Suddenly an idea struck Servadac's mind.

"The volcano!" he cried; "may it not be the volcano that we saw, whilst we were on board the _Dobryna ?_" The lieutenant agreed that it was very probable.
"Heaven be praised!" ejaculated the captain, and he went on in the tones of a keen excitement: "Nature has provided us with our winter quarters; the stream of burning lava that is flowing there is the gift of a bounteous Providence; it will provide us all the warmth we need.

No time to lose! To-morrow, my dear Procope, to-morrow we will explore it all; no doubt the life, the heat we want is reserved for us in the heart and bowels of our own Gallia!" Whilst the captain was indulging in his expressions of enthusiasm, Procope was endeavoring to collect his thoughts.

Distinctly he remembered the long promontory which had barred the _Dobryna's_ progress while coasting the southern confines of the sea, and which had obliged her to ascend northwards as far as the former latitude of Oran; he remembered also that at the extremity of the promontory there was a rocky headland crowned with smoke; and now he was convinced that he was right in identifying the position, and in believing that the smoke had given place to an eruption of flame.
When Servadac gave him a chance of speaking, he said, "The more I consider it, captain, the more I am satisfied that your conjecture is correct.

Beyond a doubt, what we see is the volcano, and to-morrow we will not fail to visit it." On returning to the gourbi, they communicated their discovery to Count Timascheff only, deeming any further publication of it to be premature.
The count at once placed his yacht at their disposal, and expressed his intention of accompanying them.
"The yacht, I think," said Procope, "had better remain where she is; the weather is beautifully calm, and the steam-launch will answer our purpose better; at any rate, it will convey us much closer to shore than the schooner." The count replied that the lieutenant was by all means to use his own discretion, and they all retired for the night.
Like many other modern pleasure-yachts, the _Dobryna_, in addition to her four-oar, was fitted with a fast-going little steam-launch, its screw being propelled, on the Oriolle system, by means of a boiler, small but very effective.