Page:Adrift in the Pacific, Sampson Low, 1889.djvu/45

Rh the problem as to island or continent. During the night the sky cleared up the mist which the calm of the preceding days had accumulated. A land-breeze swept it away in a few hours. The sun's bright rays gilded the crest of the cliff. It looked as if in the afternoon the eastern horizon would be clearly visible; and that was the horizon on which their hopes depended. If the line of water continued along it, the land must be an island, and the only hope of rescue was from a ship.

The idea of this visit to the end of the bay, first occurred, it will be remembered, to Briant, and he had resolved to go off alone. He would gladly have been accompanied by Gordon, but he did not feel justified in leaving his companions without any one to look after them.

On the evening of the 15th, finding the barometer remained steady, he told Gordon he would be off at dawn next morning. Ten or eleven miles, there and back, was nothing to a healthy lad who did not mind fatigue. The day would be enough for the journey, and he would be sure to get back before night.

Briant was off at daybreak without the others knowing he had gone. His weapons were only a stick and a revolver, so as to be prepared for any wild beast that came along, although Donagan had not come across any in his shooting expeditions. With these he also took one of the schooner's telescopes — a splendid instrument of great range and clearness of vision. In a bag hung to his belt he took a little biscuit and salt meat, and a flask of brandy, so as to be prepared in case any adventure delayed his return.

Walking at a good pace, he followed the trend of the coast along the inner line of reefs, his road marked by a border of seaweed still wet with the retiring tide. In an hour he had passed the extreme point reached by Donagan in his foray after the rock pigeons. The birds had nothing to fear from him now. His object was to push on and reach the foot of the cape as soon as possible. The sky was clear of cloud, and if the mist