CHAPTER XV.
WINTER SETS IN—THE METALLUGRIC QUESTION—THE EXPLORATION OF SAFETY ISLAND—A SEAL HUNT—CAPTURE OF AN ECHIDNA—THE AI—THE CATALONIAN METHOD—MAKING IRON AND STEEL.
The first words of the sailor, on the morning of the 17th of April, were:—
“Well, what are we going to do to-day?”
“Whatever Mr. Smith chooses,” answered the reporter.
The companions of the engineer, having been brickmakers and potters, were about to become metal-workers.
The previous day, after lunch, the party had explored as far as the extremity of Mandible Cape, some seven miles from the Chimneys. The extensive downs here came to an end and the soil appeared volcanic. There were no longer high walls, as at Prospect Plateau, but the narrow gulf between the two capes was enframed by a fantastic border of the miner
