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 V—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 myrtaceæ and saxifragaceæ 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 that 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; and until the wind freshened to blow the fog away, the view would not be worth the ascent.

The days were not lost. They were spent in work. Briant made it his duty to look after the younger boys, as if to watch over them with paternal affection was a want of his nature. Thanks to his constant care, they were as well looked after as circumstances permitted. The weather was getting colder, and he made them put on warmer clothes from the stores found in the seamen’s chests, and this gave a good deal of tailoring work, in which the scissors were more in request than the needle, and Moko greatly distinguished himself. Costar, Dole, Jenkins, and Iverson were elegantly attired in trousers and jerseys much too roomy for them, but reduced to a proper length of arm and leg. The others were not idle. Under Garnett or Baxter, they were off among the rocks at low tide, gathering mollusks, or fishing with lines and nets at the mouth of the stream, amusing themselves to the advantage of all. Busy in a way that pleased them, they hardly thought of the position in which they were placed, and they did not know how serious it was. When they thought of their parents and friends, as they often did, they were sorrowful enough; but the idea that they would never see them again never occurred to them.

Gordon and Briant seldom left the wreck. Service was with them a good deal, and was always good-tempered and useful He liked Briant, and had never joined Donagan’s party, and Briant was not insensible to his loyalty.

‘This is first rate,’ said Service.