not find so
indifferent a representative as we at present imagine."

CHAPTER XIX. GALLIA'S GOVERNOR GENERAL

The Spaniards who had arrived on board the _Hansa_ consisted of nine men
and a lad of twelve years of age, named Pablo. They all received Captain
Servadac, whom Ben Zoof introduced as the governor general, with due
respect, and returned quickly to their separate tasks. The captain and
his friends, followed at some distance by the eager Jew, soon left the
glade and directed their steps towards the coast where the _Hansa_ was
moored.

As they went they discussed their situation. As far as they had
ascertained, except Gourbi Island, the sole surviving fragments of the
Old World were four small islands: the bit of Gibraltar occupied by the
Englishmen; Ceuta, which had just been left by the Spaniards; Madalena,
where they had picked up the little Italian girl; and the site of
the tomb of Saint Louis on the coast of Tunis. Around these there was
stretched out the full extent of the Gallian Sea, which apparently
comprised about one-half of the Mediterranean, the whole being
encompassed by a barrier like a framework of precipitous cliffs, of an
origin and a substance alike unknown.

Of all these spots only two were known to be inhabited: Gibraltar, where
the thirteen Englishmen were amply provisioned for some years to come,
and their own Gourbi Island. Here there was a population of twenty-two,
who would all have to subsist upon the natural products of the soil.
It was indeed not to be forgotten that, perchance, upon some remote and
undiscovered isle there might be the solitary writer of the mysterious
papers which they had found, and if so, that would raise the census of
their new asteroid to an aggregate of thirty-six.

Even upon the supposition that at some future date the whole population
should be compelled to unite and find a residence upon Gourbi Island,
there did not appear any reason to question but that eight hundred
acres of rich soil, under good management, would yield them all an ample
sustenance. The only critical matter was how long the cold season would
last; every hope depended upon the land again becoming productive; at
present, it seemed impossible to determine, even if Gallia's orbit
were really elliptic, when she would reach her aphelion, and it was
consequently necessary that the Gallians for the time being should
reckon on nothing beyond their actual and present resources.

These reso