ning mist, true to its
proverbially evanescent character, had completely passed away, and the
travellers found that they had come to earth on the crest of a slight
eminence, from which an uninterrupted view, of several miles extent over
the surrounding plains, could be obtained in every direction save one,
namely, that between which and the ship stretched the belt of bush.

And now came the professor's explanation:

"You have, doubtless, wondered, gentlemen," said he, "why I have thus
early, and without warning, interrupted our journey. I will now tell
you. I have lately been glancing through the book which, you will
remember, I succeeded in recovering from the wreck of the _Daedalus_,
and therein I met with a passage of a most surpassingly interesting
character. This passage related to the rumoured penetration into this
region of a certain unnamed traveller who is stated to have positively
asserted that he here saw, on more than one occasion, an animal
absolutely identical with the fabled unicorn. This remarkable statement
at once reminded me that I had, many years ago, seen a paragraph in a
Berlin paper to a similar effect. The statement was accompanied by an
expression of strong doubt, if not of absolute incredulity, as to its
veracity; an expression which impressed me at the time as being most
cruel and unfair to the claimant for the honours of a new discovery in
natural history; since the discovery was alleged to have been made in a
region which had never before--nor, indeed, has since, until now--been
penetrated by civilised man; or from which, at all events, no civilised
traveller has ever again emerged, if indeed he had been successful in
penetrating it. Such being the case, as the course we were pursuing
would take us through the very heart of this unknown and unvisited
region, I resolved to maintain a most careful watch for these creatures.
I have done so, and I am sanguine that I have this morning actually
seen a troop of them. Unfortunately, the mist and the distance together
prevented a clear and distinct view of the animals to which I refer;
but, whatever they may be, I have an idea that they are at this moment
feeding at no great distance on the other side of this belt of bush.
Should such be the case, we have the wind of the animals and ought to
have no great difficulty in stalking them; a proceeding which, if
patiently and cautiously executed, ought to enable us not only to secure
a specimen or