Page:Adrift in the Pacific, Sampson Low, 1889.djvu/48

 could barely reach up them. But as he belonged to that order of boys we classify as climbers, and brought all his gifts into play, he eventually reached the top. With his glass at his eye he first looked to the east. The country was flat as far as he could see. The cliff was the greatest elevation, and the ground gently sloped towards the interior. In the distance were a few hillocks hardly worth mentioning. There was much forest land, and under the yellow foliage rose many streams that ran towards the coast. The surface was level up to the horizon, which might be a dozen miles away. It did not look as though the sea was there.

To the north Briant could make out the beach running straight away for seven or eight miles; beyond another cape, and a stretch of sand that looked like a huge desert. To the south was a wide marsh. Briant had surveyed the whole sweep of the westerly horizon.

Was he on an island or a continent? He could not say. If it was an island, it was a large one. That was all he could discover.

Then he looked to the westward. The sea was shining under the oblique rays of the sun, which was slowly sinking in the heavens.

Suddenly he brought his glass to his eye, and looked away into the offing.

"Ships!" he exclaimed. "Ships going past!"

Three black spots appeared on the circle of gleaming waters about fifteen miles away.

Great was his excitement. Was he the sport of an illusion? Were they vessels he saw?

He lowered the glass, and cleaned the eyepiece, which had clouded with his breath. He looked again.

The three points looked like ships with nothing visible but their hulls. There was no sign of their masts, and no smoke to show that they were under way.

And then the thought occurred to him, that they were too far off for his signals to be seen; and as it was likely that his companions had not seen these