ore nor less than a pedestrian excursion to the
far distant table-land which they had first sighted from the sea. They
estimated that this goal of their journey, upon which they expected to
find the actual site of the Northern Pole of the earth, must be about
sixty miles distant from the ship; and they considered that the trip
there and back would occupy them about six days. It would of course
have been very much easier, and more convenient in every way, to have
made the journey on board the _Flying Fish_; but the professor was busy
with the preparation of his mammoth, the skin of which he had carefully
stretched and pegged out on the ground alongside the ship, and was so
averse to the losing sight of it, even for a few hours, that it was soon
decided the _Flying Fish_ must not be moved for the present. After all,
the journey would probably not involve any very great amount of
hardship; it simply meant camping out for five or six nights, or at
least those hours of the twenty-four which did duty for night. And this
the two seasoned hunters looked forward to as rather a pleasant change
than otherwise.

The necessary preparations were all made on the previous evening, and
after breakfast on the appointed day the two adventurers set out, taking
leave of Mildmay--who was already out of bed again--and of the
professor, who, to tell the truth, was heartily glad to be left to the
uninterrupted prosecution of his task.

They were in light marching order, having resolved to carry nothing
which they could possibly do without; their previous experience of the
country had taught them that game was pretty plentiful, and that they
might safely depend upon their guns for the supply of their larder; and
their stock of provisions consisted solely, therefore, of a few biscuits
and a substantial flask of brandy each. The temperature was decidedly
mild, and had been so ever since their arrival at "Elphinstone Land,"
with settled fine weather, and they therefore carried nothing in the
shape of extra clothing save a light macintosh each, which they bore
securely strapped on the top of their knapsacks. The remainder of their
_impedimenta_ consisted of a double-barrelled gun for each man--one
barrel being rifled and the other a smooth bore--two cartridge belts,
one for the waist and the other for the shoulder, fully stocked; a
formidable double-edged hunting knife each; a capacious waterproof bag
containing a reserve supply of cartridges