of the extent, of the catastrophe which has transformed this part of Africa
into an island?"

"Nothing more than you know yourself."

"But surely, Count Timascheff, you can inform me whether upon
the northern shore of the Mediterranean--"

"Are you certain that this is the Mediterranean?"
asked the count significantly, and added, "I have discovered
no sign of land."

The captain stared in silent bewilderment. For some moments
he seemed perfectly stupefied; then, recovering himself, he began
to overwhelm the count with a torrent of questions. Had he noticed,
ever since the 1st of January, that the sun had risen in the west?
Had he noticed that the days had been only six hours long,
and that the weight of the atmosphere was so much diminished?
Had he observed that the moon had quite disappeared, and that
the earth had been in imminent hazard of running foul of the
planet Venus? Was he aware, in short, that the entire motions
of the terrestrial sphere had undergone a complete modification?
To all these inquiries, the count responded in the affirmative.
He was acquainted with everything that had transpired; but, to Servadac's
increasing astonishment, he could throw no light upon the cause
of any of the phenomena.

"On the night of the 31st of December," he said, "I was proceeding
by sea to our appointed place of meeting, when my yacht was suddenly
caught on the crest of an enormous wave, and carried to a height