Jules Verne

“ The cave in which Mr. Wolston, Ernest, and Jack had spent the night four months before, on the day before the English flag was planted at the summit of Jean Zermatt peak, was that evening full of happiness. If no one enjoyed a tranquil sleep, sleeplessness was not due to bad dreams but to the excitement of the recent happenings. ”

“ Such is the complete history of this island from the day when a storm cast a father, mother and four children upon it. For twelve years that brave and intelligent family worked without ceasing, and set in operation all the energy of a virgin soil, which was rendered fruitful by the magic climate of the tropic regions. And so their prosperity had never ceased to grow nor their welfare to be increased, until the day when the arrival of the Unicorn enabled them to establish relations with the rest of the world. ”

“ There was nothing to fear on this lonely shore, neither savages nor wild beasts. It was unlikely that these gloomy and depressing wastes had ever been visited by man before. The stillness was only broken by the harsh and melancholy cry of the sea-birds as they came home to their crannies in the cliff. The breeze died gradually away, and not a breath of air stirred till the rising of the sun.
The men were out at daybreak. First of all John Block went down the beach along the promontory and made for the boat. It was still floating but would soon be left high and dry by the ebb tide. ”

“ Jenny answered. “A man of your courage, your energy, will not give way to despair, Fritz.”
“Let me finish, Jenny! One day the Unicorn arrived, over there, off New Switzerland. She went away again, and took us to Europe. From that moment misfortune has never ceased to strike you. Colonel Montrose died before he could see his child——”
“Poor father!” said Jenny, her eyes wet. “Yes, that happiness was withheld from him—of clasping me in his arms, and rewarding my rescuer by placing my hand in his. But God willed otherwise, and we must submit.” ”

“ A cart road—and how often already had it been rolled by the waggon which the buffaloes and the onager drew!—ran between the cultivated fields, now in their full vegetation, and the woods in their full verdure. The sight of all this prosperity gladdened the eye. Captain Gould and the boatswain, and James and Susan Wolston, who saw this district for the first time, were amazed. Most certainly might colonists come here; it could support hundreds, the island as a whole could thousands! ”