For four days Felix remained on the island recovering his strength.  By degrees the memory of the scenes he had witnessed grew less vivid, and his nerves regained their tone.  The fifth morning he sailed again, making due south with a gentle breeze from the west, which suited the canoe very well.  He considered that he was now at the eastern extremity of the Lake, and that by sailing south he should presently reach the place where the shore turned to the east again.  The sharp prow of the canoe cut swiftly through the waves, a light spray flew occasionally in his face, and the wind blew pleasantly.  In the cloudless sky swallows and swifts were wheeling, and on the water half a dozen mallards moved aside to let him pass.

About two hours after he started he encountered a mist, which came softly over the surface of the water with the wind, and in an instant shut out all view.  Even the sun was scarcely visible.  It was very warm, and left no moisture.  In five minutes he passed through and emerged again in the bright sunlight.  These dry, warm mists are frequently seen on the Lake in summer, and are believed to portend a continuance of fine weather.

Felix kept a good distance from the mainland, which was hilly and wooded, and with few islands.  Presently he observed in the extreme distance, on his right hand, a line of mountainous hills, which he supposed to be the southern shore of the Lake, and that he was sailing into a gulf or bay.  He debated with himself whether he should alter his course and work across to the mountains, or to continue to trace the shore.  Unless he did trace the shore, he could scarcely say that he had circumnavigated the Lake, as he would leave this great bay unexplored.  He continued, therefore, to sail directly south.

The wind freshened towards noon, and the canoe flew at a great pace.  Twice he passed through similar mists.  There were now no islands at all, but a line of low chalk cliffs marked the shore.  Considering that it must be deep, and safe to do so, Felix bore in closer to look at the land.  Woods ran along the hills right to the verge of the cliff, but he saw no signs of inhabitants, no smoke, boat, or house.  The sound of the surf beating on the beach was audible, though the waves were not large.  High over the cliff he noted a kite soaring, with forked tail, at a great height.

Immediately afterwards he ran into another mist or vapour, thicker, if anything, and which quite obscured his view.  It seemed like a great cloud on the surface of the water, and broader than those he had previously entered.  Suddenly the canoe stopped with a tremendous jerk, which pitched him forward on his knees, the mast cracked, and there was a noise of splitting wood.  As soon as he could get up, Felix saw, to his bitter sorrow, that the canoe had split longitudinally; the water came up through the split, and the boat was held together only by the beams of the outrigger.  He had run aground on a large sharp flint embedded in a chalk floor, which had split the poplar wood of the canoe like an axe.  The voyage was over, for the least strain would cause the canoe to part in two, and if she were washed off the ground she would be water-logged.  In half a minute the mist passed, leaving him in the bright day, shipwrecked.