Таємничий острів

           Arrivedattheforest,Pencroftbrokefromthefirsttreetwostoutbrancheswhichhetransformedintoclubs,theendsofwhichHerbertrubbedsmoothonarock.Oh!whatwouldtheynothavegivenforaknife!

           Thetwohuntersnowadvancedamongthelonggrass,followingthebank.Fromtheturningwhichdirecteditscoursetothesouthwest,therivernarrowedgraduallyandthechannellaybetweenhighbanks,overwhichthetreesformedadoublearch.Pencroft,lesttheyshouldlosethemselves,resolvedtofollowthecourseofthestream,whichwouldalwaysleadthembacktothepointfromwhichtheystarted.Butthebankwasnotwithoutsomeobstacles:here,theflexiblebranchesofthetreesbentlevelwiththecurrent;there,creepersandthornswhichtheyhadtobreakdownwiththeirsticks.Herbertoftenglidedamongthebrokenstumpswiththeagilityofayoungcat,anddisappearedintheunderwood.ButPencroftcalledhimbackdirectly,begginghimnottowanderaway.Meanwhile,thesailorattentivelyobservedthedispositionandnatureofthesurroundingcountry.Ontheleftbank,theground,whichwasflatandmarshy,roseimperceptiblytowardstheinterior.Itlookedtherelikeanetworkofliquidthreadswhichdoubtlessreachedtheriverbysomeundergrounddrain.Sometimesastreamranthroughtheunderwood,whichtheycrossedwithoutdifficulty.Theoppositeshoreappearedtobemoreuneven,andthevalleyofwhichtheriveroccupiedthebottomwasmoreclearlyvisible.Thehill,coveredwithtreesdisposedinterraces,interceptedtheview.Ontherightbankwalkingwouldhavebeendifficult,forthedeclivitiesfellsuddenly,andthetreesbendingoverthewaterwereonlysustainedbythestrengthoftheirroots.

           Itisneedlesstoaddthatthisforest,aswellasthecoastalreadysurveyed,wasdestituteofanysignofhumanlife.Pencroftonlysawtracesofquadrupeds,freshfootprintsofanimals,ofwhichhecouldnotrecognizethespecies.