“Nat! Nat! Come out here—quick!”
Nat lost no time in obeying. As he joined Joe the latter excitedly pointed ahead of the Discoverer’s bow.
“Look at those birds, Nat; they are the largest I have ever seen. I wonder what they can be?”
The birds referred to were flying and wheeling in great circles above a ravine some distance off, but far off as they were, it was easy to see that they were of immense size.
“They are bigger than the biggest turkey buzzard I ever saw in California,” said Nat, gazing at them. “Let’s have a look through the field glasses.”
He took the instruments out of their box near the helmsman’s wheel and applied them to his eyes.
“Why, they look like small aeroplanes!” he exclaimed in astonishment. “Their wing spread must be ten or twelve feet, judging from here.”
“How many of them are there, anyhow?” demanded Joe.
“Easily fifty, I should say. Maybe more. It would be impossible to count them accurately.”
“They are right on our course,” said Joe, glancing at the compass, “so that we shall soon have a close view of them.”