sea with themselves was a great whale,
which was probably here simply because he could not get out, had a
depressing effect upon the minds of the party on the Dipsey. There was
perhaps no real reason why they should fear the fate of the great fish,
but, after all, this subject was one which should be very seriously
considered. The latter part of their passage under the ice had been very
hazardous. Had they struck a sharp rock below them, or had they been
pierced by a jagged mass of ice above them, there probably would have
been a speedy end of the expedition; and now, having come safely out of
that dangerous shallow water, they shrank from going into it again.

It was the general opinion that if they would sail a considerable
distance to the eastward they could not fail to find a deep channel by
which the waters of this sea communicated with Baffin's Bay; but in this
case they would be obliged to leave the line of longitude by which they
had safely travelled from Cape Tariff to the pole and seek another route
southward, along some other line, which would end their journey they
knew not where.

"I am cold," said Sarah Block. "At first I got along all right, with
all these furs, and goin' down-stairs every time I felt chilly, but the
freezin' air is beginnin' to go into my very bones like needles; and if
winter is comin' on, and it's goin' to be worse than this, New Jersey
is the place for me. But there's one thing that chills my blood clammier
than even the cold weather, and that is the thought of that whale
follerin' us. If we get down into those shaller places under the ice an'
he takes it into his head to come along, he'll be worse than a bull in
a china-shop. I don't mean to say that I think he'll want to do us any
harm, for he has never shown any sign of such a feelin', but if he takes
to bouncin' and thrashin' when he scratches himself on any rocks, it'll
be a bad box for us to be in."

None of the others shared these special fears of Mrs. Block, but they
were all as much disinclined as she was to begin another submarine
voyage in the shallow waters which they had been so glad to leave.

It was believed, from the general contour of the surrounding region,
that if the ice were all melted away it would be seen that a cape
projected from the American continent eastward at the point where they
had entered the polar sea, and that it was in crossing the submerged
continuation of this cape that they had found the shall