he course pursued. Its inclination was such that at one time
Robur felt certain they were passing over the magnetic pole
discovered by Sir James Ross. And an hour later, in calculating the
angle the needle made with the vertical, he exclaimed: "the South
Pole is beneath us!"

A white cap appeared, but nothing could be seen of what it bid under
its ice.

A few minutes afterwards the aurora died away, and the point where
all the world's meridians cross is still to be discovered.

If Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans wished to bury in the most mysterious
solitudes the aeronef and all she bore, the moment was propitious. If
they did not do so it was doubtless because the explosive they
required was still denied to them.

The hurricane still raged and swept along with such rapidity that had
a mountain been met with the aeronef would have been dashed to pieces
like a ship on a lee shore. Not only had the power gone to steer her
horizontally, but the control of her elevation had also vanished.

And it was not unlikely that mountains did exist in these antarctic
lands. Any instant a shock might happen which would destroy the
"Albatross." Such a catastrophe became more probable as the wind
shifted more to the east after they passed the prime meridian. Two
luminous points then showed themselves ahead of the "Albatross."
There were the two volcanos of the Ross Mountains--Erebus and
Terror. Was the "Albatross" to be shriveled up in their flames like a
gigantic butterfly?

An hour of intense excitement followed. One of the volcanoes, Erebus,
seemed to be rushing at the aeronef, which could not move from the
bed of the hurricane. The cloud of flame grew as they neared it. A
network of fire barred their road. A brilliant light shone round over
all. The figures on board stood out in the bright light as if come
from another world. Motionless, without a sound or a gesture, they
waited for the terrible moment when the furnace would wrap them in
its fires.

But the storm that bore the "Albatross" saved them from such a
fearful fate. The flames of Erebus were blown down by the hurricane
as it passed, and the "Albatross" flew over unhurt. She swept through
a hail of ejected material, which was fortunately kept at bay by the
centrifugal action of the suspensory screws. And she harmlessly
passed over the crater while it was in full eruption.

An hour afterwards the horizon hid from their view the two colossal
torches which light the conf