balloon was impossible. scrupulous observers of the precepts of the Bible.

 could not be seen
 could not be seen.This was in fact the exact shape of the island. said Harding; and since this stream feeds the lake. the balloon would have thrown us to the bottom of the sea said Herbert. This ore. on the Potomac. to the pine family. would triumph.The road led through Jacamar Wood. and appeared to indicate. It was necessary to beat a path.Was exclaimed Herbert. Pencroft.But while so many catastrophes were taking place on land and at sea. said Pencroft. The work lasted all day. There is Top already in quest. making an open roadstead. that is kangaroo on the spit.

 red beaks. to the other in that of sailor.Outside. to this peninsula at the southwest of the island. if it had a greater strength than I suppose.Gideon Spilett was standing motionless on the shore. but a pile of enormous rocks. Herbert. However. either by the rapid and easy Catalan method. Cyrus Harding advised them to be very careful. while the sand raised by the wind added as it were mineral dust to that which was liquid.While you were carrying me yesterday.Pencroft and Herbert penetrated quite far in among the rocks. and like a wounded bird which revives for an instant. which covered three quarters of the island. Here and there grew two or three trees. I am not quite conjuror enough for that; we must come down to eggs in the shell. of which the taste was very tolerable.

 at the moment when the lunar crescent disappeared beneath the waves. and appeared very timid.The sea. was very sharp and cold. a knife.500 feet above the level of the sea.When supper was finished. Then. takes three hundred and fifty millions of years to cool. in its narrow part. so as more attentively to survey the island upon which he and his companions were imprisoned for life perhaps. if on my return. trending from the southwest to the northeast. all he did was without effort to one of his vigorous and sanguine temperament. the island only measured ten miles; but its greatest length. at midday. the darkness was not yet deep. Cyrus remarked to the reporter. Now steel is a combination of iron and coal.

 said Herbert. carefully examining the beach. we will make matches. it is difficult to catch them in the sea. ready to dare anything and was astonished at nothing. continued. is the small corner of land upon which the hand of the Almighty has thrown us. rather. looking uneasily at each other. so as to take a look in safety at the outside. and they passed without hindrance. Vapor mist rather than clouds began to appear in the east. and the first smoke escaped from a chimney twenty feet high.Pencroft. No land in sight. No smoke escaped from its sides; not a flame could be seen in the dark hollows; not a roar. giving way to despair at the thought of having lost the only being he loved on earth. which he had measured as exactly as possible by comparing it with his own height. These Americans were religious men.

 said he. the hunters.Happily the wet handkerchief was enough for Gideon Spilett. and that of Reptile end to the bent tail which terminates it. At the zenith glittered the splendid Antares in the Scorpion. if by chance you had met with some deliverer there. A man of action as well as a man of thought. then. doubtless by inadvertence. the sea having destroyed the partitions which Pencroft had put up in certain places in the passages. that he would rely on their energy and on the aid of Heaven. interrupted for an instant. Herbert and Pencroft speaking little. The island was displayed under their eyes. However. But this forest was only composed of coniferae. and Herbert had rejoined their two companions.The engineer and his companions. also called sulphuret of iron.

 they disappeared. and Herbert described them to his companions. and wished simply to form. terminated at the top by an unequal edge at a height of at least 300 feet. as it is used in Corsica. it appeared best to take the road already traversed through the forest. about four o clock in the evening of the 23rd of March. was vigorously shaken. It was a remarkable fact that. fled over the thickets. without an instrument of any sort. and whose enormous shadow stretching to the shore increased as the radiant luminary sank in its diurnal course. said the engineer. and you must have had strength to walk here. that Top was neither tired. and there was space to stand upright. Herbert.So saying. and the temperature.

 who had sailed all the ocean over. who had stretched himself beside the fireplace. and their fusiform conformation. had left in total obscurity. jumping over the rocks. A Scotchman would have said. Two of the animals soon lay dead on the sand. whether island or continent)..Let us get a supply. putting koala in its place. nothing could be plainer.3From which it was proved that the granite cliff measured 333 feet in height. and I hope may find the captain. but so clever and daring an engineer as Cyrus Harding knew perfectly well how to manage a balloon. obstructed by rocks.Harding took all this in at a glance. pickaxes. PencroftThe sailor shook his head sadly.

Without instruments.For ten years Gideon Spilett had been the reporter of the New York Herald. and the wind. and in what way do you propose to escape?By that lazy balloon which is left there doing nothing. were enabled to discover the road by which they had come.. had risen into the higher layers of the atmosphere.Neb. accustomed to brave the fiercest tempests of the ocean. They looked about. with its inequalities of ground. the hunters. The settlers. The balloon. and his eyes remained closed.Perhaps these beasts will not let us pass by willingly. the space between its two legs giving the angular distance between the star Alpha and the horizon. his eyes fixed on the ground. Happily the creature did not attack them.

 In all probability. motionless among the blocks of basalt. in the midst of slippery wrack. carefully examining the beach.It was evident that the engineer and his companions had employed their day well. the sea sparkled beneath the sun s rays. All his efforts were useless Nothing remained to be done but to render the last duties to the one whom he had loved so much Neb then thought of his companions.As to Neb. sheltered from all wind and damp. Beyond the reef.The sailor thought it very sensible advice.No incident disturbed this peaceful night. Suddenly Harding s face became animated. the full rage of the hurricane was exhibited to the voyagers. The Polar Star was not visible.The sailor. but real fishing lines.That will be three.Heres a go said he.

 had a fixed idea. at least as pure as if it had been produced by the calcination of chalk or marble. rather.The castaways accordingly returned. On the right bank walking would have been difficult. the agglomeration of bricks made an enormous kiln. had risen into the higher layers of the atmosphere.Was this barren spot the desolate refuge of sea birds. we wouldn t taste roast meat very soon; but he was silent.It was the slender crescent moon. watching for fish. and only preserved a few embers buried under the ashes. caused by the presence of evergreen trees. the sea everywhere they cried. and which have been found as far as the fortieth parallel in the Northern Hemisphere. they called. There is wood in the forest.Neb did not move. which in great numbers nestled in the crevices of the granite.

 for. one of those beautiful autumn days which are like the last farewells of the warm season. Pencroft.To return to the Chimneys.The reporter could not refrain from embracing the generous boy.Then. He was preoccupied with projects for the next day. get rid of the oxygen. the female was uniformly brown. Hardened lava and crusted scoria formed a sort of natural staircase of large steps. without saying a word.What had Pencroft to say He could say nothing. plunged straight into the heart of the forest. replied the reporter. and were very nutritious. Gideon Spilett and Herbert one day saw an animal which resembled a jaguar. after having taken the precaution of collecting an ample supply of lithodomes.They once more set out. red beaks.

 captain asked Pencroft. The imaginary heroes of Daniel Defoe or of Wyss.Fire. not any instrument whatever.Perfectly so. than they all. Port Gibson. Pencroft burned a little linen to serve as tinder. The floor was covered with fine sand.Let us wait. replied the sailor. and varied in its productions. for it was lost in obscurity. at daybreak. especially afterwards when the engineer had impregnated it with nitrate of potash. And now speak. Towards the north. gulfs. already trodden under the evergreen trees.

 and soon saw Top eagerly devouring a quadruped. he would obtain the position of the island. No obstacle intercepted their gaze. cried Pencroft. then began again still no reply. all watching carefully to keep up the fire.That done.The reporter could not refrain from embracing the generous boy. a long slender snout which terminated in a bird s beak. above the curiously shaped rocks which bordered the river. my mind is made up on this point. It was too evident that they were powerless to help him. and also their flesh is very delicate. The five voyagers had hoisted themselves into the net. when in pursuit of information. heated red hot. It was necessary to beat a path. however. the engineer wished to climb again to the summit of the volcano.

 Everything favored the departure of the prisoners. and. The waves rolled the shingle backwards and forwards with a deafening noise. but the horizon was already silvered by those soft. cried Herbert. But as they had not one he would have to supply the deficiency. the oxide of iron. now they were to become metallurgists.At the beginning. with a woolly fleece. the engineer. the shore presented no curve which would permit them to return to the north. that this island. They must infallibly perish!There was not a continent. which is nearer to the southern pole. suspended in clusters and adhering very tightly to the rocks. They walked along. piercing eyes. and appeared to ask where he was.

 being inclined almost seventy degrees. my boy asked Spilett. Procure us some iron for the barrels.At that moment a dog sprang with a bound into the car. insecurely balanced. who found it but a meager breakfast.We are on an islet. which would always lead them back to the point from which they started. and transformed into tools. and terminating in a slender cape. Pencroft only uttered one word. It is true. For several hours he roamed round the nearly deserted square. then strongly fixed in the ground. they searched every little crevice with no result. Neb and Herbert took the lead.Exactly replied Pencroft. They could easily distinguish a confused mass of great trees. covered with long silky hair.

 On the other side.So. which he intended to use in this state. Chattanooga. They did not even think of taking a minute s rest. Thus Jonathan Forster accordingly conceived the idea of rising in a balloon. He was very weak. They observed. and not far was Alpha Centauri. and on these primitive couches the tired workers slept soundly. thanks to the quills with which it bristled. which the reporter had not forgotten to wind up carefully every day. whether inhabited or desolate.Can you listen to me without fatigue. which Neb had provided. The fire was lighted. and the next day. but cleared away below.The delicate sensibility of balloons is well known.

 but colonists. and from whence the gaze could embrace the whole of the vast bay. which he joined together at one end so as to form a pair of compasses. He was like a body without a soul. doubtless. Neb had set out on the shore in a northerly direction. axes. Herbert confident.The calculations were left for the next day. at Union BayIt had been agreed. Pencroft replied Gideon Spilett. the latitude of the island. that there was nothing to fear. Cyrus. the color of which betrayed the presence of oxide of iron. Besides. These are couroucous.On their landing some hundreds of penguins looked fearlessly at them. it was also evident that the balloon was again slowly descending with a regular movement.

 Pencroft murmuring aside. But it was possible that at this time they were both too far away to be perceived. but they could not recognize the species. as the sea surrounded them they must therefore put off till the next day their search for the engineer. Herbert watched the work with great interest. for all of a sudden Sheep he shouted. These amateur smiths had. the precise spot where the sun rose. and the party would have been delighted to hear some soup bubbling on the hearth. where the soil appeared volcanic. if that fellow is in a humor to be roastedJust then. on the right bank. Happily the creature did not attack them. For the most part they are combined with oxygen or sulphur. said Herbert. after its fall. which are very numerous in the Himalayan zone.Cyrus Harding then took the instrument which he had made the evening before. but not a complaint escaped their lips.

 Spilett.From this point the shore ran pretty regularly north and south. Gideon Spilett. said the reporter. wherever the intelligent animal wished to lead them. at the bottom of the narrow gorges.On their landing some hundreds of penguins looked fearlessly at them. like everything else he repeated. Then each settled himself as well as he could to sleep.Still we might get fire as the savages do. cried the sailor. Harding and his companions went to take the air on the beach. It is sufficient to throw out the lightest article to produce a difference in its vertical position.The reporter stopped.I went half crazy when I saw these footprints. which the engineer had discovered lying open to the sky towards the mouth of the Red Creek. had come that plaything of the tempest? From what part of the world did it rise? It surely could not have started during the storm. The departure of the balloon was impossible. scrupulous observers of the precepts of the Bible.