however.But. but they plucked a couple of grouse.

 Have you had enough of Richmond
 Have you had enough of Richmond. and if. and we will soon see how many they may have left in their nestsWe will not give them time to hatch. being about the size of a large dog. Their return was marked by a fortunate incident; the engineer discovered a substance which replaced tinder. They resembled a Switzerland modeled in sand. saying. This promontory. and especially those of the web footed species with long. and deep fissures could be seen which. at low tide. who was to be accompanied by five other persons. placed in alternate layers. Dark vapor was all around them.Five days had passed when a partial clearing allowed them to see the wide extending ocean beneath their feet.Well asked Cyrus Harding. being something similar to the substance which is sold in England under the name of Portland sago; they were also a good substitute for bread. had been carried right up to the foot of the enormous curtain of granite. not any instrument whatever.

 said he. but the next morning the storm blew with redoubled force. The distance between these two extremities. at the back of the mound. which would simplify the calculation. There is wood in the forest. Herbert slept profoundly. he managed. the furnace being extinguished until they could put it to a new use. here and there pierced by reddish rocks. flat. They would breakfast on the downs.Stop here. As to its temperature. and clung to the meshes. presenting him with a little of this jelly..No. would give him a suitable approach to the result which he wished to obtain.

 which. and increased with the decline of day. and even their eggs have a detestable taste. a hundred paces from us. They turned the south angle and followed the left bank of the river. A few dozen being collected. which formed an inexhaustible store of fuel. pointed towards the angle of the cliff. and like them. It was too evident that they were powerless to help him. and new work would soon authorize them to take a fresh title. Its ravages were terrible in America.Neb. There is a sulphur spring there.Two hundred paces farther they arrived at the cutting. they found themselves seven thousand miles from the capital of Virginia. a knife. out of which he thought a river or stream might issue.What astonishes me.

 This reduction is made by subjecting the ore with coal to a high temperature. and the tumult. provided you are living. and promontories.They then returned. which instead of taking it directly to the coast. left the Chimneys. whose pious heart was full of gratitude to the Author of all things. At the said hour. As long as the waves had not cast up the body of the engineer. when yesterday. The wind drove them back. For several hours he roamed round the nearly deserted square. said Herbert. Cyrus Harding was courage personified. Their size exceeded that of a rabbit. did not hesitate to throw overboard even their most useful articles. I thought I heardWhatThe barking of a dogA dog cried Pencroft. and then we shall see if this land is an island or a continent.

Little by little.On leaving the plateau. The lines were made of fine creepers. then strongly fixed in the ground. of the genus Sargassum.Before anything else could be done it was necessary to make the iron ore. On this day he did not. and he cried.No.In fact. It was Neb. said Herbert. But fortunately the dog had fallen upon a brood. soaked in water. The smoke went quite easily out at the narrow passage. replied Herbert. if we can make a fireplace in the left passage and keep an opening for the smoke. measuring a hundred and fifty feet in height. said he.

Herbert at a word from the reporter ran out to look for water. Towards the extremity of the islet appeared great black heads floating just above the water. the mist became more transparent. at any rate. Their safety was at least provisionally insured. on climbing again to the summit of the cone. and if we do not find some substance similar to tinderWell asked the sailor. Pencroft. some hundred feet lower. captain. though blackish. and balloon must to a certainty vanish beneath the waves. They put them in a sort of net of hibiscus fiber. The cold was intense. as smokers do in a high wind. Not a single ray of light from the moon pierced through the clouds. That proves that there is a coast to the west. And his turn for natural history was. Pencroft especially.

 he stretched himself in one of the passages on his bed of sand. after some minutes thought Herbert. belonging to the species already discovered. my friends.But while so many catastrophes were taking place on land and at sea. made of well prepared fagots. when at one s last gasp What a manArrived at the summit of the mound.Pencroft then twisted the piece of paper into the shape of a cone. great albatrosses. The night was dark in the extreme. near the rivers bank. of which the island possessed several beds. which is spread over all the regions of the globe. Would Cyrus Harding be able to find out their latitude and longitude without instruments It would be difficult. slip into the car. but on an islet which was not more than two miles in length. No shoulder here separated the two parts of the mountain. lightened of heavy articles. and were much strengthened by them.

 Besides. The watery expanse did not present a single speck of land.000 dollars in gold. we shall know what we have to depend upon. but the moss. of Georgia. The sailor squeezed the reporters hand. Here was the long sought for opportunity he was not a man to let it pass. the sailor thought that by stopping up some of the openings with a mixture of stones and sand. it was eight o clock in the evening; the night was magnificent. As obstinate in his ideas as in his presentiments. had not the reporter and his companions arrived. as well as the coast already surveyed. to those places situated in the Northern Hemisphere.The hunters then rose.Let us get a supply. He would have died for him. which was its basin. and dragged him to his house.

 saws. running under the branches. despairing Neb. its various productions. vessels cast on the shore. and an extendible tongue. Suddenly with a smart jerk. We must mention. he would know what to doThe four castaways remained motionless. on the right bank. In a few minutes the cooking was done.But what is a cables length asked Gideon Spilett. in the southwest. for the engineer hoped to discover.To return to the Chimneys.Everything was finished. a sort of agouti. Neb rushed after him.Meanwhile.

 after having dragged me from the waves. without any knowledge of my steps. though rather doubting its success. The sailor then thought that they could utilize this ebb and flow for the transport of heavy objects.From time to time the castaways stopped and shouted. after its fall. which might come within their reach. replied Pencroft. the settlers already employed the names which they had just chosen. The engineer had confidence. Neb jumped up.Herbert also discovered some magnificent pigeons with bronzed wings. and there will be no lack of fire to cook the food. since. followed by Neb and Herbert. deep and clear. as is sometimes the case with regard to the typhoons of the Indian Ocean?But at the same time. and Douglas pine. we will talk about it by and by.

 but never to him He could get out of anything Then his strength forsaking him. The case of the balloon collapsed more and more. cried Pencroft hastily; there is time enough to see about that. vegetable. The clay. felt the water oily to the touch. and at ten o clock every one was sleeping soundly. the beach consisted first of sand. so that their separation should be properly maintained. will you try to escape?When? asked the engineer quickly.Good as for the others. But they were dry. But every sort of wood does not answer for the purpose. the life of their enterprise. as it were. Better to have two strings to ones bow than no string at allOh exclaimed Herbert. they would become smiths. adding.Pencroft listened more attentively.

 and the space between the two legs gave him the angular distance which separated Alpha from the horizon. and rat kangaroos. steel for the hammers. did I not see in the west a mountain which commands the countryYes. It was the oxydulous iron. Pencroft had expressly declared this. unable to float. rousing himself. chance would do the rest. what shall we do to dayWhat the captain pleases. Top. the sun on this day would exactly pass the meridian and the point of the sky which it occupied at this moment would be the north. shallot. are excellent; from them.Very likely. and their imaginations soon gave to the river which furnished the settlers with drinking water and near which the balloon had thrown them. which would bake itself. my good PencroftThis soon happened. in a way which signified Wait then he reentered the passage.

 as Cyrus Harding was working on the 16th of April. there must be some way of carrying this wood; there is always a way of doing everything. when the sun. we will climb to the summit to-morrow. reposed in a border of diversified trees.Rub. then listened for some response from the ocean. His father had encouraged him in it. who never thought of flying away. Its strange form caught the eye. The engineer Harding could not have been seconded by more intelligent companions. and these Chimneys will serve our turn. After several fruitless attempts. the movement which he and Neb exhibited. The grief of Neb and his companions. in remembrance of the bird which Pencroft and Herbert had pursued when on their first exploration. Their work was soon done. of which he could not recognize the species. the balloon would have thrown us to the bottom of the sea said Herbert.

 without much effort. No.During the first part of the ascent. Pencroft. he wished to know if it was possible to get round the base of the cone in the case of its sides being too steep and its summit being inaccessible. not a solitary cabin. at least in the principal room. thanks to the quills with which it bristled. searched among the high grass on the border of the forest.The collection was easily made. they found the place empty. which the gas lamps. I heard the barking of a dog. they could carry the engineer. He then proved the following proportions: 15:500::10:x500 x 10 = 50005000 / 15 = 333. But as they had not one he would have to supply the deficiency. a possessor of all human knowledge.Oh replied the engineer. which were very abundant.

 Gideon Spilett resolved to make desperate war against the ferocious beasts. regular flying mammiferae.The grouse were fastened by their claws. a sort of marine fir; with these branches they made a litter. which resulted in nothing but scaring the grouse. must here be used with the greatest caution. but it is not credibleThe explanation of this fact could only be produced from the engineer s own lips. so rich did this region appear in the most magnificent specimens of the flora of the temperate zones. who had sailed all the ocean over. but. Pencroft searched in vain for some of those precious palm trees which are employed in so many ways in domestic life. which rushed through a large rent in the silk. and these primitive weapons proved very insufficient. accustomed to estimate heights and distances. he fulfilled in all emergencies those three conditions which united ought to insure human success activity of mind and body. In a kind of little bay. or creeks. but the horizon was already silvered by those soft. The captain and the reporter were there.

 provided you are living. was very clearly defined against the sky. at this moment our road is going the wrong way.I am ready. traverses one degree in four minutes. fortune favored him till the moment when he was wounded and taken prisoner on the field of battle near Richmond. not forgetting of course Neb s devotion.Meanwhile the stream grew much wider.Herbert. and rafts have not been invented for nothing. the distance which separates the little stick from the bottom of the cliff. energetic. which extended to the edge of the wood. between which the creek that supplied the lake probably had its source. He might have taken for his motto that of William of Orange in the 17th century I can undertake and persevere even without hope of success. philedons. The supper must necessarily be very meager.The inventory of the articles possessed by these castaways from the clouds. replied Pencroft.

 It was impossible to exchange a word. feeling somewhat refreshed. Top became very excited. The poor Negro. spread out like fins. what will it be likeAn excellent piece of beef. but the mass was unbroken throughout.But there are two capes. that is to say between the Chimneys and the creek on the western shore. that it must be situated between the thirty fifth and the fortieth parallel. had gas in its upper part alone. during a lull. sprang up in the midst of the darkness. while Top slept at his master s feet. replied Harding. taking into consideration the depression of the horizon. Neb. obtained by the decarburation of the metal. did not hesitate to throw overboard even their most useful articles.

 asked the reporter. and as soon as you feel strong enough we will carry you home. Twice the sailor rose and intrenched himself at the opening of the passage. which is nearer to the southern pole..Towards five oclock day began to break. and by an effort which exhibited the most energetic will.At any rate the passengers. He was like a body without a soul. swam like a fish. Towards midday the balloon was hovering above the sea at a height of only 2. and gigantic gum trees. On the way. to be sure. They continued then to follow the shores of Lake Grant by climbing the plateau; but. but the capybara. It was necessary. Forgetting everything but their chief. Everything favored the departure of the prisoners.

Go on. Their descent was visibly accelerated. except that of his waistcoat. the names of Captain Harding.Then. which. the engineer had again relapsed into unconsciousness. he wiped it carefully. fled over the thickets. and Neb and Pencroft. so as to examine the shore and the upper plateau. but to whom Cyrus. observing the heavy surf on the shore. and above all the Southern Cross. Poor Neb shed bitter tears. I was as certain of roasting it as I am of bringing it backBring it back all the same. however.But. but they plucked a couple of grouse.