“Because that, in the event of his being sure of being delivered at a certain time, he would have waited the hour of his deliverance and would not have thrown this document into the sea. No, it is more probable that he was condemned to die on that islet, and that he never expected to see his fellow-creatures again!” “But,” observed the sailor, “there is one thing which I cannot explain.” “What is it?” “If this man had been left for twelve years on Tabor Island, one may well suppose that he had been several years already in the wild state in which we found him!” “That is probable,” replied Cyrus Harding. “It must then be many years since he wrote that document!” “No doubt,” and yet the document appears to have been recently written! “Besides, how do you know that the bottle which enclosed the document may not have taken several years to come from Tabor Island to Lincoln Island?” “That is not absolutely impossible,” replied the reporter. “Might it not have been a long time already on the coast of the island?” “No,” answered Pencroft, “for it was still floating. We could not even suppose that after it had stayed for any length of time on the shore, it would have been swept off by the sea, for the south coast is all rocks, and it would certainly have been smashed to pieces there!” “That is true,” rejoined Cyrus Harding thoughtfully. “And then,” continued the sailor, “if the document was several years old, if it had been shut up in that bottle for several years, it would have been injured by damp. Now, there is nothing of the kind, and it was found in a perfect state of preservation.” The sailor’s reasoning was very just, and pointed out an incomprehensible fact, for the document appeared to have been recently written, when the colonists found it in the bottle. Moreover, it gave the latitude and longitude of Tabor Island correctly, which implied that its author had a more complete knowledge of hydrography than could be expected of a common sailor. “There is in this, again, something unaccountable,” said the engineer, “but we will not urge our companion to speak. When he likes, my friends, then we shall be ready to hear him!”