The Wreck of the South Pole and Other Strange Tales — page 29: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

22 The Wreck of the South Pole. % gently downward to a great, level plain, filled with lux- uriant vegetation, and in the center of which stood as fair a city as ever I set eyes upon. This mountain range ap- peared circular in shape, surrounding the plain on all sides, except that far to the south there appeared on the horizon what looked like the ocean. Noticing my expression of wonder, she explained: “You are looking down into the land which surrounds the south pole, and which contains the oldest nation on the face of the earth. So old is it that all of art and science which man has ever been able to think out is there treas- ured. And it is as you suspect, surrounded by a wall of mountains, and then of eternal ice. And the water which you see in the distance is really a great inland sea, salt as the ocean, although seemingly entirely cut off from it. Yet it is not cut off. There is a small outlet, that is, small compared with the great ocean outside, where the water passes in and out underneath a glacier which towers miles high and from which are continually dropping the giant icebergs which float in the southern seas.”’ “Winnie, Winnie,” I repeated half to myself, as we stood looking down upon the fair valley below. “What a pretty name. But it is so English that I am surprised. Are some of the inhabitants of this country of yours de- scended from the English?” “Oh, no,” she replied, looking at me with her gray eyes in a way which made my heart beat faster. “You will find all nationalities represented here in names, for, as I told you, we combine all of art and learning of all ages of the GOmMmIicbooks (Eo)