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.
