Read Online The Castaways of the Flag by Jules Verne - Free Book Online Page A

extended for a
stretch of perhaps a mile, enclosed at each end by lofty bastions of rock,
while a black cliff completely shut it in behind.
     
                This cliff
must have been eight or nine hundred feet in height, rising sheer from the
beach, which sloped steeply up to its base. Was it higher still beyond? That
could only be ascertained by scaling the crest by means of the bastions, one of
which, the one to the east, running rather farther out to sea, presented an
outline that was not so perpendicular. Even on that side, however, the ascent
would be an uncommonly difficult one, if indeed it were not impracticable.
     
                Captain Gould
and his companions were first conscious of a feeling of utter discouragement as
they beheld the wild desolation of this carpet of sand, with points of rock
jutting out here and there. Not a tree, not a bush, not a trace of vegetation!
Here were the melancholy and horror of the desert. The only verdure was that of
scanty lichens, those rudimentary productions of nature, rootless, stalkless,
leafless, flowerless, looking like scabby patches on the sides of the rocks,
and of every tint from faded yellow to brilliant red. In some places, too,
there was a kind of sticky mildew caused by the damp. At the edge of the cliff
there was not a blade of grass; on its granite wall there was not a single one
of those stone-crops or rock plants which need so very little soil.
     
                Was it to be
deduced that soil was lacking on the plateau above as well? Had the boat found
nothing better than one of those desert islands undeserving of a name?
     
                "It
certainly isn't what you might call a gay place," the boatswain murmured
in Fritz's ear.
     
                "Perhaps
we should have had better luck if we had come ashore on the west or east."
     
                "Perhaps,"
Block assented; "but at any rate we shall not run up against any savages
here."
     
                For it was
obvious that not even a savage could have existed on this barren shore.
     
                Jenny, Frank,
Dolly, James, and Susan sat in the boat, surveying the whole coast, so
different from the verdant shores of the Promised Land. Even Burning Rock,
gloomy of aspect as it was, had had its natural products to offer to Jenny
Montrose, the fresh water of its stream and the game in its woods and plains.
Here was nothing but stones and sand, a bank of shells on the left, and long
trails of sea-weeds left high and dry by the tide. Verily, a land of
desolation!
     
                The animal
kingdom was represented by a few sea-birds, gulls, black-divers, sea-mews, and
swallows, which uttered deafening cries at finding their solitude disturbed by
the presence of man. Higher up, great frigate-birds, halcyons and albatrosses
sailed on powerful wings.
     
                "Well,"
said the boatswain at last, "even if this shore is not so good as yours in
New Switzerland, that's no reason for not landing on it."
     
                "Then
let us land," Fritz answered. "I hope we shall find somewhere to
shelter at the foot of the cliff."
     
                "Yes,
let us land," said Jenny.
     
                "Dear
wife," said Fritz, "I advise you to remain here in the boat, with
Mrs. Wolston and Dolly, while we make our trip. There is no sign of danger, and
you have nothing to be afraid of."
     
                "Besides,"
the boatswain added, "we most likely shan't go out of sight."
     
                Fritz jumped
on to the sand, followed by the others, while Dolly called out cheerfully:
     
                "Try to
bring us back something for dinner, Frank! We are relying upon you."
     
                "We must
rely upon you rather, Dolly,"
     
                Frank
replied. "Put out some lines at the foot of those rocks."
     
                "We