e was some
difficulty in identifying the vague outlines which stood out like
floating vapour in the sky, disappearing and then reappearing
between the breaks of the mist.

However, we all agreed to regard this land as from twenty-five to
thirty fathoms in height, at least at its highest part.

No! we would not admit that we were the victims of a delusion, and
yet our uneasy minds feared that it might so!

Is it not natural, after all, for the heart to be assailed by a
thousand apprehensions as we near the end of any enterprise? At this
thought my mind became confused and dreamy. The _Halbrane_ seemed to
be reduced to the dimensions of a small boat lost in this boundless
space--the contrary of that limitless sea of which Edgar Poe
speaks, where, like a living body, the ship grows larger.

When we have charts, or even sailing directions instruct us
concerning the hydrography of the coasts, the nature of the
landfalls, the bays and the creeks, we may sail along boldly. In
every other region, the master of a ship must not defer the order to
cast anchor near the shore until the morrow. But, where we were,
what an amount of prudence was necessary! And yet, no manifest
obstacle was before us. Moreover, we had no cause to fear that the
light would fail us during the sunny the night. At this season the
sun did not set so soon under the western horizon, and its rays
bathed the vast Antarctic zone in unabated light.

From that day forward the ship's log recorded that the temperature
fell continuously. The thermometer in the air and in the shade did
not mark more than 32 deg. (0 deg. C.), and when plunged into water it
only indicated 26 deg. (3 deg. 33' C. below 0 deg.). What could be the
cause of this fall, since we were at the height of the southern
summer? The crew were obliged to resume their woollen clothing,
which they had left off a month previously. The schooner, however,
was sailing before the wind, and these first cold blasts were less
keenly felt. Yet we recognized the necessity of reaching our goal as
soon as possible. To linger in this region or to expose ourselves to
the danger of wintering out would be to tempt Providence!

Captain Len Guy tested the direction of the current by heavy lead
lines, and discovered that it was beginning to deviate from its
former course.

"Whether it is a continent," said he, "that lies before us, or
whether it is an island, we have at present no means of determining.
If it be a