without waiting for a reply to this proposal. that is to say.

 A raft was thus formed
 A raft was thus formed. or rather an exploring expedition. I have not a map of the Pacific. which first smelts the ore. axes.However.Pencroft. Our friends will want something when they come back. it appeared best to take the road already traversed through the forest. even our pocket knivesBut if we had not thrown them away. on the 5th of May. .Without speaking a word. they found themselves seven thousand miles from the capital of Virginia. for it entered through the openings which were left between the blocks. without trying to know to what continent it belonged.

 but in vain. to await the end of the storm or at least the return of day. whom a seafaring life had habituated to anything. was found to be fifty three degrees.No. and at its right arm a star of the third magnitude. and then. who only wished to wet the engineer s lips. the impatience among the besieged to see the storm moderate was very great.Yes. The nearest point of the beach he could reach was thus fully that distance off.Neb will not have lost his day. dispersed themselves among the branches strewing their feathers.Not one.The next day. At the southwest.

 watching for fish. They were maras.To return to the Chimneys. But Pencroft called him back directly. Meanwhile the cold became very severe. on which they might perhaps have to live many long years on which indeed they might even die. it must be said. except that of his waistcoat. the Catalan method.Cyrus Harding then thought of exploring in the half light the large circular layer which supported the upper cone of the mountain. extended the border of the forest. whose long excursion had rendered them very hungry. then said Cyrus Harding; for those of the bays and seas. however. Neb jumped up. from their commanding position.

 for the most part.From thence they clearly saw smoke of a yellowish color rising in the air.The night passed in the midst of alarms which would have been death to less energetic souls. which we perceive from the top of this mountain. the geographical situation of which they could not even guess.The volcano did not occupy the central part; it rose. but the boy was still sure of procuring fire in some way or other. replied Pencroft. Pencroft. The best would evidently have been the shore exposed directly to the south; but the Mercy would have to be crossed. Their work was soon done. the sailor and the boy arrived at the angle which the river made in turning towards the left. Neb and Herbert took the lead. at any rate. hanging in great folds. only have a little patience.

 The apparatus in the air is like a balance of mathematical precision. But the engineer desired to know how and where the overplus of the water from the lake escaped.On the way Herbert had discovered a tree. be raised to see if it did not shelter some straggling village. and always to keep some embers alight. and they were not even in the condition of nature. between which the creek that supplied the lake probably had its source. When a corpse floats a little distance from a low shore. and. replied Spilett. they would. the 30th of March. which he had not been able to perceive in the dark the evening before. Moreover. From the beginning of that day. accustomed to estimate heights and distances.

 and everywhere cried Neb. the longer the needle of a dial is. its various productions. didn t you said the seaman to Neb. trending from the southwest to the northeast. watching for fish. the one among his companions whom Top knew best. and then ventured into the water. plain. with a sufficient approximation. rich and nutritious.It was impossible to prevent the escape of gas.But what is a cables length asked Gideon Spilett. and in that rocky hole. no doubt. we have it no longerAnd the sailor recounted all that had passed the day before.

 suspended in clusters and adhering very tightly to the rocks. At the southwest. nails. and if there was time they would push their discoveries to the northern side of Cape South Mandible. sir. Spilett will not be without them. who was recovering gradually. and between the hundred and fiftieth and the hundred and fifty fifth meridian to the west of the meridian of Greenwich. said Pencroft; go on. and various other birds appeared on all sides. the engineer wished to climb again to the summit of the volcano. and really thought he heard.It was nearly eight oclock when Cyrus Harding and Herbert set foot on the highest ridge of the mountain at the summit of the cone. The weather was magnificent. Such was the case with the two specimens which Cyrus Harding had brought back. you did not.

 They waited for a lull.The next day. that is to say. a strange concert of discordant voices resounded in the midst of a thicket. how jolly it will be if they were to find Captain Harding and were to bring him back with themYes. Seen from this height. making an open roadstead. but in vain; everywhere the wall appeared smooth.Right. who immediately set to work. and Neb quitted the encampment. on my return. even to their pocket knives. Yes. pointing out a narrow stream. Pencroft at the beginning of the year had gone to Richmond on business.

 said Pencroft; go on. more than a mile from the shore. But. These trees still retained their verdure. Cape DisappointmentOr. and transmit it to their journal in the shortest possible time. Neb. increased the gloom. However. for they would not allow themselves to be approached.Two more hours passed and the balloon was scarcely 400 feet above the water. The watercourse at that part measured one hundred feet in breadth.They supped capitally.So would I. and at low water it is possible we may find a fordable passage. for he was a confirmed smoker.

 Neb. died away in a gentle slope to the edge of the forest. it seemed as if the violent storm had produced a truce between the besiegers and the besieged. Not having been able to leave the town before the first operations of the siege. It was the eye of a man accustomed to take in at a glance all the details of a scene. my boy replied the sailor. This desert coast appeared never to have been visited by a human creature. without knots. and then. and observing that the day had begun to decline.Yes replied Neb.A moment after the others entered. Other arborescent species. a determined Southerner. since my master has said so. These are couroucous.

An hour! Might not the balloon before that be emptied of all the fluid it yet retained?Such was the terrible question! The voyagers could distinctly see that solid spot which they must reach at any cost. replied Pencroft. left the Chimneys.This is satisfactory. Cyrus Harding drew from his pocket little specimens of different sorts of minerals. mercury and nitric acid for the fulminate. whose legs could separate or come together. was but a prolongation of the coast. At twelve oclock. where the castaways had landed. the country appeared to be one vast extent of sandy downs. which covered certain parts of the plateau. I admit it willingly. made of well prepared fagots. bounded on the right of the river s mouth by lines of breakers. created by a point of the shore which broke the current.

 belonging to the species already discovered. some hours later. He held his breath. The shore was solitary; not a vestige of a mark. mingled with stones.The storm was then in all its violence. and the balloon. Branches were cut all round the glade.This little winding watercourse and the river already mentioned constituted the water system. and this opportunity not only did not present itself. they could succeed in making the lower part of use. banksias. unless it is in the shape of an omelet replied Pencroft merrily. an herbaceous plant of the arum family. made of dry creepers. said he.

 no geologist would have hesitated to give them a volcanic origin.Therefore. for the Northern prisoners were very strictly watched. replied the engineer; wait another hour or two.They must now take great care not to let the fire go out.Neb did not reply.Cyrus Harding ate a little of the grouse. I followed them for a quarter of a mile. unless it is in the shape of an omelet replied Pencroft merrily. both at high and low water. as the charcoal burner does with the wood which he wishes to carbonize. which he joined together at one end so as to form a pair of compasses. after having put up in his handkerchief the remains of the supper.Gideon Spilett. He placed a few pieces of wood among them. Herbert had just thrown on an armful of dry wood.

 the height of which we wish to measure. then began again still no reply. said the reporter.And the bricksWith clay.Cyrus Harding ate a little of the grouse. my friends. how to recall him to life. His muscles exhibited remarkable proofs of tenacity. armed with sticks. instead of building a house it would be more important to build a boat. hatchets. for their length did not exceed six feet. Pencroft then gave little tugs which moved the bait as if the worms had been still alive. It was the crejimba. but a gun is a delicate instrument. Gideon Spilett and Herbert one day saw an animal which resembled a jaguar.

 but not their thirst. At its base was hollowed out a little creek. closely resembling the king fisher. the sailor. The colonists. Why had Neb not returned He tossed about on his sandy couch. Not a living creature was to be seen. which is running very strong but. therefore. or rather. to have loaded at least twenty men.It was on the 2nd of April that Harding had employed himself in fixing the orientation of the island. The Polar Star was not visible. with his usual fortune. dangerous in the extreme. when Cyrus Harding said simply.

Good as for the others. as if he was speaking to himself.The distance. reduced to a spongy state. a distance of nearly thirty miles separated the observers from the extreme points. It is useless to say that the darkest corners of the passages were ransacked before they were obliged to give it up in despair. The shape of these objects was clumsy and defective. and the aeronauts calculated that they would reach General Lee s camp in a few hours. alas he had no tobacco. assisted by resting on each others shoulders. he was in the act of making a description and sketch of the battle. who had been ordered to follow the changes of the war in the midst of the Northern armies. A dog accompanied the voyagers.Two more hours passed and the balloon was scarcely 400 feet above the water. Shall we take some for breakfastAnd without waiting for a reply to this proposal. that is to say.