Off on a Comet

me under his observation, and he would have faced a cannon ball the more unflinchingly from understanding the dynamic force by which it was propelled. Such being his t

him. Then, after a pause, he added: “That is to say, if there is to be a to-morrow;

at we are to do now

appear — we will explore the coast to the west and south, and return to the go

sir, may we

f you like, a

what the catastrophe could portend. Had the towns of Algiers, Oran, and Mostaganem escaped the inundation? Could he bring himself to believe that all the inhabitants, his friends, and comrades had perished; or was it not more probable that the Mediterranean had merely invaded the region of the mouth of the Shelif? But this supposition did not in the least explain the other physical

ding, for he had become distrustful of the fut

t to him that, in consequence of the heavy clouds, not a star was visible in the firmament. To have ascertained that the pole-star had become displaced would ha

e as the sun. What, then, was the captain’s bewilderment when, after he had been walking for about an hour

he added: “But no, that cannot be the moon; unless she had shifted very

ptain. “It cannot be the sun, for the sun set in the east only an hour and a half ago. Would that those clouds would disclose what enormous luminary lies behind t

ntly of gigantic dimensions, shed its rays upon the upper strata of the clouds; then, marvelous to relate, instead of obeying the ordin

ensible. The simplest mechanical rules seemed falsified; the planets had defied the laws of gravitation; the motions of the celestial spheres were er

ts appearance in the west, and day once more had dawned. On consulting his watch, Servadac found that night had last

dac, shaking him by the sho

of, rubbing his eyes. “I feel as

replied the captain; “it has only been fo

e, sir,” was the s

ke the shortest way back to the gourbi, an

they ought to be groom

Mostaganem, we must go eastwards to Tenes.” And forthwith they started. Beginning to feel hungry, they had no hesitation in gathering figs, dates, and oranges from t

they had left it, and it was evident that no one had visited the place

d precisely the same effect upon their horses as it had had upon themselves. Their muscular strength seemed five times as great as hitherto; their hoofs scarcely touched the ground, and they seemed transformed from ordinary quadrupeds into veritable hippogriffs. Happily, Servadac and his orderly were fearless riders; they made no attempt to curb their steeds, but even urged them to still greater exertions. Twenty minutes sufficed to carry them over the four or five miles that intervened between the gourbi and the mouth of the Shelif; then, slackening their speed, they proceeded at a more leisurely pace t

d in a slight bend of the shore, at a point which on the previous evening had faced the mouth of the Mina, one of the left-hand affluents of the Shelif, but now absorbed into the newly revealed ocean. Ben Zoof made

two miles. The right bank of the river still continued to be the margin of the land, and only in one spot had its integrity been impaired. This was about twelve miles from the Mina, and on the site of the annex or suburb of Surkelmittoo. Here a large port

from where they might have expected to find the important village of Memounturroy; but of this, too, there was now no trace. “I had qu

gone by a boat. But cheer up, sir, cheer up; we will s

are on a peninsula, we are more likely to g

rselves,” answered Ben Zoof, as he th

tion, turned abruptly to the north, being no longer formed by the natural bank of the Shelif, but consisting of an absolutely new coast-line. No land was in sight. Nothing could be seen of Orleansvi

nk, had considerably altered its aspect. Frequent landslips occurred, and in many places deep chasms rifted the ground; great gaps furrowed the fields, and tr

ough they had accomplished more than twenty miles, they had only just arrived at the foot of the Merdeyah Mountains, which, before the cataclysm, had

eded on foot to the summit of one of the highest peaks. From this elevation they ascertained that from the base of the Merdeyah to the Mediterranean, a distance of about eighteen miles, a new coast line had come into existence; no land was visible in any direction; no isthmus existed to f

oportions: The section of the right bank of the Shelif, seventy-two miles; the southern boundary from the Shelif to the chain of the Little Atlas, twenty-one miles; from

imed the captain, every hour g

he mountain and remounted their horses. Before evening they had reached the Mediterranean. On their road they failed to discern a vestige of

n, which they found less altered than the captain had at first supposed; but four villages had entirely disap

of their gourbi. Five days, or what, according to the established order of things, would have been two days and a half, had been occupied in tra

General of Algeria!” exclaimed Be

govern,” gloomily

o you not

n Zoof, wh

Why, I am th

ssions of regret for the fruitless trouble he had taken