The Argosy, Vol. XXV, No. 1 — page 135: what you’re looking at

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

a THE GOLD DELUGE. __ 135 ‘‘ Polar land !’’ Erik cried out lustily. ‘‘ Last evening, after sundown, we crossed the southern polar circle,’’ the captain replied, nodding to Erik, ‘‘ and now we are sailing to the day lasting half a year. The sun we can now see rising will, the nearer we approach south, appear gradually to remain still and only sink after five or six months.”’ Erik peered thoughtfully before him. Gradually, asthe eyes became ac- customed to the bright glare of the light, he noticed that the coast was sur- rounded by a belt of ice, miles in width, and that the sea was covered with countless icebergs. ‘““We must consider it a wonderful thing that we got as far as we did, without feeling the cold or noticing the icebergs,’’ the captain continued ; ‘‘we are now on the 67th degree latitude, and James Ross himself could not penetrate further than the 78th. Notwithstanding this it would be im- possible, even with a ship asstanch as the Chemeia, to break through the ice belt surrounding the land over yonder, and with every hour of our progress southward the cold will become more intense.’’ ‘Then the navigable water here is much more difficult to pass through than that in the North Pole?’ the young wife remarked inquiringly. ‘“ Yes and no,’’ the captain replied. ‘‘ Around the North Pole the sum- mer is comparatively warm and in the most favorable season any one can _ easily penetrate as far as the 80th degree of latitude and sometimes still further, but to offset this the winters there are extremely severe and rigorous, and a ship surprised in that region by the coldest season is generally lost with all on board. Herein the South polar region the temperature is about the same all the year round, therefore the winter does not present so many dangers— the drift ice is the greatest, but to reach as near the pole as up north is im- possible, at least with a ship.’’ ‘“ Qh, look,’’ the wife exclaimed ; ‘‘ there’s a whale !’’ Sure enough, far out a great dark mass could be discerned plainly cutting rapidly through the sea and now and then shooting forth mighty columns of of water, like geysers, high up into the air. ‘‘ Where are the whalers?’’ Erik asked, turning to the captain. ‘“As a rule they never come much further south than we now are,’’ was the reply, ‘‘ but considering this unusually mild weather and the remarkable absence of drift ice, it is possible that some of them have penetrated to still more southerly latitudes. If, however, we want to communicate with any of them, in my opinion it would be best not to proceed much farther. Our second mate, Junker, knows the-seas hereabouts better than I do, and I sug- gest that we get his opinion.’’ Consequently all the officers were called together in a ship’s council. Junker, who had served his time aboard a whaler, was of the positive opinion that it would not be wise in any case to proceed farther south, and that if the ship cruised about in the vicinity, a whaler would, sooner or later, be met. ‘This was also the opinion of the other officers, and the decision reached was, that the Chemeia for the time being should keep between-the 66th and 67th degrees latitude, and that’ sharp watch was to be maintained day and night towards all points of the compass. Eomicbooks (S@)