It is not even bread," added he, "but a
delicate pastry. You have eaten none, master?"

"No, Ned."

"Very well, prepare yourself for a juicy thing. If you do not come for
more, I am no longer the king of harpooners."

After some minutes, the part of the fruits that was exposed to the fire
was completely roasted. The interior looked like a white pasty, a sort
of soft crumb, the flavour of which was like that of an artichoke.

It must be confessed this bread was excellent, and I ate of it with
great relish.

"What time is it now?" asked the Canadian.

"Two o'clock at least," replied Conseil.

"How time flies on firm ground!" sighed Ned Land.

"Let us be off," replied Conseil.

We returned through the forest, and completed our collection by a raid
upon the cabbage-palms, that we gathered from the tops of the trees,
little beans that I recognised as the "abrou" of the Malays, and yams
of a superior quality.

We were loaded when we reached the boat. But Ned Land did not find his
provisions sufficient. Fate, however, favoured us. Just as we were
pushing off, he perceived several trees, from twenty-five to thirty
feet high, a species of palm-tree.

At last, at five o'clock in the evening, loaded with our riches, we
quitted the shore, and half an hour after we hailed the Nautilus. No
one appeared on our arrival. The enormous iron-plated cylinder seemed
deserted. The provisions embarked, I descended to my chamber, and
after supper slept soundly.

The next day, 6th January, nothing new on board. Not a sound inside,
not a sign of life. The boat rested along the edge, in the same place
in which we had left it. We resolved to return to the island. Ned
Land hoped to be more fortunate than on the day before with regard to
the hunt, and wished to visit another part of the forest.

At dawn we set off. The boat, carried on by the waves that flowed to
shore, reached the island in a few minutes.

We landed, and, thinking that it was better to give in to the Canadian,
we followed Ned Land, whose long limbs threatened to distance us. He
wound up the coast towards the west: then, fording some torrents, he
gained the high plain that was bordered with admirable forests. Some
kingfishers were rambling along the water-courses, but they would not
let themselves be approached. Their circumspection proved to me that
these birds knew what to expect from bipeds of our species, and I
concluded that, if the island w