He kicked it, and his shoe penetrated it as if it had been soft sand.

It was impossible to climb up the reef.

The ground rose inland, and curious to see around him as far as possible, he ascended the slope.
From the summit, however, he could not see farther than on the shore, for the pale yellow mist rose up round him, and hid the canoe on the strand.

The extreme desolation of the dark and barren ground repelled him; there was not a tree, bush, or living creature, not so much as a buzzing fly.

He turned to go down, and then for the first time noticed that the disk of the sun was surrounded with a faint blue rim, apparently caused by the yellow vapour.