Page:Adrift in the Pacific, Sampson Low, 1889.djvu/96

 reef, which was then covered with a thick bed of ice. But to kill any the boys would have to cut off their retreat, as when Briant and his comrades approached they took to flight with many extraordinary antics, and disappeared in the sea. Evidently an expedition for the capture of these animals would have to be organized later on.

After having lunched on the few provisions they had brought with them, the boys set to work to examine the whole stretch of the bay.

One long white sheet extended from Zealand River to False Point. Except the penguins and sea-birds, such as petrels and gulls, it seemed as though the other birds had abandoned the beach for the interior in search of food.

Two or three feet of snow lay on the beach, and all that remained of the schooner had been hidden by it. The lines of seaweed on the near side of the breakers showed that Schooner Bay had not been invaded by the high tides of the equinox.

The sea was still deserted, as far as could be seen, up to the very limit of the horizon that Briant had not looked upon for three long months. And beyond, hundreds of miles away, was this New Zealand that he did not despair of seeing again.

Baxter busied himself in hoisting the new flag which he had brought with him, and nailing to the flagstaff the plate giving the position of French Den at six miles up the course of the stream. Then, about one o'clock in the afternoon, they started homewards.

On the way Donagan shot a brace of pintail and lapwing which were skimming over the river; and towards four o'clock, as dusk was coming on, they reached the cave. Gordon was told of all that had passed, and agreed that the seals should be attacked as soon as the weather permitted.

In fact, the winter was nearly over. During the last week of August and the first week of September, the sea-breeze blew. A series of squalls brought on a