nce of
singular newness that pervaded the whole of the region. It all seemed
so recent in its formation that the atmosphere had had no opportunity of
producing its wonted effect in softening the hardness of its lines, in
rounding the sharpness of its angles, or in modifying the color of
its surface; its outline was clearly marked against the sky, and its
substance, smooth and polished as though fresh from a founder's mold,
glittered with the metallic brilliancy that is characteristic of
pyrites. It seemed impossible to come to any other conclusion but
that the land before them, continent or island, had been upheaved by
subterranean forces above the surface of the sea, and that it was mainly
composed of the same metallic element as had characterized the dust so
frequently uplifted from the bottom.

The extreme nakedness of the entire tract was likewise very
extraordinary. Elsewhere, in various quarters of the globe, there may
be sterile rocks, but there are none so adamant as to be altogether
unfurrowed by the filaments engendered in the moist residuum of the
condensed vapor; elsewhere there may be barren steeps, but none so rigid
as not to afford some hold to vegetation, however low and elementary
may be its type; but here all was bare, and blank, and desolate--not a
symptom of vitality was visible.

Such being the condition of the adjacent land, it could hardly be a
matter of surprise that all the sea-birds, the albatross, the gull, the
sea-mew, sought continual refuge on the schooner; day and night they
perched fearlessly upon the yards, the report of a gun failing to
dislodge them, and when food of any sort was thrown upon the deck,
they would dart down and fight with eager voracity for the prize. Their
extreme avidity was recognized as a proof that any land where they could
obtain a sustenance must be far remote.

Onwards thus for several days the _Dobryna_ followed the contour of the
inhospitable coast, of which the features would occasionally change,
sometimes for two or three miles assuming the form of a simple arris,
sharply defined as though cut by a chisel, when suddenly the prismatic
lamellae soaring in rugged confusion would again recur; but all along
there was the same absence of beach or tract of sand to mark its base,
neither were there any of those shoals of rock that are ordinarily found
in shallow water. At rare intervals there were some narrow fissures,
but not a creek available for a ship to enter