Jules Verne

Off on a Comet! Jules Verne

The scene, as here depicted, took place upon the extremity of a little cape on the Algeriancoast, between Mostaganem and Tenes, about two miles from the mouth of the Shelif. Theheadland rose more than sixty feet above the sea-level, and the azure waters of theMediterranean, as they softly kissed the strand, were tinged with the reddish hue of theferriferous rocks that formed its base. It was the 31st of December. The noontide sun, which usually illuminated the various projections of the coast with a dazzling brightness, was hidden by a dense mass of cloud, and the fog, which for some unaccountable cause, hadhung for the last two months over nearly every region in the world, causing serious6interruption to traffic between continent and continent, spread its dreary veil across landand se