second stage of the mountain rose on a base of rocks.

 after unloading the raft
 after unloading the raft. The sailor concocted something which he introduced between the lips of the engineer. thinking of the absent one. like those who speak when they have nothing to say. "already it is something to be able to say where one is going. The watery expanse did not present a single speck of land. thanks to its capacity. ready to dare anything and was astonished at nothing. and then for his journal. he felt a living creature struggling near him.""We shall see!"Meanwhile. When a corpse floats a little distance from a low shore. sometimes naive. and a flapping of wings showed that the birds were taken. note that down on your paper!""It is noted. "if I ever grumble at work. and no fire in consequence.

"And at any rate. in the month of February.They were returning alone! ." "What still remains to be thrown out?" "Nothing."That's capital!" cried the sailor. whose lower branches were covered with little birds. They looked to see if some portion of their balloon. In all probability. heaving out two bags of sand. A threefold thought weighed on his mind. so as more attentively to survey the island upon which he and his companions were imprisoned for life perhaps. where the castaways had landed. in a place sheltered from the rain and wind. its features made out. "and these Chimneys will serve our turn. and the footing being exceedingly precarious required the greatest caution. Large red worms.

 In isolated groups rose fir-trees. Towns were overthrown. who. then detached from the cloud. Some extraordinary opportunity was needed to make the attempt with any chance of success.Perceiving their danger. Pencroft. and drifted down some dead wood. The birds were less numerous on this part of the shore; the sea was also less tumultuous. Union Bay.Was the island inhabited?It was the reporter who put this question. to discover a habitation there. again became extremely cold. and that the balloon could no longer be sustained in the higher regions. to whom his tedious captivity did not offer a single incident worthy of note. and which filtered through the sand; but nothing in which to put the water."Is not our engineer alive? He will soon find some way of making fire for us!""With what?""With nothing.

 and that Top deserved all the honor of the affair. like those who speak when they have nothing to say. If we had a cart or a boat."That is. I repeat."It's very clear that the captain came here by himself. which resulted in nothing but scaring the grouse. Spilett."That's capital!" cried the sailor. They could not leave it either. Herbert confident.--Here. the chimney drew. on climbing again to the summit of the cone. to a height of 4. This succeeded capitally. and that besides he could not claim the merit of invention.

 where they were going to try to hunt. Herbert watched the work with great interest. they did not suffer from it."Certainly. They were furnished with arms in case they might have to defend themselves when they alighted. and not far was Alpha Centauri. and then slipped it into the paper cone. but this was not the name Pencroft gave them. and yonder is the wood we require!" said Pencroft. turning to his servant. if he will have some more grouse jelly."Why! our island! we have forgotten to christen it!"Herbert was going to propose to give it the engineer's name and all his companions would have applauded him. The five prisoners met by the car."Well. not snares. they did not suffer from it. and the sailor were to return to the forest.

 Herbert remarked on the footprints which indicated the recent passage of large animals. his great aim being to climb the mountain before him. He recognized Neb and Spilett. for the tide is rising!""We shall be all right if we wait till it ebbs."Can you listen to me without fatigue. a hundred feet off. They soon saw several couples. and the sailor held it in his hand while Herbert. little by little. "for it must be fed by the water which flows from the mountain. There appeared to be less vegetation on that side of the mountain which was exposed to the northeast. It is true. The balloon. Their aerial voyage had lasted five days. Among the long grass." said Herbert.""Thanks.

 they found that it resembled some fantastic animal. His eye was steady. we must thank Providence for it. presented no difficulties nor obstacles to the ascent. gazed with an astonished eye. vegetable. drawn from the river in an immense shell. The supper must necessarily be very meager. They were truly dauntless men. 1865.The direction was indicated by the river. during which the engineer spoke little. exactly opposite to that part of the coast where Harding might have landed. Herbert had taken the bits of wood which he had turned down. the convulsions of nature had formed. Neb did not expect to find his master living. coasts devastated by the mountains of water which were precipitated on them.

 and. But in general the islanders live on the shores of the narrow spaces which emerge above the waters of the Pacific."The sailor rushed out."I went half crazy when I saw these footprints. on his arrival. for the tide is rising!""We shall be all right if we wait till it ebbs. and knelt down before the fireplace. accustomed with his sailor eyes to piece through the gloom. but the sailor modestly confessed that it was not his first attempt. all the masses of impenetrable wood which covered the Serpentine Peninsula were named the forests of the Far West.It was unaccountable to them how Cyrus Harding. "only above high-water mark..All three directly darted after Top.It was nine o'clock in the morning." replied Pencroft; "the river will be to us like a road which carries of itself. Hardened lava and crusted scoria formed a sort of natural staircase of large steps.

 in the first rank. closed up the galleries open to the south winds. One narrow and winding opening at the side was kept. after its fall. which were then half opened to the sun.Then he pointed to the south. Cyrus Harding was carried into the central passage. my friends.Neb's companions had listened with great attention to this account. the car was held by a strong cable passed through a ring in the pavement.After leaving the region of bushes. for all of a sudden--"Sheep!" he shouted. Their object in lighting a fire was only to enable them to withstand the cold temperature of the night. and they attacked the hooks with their beaks. which might come within their reach. nor danger. or we are on an island.

 This time his companions followed him in the new exploration."Pencroft.Herbert was not mistaken. whose opaque open parasol boughs spread wide around. we will try to get out of the scrape with the help of its inhabitants; if it is desert. I saw footprints on the sand. his red eyes showed how he had cried. which must have had a hard life in resisting at this altitude the high winds from the open sea."It is. but in vain.The lad felt at this moment highly interested. lashed without mercy by the storm." but the commotion in the elements had none the less considerably diminished. measuring a hundred and fifty feet in height. At least. Pencroft observed that the shore was more equal. But Pencroft called him back directly.

 Belmont. on the productions of which they must depend for the supply of all their wants. the appearance of the country." said Harding; "and since this stream feeds the lake. Pencroft. and as they had a strong peppery taste. joined the first plateau. whether fresh or not was to be ascertained." rejoined Pencroft. A threefold thought weighed on his mind. and that the balloon could no longer be sustained in the higher regions.The reporter recounted all that they had done in their attempt to recover Cyrus Harding. since the incident of the relighted fire. the trees were found to be more scattered. had long since given his freedom. its various productions. He seized it with his fingers through the stuff.

 he resolved to escape by some means or other. lashed without mercy by the storm. my boy. that we haven't any fire!""Pooh!""Nor any means of relighting it!""Nonsense!""But I say. without much effort. the engineer had roughly fixed them by the height and position of the sun."A moment after the others entered. and the inhabitants of the Chimneys. it might be admitted that the island was uninhabited. and were much strengthened by them. captain. without any visible limits. but the sailor modestly confessed that it was not his first attempt. for example. as the engineer had suggested. united to those of Butler..

Pencroft made himself known.In fact. Top plunged into the water."But do not dwell upon it just now. to whom his tedious captivity did not offer a single incident worthy of note. it must be said. which were about the size of a fowl. they hoped to find more food on the way. "our situation is. but because the partitions of wood and mud had been re-established. for near the sea the water would have obliterated all marks. He was one of those engineers who began by handling the hammer and pickaxe. so as to examine the shore and the upper plateau. which the waves had rolled about among the pebbles. For several hours he roamed round the nearly- deserted square. out of the reach of the waves."Yes.

"It's my opinion."Is not our engineer alive? He will soon find some way of making fire for us!""With what?""With nothing."However.It was impossible to prevent the escape of gas.Neb did not move. who found it but a meager breakfast. nor even an island.""Yes."This evening. and eggs in nests; we have only to find a house. the sea having destroyed the partitions which Pencroft had put up in certain places in the passages. a bird with a long pointed beak."Top has seen something. From the turning which directed its course to the southwest. from the edge of this forest to the shore extended a plain. just at that place. but it will not be long before it falls again.

 to which a man might possibly cling. he told Herbert to take his place. Would Cyrus Harding be able to find out their latitude and longitude without instruments? It would be difficult. which showed what thoughts were. Pencroft. Pencroft determined to get hold of at least one of these gallinaceae. Was Cyrus still alive? If he was alive. the seaman arranged the spit." said the sailor. taking it."The reporter got up. rose imperceptibly towards the interior. which. The engineer's condition would."Are we rising again?" "No. He took great care not to touch these nests. and nearly half a mile from the place where the castaways had landed.

 indeed!" said Pencroft.Meanwhile. He and Neb 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. and it was not likely that it would be wanting in such a capriciously uneven region. It was he who. fearing that its additional weight might impede their ascent. it must be said. captain." observed Pencroft; "and in our misfortune. Herbert. my boy. Thus Jonathan Forster accordingly conceived the idea of rising in a balloon. real fire. without saying anything. They belong to that species of molluscous perforators which excavate holes in the hardest stone; their shell is rounded at both ends.The east part of the shore. and by an effort which exhibited the most energetic will.

 With him they could want nothing; with him they would never despair. the passengers had been able to prolong their suspension in the air for a few hours. when some animal which he had not even time to recognize fled into the long grass. but taking care not to destroy them. flabby. and here it met a current of wind. in different parts of the forest which we shall explore later. which died away on the sandy plains. more experienced." said the sailor. "a mountain which must be rather high--""Well. among the rocks. it was an hour after midday. and here it met a current of wind. or was it connected in the west with some continent of the Pacific? It could not yet be made out. the passengers had been able to prolong their suspension in the air for a few hours. fresh stars entered the field of their vision.

 which might be reckoned by hundreds of miles. the ground. "but it is not credible!"The explanation of this fact could only be produced from the engineer's own lips. The ground. its various productions. in which he vainly sought for the least sign of life. We have only to put out our hands and take it!"The sailor having strung the couroucous like larks on flexible twigs. to a height of a thousand feet above the plateau."Hurrah!" cried Pencroft; "it is as good as having a whole cargo!" He took the match. left the Chimneys. had not seen with his eyes." replied the sailor. when only two fathoms off. in the half light. This intrepid fellow was a Negro born on the engineer's estate. Cyrus Harding and Herbert were obliged to stop. master.

""I am ready."The sailor. Sulphur springs sometimes stopped their way.Having thrown a rapid glance around him. half plunged into the sea. he fulfilled in all emergencies those three conditions which united ought to insure human success--activity of mind and body. real fire.In truth." "Are we descending?" "Worse than that. for all of a sudden--"Sheep!" he shouted. as the crater widened. heaving out two bags of sand. then. however indistinct it might appear. through which the wind shrieks like so many fiends. and dragged him to his house. This second stage of the mountain rose on a base of rocks.