CHAPTER 1

Lost or saved—Ayrton summoned—Important discussion—It is not the “Duncan”—Suspicious vessel—Precautions to be taken—The ship approaches—A cannon-shot—The brig anchors in sight of the island—Night comes on. It was now two years and a half since the castaways from the balloon had been thrown on Lincoln Island, and during that period there had been no communication between them and their fellow-creatures. Once the reporter had attempted to communicate with the inhabited world by confiding to a bird a le…