North Pole by Captain Hatteras,
commanding the brig _Forward_ of Liverpool, who has set his name
hereto, with his companions. Whoever shall find this document is
entreated to forward it to the Admiralty.

(Signed) JOHN HATTERAS, Captain of the _Forward_.
DR. CLAWBONNY.
ALTAMONT, Captain of the _Porpoise_.
JOHNSON, Boatswain.
BELL, Carpenter."

"And now, my friends, to table!" said the doctor, gayly.

[Illustration: "Altamont soon found a grotto in the rocks."]

CHAPTER XXIV.
POLAR COSMOGRAPHY.

Of course, to eat at table, they were obliged to sit on the ground.

"But," said Clawbonny, "who wouldn't give all the tables and
dining-rooms in the world, to dine in north latitude 89 degrees 59
minutes 15 seconds?"

The thoughts of each one were about their situation. They had no other
idea than the North Pole. The dangers they had undergone to reach it,
those to overcome before returning, were forgotten in their
unprecedented success. What neither Europeans, Americans, nor Asiatics
had been able to do, they had accomplished. Hence they were all ready
to listen to the doctor when he told them all that his inexhaustible
memory could recall about their position. It was with real enthusiasm
that he first proposed their captain's health.

[Illustration: "They were all ready to listen to the doctor."]

"To John Hatteras!" he said.

"To John Hatteras!" repeated the others.

"To the North Pole!" answered the captain, with a warmth that was
unusual in this man who was usually so self-restrained, but who now
was in a state of great nervous excitement. They touched glasses, and
the toasts were followed by earnest hand-shakings.

"It is," said the doctor, "the most important geographical fact of our
day! Who would have thought that this discovery would precede that of
the centre of Africa or Australia? Really, Hatteras, you are greater
than Livingstone, Burton, and Barth! All honor to you!"

"You are right, Doctor," said Altamont; "it would seem, from the
difficulty of the undertaking, that the Pole would be the last place
discovered. Whenever the government was absolutely determined to know
the middle of Africa, it would have succeeded at the cost of so many
men and so much money; but here nothing is less certain than success,
and there might be obstacles really insuperable."

"Insuperable!" cried Hatteras with warmth; "there are no insuperable
obstacles;