However, one of the castaways, following the impulse of his heart, immediately threw himself into the current, without consulting his companions, without saying a single word.It was Neb.He was in haste to be on the other side, and to climb towards the north.It had been impossible to hold him back.Pencroft called him in vain.The reporter prepared to follow him, but Pencroft stopped him."Do you want to cross the channel?"he asked."Yes," replied Spilett."All right!" said the seaman; "wait a bit;Neb is well able to carry help to his master.If we venture into the channel, we risk being carried into the open sea by the current, which is running very strong; but, if I'm not wrong, it is ebbing.See, the tide is going down over the sand.Let us have patience, and at low water it is possible we may find a fordable passage." "You are right," replied the reporter, "we will not separate more than we can help."During this time Neb was struggling vigorously against the current.He was crossing in an oblique direction.His black shoulders could be seen emerging at each stroke.He was carried down very quickly, but he also made way towards the shore.It took more than half an hour to cross from the islet to the land, and he reached the shore several hundred feet from the place which was opposite to the point from which he had started.
Landing at the foot of a high wall of granite, he shook himself vigorously; and then, setting off running, soon disappeared behind a rocky point, which projected to nearly the height of the northern extremity of the islet.
Neb's companions had watched his daring attempt with painful anxiety, and when he was out of sight, they fixed their attention on the land where their hope of safety lay, while eating some shell-fish with which the sand was strewn.It was a wretched repast, but still it was better than nothing.
The opposite coast formed one vast bay, terminating on the south by a very sharp point, which was destitute of all vegetation, and was of a very wild aspect.This point abutted on the shore in a grotesque outline of high granite rocks.Towards the north, on the contrary, the bay widened, and a more rounded coast appeared, trending from the southwest to the northeast, and terminating in a slender cape.The distance between these two extremities, which made the bow of the bay, was about eight miles.Half a mile from the shore rose the islet, which somewhat resembled the carcass of a gigantic whale.its extreme breadth was not more than a quarter of a mile.
Opposite the islet, the beach consisted first of sand, covered with black stones, which were now appearing little by little above the retreating tide.The second level was separated by a perpendicular granite cliff, terminated at the top by an unequal edge at a height of at least 300 feet.
It continued thus for a length of three miles, ending suddenly on the right with a precipice which looked as if cut by the hand of man.On the left, above the promontory, this irregular and jagged cliff descended by a long slope of conglomerated rocks till it mingled with the ground of the southern point.On the upper plateau of the coast not a tree appeared.It was a flat tableland like that above Cape Town at the Cape of Good Hope, but of reduced proportions; at least so it appeared seen from the islet.
However, verdure was not wanting to the right beyond the precipice.They could easily distinguish a confused mass of great trees, which extended beyond the limits of their view.This verdure relieved the eye, so long wearied by the continued ranges of granite.Lastly, beyond and above the plateau, in a northwesterly direction and at a distance of at least seven miles, glittered a white summit which reflected the sun's rays.It was that of a lofty mountain, capped with snow.
The question could not at present be decided whether this land formed an island, or whether it belonged to a continent.But on beholding the convulsed masses heaped up on the left, no geologist would have hesitated to give them a volcanic origin, for they were unquestionably the work of subterranean convulsions.
Gideon Spilett, Pencroft, and Herbert attentively examined this land, on which they might perhaps have to live many long years; on which indeed they might even die, should it be out of the usual track of vessels, as was likely to be the case.
"Well," asked Herbert, "what do you say, Pencroft?""There is some good and some bad, as in everything," replied the sailor.
"We shall see.But now the ebb is evidently making.In three hours we will attempt the passage, and once on the other side, we will try to get out of this scrape, and I hope may find the captain." Pencroft was not wrong in his anticipations.Three hours later at low tide, the greater part of the sand forming the bed of the channel was uncovered.Between the islet and the coast there only remained a narrow channel which would no doubt be easy to cross.
About ten o'clock, Gideon Spilett and his companions stripped themselves of their clothes, which they placed in bundles on their heads, and then ventured into the water, which was not more than five feet deep.Herbert, for whom it was too deep, swam like a fish, and got through capitally.All three arrived without difficulty on the opposite shore.Quickly drying themselves in the sun, they put on their clothes, which they had preserved from contact with the water, and sat down to take counsel together what to do next.