ikely--that
the group to which Tsalal belonged has entirely disappeared in the
earthquake."

"Land ahead?" cried Dirk Peters.

We looked, but could discern nothing on the sea, nor was it until a
quarter of an hour had elapsed that our glasses enabled us to
recognize the tops of a few scattered islets shining in the oblique
rays of the sun, two or three miles to the westward.

What a change! How had it come about? Arthur Pym described spacious
islands, but only a small number of tiny islets, half a dozen at
most, protruded from the waters.

At this moment the half-breed came sliding down from his lofty perch
and jumped to the deck.

"Well, Dirk Peters! Have you recognized the group?" asked the
captain.

"The group?" replied the half-breed, shaking his head. "No, I
have only seen the tops of five or six islets. There is nothing but
stone heaps there--not a single island!"

As the schooner approached we easily recognized these fragments of
the group, which had been almost entirely destroyed on its western
side. The scattered remains formed dangerous reefs which might
seriously injure the keel or the sides of the _Halbrane_, and there
was no intention of risking the ship's safety among them. We
accordingly cast anchor at a safe distance, and a boat was lowered
for the reception of Captain Len Guy, the boatswain, Dirk Peters,
Holt, two men and myself. The still, transparent water, as Peters
steered us skilfully between the projecting edges of the little
reefs, allowed us to see, not a bed of sand strewn with shells, but
heaps which were overgrown by land vegetation, tufts plants not
belonging to the marine flora that floated the surface of the sea.
Presently we landed on one of the larger islets which rose to about
thirty feet above the sea.

"Do the tides rise sometimes to that height?" I inquired of the
captain.

"Never," he replied, "and perhaps we shall discover some
remains of the vegetable kingdom, of habitations, or of an
encampment."

"The best thing we can do," said the boatswain, "is to follow
Dirk Peters, who has already distanced us. The half-breed's lynx
eyes will see what we can't."

Peters had indeed scaled the eminence in a moment, and we presently
joined him on the top.

The islet was strewn with remains (probably of those domestic
animals mentioned in Arthur Pym's journal), but these bones
differed from the bones on Tsalal Island by the fact that the heaps
dated from a few months only. T