ould not be as
free from ice as it often is in summer in latitude 66 degrees, that is
to say, at the southern end of Baffin's Bay?"

"Well put," answered Johnson; "Dr. Clawbonny talks of those things
like a man who understands them."

"It seems possible," said James Wall.

"Mere conjectures! nothing but hypotheses!" answered Shandon,
obstinately.

"Well, Shandon," said Hatteras, "let us consider the two cases; either
the sea is free from ice, or it is not, and in neither case will it be
impossible to reach the Pole. If it is free, the _Forward_ will take
us there without difficulty; if it is frozen, we must try to reach it
over the ice by our sledges. You will confess that it is not
impracticable; having once come with our brig to latitude 83 degrees,
we shall have only about six hundred miles between us and the Pole."

"And what are six hundred miles," said the doctor, briskly, "when it
is proved that a Cossack, Alexis Markoff, went along the frozen sea,
north of Russia, on sledges drawn by dogs, for a distance of eight
hundred miles, in twenty-four days?"

"You hear him, Shandon," answered Hatteras, "and will you say that an
Englishman cannot do as much as a Cossack?"

"Never!" cried the enthusiastic doctor.

"Never!" repeated the boatswain.

"Well, Shandon?" asked the captain.

"Captain," answered Shandon, coldly, "I can only repeat what I have
said,--I shall obey you."

"Well. Now," continued Hatteras, "let us consider our present
situation; we are caught in the ice, and it seems to me impossible for
us to reach Smith's Sound this year. This is what we must do."

Hatteras unfolded on the table one of the excellent charts published
in 1859 by the order of the Admiralty.

"Be good enough to look here. If Smith's Sound is closed, Lancaster
Sound is not, to the west of Baffin's Bay; in my opinion, we ought to
go up this sound as far as Barrow Strait, and thence to Beechey
Island. This has been done a hundred times by sailing-vessels; we
shall have no difficulty, going under steam. Once at Beechey Island,
we shall follow Wellington Sound as far northward as possible, to
where it meets the channel, connecting it with Queen's Sound, at the
place where the open sea was seen. It is now only the 20th of May; if
nothing happens, we shall be there in a month, and from there we shall
start for the Pole. What do you say to that, gentlemen?"

"Evidently," said Johnson, "it's the only way open to us."

"Well, we