Zealand? In the schooner's boats, they might have got away, perhaps; but the boats had gone, except the yawl, and that at the outside was only fit for sailing along the coast.
About noon, the youngsters, headed by Moko, returned. They had after a time quieted down and set seriously to work, and they had brought back a good store of shellfish, which the cabin-boy undertook to get ready. As to eggs, there ought to be a great quantity, for Moko had noted the presence of innumerable rock pigeons of an edible kind nestling on the higher ledges of the cliff.
" That is all right," said Briant. " One of these mornings we will go out after them, and get a lot."
" We are sure to do that," said Moko. " Three or four shots will give us pigeons by the dozen. It will be easy to get to the nests if we let ourselves down with a rope."
" Agreed ! " said Gordon. " Suppose, Donagan, you go to-morrow ? "
" That will suit me very well," said Donagan. " Webb, Cross, and Wilcox, will you come too ? "
" Rather! " said they; only too well pleased at the idea of blazing away into such a bird crowd.
"But don't kill too many pigeons," said Briant. " We know now where to find them when we want them. Don't waste powder and shot—"
" All right! " said Donagan, who did not like advice —particularly from Briant. " It is not the first time we have had a gun."
An hour afterwards Moko announced that dinner was ready, and the boys hurried up the ladder on to the schooner and took their seats in the dining saloon. Owing to the yacht heeling over so much, the table sloped considerably; but that made little difference to those accustomed to the rolling of the ship. The shellfish, particularly the mussels, were declared to be excellent, although their seasoning left something to be desired; but at that age hunger is the best sauce. A biscuit and piece of corned beef and fresh water from the stream, taken when the tide was at the lowest so as to avoid its being brackish, made an acceptable meal.
The afternoon was spent in arranging the things that had been entered on the list; Jenkins and his companions going off to fish in the river and having fair sport among the finny crowd that swarmed about its mouth. After supper all were glad to get to bed, except Baxter and Wilcox, whose turn it was to keep guard.
CHAPTER IV.
The View From The Cape
Was it an island, or a continent? That was the question constantly occupying the minds of Briant, Gordon, and Donagan, who by their character and intelligence were the chiefs of this little world. Thinking of the future when the youngsters only thought of the present, they often talked together on the subject. Whether it was insular or continental, the land was evidently not in the tropics. That could be seen by the vegetation—oaks, beeches, birches, alders, pines, and firs of different sorts, and several of the myrtaceae and saxifragaceae which are neither shrubs nor trees. It seemed as though the country must be nearer the southern pole than New Zealand, and if so, a severe winter might be anticipated. Already a thick carpet of dead leaves covered the ground in the wood near the cliff; the pines and firs alone retaining their foliage.
" That is why," said Gordon, " the morning after the wreck I thought it best not to look out for a permanent settlement hereabouts."
" That is what I think," said Donagan. " If we wait for the bad season, it will be too late to get to some inhabited part, for we may have to go hundreds of miles."
" But we are only in the first half of March," said Briant.
" Well," said Donagan. " The fine weather may last till the end of April, and in six weeks we might get well on the road—"
" If there is a road ! "
" And why shouldn't there be ? "
" Quite so," said Gordon. " But if there is, do you know where it leads ? "
" I know one thing," said Donagan. " It will be absurd not to have left the schooner before the cold and rainy season, and to do that, we need not see only difficulties at each step."
" Better see them than start off like fools across a country we know nothing about."
" It is easy to call people fools when they don't think the same as you do."
Donagan's observation might have soon led to a quarrel had not Gordon intervened.
" There is no good in arguing. Let us understand each other. Donagan is right in saying that if we are near an inhabited country, we should get there without delay. But Briant says, is it possible we are near to such a country? and there is no harm in that."
" But Gordon," said Donagan, " if you go to the north, or the south, or the east, you must get to the people in time."
" Yes, if we are on a continent," said Briant, " and not on an island, perhaps a desert island."
" That is why we ought to find out," said Gordon. " To leave the schooner before we know whether there is or is not a sea to the east of us—"
" It is the schooner that will leave us," said Donagan. " She cannot last out the winter storms on this beach."
" Agreed," said Gordon, " but before we venture into the interior we must know where we are going."
" I'll go out and reconnoitre," said Briant.
" So will I," said Donagan.
" We'll all go," said Gordon, " but we don't want to drag the youngsters with us, and two or three of us will be enough."
" It is a pity," said Briant," that there is no high hill from which we could have a good view. The land lies low, and even from the offing I saw no elevation. The highest ground seems to be this cliff. Beyond it I suppose there are forests, and plains, and marshes, through which the stream runs."
" We ought to have a look over the country before trying to get round the cliff where Briant and I failed to find the cave."
" Well, we'll try the north," said Briant " If we can get up the cape at the far end, we might see a long way round."
" That cape," said Gordon, " is 250 or 300 feet high, and ought to look right over the cliff."
"I'll go," said Briant.
The bay ended in a huge pile of rocks, like a hill rising into a peak on the side nearest the sea. Along the curve of the beach it was seven or eight miles away but in a bee line, as the Americans say, it was probably not more than five, and Gordon had not over-estimated the height of the hill at 300 feet from the sea-level.
Was this sufficiently high for a good view over the country ? Would not the landscape be shut in by high ground to the eastward? But at least it would be seen if the coast-line continued towards the north or not.
And so it was decided that the exploration should be made, and that the wreck should not be abandoned until it had been discovered whether the boys had been cast on an island or a continent, which could only be the American continent. But no start could be made for the next five days, owing to the weather having become misty and rainy;
