CHAPTER XIX — TORRES STRAITS

TORRES STRAITS During the night of the 27th or 28th of December, the _Nautilus_ left the shores of Vanikoro with great speed. Her course was south-westerly, and in three days she had gone over the 750 leagues that separated it from La Perouse’s group and the south-east point of Papua. Early on the 1st of January, 1863, Conseil joined me on the platform. “Master, will you permit me to wish you a happy New Year?” “What! Conseil; exactly as if I was at Paris in my study at the Jardin des Plantes? Well, I accept your g…