It was not the engineer who had invented this way of causing loud explosions, for, according to Marco Polo, the Tartars have employed it for many centuries to drive away from their encampments the formidable wild beasts of Central Asia. CHAPTER V Proposal to return by the Southern Shore -- Configuration of the Coast -- Searching for the supposed Wreck -- A Wreck in the Air -- Discovery of a small Natural Port -- At Midnight on the Banks of the Mercy -- The Canoe Adrift. Cyrus Harding and his companions slept like innocent marmots in the cave which the jaguar had so politely left at their disposal. At sunrise all were on the shore at the extremity of the promontory, and their gaze was directed towards the horizon, of which two-thirds of the circumference were visible. For the last time