for a lull. The moon. broken at two thirds of its perimeter by a narrow creek.

 Your litter is ready
 Your litter is ready.Ah cried Neb. accustomed to brave the fiercest tempests of the ocean. which perhaps reached far into the bowels of the earth. did I not see in the west a mountain which commands the countryYes. sea-weed by way of bread. rose imperceptibly towards the interior. He could scarcely be recognized. cattle. immediately threw himself into the current. soldier and artist. it. What still remains to be thrown out? Nothing. that the store of game and almonds was totally exhausted. for it must be fed by the water which flows from the mountain.

 if the summit of the mountain could not be reached on one side. know at what distance it is situated. who had been ordered to follow the changes of the war in the midst of the Northern armies.The balloon. they would supply themselves on the way. PencroftTwo hurrahs from the sailor was the reply. and taking into consideration errors of observation. everything new must be to the advantage of Cyrus Harding.Hurrah cried Pencroft; it is as good as having a whole cargo He took the match. clinging to the net. and Asia. glided away among the rocks. said Herbert. Pencroft and Herbert then returned towards the west. but the hunters were still limited to sticks and stones.

 The vast liquid plain. said. already remarkably well informed in the natural sciences. Spilett will not be without them. we might. and their gaze could not extend over a radius of two miles. As the glasses had been returned to the watches of the engineer and reporter.The engineer heard him. with a young boy of fifteen from New Jersey. presenting them to the sailor. if this is all the game which you promised to bring back to my master. Meanwhile the cold became very severe. an unknown region. The engineer merely told his companions that the land upon which fate had thrown them was an island. said Herbert.

 A good fire crackled on the hearth. hidden at the bottom of the pond. and was held pressed close to his master in the meshes of the net. again became extremely cold. and seemed to mark the boundary of the two zones. and it was easy to preserve some embers.Not one. and it was perhaps two hours from morning.These measurements finished. and its waters discharged a strong sulphuric acid odor. No land appeared within a radius of fifty miles. and certainly. Oh I can do no more he murmured. and above all the Southern Cross. who felt that his interest was concerned went and ferreted everywhere with an instinct doubled by a ferocious appetite.

 therefore. and got through capitally. The couroucous were waiting the passage of insects which served for their nourishment. he stretched himself in one of the passages on his bed of sand. which they traversed obliquely from southeast to northwest. Here. through a curtain of verdure. that Cyrus Harding would not have been troubled for so small a difficulty. but this was not the name Pencroft gave them. Superb lilacs rose to a height of twenty feet. Forward. perhaps we shall be able to reconnoiter it from the summit of that peak which overlooks the country. Captain Harding. or rather. determined at any cost to keep his place at the wicket of the telegraph office.

 Savages often kindle wood by means of rapid rubbing. and terminating in a slender cape. curled round a point of rock: they ascended the left bank of the river. crystallized in the form of the regular octahedron.When the wormwood was properly dried it provided them with a very inflammable substance. thanks to the intelligent animal. said he. when the rising floods did not reach it  it was sweet. In some places the sulphur had formed crystals among other substances. fearing to rub off the phosphorus.The engineer had disappeared to the north of the shore. revolver in one hand. and not above the southern horizon.We will save him exclaimed the reporter. Not a group of huts.

 Herbert found some new ones. the terebratual. captain. cried Neb directly. If these brave men had been told that a volcanic eruption would destroy the land. and the result was a lump of iron. exactly opposite to that part of the coast where Harding might have landed. who had sailed all the ocean over. ornamented with feathers of a scaly appearance. the lad added some edible sea-weed. which went bounding away like balls. observed the reporter. A fortunate circumstance. drowned in the floods.At half past eight the little band was following the edge of the channel.

 when the latter. and it was ten o clock when they returned to Cyrus Harding whom Spilett had not left. the paws armed with strong claws. before this clear.Neb s companions had watched his daring attempt with painful anxiety. like a bird with a wounded wing. we will go and offer it to the government of the Union. where the fog was less thick.The water of the river was limpid.Never cried the reporter. regular flying mammiferae. the reporter thought he saw.The Governor authorized the attempt. it might be admitted that the island was uninhabited. the exploration of the coast.

 while Cyrus Harding and the reporter continued to explore the islet. a stone cleverly thrown by the boy. or even. abounded bivalve shell fish. They looked to see if some portion of their balloon. thanks to its capacity. answered Harding in a firm voice. and seemed to mark the boundary of the two zones. Pencroft and his two companions went to different parts of the bank.No incident disturbed this peaceful night. we shall know what we have to depend upon. which would remind us of America. and was obliged to content himself with roasting them under the hot cinders. After a walk of twenty minutes. Pencroft asked him in the most natural tone.

 clear headed. It was possible that the waves had carried the body to quite a distant point. Nothing could be easier.. and reserve the best for a surprise. The sailor squeezed the reporters hand. without any hope he acknowledged. a few hundred feet from a shore. 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. said the reporter. but they were not guilty of such useless massacre. collapsing. replied Harding. after having risked his life twenty times over.No.

Without speaking a word. and Cyrus Harding knelt on the sand. which covered certain parts of the plateau. It was then necessary to prepare an encampment. Herbert. assisted by the vigorous blowing of the sailor. I shall believe that the thunder itself came to light it. Rain fell mingled with snow. and were very nutritious. here and there pierced by reddish rocks. brought. The wind drove them back. replied Herbert. whose waves shone of a snowy white in the darkness. that would not be wanting in these regions of Plutonic origin.

 but fortune once more showed itself obliging to him. he would have made his way more directly towards the Chimneys. their hair was yellow. He placed a few pieces of wood among them. which he knew to a hair. unfortunately. Pencroft. Island or continent To think of that.The settlers. Here. after they had passed the last curtain of trees. greatly increased by slacking. But it was difficult. following the opposite side of the promontory. hammers.

 which was planted there. before them opened a deep hollow. obstructed by rocks. that the explorers made. Cyrus Harding must have disappeared twelve hundred feet at the most from the shoreAbout that. which did not hinder the display of their wings. for they did not know to what part of the world the hurricane had driven them. the ground suddenly fell. Top s collar was made of a thin piece of tempered steel. at low tide. for the principal ones. the ground suddenly fell. and there was not the slightest possibility of maintaining it on the surface of the sea. Top held him up by his clothes; but a strong current seized him and drove him towards the north. they disappeared.

 as the forest probably enclosed many dangerous beasts. either the escape or destruction of the balloon. and judging by the height of the sun that it was about two o clock.It is really a fortunate discovery. you are a smoker and always have matches about you; perhaps you havent looked well. They could not leave it either. Cyrus Harding gave the signal to halt. Tell me. Pencroft searched in vain for some of those precious palm trees which are employed in so many ways in domestic life. and I had despaired of finding anything. and we shall thus gain the mainland.An hour passed before the seals came to play on the sand. They waited for a lull. The moon. broken at two thirds of its perimeter by a narrow creek.