her last quarter. She had taken only four days to pass from syzygy to
quadrature, and it was consequently evident that she would be visible
for little more than a week at a time, and that her lunation would be
accomplished within sixteen days. The lunar months, like the solar
days, had been diminished by one-half. Three days later the moon was in
conjunction with the sun, and was consequently lost to view; Ben Zoof,
as the first observer of the satellite, was extremely interested in its
movements, and wondered whether it would ever reappear.

On the 26th, under an atmosphere perfectly clear and dry, the
thermometer fell to 12 degrees F. below zero. Of the present distance of
Gallia from the sun, and the number of leagues she had traversed since
the receipt of the last mysterious document, there were no means of
judging; the extent of diminution in the apparent disc of the sun did
not afford sufficient basis even for an approximate calculation; and
Captain Servadac was perpetually regretting that they could receive no
further tidings from the anonymous correspondent, whom he persisted in
regarding as a fellow-countryman.

The solidity of the ice was perfect; the utter stillness of the air at
the time when the final congelation of the waters had taken place had
resulted in the formation of a surface that for smoothness would rival
a skating-rink; without a crack or flaw it extended far beyond the range
of vision.

The contrast to the ordinary aspect of polar seas was very remarkable.
There, the ice-fields are an agglomeration of hummocks and icebergs,
massed in wild confusion, often towering higher than the masts of the
largest whalers, and from the instability of their foundations liable
to an instantaneous loss of equilibrium; a breath of wind, a slight
modification of the temperature, not unfrequently serving to bring about
a series of changes outrivaling the most elaborate transformation scenes
of a pantomime. Here, on the contrary, the vast white plain was level as
the desert of Sahara or the Russian steppes; the waters of the Gallian
Sea were imprisoned beneath the solid sheet, which became continually
stouter in the increasing cold.

Accustomed to the uneven crystallizations of their own frozen seas, the
Russians could not be otherwise than delighted with the polished
surface that afforded them such excellent opportunity for enjoying
their favorite pastime of skating. A supply of skates, found hidden
away amon