For four days the storm had raged as they clung to the mast of their raft for safety
Finally, with their raft wrecked after
Being bashed against the reefs, they lay sheltered from the
Pouring rain beneath a few overhanging rocks where they ate and slept
The next day all trace of the storm had disappeared and
What remained of their stock seemed intact. Checking the compass
Brought only heartbreak as it showed that a chance of wind during the storm had returned them to just a few miles north of Port Grauben
So, deciding to try and find the original route they
Advanced with difficulty over granite fragments mingled with Flint, quartz, and alluvial deposits, eventually reaching a plain Covered with bones. like a huge cemetery
A mile further on, they reached the edge of a huge forest made up of vegetation of the Tertiary period
Tall palms were linked by a network of inextricable creepers, a carpet of moss covering the ground and the leaves were colourless, everything having a brownish hue
Exploring the forest they discovered a heard of gigantic animals
Mastadons, which were being marshalled by a primitive human being, a Proteus
He stood over twelve foot high and brandished an
Enormous bough, a crook worthy of this antediluvian shepherd