The ship had, evidently, not merely been carried to leeward of the cape
by the strong current before striking, but had also been taken some
distance inshore as well; for the reef on which she was lying seemed
more than two miles to the eastward of the projecting point which she
had so much difficulty in rounding, close in to a range of rock-bound
coast similar to that which they had passed to the northward and
extending almost due east for from eight to ten miles--as nearly as Mr
Meldrum could judge--the line of the shore then trending off to the
south-west at an acute angle, as far as the eye could reach. High above
this latter stretch of coast rose a series of snow-crowned hills,
arranged in terraces the one above another, gradually increasing in
height until their peaks culminated in one that towered far beyond all,
like a giant amongst pigmies; while, to the right of this mountain, and
apparently much nearer, on a spur of the chain projecting into the sea
nearly south of the vessel's position, was one solitary peak, which
occasionally emitted thin columns of smoke and which, from the fact of
its summit being denuded of snow, most likely marked the site of some
volcanic crater in active operation.

Altogether, the prospect was sad and dispiriting in the extreme, for,
nothing was to be seen in the immediate foreground but the bare black
basaltic cliffs, against whose base the angry billows broke in endless
repetition, throwing up clouds of spray and tracing out their
indentations with lines of creamy foam; and, beyond the cliffs, were
high table-lands and hills all clad in the spectral garb of winter--with
never a tree or a single prominent feature to vary the monotony of the
landscape!

"We must endeavour to make for that curve in the bay to the north-east,
where the shore breaks off and leads southward," said Mr Meldrum to the
first mate, who, having seen the raft completed, had now come to his
side for further instructions. "It is only there, as far as I can see,
that there is likely to be any sort of harbour where we can land in
safety."

"Be jabers, I can't say, sorr," returned McCarthy; "sure an' it's
yoursilf that knows bist. I belave, however, it'll be the wisest
coorse; for the divil a harbour can anyone say ilsewhere; and, by the
same token, sorr, the current is setting shoreward in that very
direction. Look at thim planks there, sorr, sure an' if that's the case
it'll hilp the rhaft along foinely!"