f whenever any object attracted their attention.
But they found nothing, some curious formations of the rocks having
deceived them. They ascertained, however, that eatable shell-fish
abounded there, but these could not be of any great advantage to them
until some easy means of communication had been established between
the two banks of the Mercy, and until the means of transport had been
perfected.

Nothing therefore which threw any light on the supposed wreck could be
found on this shore, yet an object of any importance, such as the hull
of a ship, would have been seen directly, or any of her masts and
spars would have been washed on shore, just as the chest had been,
which was found twenty miles from here. But there was nothing.

Towards three o'clock Harding and his companions arrived at a snug
little creek. It formed quite a natural harbour, invisible from the
sea, and was entered by a narrow channel. At the back of this creek
some violent convulsion had torn up the rocky border, and a cutting,
by a gentle slope, gave access to an upper plateau, which might be
situated at least ten miles from Claw Cape, and consequently four
miles in a straight line from Prospect Heights. Gideon Spilett
proposed to his companions that they should make a halt here. They
agreed readily, for their walk had sharpened their appetites; and
although it was not their usual dinner-hour, no one refused to
strengthen himself with a piece of venison. This luncheon would
sustain them till their supper, which they intended to take at Granite
House. In a few minutes the settlers, seated under a clump of fine
sea-pines, were devouring the provisions which Neb produced from his
bag.

This spot was raised from fifty to sixty feet above the level of the
sea. The view was very extensive, but beyond the cape it ended in
Union Bay. Neither the islet nor Prospect Heights were visible, and
could not be from thence, for the rising ground and the curtain of
trees closed the northern horizon.

It is useless to add that notwithstanding the wide extent of sea which
the explorers could survey, and though the engineer swept the horizon
with his glass, no vessel could be found.

The shore was of course examined with the same care from the edge of
the water to the cliff, and nothing could be discovered even with the
aid of the instrument.

"Well," said Gideon Spilett, "it seems we must make up our minds to
console ourselves with thinking that no one will co