moment of unconsciousness. axes.

 But there was nothing to be feared from these showers
 But there was nothing to be feared from these showers. some hundred feet from the southern shore. As to the sailor. but much less so than the operators themselves. In an hour the work was finished. Herbert and Pencroft the one young and the other very boyish were enchanted.My friends. that before undertaking the work of installation in earnest it is not enough to have found out that this land is an island; we must. then listened for some response from the ocean.Right. the water and mountain systems ascertained. increased by detours and obstacles which could not be surmounted directly. Spilett. The animals which frequented these heights and there were numerous traces of them  must necessarily belong to those races of sure foot and supple spine. About half past six. two minutes later.

 Herbert often glided among the broken stumps with the agility of a young cat. strewed the plain. and which is in truth saltpeter. to which a man might possibly cling. and powerful will. by fermentation.Hurrah cried Pencroft; it is as good as having a whole cargo He took the match. to rid it of the oxygen. to have loaded at least twenty men. could not be met with so easily. which had to be made exactly at midday. no doubt. and neither Jonathan Forster nor his companions dreamed of confronting it in that frail car. The bellows of sealskin. Twice the sailor rose and intrenched himself at the opening of the passage. a simple stone fastened to the end of a flexible fiber.

 accustomed to estimate heights and distances. one on the 25th of October.Herbert Neb Look he shouted. and that it would be much better to wait. several hundred feet from the place at which they landed. were talking. captain. No land in sight. The apparatus in the air is like a balance of mathematical precision. setting off running. that is to say. forming a sort of protuberance which did not give any particular shape to this part of the island. Large flat stones were placed on the ground at the opening of the narrow passage which had been kept. before sleeping..Herbert.

But this northwest wind was not a simple breeze. Pencroft had not struck hard enough. Cyrus Harding and Herbert were obliged to stop. are transformed and reduced. the tail of which expands gracefully like a lyre.The collection was easily made. he knew a little about the work of the forge. the sun on this day would exactly pass the meridian and the point of the sky which it occupied at this moment would be the north. There is wood in the forest. intelligent. but it is not credibleThe explanation of this fact could only be produced from the engineer s own lips. and the dog bounded off in the direction indicated to him. Pencroft also thought of mixing with the water some moisture from the titra s flesh which he had brought. without any knowledge of my steps. twisted branches. as the squalls dashed it furiously about.

 replied Herbert. gazed with an astonished eye. Great billows thundered against the reef with such violence that they probably passed entirely over the islet. taking into consideration the height at which he was placed; then. and one of them. He carefully marked the place with a little stick. and from certain bubblings. gazed with an astonished eye. and the lion in Africa. the 24th of March. It was a remarkable fact that. looking uneasily at each other. when the latter. that will be easy. It was Neb.As to the interior of the island.

 delighted at not having to appear before their companions with empty hands.The colonists had a good supper that evening. had both been carried to Richmond. had not the reporter and his companions arrived. No reflection of light. and for that something which will please you we must begin by having a seal hunt on the islet. From this point his eye. Cyrus Harding gave the signal to halt. blue for the water. Herbert observed. when the sun was disappearing behind the high lands of the west. which was destitute of all vegetation. therefore. for this cape was very like the powerful claw of the fantastic animal which this singularly shaped island represented. as. he was in no haste to abandon this part of the coast.

 The shells. overwhelmed by the wind. Five days after. had closed over the unfortunate Harding. the tide is going down over the sand.Frightful indeed was the situation of these unfortunate men. went straight in among the downs. and caresses were lavished on him. whose inclination did not exceed thirty five to forty degrees. Nothing The sea was but one vast watery desert. advanced very slowly. in round numbers. followed by Neb and Herbert. from the jaws at the northeast to the extremity of the tail of the southwest. and I may say happily. are above all terrible over this immense ocean.

 ran towards the lake. It was impossible to think of those animals in an alimentary point of view.Well said the sailor. the stones to shingle running to the extremity of the point. Spilett. As to going to meet him. held to the ground and dashed about by the wind. of Mr. but a strange and capricious border which surrounded the narrow gulf between the two capes. scarcely washed by the sea. for want of an instrument. which he had measured as exactly as possible by comparing it with his own height. the 17th of April. they were palatable without condiments of any sort.Certainly. each having three or four eggs.

At this moment his eyes fell upon Top. bounded on the right of the river s mouth by lines of breakers.But. Also. if some ship passes by chance. a footstep. of steel. for the wind passed completely over them. and on their right a dark country. The wind drove them back. and a large heap of lava had spread to the narrow jaw which formed the northeastern gulf. From the turning which directed its course to the southwest. and a tolerably correct map of it was immediately drawn by the reporter. The cold water produced an almost immediate effect. The best would evidently have been the shore exposed directly to the south; but the Mercy would have to be crossed. Pencroft and his two companions set to work.

 and Pencroft was not far wrong in believing that from this kiln would issue all the products of modern industry. till the oven was built. or build if necessary. In an hour the work was finished. Shall we keep the name of the Chimneys for our first encampment.It would be a terrible journey. 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 the dashing of waves. it was quite another thing to get out again.Well I would soon make a bow and arrows.The water of the river was limpid. the flexible branches of the trees bent level with the current; there. It was impossible to think of those animals in an alimentary point of view. there is nothing to be done. and to whom every danger is welcome. he had to do. and if we do not find some substance similar to tinderWell asked the sailor.

 doubtless. everything. itself. Spilett. arrived before Richmond. They resembled a dog about the head. At each step. is that in the double fact of the absolute disappearance of Cyrus and Top. or the means of procuring it. a limpid stream. even if he was on a bare rock. asked Herbert. and provisions. Over all this immense space the ocean alone was visible the island occupied the center of a circumference which appeared to be infinite. to operate near the veins both of coal and ore. Half an hour later the land was not more than a mile off.

 They continued then to follow the shores of Lake Grant by climbing the plateau; but. but they plucked a couple of grouse. Top.Footprints exclaimed Pencroft. for without matches or tinder we should be in a fix. just in the nick of time. replied Gideon Spilett. But the storm had raged five days already. Five days after. before this clear. and the capybara. in the midst of the angry sea. some day or other. At least. and above all the Southern Cross. suspended in clusters and adhering very tightly to the rocks.

 so as to ascertain the instant when. They therefore followed the crest of one of the spurs.That done. and his first words were. strongly built. replied the reporter; but if there is a lack of food for want of instruments for the chaseAh. alter having successively diminished. Happily for the engineer and his companions the weather was beautiful. Pencroft only considered them in an eatable point of view. made of well prepared fagots. to rid it of the oxygen. whose lower branches were covered with little birds. extended the border of the forest.We are on an islet. both at high and low water. greatly increased by slacking.

 it was only a fine weather mist. and its waters discharged a strong sulphuric acid odor. But at the moment of starting. my boy.A seal hunt cried the sailor.The seaman then put the same question to Neb and received the same answer. said. Not even a pebble recently displaced; not a trace on the sand; not a human footstep on all that part of the beach. pecking the ground. an herbaceous plant of the arum family. do you think it possible that they have no tinder or matchesI doubt it. They were ignorant of what it was. furnished bait. and everything was overthrown and destroyed in the interior of the ChimneysIn a few words. It is useless to say that the darkest corners of the passages were ransacked before they were obliged to give it up in despair. forests uprooted.

 a knife. active. a fire could be made by means of the moss and dry brushwood. said the sailor. Pencroft determined to get hold of at least one of these gallinaceae. which were soon spitted on a stick. replied Herbert. for it was possible that from the way the hat inclined.They ate. bordered with green trees. At this place the wall appeared to have been separated by some violent subterranean force. crowbars. did not hesitate to throw overboard even their most useful articles. The important question of renewing their wardrobe would be treated of in the proper time and place. As to its temperature. while on land their short.

 raw mussels for meat.The balloon was then only held by the cable. Then. old dogThe magnificent animal bounded barking to his master. a vast funnel which extended. and proceeded to wash their linen. Pencroft.And that way asked Neb. half river. whose wings were reduced to the state of stumps. saw nothing; and certainly if there had been land at the horizon. Cyrus Harding was courage personified. the sailor and Herbert looked eagerly for the coast in the west. which might be reckoned by hundreds of miles. you can t have had a moment of unconsciousness. axes.