CHAPTER III
THE FIRST DAY ASHORE
The shore was deserted, as Briant had discovered when he was on the foremast crosstrees. For an hour the schooner lay on her bed of sand, and no native was seen. There was no sign of house or hut either under the trees, in front of the cliff, or on the banks of the rivulet, now full with the waters of the rising tide. There was not even the print of a human foot on the beach, which the tide had bordered with a long line of seaweed. At the mouth of the river there was no fishing-boat to be seen, and no smoke arose in the air along the whole curve of the bay between the northern and southern capes.
The first idea that occurred to Briant and Gordon was to get through the trees and ascend the cliffs behind.
"We are on land, that is something!" said Gordon; "but what is this land which seems uninhabited?"
"The important thing is that it is not uninhabitable," answered Briant. "We have food and ammunition for some time. We want a shelter of some sort, and we must find one — at least for the youngsters."
"Yes. Right you are!"
"As to finding out where we are," said Briant, "there will be time enough for that when we have nothing else to do. If it is a continent, we may perhaps be rescued. If it is an island! an uninhabited island — well we shall see ! Come Gordon, let us be off on our voyage of discovery."
They soon reached the edge of the trees, which ran off on the slant from the cliff to the right bank of the stream, three or four hundred yards above its mouth.
In the wood there was no sign of the passage of man, not a track, not a footpath. Old trunks, fallen through
25
