By inclining his stick to the side opposite to the sun, Cyrus Harding made the shadow longer, and consequently its modifications would be more easily ascertained.

In fact, the longer the needle of a dial is, the more easily can the movement of its point be followed.

The shadow of the stick was nothing but the needle of a dial.

The moment had come, and Cyrus Harding knelt on the sand, and with little wooden pegs, which he stuck into the sand, he began to mark the successive diminutions of the stick's shadow.

His companions, bending over him, watched the operation with extreme interest.