d
to the instrument.

I examined it eagerly according to his mute directions, and a loud cry
of surprise escaped my lips. The needle of the compass pointed due
north--in the direction we expected was the south!

It pointed to the shore instead of to the high seas.

I shook the compass; I examined it with a curious and anxious eye. It
was in a state of perfection. No blemish in any way explained the
phenomenon. Whatever position we forced the needle into, it returned
invariably to the same unexpected point.

It was useless attempting to conceal from ourselves the fatal truth.

There could be no doubt about it, unwelcome as was the fact, that during
the tempest, there had been a sudden slant of wind, of which we had been
unable to take any account, and thus the raft had carried us back to the
shores we had left, apparently forever, so many days before!

CHAPTER 34

A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

It would be altogether impossible for me to give any idea of the utter
astonishment which overcame the Professor on making this extraordinary
discovery. Amazement, incredulity, and rage were blended in such a way
as to alarm me.

During the whole course of my Life I had never seen a man at first so
chapfallen; and then so furiously indignant.

The terrible fatigues of our sea voyage, the fearful dangers we had
passed through, had all, all, gone for nothing. We had to begin them all
over again.

Instead of progressing, as we fondly expected, during a voyage of so
many days, we had retreated. Every hour of our expedition on the raft
had been so much lost time!

Presently, however, the indomitable energy of my uncle overcame every
other consideration.

"So," he said, between his set teeth, "fatality will play me these
terrible tricks. The elements themselves conspire to overwhelm me with
mortification. Air, fire, and water combine their united efforts to
oppose my passage. Well, they shall see what the earnest will of a
determined man can do. I will not yield, I will not retreat even one
inch; and we shall see who shall triumph in this great contest--man or
nature."

Standing upright on a rock, irritated and menacing, Professor Hardwigg,
like the ferocious Ajax, seemed to defy the fates. I, however, took upon
myself to interfere, and to impose some sort of check upon such
insensate enthusiasm.

"Listen to me, Uncle," I said, in a firm but temperate tone of voice,
"there must be some limit to ambition here below.