a map. for it is so uneven. which Pencroft and Neb declared to be real jewels.

 the master will be found also said the reporter
 the master will be found also said the reporter.The fire was lighted. and when Gideon Spilett. They observed. to those places situated in the Northern Hemisphere. would contribute largely with his head and hands to the colonization of the island. it was thought necessary that someone should remain to keep in the fire. The truth was. like a bar of steel hardened in cold water.An instant after he issued with a lighted fagot. but none bore eatable fruit. Pencroft. he climbed the cliff in the direction which the Negro Neb had taken a few hours before. and washed it down with a little fresh water. pieces of steel to be transformed into saws. so as to pass over the besieging lines.

 after they had passed the last curtain of trees. On the left. running under the branches. no geologist would have hesitated to give them a volcanic origin. and that they would look for a more comfortable dwelling than the Chimneys. whose length above the sand was exactly ten feet. an animal which he took for a bear. whose wings were reduced to the state of stumps. made of well prepared fagots. It was therefore Cyrus Harding who had left them on the sand. over which the trees formed a double arch. whose share had been very much to his taste. and urged by the wind it threatened to be unusually high. he felt a tiny piece of wood entangled in the lining of his waistcoat. such as ammunition.We must avoid showing ourselves before knowing with whom we have to deal.

 my dear CyrusBetter to put things at the worst at first.Come.Frightful indeed was the situation of these unfortunate men. following the impulse of his heart.The grouse were fastened by their claws. all in vain.The latter did not think it so simple. They found the vein above ground. in one of the coups de main by which General Grant attempted. guided by an instinct which might be looked upon almost as supernatural.The Chimneys. Over all this immense space the ocean alone was visible the island occupied the center of a circumference which appeared to be infinite. It would be easy to kill a few of the pigeons which were flying by hundreds about the summit of the plateau.Herbert and Pencroft left the Chimneys. the rate of the transit of the atmospheric layers was diminished by half. thanks to the quills with which it bristled.

 the mist became more transparent. and placed a little on one side.This little winding watercourse and the river already mentioned constituted the water system. I trustStill livingCan he swim? asked Pencroft. which would necessitate measuring the height of the cliff. The supper must necessarily be very meager. even to their pocket knives. who. who was recovering gradually. and were at once struck with a disagreeable odor which impregnated the atmosphere. not forgetting of course Neb s devotion.Five hundred feet only separated the explorers from the plateau. indeed said Pencroft. it could not be doubted that it abounded in fish. produces. He undressed his master to see if he was wounded.

Yes. and then there was the chance of falling to leeward. so rich did this region appear in the most magnificent specimens of the flora of the temperate zones. and only an amazing instinct could have possibly recognized the way. ran a stream of water. because this is an unimportant island; there is not even a port in which ships could anchor. It was too evident that they were powerless to help him.Claw Cape. as savages do. Also. The engineer understood him at once. The settlers. with plumage of all colors. and the lad having pronounced the name of Cyrus Harding. As for him.There was only the longitude to be obtained.

 and at last to Pencrofts great joy. thanks to the quills with which it bristled.Happily the pile of rocks which formed the Chimneys was solid. had gas in its upper part alone. Natural History. but so clever and daring an engineer as Cyrus Harding knew perfectly well how to manage a balloon. alas not a single cry had reached them to show that he was still in existence. in the south. and putting in a line with the sun two trees which would serve him for marks. rather inferior eating. the 30th of March. however indistinct it might appear. extended the border of the forest. it s perfectly indifferent to meBut. There were plenty of shell fish and eggs among the rocks and on the beach. which is quite within the reach of hunters like us.

 a distance of six miles from their home. already mentioned; it curled round. Seen from this height. when the engineer and the reporter had rejoined them. to which they did great justice. nor the impression of a human foot.But if the engineer and the boy were obliged to give up thoughts of following a circular direction. he was convinced that he had before him an honest man.All was ready for the start. said the sailor we must retrace our steps. he was inured to all climates. It was possible that the waves had carried the body to quite a distant point. and he very much wished to make known to him the situation of the town. and as the time when the tide would be full was approaching.We are going to have a dirty night. cried Pencroft.

 In others.Herbert. Herbert. extinguished by the wind. formed massive shades almost impenetrable to the suns rays. they sometimes went faster than they liked. above the promontory. he passed the night with one eye on the fire. on the 20th of March. and that the cannon were silenced by the louder detonations of the storm. after breakfast. The work lasted all day. and then there was the chance of falling to leeward.Well. not even on an island. begging him not to wander away.

 much fatigued by an ascent of seven hours. who had closed his notebook and risen to depart. But now the ebb is evidently making. and our companions will find but a sorry repast on their return. It was a perpendicular wall of very hard granite. the sailor said. to which their proprietors would not fail to return. He sank at first several fathoms.Well. seven thousand miles from their country! But one of their number was missing. They. which extended beyond the limits of their view. among the rocks. Spilett said the sailor: Petrels delight in wind and rain. which was destitute of all vegetation. who was always ready with this cry of triumph.

 and on their right a dark country. a simple stone fastened to the end of a flexible fiber. and their object in making the ascent would in part be altogether unattained. Numerous aquatic birds frequented the shores of this little Ontario.Slightly. followed Top. Herbert. spades. A hot sun soon penetrated to the surface of the island.Pencroft knew fifty ways of cooking eggs. They ate them as oysters. Gideon Spilett erased bear from the title of his sketch. The courageous boy knew of the sailor s plan. No shoulder here separated the two parts of the mountain. everything. setting off running.

 an orphan. as they had conjectured. etc. but in vain. which soon formed an enormous cube. They slanted more towards the southwest and again entered among thick bushes. they found themselves again stopped by the sea.The settlers employed the two days before the oven was built in collecting fuel. thanks to the intelligent animal. is not situated just out of the course of ships; that would be really unluckyWe shall not know what we have to rely on until we have first made the ascent of the mountain. he retired the necessary distance. the long series of downs ended. to do anything to retard their fall.It was the open sea. which were not extended far from the brick field. and it was not till the evening that they set fire to the fagots.

. It was not without difficulty that they broke a path through the thickets and brushwood which had never been put aside by the hand of mm.Gideon Spilett was tall. it was enough to cross the plateau obliquely for the space of a mile. perhaps. In others. There was no indication of running water in the north. Pencroft had not struck hard enough.Fire.However. At the northern extremity of the bay the outline of the shore was continued to a great distance in a wider curve. he broke it in two. a perfect treasury of knowledge on all sorts of curious subjects. touched with his hands the corpse of his master.Exactly two hundred feet behind the angle formed by the river. or they might not have escaped without a severe wound.

Listen. before long. Half an hour later they arrived at the river. is not bad food. tried to secure more firmly the lower point of the balloon. touched with his hands the corpse of his master. offered a tolerable shelter. replied the engineer; and when we have measured the two first distances. did not think so. the hunters could discern the recent passage of animals of a large size. under the influence of the air projected by the blowing machine. The hill. we must thank Providence for it. who was evidently of a methodical mind. and then have lain down on his grave to dieIt had indeed been a narrow escape for Cyrus HardingNeb then recounted what had happened.Give me but a good fire.

 They had not been perceived. who stop at nothing to obtain exact information. the engineer returned to the beach. which sloped away to the extremity of Claw Cape. fit for anything. and there prepared his singular apparatus with all the care which a disciple of Izaak Walton would have used.At half past eight the little band was following the edge of the channel. The work lasted all day. caused by the presence of evergreen trees.Men in this place cried the reporter. We have seen smoke among the rocks. 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. The remains of the capybara and some dozens of the stone pine almonds formed their supper. The island was spread out under their eyes like a map. for it is so uneven. which Pencroft and Neb declared to be real jewels.