Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 6.djvu/342

 dently nothing to fear, either from convicts or wild beasts, two varieties of the animal kingdom, whose ferocious instincts placed them on the same level. On the evening of the first day the colonists encamped about nine miles from Granite House, on the border of a little stream falling into the Mercy, and of the existence of which they had till then been ignorant; it evidently, however, belonged to the hydrographical system to which the soil owed its astonishing fertility. The settlers made a hearty meal, for their appetites were sharpened, and measures were then taken that the night be passed in safety. If the engineer had had only to deal with wild beasts, jaguars or others, he would have simply lighted fires all round his camp, which would have sufficed for its defence; but the convicts would be rather attracted than terrified by the flames, and it was, therefore, better to be surrounded by the profound darkness of night.

The watch was, however, carefully organized. Two of the settlers were to watch together, and every two hours it was agreed that they should be relieved by their comrades. Notwithstanding his wish to the contrary, Herbert was exempted from guard. Pencroft and Gideon Spilett in one party, the engineer and Neb in another, watched in turns over the camp.

The night was short. The darkness was due rather to the thickness of the foliage than to the disappearance of the sun. The silence was disturbed only by the howling of jaguars and the chattering of the monkeys, the latter appearing to particularly irritate master Jup. The next day, the 15th of February, the journey through the forest, rather tedious than difficult, was continued.

Like true settlers, the colonists spared the largest and most beautiful trees, which would besides have cost immense labor to fell, but the result was that the road took a very winding direction, lengthened by numerous détours. During the day Herbert discovered several new specimens not before met with in the island, such as the tree-fern with its leaves spread out like a fountain, locust-trees, on the long pods of which the onagers browsed greedily, and which supplied a sweet pulp of excellent flavor.

As to the traces left by the convicts, a few more were discovered. Some footprints found near an apparently recently-extinguished fire were attentively examined by