In the second part of "The Mysterious Island" by Jules Verne, the story continues seven months after the balloon voyagers have landed on Lincoln Island. During their time on the island, they have found no signs of human life, leading them to believe the island is completely uninhabited. However, this belief is challenged when they discover a bullet inside a dead rodent, suggesting the presence of a human who used a firearm. This unexpected finding causes astonishment among the group, particularly for Cyrus Harding, the engineer, who speculates on the implications of this discovery. The chapter ends with the realization that the bullet indicates someone has been on the island recently, raising questions about their situation and the potential existence of other inhabitants.
The Mysterious Island Part - 2
by Jules Verne 
in
English Adventure Stories
Description
It was now exactly seven months since the balloon voyagers had been thrown on Lincoln Island. During that time, notwith-standing the researches they had made, no human being had been discovered. No smoke even had betrayed the presence of man on the surface of the island. No vestiges of his handiwork showed that either at an early or at a late period had man lived there. Not only did it now appear to be uninhabited by any but themselves, but the colonists were compelled to believe that it never had been inhabited. And now, all this scaffolding of reasonings fell before a simple ball of metal, found in the body of an inoffensive rodent! In fact, this bullet must have issued from a firearm, and who but a human being could have used such a weapon?
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