In Search of the Castaways Book Two Chapter IV - A Wager and how decided

In which the Duncan sets forth from Amsterdam Island toward Australia, bearing a company eager to unravel the mysterious fate of the Britannia and its captain, while the learned Paganel offers a scholarly and amusing discourse on the geography and history of the vast and little-known Australian continent. Amidst conjectures and wagers, the party contemplates the perilous regions where Captain Grant may have found refuge or captivity, their spirits lifted by hope and the charm of scholarly camaraderie.