y. The count, the captain,
the lieutenant, everybody hurried to the forecastle; the schooner was
dexterously put about, and all was eager impatience until the supposed
bottle was hauled on deck.

It was not, however, a bottle; it proved to be a round leather
telescope-case, about a foot long, and the first thing to do before
investigating its contents was to make a careful examination of its
exterior. The lid was fastened on by wax, and so securely that it would
take a long immersion before any water could penetrate; there was no
maker's name to be deciphered; but impressed very plainly with a seal on
the wax were the two initials "P. R."

When the scrutiny of the outside was finished, the wax was removed and
the cover opened, and the lieutenant drew out a slip of ruled paper,
evidently torn from a common note-book. The paper had an inscription
written in four lines, which were remarkable for the profusion of notes
of admiration and interrogation with which they were interspersed:

"Gallia???
_Ab sole_, au 15 fev. 59,000,000 l.!
Chemin parcouru de janv. a fev. 82,000,000 l.!!
_Va bene! All right!!_ Parfait!!!"

There was a general sigh of disappointment. They turned the paper over
and over, and handed it from one to another. "What does it all mean?"
exclaimed the count.

"Something mysterious here!" said Servadac. "But yet," he continued,
after a pause, "one thing is tolerably certain: on the 15th, six days
ago, someone was alive to write it."

"Yes; I presume there is no reason to doubt the accuracy of the date,"
assented the count.

To this strange conglomeration of French, English, Italian, and Latin,
there was no signature attached; nor was there anything to give a
clue as to the locality in which it had been committed to the waves.
A telescope-case would probably be the property of some one on board
a ship; and the figures obviously referred to the astronomical wonders
that had been experienced.

To these general observations Captain Servadac objected that he thought
it unlikely that any one on board a ship would use a telescope-case for
this purpose, but would be sure to use a bottle as being more secure;
and, accordingly, he should rather be inclined to believe that the
message had been set afloat by some _savant_ left alone, perchance, upon
some isolated coast.

"But, however interesting it might be," observed the count, "to know
the author of the lines, to us it is of far greate