erostat, which drifts
with the fluid masses in which it is plunged.

Is the domain of the southern pole a continent or an archipelago? Or
is it a palaeocrystic sea, whose ice melts not even during the long
summer? We know not. But what we do know is that the southern pole is
colder than the northern one--a phenomenon due to the position of
the earth in its orbit during winter in the antarctic regions.

During this day there was nothing to show that the storm was abating.
It was by the seventy-fifth meridian to the west that the "Albatross"
crossed into the circumpolar region. By what meridian would she come
out--if she ever came out?

As she descended more to the south the length of the day diminished.
Before long she would be plunged in that continuous night which is
illuminated only by the rays of the moon or the pale streamers of the
aurora. But the moon was then new, and the companions of Robur might
see nothing of the regions whose secret has hitherto defied human
curiosity, There was not much inconvenience on board from the cold,
for the temperature was not nearly so low as was expected.

It seemed as though the hurricane was a sort of Gulf Stream, carrying
a certain amount of heat along with it.

Great was the regret that the whole region was in such profound
obscurity. Even if the moon had been in full glory but few
observations could have been made. At this season of the year an
immense curtain of snow, an icy carapace, covers up the polar
surface. There was none of that ice "blink" to be seen, that whitish
tint of which the reflection is absent from dark horizons. Under such
circumstances, how could they distinguish the shape of the ground,
the extent of the seas, the position of the islands? How could they
recognize the hydrographic network of the country or the orographic
configuration, and distinguish the hills and mountains from the
icebergs and floes?

A little after midnight an aurora illuminated the darkness. With its
silver fringes and spangles radiating over space, it seemed like a
huge fan open over half the sky. Its farthest electric effluences
were lost in the Southern Cross, whose four bright stars were
gleaming overhead. The phenomenon was one of incomparable
magnificence, and the light showed the face of the country as a
confused mass of white.

It need not be said that they had approached so near to the pole that
the compass was constantly affected, and gave no precise indication
of t