was due rather
to the thickness of the foliage than to the disappearance of the sun.
The silence was scarcely disturbed by the howling of jaguars and the
chattering of the monkeys, the latter appearing to particularly irritate
master Jup. The night passed without incident, and on the next day, the
15th of February, the journey through the forest, rather tedious than
difficult, was continued. This day they could not accomplish more than
six miles, for every moment they were obliged to cut a road with their
hatchets.

Like true settlers, the colonists spared the largest and most beautiful
trees, which would besides have cost immense labour to fell, and the
small ones only were sacrificed, but the result was that the road took a
very winding direction, and lengthened itself by numerous _detours_.

During the day Herbert discovered several new specimens not before met
with in the island, such as the tree-fern, with its leaves spread out
like the waters of a fountain, locust-trees, on the long pods of which
the onagas browsed greedily, and which supplied a sweet pulp of
excellent flavour. There, too, the colonists again found groups of
magnificent kauries, their cylindrical trunks, crowned with a cone of
verdure, rising to a height of two hundred feet. These were the
tree-kings of New Zealand, as celebrated as the cedars of Lebanon.

As to the fauna, there was no addition to those species already known to
the hunters. Nevertheless, they saw, though unable to get near them, a
couple of those large birds peculiar to Australia, a sort of cassowary,
called emu, five feet in height, and with brown plumage, which belong to
the tribe of waders. Top darted after them as fast as his four legs
could carry him, but the emus distanced him with ease, so prodigious was
their speed.

As to the traces left by the convicts, a few more were discovered. Some
footprints found near an apparently recently-extinguished fire were
attentively examined by the settlers. By measuring them one after the
other, according to their length and breadth, the marks of five men's
feet were easily distinguished. The five convicts had evidently camped
on this spot; but,--and this was the object of so minute an
examination,--a sixth foot-print could not be discovered, which in that
case would have been that of Ayrton.

"Ayrton was not with them!" said Herbert.

"No," answered Pencroft, "and if he was not with them, it was because
the wretches had a