marshy rose imperceptibly towards the interior. It looked there like a network of liquid threads which doubtless reached the river by some underground drain. Sometimes a stream ran through the underwood, which they crossed without difficulty. The opposite shore appeared to be more uneven, and the valley of which the river occupied the bottom was more clearly visible. The hill, covered with trees disposed in terraces, intercepted the view. On the right bank walking would have been difficult, for the declivities fell suddenly, and the trees bending over the water were only sustained by the strength of their roots. It is needless to add that this forest, as well as the coast already surveyed, was destitute of any sign of human life. Pencroft only saw traces of quadrupeds, fresh footprints of animals of which he could not recognize the species. In all probability, and such was also Herbert's opinion, some had been left by formidable wild beasts which doubtless would give them some trouble. But nowhere did they observe the mark of an axe on the trees, nor the ashes of a fire, nor the impression of a human foot. On this they might perhaps congratulate themselves, for on any land in the middle of the Pacific the presence of man was perhaps more to be feared than desired. Herbert and Pencroft, speaking little, for the difficulties of the way were great, advanced very slowly, and after walking for an hour they had scarcely gone more than a mile. As yet the haunt had not been successful. However some birds sang and fluttered in the foliage, and appeared very timid, as if man had inspired them with an instinctive fear. Among others Herbert described, in a marshy part of the forest, a bird with a long pointed beak, closely resembling the Kingfisher. But its plumage was not fine, although of a metallic brilliancy. That must be a jack-a-mar, said Herbert, trying to get nearer. This will be a good opportunity to taste jack-a-mar, replied the sailor, if that fellow is in a humour to be roasted. Just then a stone cleverly thrown by the boy struck the creature on the wing. But the blow did not disable it, and the jack-a-mar ran off and disappeared in an instant. How clumsy I am! cried Herbert. No, no, my boy! replied the sailor. The blow was well aimed. Many a one would have missed it altogether. Come, don't be vexed with yourself. We shall catch it another day. As the hunters advanced the trees were found to be more scattered, many being magnificent, but none bore eatable fruit. Pencroft searched in vain for some of those precious palm trees which are employed in so many ways in domestic life, and which have been found as far as the fortieth parallel in the northern hemisphere, and to the thirty-fifth only in the southern hemisphere. But this forest was only composed of coniferay, such as Deodoras already recognised by Herbert. The Douglas Pine, similar to those which grow in the northwest coast of America, and splendid furs measuring a hundred and fifty feet in height. At this moment a flock of birds, of a small size and pretty plumage, with long glancing tails, dispersed themselves among the branches stroing their feathers, which covered the ground as with fine down. Herbert picked up a few of these feathers, and after having examined them, "'These are kurukhus,' said he. "'I should prefer a moorkock or guinea fowl,' replied Pencroft. "'Still, if they are good to eat, they are good to eat, and also their flesh is very delicate,' replied Herbert. "'Besides, if I don't mistake, it is easy to approach and kill them with a stick.' The sailor and the lad, creeping among the grass, arrived at the foot of a tree whose lower branches were covered with little birds. The kurukhus were waiting the passage of insects which served for their nourishment. Their feathery feet could be seen clasping the slender twigs which supported them. The hunters then rose, and using their sticks like scythes, they mowed down whole rows of these kurukhus, who never thought of flying away, and stupidly allowed themselves to be knocked off. A hundred were already heaped on the ground before the others made up their minds to fly. "'Well,' said Pencroft, "'here is game, which is quite within the reach of hunters like us. We have only to put out our hands and take it.' The sailor, having strung the kurukhus like larks on flexible twigs, they then continued their exploration. The stream here made a bend towards the south, but this detour was probably not prolonged, for the river must have its source in the mountain, and be supplied by the melting of the snow which covered the sides of the central cone. The particular object of their expedition was, as has been said, to procure the greatest possible quantity of game for the inhabitants of the chimneys. It must be acknowledged that as yet this object had not been obtained. Though the sailor actively pursued his researches, though he exclaimed when some animal which he had not even time to recognize fled into the long grass, if only we had the dog Top. But Top had disappeared at the same time as his master, and it probably perished with him. Towards three o'clock new flocks of birds were seen through certain trees, at whose aromatic berries they were pecking, those of the juniper tree among others. Suddenly a loud trumpet-call resounded through the forest. This strange and sonorous cry was produced by a game-berg called Grouse in the United States. They soon saw several couples whose plumage was rich chestnut-brown modeled with dark brown, and tail of the same color. Herbert recognized the males by the two wing-like appendages raised on the neck. Pencroft determined to get hold of at least one of these guillenet-sie, which were as large as a fowl, and whose flesh is better than that of a pullet. But it was difficult, for they would not allow themselves to be approached. After several fruitless attempts, which resulted in nothing but scaring the Grouse, the sailor said to the lad, Decidedly, since we can't kill them on the wing, we must try to take them with a line. Like a fish? cried Herbert, much surprised at the proposal. Like a fish! replied the sailor quite seriously. Pencroft had found among the grass half a dozen Grouse nests, each having three or four eggs. He took great care not to touch these nests, to which their proprietors would not fail to return. It was around these that he meant to stretch his lines, not snares, but real fishing lines. He took Herbert to some distance from the nests, and there prepared his singular apparatus with all the care which a disciple of Isaac Walton would have used. Herbert watched the work with great interest, though rather doubting its success. The lines were made of fine creepers, fastened one to the other, of the length of fifteen or twenty feet. Thick, strong thorns, the point spent back, which were supplied by a dwarf Acacia bush, were fastened to the ends of the creepers by way of hooks. Large red worms, which were crawling on the ground, furnished bait. This done, Pencroft, passing among the grass and concealing himself skillfully, placed the end of his lines armed with hooks near the grouse's nests. Then he returned, took the other ends, and hid with Herbert behind a large tree. There they both waited patiently, though it must be said that Herbert did not reckon much on the success of the inventive Pencroft. A whole half hour passed, but then, as the sailor had surmised, several couple of grouse returned to their nests. They walked along, walking the ground, and not suspecting in any way the presence of the hunters, who, besides having taken care to place themselves to leeward of the Galenaciae. The lad felt at this moment highly interested. He held his breath, and Pencroft, his eyes staring, his mouth open, his lips advanced, as if about to taste a piece of grouse, scarcely breathed. Meanwhile the birds walked about the hooks, without taking any notice of them. Pencroft then gave little tugs which moved the bait as if the worms had been still alive. The sailor undoubtedly felt much greater anxiety than does the fisherman, for he does not see his prey coming through the water. The jerks attracted the attention of the Galenaciae, and they attacked the hooks with their beaks. Three voracious grouse swallowed at the same moment bait and hook. Suddenly, with a smart jerk, Pencroft struck his line, and a flapping of wings showed that the birds were taken. Hurrah! he cried, rushing towards the game, of which he made himself master in an instant. Herbert clapped his hands. It was the first time that he had ever seen birds taken with a line, but the sailor monestly confessed that it was not his first attempt, and that besides he could not claim the merit of invention. And at any rate, added he, situated as we are, we must hope to hit upon many other contrivances. The grouse were fastened by their claws, and Pencroft delighted at not having to appear before their companions with empty hands, and observing that the day had begun to decline judged it best to return to their dwelling. The direction was indicated by the river, whose course they had only to follow, and towards six o'clock, tired enough with their excursion, Herbert and Pencroft arrived at the chimneys.