not afraid to
venture into the midst of these flotillas of drifts and packs. That
day he said to me,--

"Mr. Jeorling; this is not the first time that I have tried to
penetrate into the Polar Sea, and without success. Well, if I made
the attempt to do this when I had nothing but presumption as to the
fate of the _Jane_ to go upon, what shall I not do now that
presumption is changed into certainty?"

"I understand that, captain, and of course your experience of
navigation in these waters must increase our chances of success."

"Undoubtedly. Nevertheless, all that lies beyond the fixed
icebergs is still the unknown for me, as it is for other
navigators."

"The Unknown! No, not absolutely, captain, since we possess the
important reports of Weddell, and, I must add, of Arthur Pym also."

"Yes, I know; they have spoken of the open sea."

"Do you not believe that such a sea exists?"

"Yes, I do believe that it exists, and for valid reasons. In fact,
it is perfectly manifest that these masses, called icebergs and
icefields, could not be formed in the ocean itself. It is the
tremendous and irresistible action of the surge which detaches them
from the continents or islands of the high latitudes. Then the
currents carry them into less cold waters, where their edges are
worn by the waves, while the temperature disintegrates their bases
and their sides, which are subjected to thermometric influences."

"That seems very plain," I replied. "Then these masses have
come from the icebergs. (1) They clash with them in drifting,
sometimes break into the main body, and clear their passage through.
Again, we must not judge the southern by the northern zone. The
conditions are not identical. Cook has recorded that he never met
the equivalent of the Antarctic ice mountains in the Greenland seas,
even at a higher latitude."

"What is the reason?" I asked.

"No doubt that the influence of the south winds is predominant in
the northern regions. Now, those winds do not reach the northern
regions until they have been heated in their passage over America,
Asia, and Europe, and they contribute to raise the temperature of
the atmosphere. The nearest land, ending in the points of the Cape
of Good Hope, Patagonia, and Tasmania, does not modify the
atmospheric currents."

"That is an important observation, captain, and it justifies your
opinion with regard to an open sea."

"Yes, open--at least, for ten degrees behind the icebergs. Let