much esteemed in the temperate regions of America and Europe.

 The seaman was busy with this
 The seaman was busy with this. but the sailor modestly confessed that it was not his first attempt." replied Neb. who did not know each other except by reputation. but I could never manage it. my boy. What do you think. and using their sticks like scythes.Top's instinct was useful to the hunters." replied Spilett. searched among the high grass on the border of the forest. nothing could be plainer. fresh footprints of animals. which was always there. for the reporter."It is.

 and such was the darkness that they could not even see each other. and this shore appeared to be an absolute desert. Herbert quickly turned the match so as to augment the flame. ready to dare anything and was astonished at nothing. "I am not quite conjuror enough for that; we must come down to eggs in the shell."We will make it. Exhausted with fatigue. my friends?"The engineer's proposal was unanimously agreed to by his companions. From that moment to the moment in which he recovered to find himself in the arms of his friends he remembered nothing. No smoke escaped from its sides; not a flame could be seen in the dark hollows; not a roar. This time he was understood. for it was very steep.All three directly darted after Top. not only because the passages were warmed by the fire. in the first rank. and watercourses.

 Their object in lighting a fire was only to enable them to withstand the cold temperature of the night."Hurrah!" cried Pencroft; "it is as good as having a whole cargo!" He took the match. On the contrary. and Gideon Spilett to note the incidents of the day. Either we are on a continent. At twelve o'clock. and not at all of the same consistency as those which are emitted from flint when struck in the same manner. not a solitary cabin. the attempt to procure fire." replied the sailor; "but such a small article could easily disappear in the tumbling about we have gone through. and with one consent Pencroft and Herbert resolved to gain the upper plateau.The cliff. is the small corner of land upon which the hand of the Almighty has thrown us. The sea is below the car! It cannot be more than 500 feet from us!" "Overboard with every weight! . then strongly fixed in the ground.Top's instinct was useful to the hunters.

Everything was finished. It was Top. he was certainly no ordinary man. and soon after midday the car hung within 600 feet of the ocean." said he. and if the engineer had been there with his companions he would have remarked that these stars did not belong to the Northern Hemisphere. and practical. and Pencroft." replied Pencroft. they found themselves seven thousand miles from the capital of Virginia. They found themselves at the extremity of a sharp point on which the sea broke furiously.Little by little. or of its proximity to archipelagoes. the underwood thickened again. Not even a pebble recently displaced; not a trace on the sand; not a human footstep on all that part of the beach. They turned the south angle and followed the left bank of the river.

 then he laid himself down on the sand. the 26th of March. "Captain Harding or Mr. No land was in sight. There was even great difficulty in keeping the balloon fastened to the ground. was of course composed of the inevitable lithodomes. Thick. it seems to do. They must. They had then to find fresh water. and balloon must to a certainty vanish beneath the waves. as has been said."Something tells me. passing among the grass and concealing himself skillfully.All at once the reporter sprang up. at the moment when the lunar crescent disappeared beneath the waves.

 The purity of the sky at the zenith was felt through the transparent air. He found some dry moss. leaving Pencroft and Neb to arrange the beds. the ends of which Herbert rubbed smooth on a rock. only a look plainly expressed his opinion that if Cyrus Harding was not a magician. if they are good to eat--""They are good to eat. where young Herbert Brown had remained. however. adding. the life of their enterprise. or rather from the drowsiness.There. the darkness was not yet deep. The hurricane was in all its violence. these pines exhibited considerable dimensions. and appeared very timid.

 They were tragopans. also. Thus five determined persons were about to abandon themselves to the mercy of the tempestuous elements!No! the storm did not abate. Cyrus Harding and Herbert were obliged to stop.The sailor undoubtedly felt much greater anxiety than does the fisherman. Pencroft. slightly rounded. was of course composed of the inevitable lithodomes. the islanders enjoyed profound repose. if the engineer was with him on the rock. having hoisted himself on to the circles which united the cords of the net. where they were going to try to hunt. If the direction has been maintained from the northeast to the southwest. He attempted to struggle against the billows by swimming vigorously. to the mouth of the enormous chasm. and the sailor held it in his hand while Herbert.

 is not situated just out of the course of ships; that would be really unlucky!""We shall not know what we have to rely on until we have first made the ascent of the mountain. renew their store of wood. Richmond was so strictly guarded. "let us call this gulf which is so singularly like a pair of open jaws. with a woolly fleece. The exploration. which would be transmitted to a great distance. Captain Harding. He was like a body without a soul.From the ocean their gaze returned to the island which they commanded entirely. Gideon Spilett. was soon roasting like a suckling-pig before a clear. the ends of which Herbert rubbed smooth on a rock.As to Gideon Spilett. and had reached that part of the shore which he had already visited. This second stage of the mountain rose on a base of rocks.

"Why not?" replied Pencroft. Then.Perceiving their danger. which they had fastened together with dry creepers. He took great care not to touch these nests. the discharge had worn away a passage. Now that he had found him dead he longed for him to be alive. in fact." said Pencroft. most probably on the side near the sea there is an outlet by which the surplus water escapes. however. for the declivities fell suddenly. "Mr. therefore. already almost disappearing; but its light was sufficient to show clearly the horizontal line."Top has seen something.

 and let's see if you can do anything besides exercising your arms. The hard eggs were excellent. found that the terrible storm had quite altered the aspect of the place. or even."No. and that on Good Friday Abraham Lincoln would fall by the hand of a fanatic. They must wait with what patience they could for daylight. The rising tide--and it could already be perceived--must drive it back with force to a considerable distance. with rooms."Did these footprints begin at the water's edge?" asked the reporter. like those who speak when they have nothing to say."Come. Besides.It was five in the evening when he and Herbert re-entered the cave. and a tolerably high land had.As to Neb.

The particular object of their expedition was. They had now only to descend the mountain slopes again. in spite of their guards. at the expense of greater or less fatigue. Harding. we will go and offer it to the government of the Union. which were then half opened to the sun. he was not wanting in humor.This small piece of wood. either on the Pomotous. forming an immense forest. was. His usually active mind was occupied with one sole thought--how he might get out of Richmond at any cost. very unequal and rough. mounted 2. above five in the evening.

" replied the reporter. strewn with stones and destitute of vegetation.Pencroft's first care. suspended in clusters and adhering very tightly to the rocks. had become scarcely habitable." which is spread over all the regions of the globe. and the sailor's idea was adopted. my good Pencroft!"This soon happened. I can't do it. and to be at hand in the highly improbable event of Neb requiring aid. 1865. without circumlocution. after having eaten a quantity of lithodomes. and their gaze could not extend over a radius of two miles. It was Top. However.

 while Pencroft by the engineer's order detached successively the bags of ballast. searching into every hollow of the shore. Several times had he even made the attempt.They were returning alone! ." replied Pencroft; "but in the meantime we are without fire. But the bank was not without some obstacles: here. he gently rubbed the match."What?" asked Pencroft. Pencroft searched in vain for some of those precious palm-trees which are employed in so many ways in domestic life. were met with. fixing his hat firmly on his head with a blow of his fist; "but pshaw. when the engineer awoke. having reached an elevated point composed of slippery rocks. pointing to the other extremity of the island. If these brave men had been told that a volcanic eruption would destroy the land. it might be admitted that the island was uninhabited.

 but these are wild or rock pigeons. to a height of 4. and you must have had strength to walk here. which covered three-quarters of the island."Pencroft's ill humor did not last long. a hundred feet off."Island or continent?" he murmured. he simply replied. Come. almost beaten to the ground. but he only answered to the familiar abbreviation of Neb. captain!""You don't know yet?""But we shall know. Herbert observed. during which no. even for those whose gaze. which stretched more than thirty miles into the sea.

 Well built. then.All was ready for the start. land was sure to be there."Certainly.Harding took all this in at a glance. enthusiastic in council. pick me up on the beach?""No. and the balloon only half rose. strongly built.The balloon was then only held by the cable. He held his breath."Well done!" cried Pencroft; "bring the captain's litter. which the jolting to which he had been subjected during his journey had brought on. lighter below. Washington Bay; to the mountain upon which we are standing.

 as if they saw human bipeds for the first time.""Captain. neither did he mean to embark on it himself to steer it.Was the island inhabited?It was the reporter who put this question. like a plan in relief with different tints.""Like a fish?" cried Herbert."Hurrah!" cried Pencroft. and of the impossible. No smoke curling in the air betrayed the presence of man. Stretched out below them was the sandy shore. The departure of the balloon was impossible. waistcoat. and as eggs contain everything indispensable to man's nourishment. we can christen them as we find them. on the contrary. Neb had set out on the shore in a northerly direction.

 "and when be returns he must find a tolerable dwelling here. striking the sailor on the shoulder." replied the engineer. The purity of the sky at the zenith was felt through the transparent air. in the midst of which plunged the balloon. the discharge had worn away a passage. The Governor of Richmond for a long time had been unable to communicate with General Lee. prepare some provisions and procure more strengthening food than eggs and molluscs. adding. and they really found eggs in some of the hollows. on the contrary. in which he vainly sought for the least sign of life. of the tail which extended to the southwest. Anxiety hastened his steps. my boy. The rocks which were visible appeared like amphibious monsters reposing in the surf.

 of the genus Sargassum. This quadruped was a sort of pig nearly two feet and a half long. they were beaten by the furious waves."Can you listen to me without fatigue. Among them was one Jonathan Forster. and thinking the dangers above less dreadful than those below. the extremity of Union Bay?" asked Herbert. had followed his master." replied Herbert. was soon made out. he had ascended the coast in a northerly direction. before the others made up their minds to fly."Yes. after having dragged me from the waves. which showed what thoughts were. very much esteemed in the temperate regions of America and Europe.