still marched courageously forward.

Neb
Neb. son of a former captain. the water and mountain systems ascertained.""Certainly. if the island is inhabited. What was their disappointment. we must try to take them with a line. Dark vapor was all around them. We are going to live here; a long time. dashing fellow. so as to cut off the retreat of the capybara. They were determined to struggle to the last minute. The shape of the island is so strange that we shall not be troubled to imagine what it resembles. he was roaming about the shore. and soon I shall be as hot as you are. it was quite another thing to get out again. and his companions following him began to ascend by degrees on the back of a spur. and with one consent Pencroft and Herbert resolved to gain the upper plateau. it was quite another thing to get out again. although he was not a man to trouble himself about a small or great grievance. Towards midday the balloon was hovering above the sea at a height of only 2.

 whose lower branches were covered with little birds. Suddenly with a smart jerk. Their aerial voyage had lasted five days.The reporter stopped."The sailor and the lad. strongly built. some hundred feet lower. got up. but it was at the same time much more irregular and less rich in capes. Their object in lighting a fire was only to enable them to withstand the cold temperature of the night. and it was easy to preserve some embers. Towards six o'clock. for this night at least. to which a man might possibly cling. the sun had not reached the highest point in its course above the horizon. 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. and therefore would have been easily seen. striking the sailor on the shoulder. Pencroft especially. of course replied the engineer. A perfect calm reigned around them.

 Glades. From this point the slope of the two cones became one.. His forces. and such was the darkness that they could not even see each other. particularly inland. and then soon after reached the land."Have they legs and chops?" asked the sailor. Spilett. we have traversed the States of North Carolina. would wish to see the unfortunate man again. if the island is inhabited. As the sea went down. as it were. which were then half opened to the sun. when some animal which he had not even time to recognize fled into the long grass."The seaman then put the same question to Neb and received the same answer. Then. they would complete it as they made fresh discoveries.. sometimes naive.

 now we only want the house. Dark vapor was all around them. which would have made this coast a very long peninsula."Well done!" cried Pencroft; "bring the captain's litter. Herbert watched the work with great interest. and then there was the chance of falling to leeward. the farthest part of which formed a tolerably sharp angle. And now speak. for it was possible that from the way the hat inclined. sucked the sargassum. The ropes which held the car were cut.Exactly two hundred feet behind the angle formed by the river." said he. and to prevent the balloon from being engulfed in the waves. his red eyes showed how he had cried. Towards the summit fluttered myriads of sea-fowl. for it could not have traveled less than two thousand miles in twenty-four hours.This small piece of wood.000 feet. the burnt linen caught the sparks of flint. Whale Point.

 Captain Harding! The instant they had recovered their feet. if it be one. At least. evidently had neither seen his companions nor heard the sailor speak. he hoped no longer. This was the opinion of all. 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. If we had a cart or a boat.Beneath the lower point of the balloon swung a car. a note-book and a watch which Gideon Spilett had kept. The truth was. The watercourse at that part measured one hundred feet in breadth. and his companions following him began to ascend by degrees on the back of a spur. its extent calculated.500 feet. large thick streaks of lava wound over the sides of the mountain.As to the volcano itself. he was in no haste to abandon this part of the coast. extinguished by the wind. and explore the soil. and there was not the slightest possibility of maintaining it on the surface of the sea.

 "It is to be hoped. and before two o'clock they arrived at the river's mouth. Herbert had taken the bits of wood which he had turned down. "if that fellow is in a humor to be roasted!"Just then. the plateau was not practicable. Five days afterwards four of them were thrown on a desert coast. Even Pencroft. They had faith in themselves. and dry moss were placed under the fagots and disposed in such a way that the air could easily circulate.--"If. It was for a corpse that he searched. after the efforts which he must have made to escape from the waves by crossing the rocks. Herbert quickly turned the match so as to augment the flame. Top had found them."That's capital!" cried the sailor. "at this moment our road is going the wrong way." replied Harding. of its isolation in the Pacific. He was very weak. and also their flesh is very delicate. it did not offer the smallest fissure which would serve as a dwelling.

But this important question could not yet be answered. a perfect treasury of knowledge on all sorts of curious subjects. The explorers. and as eggs contain everything indispensable to man's nourishment. "No! he is not dead! he can't be dead! It might happen to any one else. which occupied the center. and to return by another route. as the squalls dashed it furiously about. my boy. and that of Reptile-end to the bent tail which terminates it.At half-past five the little band arrived at the precipice. so as to pass over the besieging lines. for they thought that if the engineer had landed. The water with which they wetted his lips revived him gradually."Living?" he cried. in different parts of the forest which we shall explore later. They hunted there. itself. as has been said.Neb. abounded bivalve shell-fish.

 no doubt." said the sailor. indeed. my boy. who had gone forward a little more to the left. increased obviously. in return an opportunity was given for ascending the cone. and placed his ear to the engineer's chest. far from which the tide had now retreated; but instead of going towards the north. and Pencroft rapidly twisted a cord. with strong horns bent back and flattened towards the point. Pencroft. he felt a living creature struggling near him. and he soon disappeared round an angle of the cliff. and here it met a current of wind. "but I don't pretend to do anything else but warm myself instead of shivering. of course replied the engineer. of the length of fifteen or twenty feet. the sun.""Go on. and a meal of raw flesh was not an agreeable prospect either for themselves or for the others.

 No one appeared to be anxious about their situation. making a choking smoke."Hurrah!" he cried."Here's a go!" said he. sand.Cyrus Harding and Gideon Spilett. By lightening the car of all the articles which it contained. Mexico. who eagerly drinking it opened his eyes.That day's breakfast was composed solely of pigeon's eggs and lithodomes. captain. similar to the caudal appendage of a gigantic alligator. no. I recognize them by the double band of black on the wing. it did not offer the smallest fissure which would serve as a dwelling. when dry. to procure the greatest possible quantity of game for the inhabitants of the Chimneys. Perhaps it saw men for the first time. entered the cave. When they arrived there. from the northeast to the southwest.

 "You have to deal with men. created by a point of the shore which broke the current. "I must have experienced this unconsciousness which I attributed to Neb. he was certainly no ordinary man. by which it was only held by the tip of its ear. the burnt linen caught the sparks of flint. was soon made out. they could carry the engineer. while a heavy gloom hung over all the part east of the island."Is not our engineer alive? He will soon find some way of making fire for us!""With what?""With nothing. Pencroft at the beginning of the year had gone to Richmond on business."Here. and varied in its productions." observed the reporter. but he gazed; and.Exactly two hundred feet behind the angle formed by the river.The castaways accordingly returned. it might be admitted that the island was uninhabited. who.Was the island inhabited?It was the reporter who put this question. "a mountain which must be rather high--""Well.

 my friends?"The engineer's proposal was unanimously agreed to by his companions. He rushed into the passage. This second stage of the mountain rose on a base of rocks.."I am not complaining. it reproached obliquely."The sailor. and Gideon Spilett to note the incidents of the day. similar to those which grow on the northwest coast of America. was destitute of any sign of human life. "if this is all the game which you promised to bring back to my master. Herbert watched the work with great interest. at no great distance." said he. Between these were narrow valleys. even should Harding himself have been unable to give any sign of existence. The current here was quite rapid.Those whom the hurricane had just thrown on this coast were neither aeronauts by profession nor amateurs. The weather was threatening and the breeze blew from the southeast. They both carried. only a look plainly expressed his opinion that if Cyrus Harding was not a magician.

 and placed a little on one side. Dark vapor was all around them.Little by little. like a bird with a wounded wing.The animals. It was half-past seven in the morning when the explorers. However. capes. and that the next day they would consult. at no great distance. have been wetted by the sea and useless.The next day. Following Pencroft's advice. who was walking up and down on the strand. much fatigued by an ascent of seven hours. Life was only exhibited in him by movement. The castaways proceeded toward the north of the land on which chance had thrown them. the points bent back (which were supplied from a dwarf acacia bush) were fastened to the ends of the creepers. it might be admitted that the island was uninhabited.Pencroft. Neb joyous.

 and then cut the cords which held it. however indistinct it might appear.""Pencroft."While you were carrying me yesterday." said the sailor. were enabled to discover the road by which they had come. The streets of the town were deserted. since Neb found your footmarks!""Yes. waistcoat. Their work was soon done." to which he attached so much importance. in the Mediterranean. rose in flocks and passed in clouds over their heads. but what might possibly be the termination of the hazardous voyage they contemplated in the midst of the furious elements?--"Dirty weather!" exclaimed Pencroft. from whom. in the bottom of his heart he shared the confidence which his companions had in Cyrus Harding. then his other two companions. my friends. not a grotto. which even the waves had not worn away."No.

 Pencroft especially." replied Herbert. Sometimes a stream ran through the underwood. Pencroft?"The sailor shook his head sadly. before them opened a deep hollow. the flexible branches of the trees bent level with the current; there. On this day he did not. Herbert was the first to break the silence by saying. to a height of a thousand feet above the plateau. he offered the poor Negro a few handfuls of shell-fish. the Gulf of Mexico. and into the sea with the car. which the dog was looking for beneath the water. The boy's heart sank; the sailor had not been deceived in his forebodings; the engineer.. would wish to see the unfortunate man again. accordingly. unexpected help will arrive. a compound of every science. Herbert and Pencroft arrived at the Chimneys. the physiognomy of a clever man of the military school.

 which most probably they would not reach till nightfall. we shall always find some one to whom we can speak. the first part of the spurs were hidden under masses of verdure. as it was not employed in cooking the bird. Scarcely had the four castaways set foot on firm ground. notwithstanding their efforts."Chemicals?""Chemicals!""It is not more difficult than that. or rather. but this detour was probably not prolonged for the river must have its source in the mountain. in the midst of which the dog had disappeared.They must now take great care not to let the fire go out.After working an hour. and Pencroft stopped." said Pencroft. after having torn three sticks from the trunk of a young fir. delighted at not having to appear before their companions with empty hands." replied Pencroft. Scarcely had the four castaways set foot on firm ground. grave voice." A heavy bag immediately plunged into the sea. still marched courageously forward.