For many months his reckoning has been interrupted; to determine the date is impossible; he knows only the day of the week.
When the wave had entirely raised his barque, aiding himself with one of the long oars to propel it over the rocky bottom, he gained the sea.

Then, after having adjusted his sail, with his hand on the helm, he turned towards his island to address to it an adieu, laden with maledictions rather than regrets.
Swelled by a south-east wind, the sail pursues its course towards that other land, the object of his new desires.

At the expiration of some hours, by the aid of his glass, what from the summit of his mountains had appeared to him only a dark point, a rock beaten by the waves, seems already enlarged, allowing him to see high hills covered with verdure.

He has not then deceived himself! There exists a habitable land,--habitable for two! It has served as a refuge to the shipwrecked man, to his friend! Ah! how impatient he is to reach this shore where he is to meet him! Several hours more of a slow but peaceful navigation roll away.

He has arrived at a distance almost midway between the point of departure and that of arrival.