“My ‘Bonadventure’ exists no longer!” shouted Pencroft, bounding from his seat.

“No,” answered Ayrton.  “The convicts discovered her in her little harbor only eight days ago, they put to sea in her—­”

“And?” said Pencroft, his heart beating.

“And not having Bob Harvey to steer her, they ran on the rocks, and the vessel went to pieces.”

“Oh, the villains, the cutthroats, the infamous scoundrels!” exclaimed Pencroft.

“Pencroft,” said Herbert, taking the sailor’s hand, “we will build another ’Bonadventure’—­a larger one.  We have all the ironwork—­all the rigging of the brig at our disposal.”

“But do you know,” returned Pencroft, “that it will take at least five or six months to build a vessel of from thirty to forty tons?”

“We can take our time,” said the reporter, “and we must give up the voyage to Tabor Island for this year.”

“Oh, my ‘Bonadventure!’ my poor ‘Bonadventure!’” cried Pencroft, almost broken-hearted at the destruction of the vessel of which he was so proud.

The loss of the “Bonadventure” was certainly a thing to be lamented by the colonists, and it was agreed that this loss should be repaired as soon as possible.  This settled, they now occupied themselves with bringing their researches to bear on the most secret parts of the island.

The exploration was commenced at daybreak on the 19th of February, and lasted an entire week.  The base of the mountain, with its spurs and their numberless ramifications, formed a labyrinth of valleys and elevations.  It was evident that there, in the depths of these narrow gorges, perhaps even in the interior of Mount Franklin itself, was the proper place to pursue their researches.  No part of the island could have been more suitable to conceal a dwelling whose occupant wished to remain unknown.  But so irregular was the formation of the valleys that Cyrus Harding was obliged to conduct the exploration in a strictly methodical manner.

The colonists first visited the valley opening to the south of the volcano, and which first received the waters of Falls River.  There Ayrton showed them the cavern where the convicts had taken refuge, and in which he had been imprisoned until his removal to the corral.  This cavern was just as Ayrton had left it.  They found there a considerable quantity of ammunition and provisions, conveyed thither by the convicts in order to form a reserve.

The whole of the valley bordering on the cave, shaded by fir and other trees, was thoroughly explored, and on turning the point of the southwestern spur, the colonists entered a narrower gorge similar to the picturesque columns of basalt on the coast.  Here the trees were fewer.  Stones took the place of grass.  Goats and musmons gambolled among the rocks.  Here began the barren part of the island.  It could already be seen that, of the numerous valleys branching off at the base of Mount Franklin, three