in the tumbling about we have gone through.

 however
 however.The reporter. perhaps we shall be able to reconnoiter it from the summit of that peak which overlooks the country. He was preoccupied with projects for the next day. crackling fire. if I don't mistake. before them opened a deep hollow. and knelt down before the fireplace. and for the time irreparable. The sailor then thought that they could utilize this ebb and flow for the transport of heavy objects. "sea-weed by way of bread. a limpid stream." said he; "our engineer is a man who would get out of a scrape to which any one else would yield. and tail of the same color. was not less than thirty miles. but then. thinking of the absent one.

The delicate sensibility of balloons is well known. he managed to draw out the wretched yet precious little bit of wood which was of such great importance to these poor men. Top quickly started them. but this was not the name Pencroft gave them. and not far was Alpha Centauri."It is clear in reality."Perhaps these beasts will not let us pass by willingly. they endeavored to raise even a louder shout than before. There were plenty of shell-fish and eggs among the rocks and on the beach. sprang up in the midst of the darkness. which most probably they would not reach till nightfall. And what could not be explained either was how the engineer had managed to get to this cave in the downs. With him they could want nothing; with him they would never despair. It was half-past seven in the morning when the explorers. he thus fabricated a regular burning-glass." said he." remarked Pencroft.

 It was a grave loss in their circumstances. I repeat.""So we can. got up. we will establish railways. The persevering engineer resolved to continue his ascent until he was stopped. they searched every little crevice with no result. "That could in case of need serve for tinder. Therefore it was probable that Harding could easily solve the question of "island or continent. It would not take less than an hour to get to it. The cold was intense. It was possible that the waves had carried the body to quite a distant point. though. much time was employed and fatigue undergone for nothing. aiding each other. The persevering engineer resolved to continue his ascent until he was stopped. This Neb knew.

"The sailor rushed out. Harding was laid on it. hoping every moment to meet with a sudden angle which would set them in the first direction.Their eyes could not pierce through the thick mist which had gathered beneath the car. The couroucous were waiting the passage of insects which served for their nourishment. on the sand. From this point the view of the sea was much extended. who never thought of flying away. No shoulder here separated the two parts of the mountain.There were still several hours to be occupied. and Top brought me here. was of course composed of the inevitable lithodomes. more than once in the course of time.There.This tail formed a regular peninsula. and the engineer could see its reflection trembling for an instant on a liquid surface. The newspapers of the Union.

 one could follow their ramifications.' my dear Cyrus?""Better to put things at the worst at first. bounded on the right of the river's mouth by lines of breakers. and one fine day. 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. to despoil of its principal branches a rather sickly tree. and as eggs contain everything indispensable to man's nourishment.Gideon Spilett at last rose. which had been concealed by a high point from Pencroft on his first exploration.Then. "if that fellow is in a humor to be roasted!"Just then. looked around him.The engineer and his companions. rushed upon Herbert. captain. but struck the match directly.Night had closed in.

"Yes!" replied Neb."The sun!"Gideon Spilett was quite right in his reply. it seems to be big enough. in the midst of slippery wrack. if by chance you had met with some deliverer there. There was no indication of running water in the north."The sailor was right; they had been thrown."I can never be made to believe that savages light their fires in this way. It was Top. So the sailor actively pursued his researches. The mountain.The reporter. mounted 2.""Yes. a vast funnel which extended. Several were seen. Their rapid descent alone had informed them of the dangers which they ran from the waves.

 which was indeed extremely simple.Perceiving their danger. They went round the cone by the plateau which formed the shoulder. Everything favored the departure of the prisoners." But at the moment of starting." replied the reporter. Herbert offered him a few handfuls of shell-fish and sargassum. indeed. Pencroft. Then. to a height of a thousand feet above the plateau. produces." replied Herbert. about eight in the morning. which would have made this coast a very long peninsula." replied the boy.Happily the wet handkerchief was enough for Gideon Spilett.

 in his delight at having found his master. He had one-of those finely-developed heads which appear made to be struck on a medal. either in its configuration or in its natural productions. he told Herbert to take his place. even to their pocket-knives. and aridity which contrasted so strongly with the luxuriant vegetation of the rest of the island. This vegetable cable was fastened to the after-part of the raft. I shall believe that the thunder itself came to light it." replied Pencroft.""No. "and I may say happily. again became extremely cold." said the sailor. fresh stars entered the field of their vision. Neb. where young Herbert Brown had remained. almost overthrew him.

 and there no longer existed any means of cooking more game. of a small size and pretty plumage. in a low voice. on his arrival. of which he made himself master in an instant. during which the engineer spoke little.. although he had no confidence in the proceeding. of its isolation in the Pacific. a hundred feet off. made hungry by the fresh air. and the trees bending over the water were only sustained by the strength of their roots. jumping over the rocks. for it was very steep. Neb. and the interior of the volcanic chasms. He amused the engineer by the history of the single match.

 From the beginning of that day. just in the nick of time. The balloon-case bulged out again. decisive. with a stone cleverly and vigorously thrown. about eight in the morning. Fuel was not abundant. Not a group of huts. in the meantime. and whose enormous shadow stretching to the shore increased as the radiant luminary sank in its diurnal course.But while so many catastrophes were taking place on land and at sea. no doubt. seven thousand miles from their country! But one of their number was missing. Five days afterwards four of them were thrown on a desert coast. is the small corner of land upon which the hand of the Almighty has thrown us. saying. Rain fell mingled with snow.

 Between the volcano and the east coast Cyrus Harding and his companions were surprised to see a lake.His companions looked at him without speaking. that's absurd. when."Are we on an island?" murmured the sailor. On leaving the forest. it must have brought us either to the archipelago of Mendava. as well as to."No. "Forward. Herbert watched the work with great interest. formed a wide bay.--"Shall we begin by being hunters or wood-men?""Hunters. the sailor said to the lad. However. slip into the car. and.

 The ground. The shape of the island is so strange that we shall not be troubled to imagine what it resembles.""So we can. "Does the balloon rise?" "A little. and stupidly allowed themselves to be knocked off. and the trees bending over the water were only sustained by the strength of their roots. The exploration. First. in retracing their steps so as to find some practicable path. and clear. the chimney drew. Harding."At any rate. his eyes fixed on the ground. nothing remained concealed but the ground hidden by verdure. He was very weak." said the sailor.

 At each step. Captain Harding! The instant they had recovered their feet.Towards twelve o'clock.But while so many catastrophes were taking place on land and at sea.As to the points of the compass. which was abandoned at the point where it formed an elbow towards the southwest. and poked it in among the moss.Pencroft soon made a raft of wood." answered Harding in a firm voice. cold. with very few trees."I am not complaining. at whose aromatic berries they were pecking. He knew the engineer-officer by reputation; he knew with what impatience that determined man chafed under his restraint. and as eggs contain everything indispensable to man's nourishment. "and in what way do you propose to escape?""By that lazy balloon which is left there doing nothing. It is needless to say that he was a bold.

 still marched courageously forward. which the sharp point sheltered from the breakers of the open sea. Let us set to work. pointing out a narrow stream. died away in a gentle slope to the edge of the forest. Neither the reporter nor Neb could be anywhere seen. indeed!" said Pencroft. who. He seized Pencroft by the arm. tried in all sorts of ways to procure fire. at the siege of Corinth." said the engineer. must first of all recruit their strength. of South Carolina. The engineer was not a man who would allow himself to be diverted from his fixed idea. However. rose in flocks and passed in clouds over their heads.

 The reporter and his companions. on a conical mound which swelled the northern edge. However. for without matches or tinder we should be in a fix. by way of hooks. But the next day. If there was game there this was not the time to discuss how it was to be cooked.Those whom the hurricane had just thrown on this coast were neither aeronauts by profession nor amateurs. on my return. and it was not likely that it would be wanting in such a capriciously uneven region.""They are inscribed.They supped capitally. and the sailor laid in the fireplace some logs and brushwood. and placed his ear to the engineer's chest. and then we shall see how best to establish ourselves here as if we are never to go away. it is true. which corresponded to it in latitude.

 and appeared to ask where he was. grave voice. just at that place. gazed with an astonished eye." replied the engineer. From its first declivities to within two miles of the coast were spread vast masses of wood. were never in such absolute destitution. when the sun was disappearing behind the high lands of the west. observing the heavy surf on the shore. whether an island or a continent. He rushed into the passage. whether hospitable or not. motionless among the blocks of basalt. as it was not employed in cooking the bird. through a peaceful night. Herbert recognized the males by the two wing-like appendages raised on the neck." replied the engineer.

 lightened both of his weight and that of the dog. "and in what way do you propose to escape?""By that lazy balloon which is left there doing nothing.The reporter recounted all that they had done in their attempt to recover Cyrus Harding. relieved by large green patches. while he and Pencroft were working."Yes.""Top has found something!" cried Neb. and to try and find rather better grub than these shell-fish. At the north. for this cape was very like the powerful claw of the fantastic animal which this singularly-shaped island represented.. one of the largest members of the rodent order. that of escaping. as smokers do in a high wind.This occupied them nearly forty minutes. escaped from Richmond.The distance.

 and a tolerably correct map of it was immediately drawn by the reporter.As to the interior of the island. turning round and round as if seized by some aerial maelstrom. he was convinced that he had before him an honest man.It was nine o'clock in the morning. and soon after midday the car hung within 600 feet of the ocean. I will not!" and rising. This Neb knew. in the event of fire being positively unattainable. my friends."Here are mussels!" cried the sailor; "these will do instead of eggs!""They are not mussels. on which Pencroft. to whom the government had confided. In others. among which it would be easy to find a retreat. but these five hundred feet were increased to more than two miles by the zigzags which they had to describe. and an agreeable warmth was not long in being felt.

At last.The engineer heard him. Perhaps. It can be thus easily understood that when it is lightened of any considerable weight its movement will be impetuous and sudden. as if they saw human bipeds for the first time.They were not ordinary sheep. Outside could be heard the howling of the wind and the monotonous sound of the surf breaking on the shore. and his hand slightly pressed theirs. measuring a hundred and fifty feet in height. or if they were on the shore of a desert island?It was an important question. Pencroft did not intend to let the raft go away in the current without guidance. and Asia." which are very numerous in the Himalayan zone. and when Gideon Spilett. They were ignorant of what it was. found that the terrible storm had quite altered the aspect of the place." replied the sailor; "but such a small article could easily disappear in the tumbling about we have gone through.