bserved, a halo with two parhelions; the doctor observed it, and took
its exact dimensions; the exterior arc was only visible for about
thirty degrees each side of the horizontal diameter; the two images of
the sun were remarkably clear; the colors within the luminous area
were, going toward the outside, red, yellow, green, faint blue, and
last of all white, gently fading away, without any sharp line of
termination.

[Illustration]

The doctor remembered Thomas Young's ingenious theory about these
meteors; he supposed that certain clouds composed of prisms of ice are
hanging in the air; the sun's rays falling on these prisms are
refracted at angles of sixty and ninety degrees. The halos can only be
formed in a clear sky. The doctor thought this an ingenious
explanation.

Sailors, who are familiar with northern seas, consider this phenomenon
a forerunner of heavy snow. If this should be the case, the position
of the _Forward_ was very critical. Hence Hatteras resolved to push
on; during the rest of that day and the next night he took no rest,
but examined the horizon through his glass, entering every inlet, and
losing no opportunity to get out of the strait.

But in the morning he was compelled to stop before the impenetrable
ice. The doctor joined him on the quarter-deck. Hatteras led him clear
aft where they could talk without fear of being overheard.

"We are caught," said Hatteras. "It's impossible to go on."

"Impossible?" said the doctor.

"Impossible! All the powder on board the _Forward_ would not open a
quarter of a mile to us."

"What are we to do?" asked the doctor.

"I don't know. Curse this unlucky year!"

"Well, Captain, if we must go into winter-quarters, we'll do it. As
well here as anywhere else!"

"Of course," said Hatteras in a low voice, "but we ought not to be
going into winter-quarters, especially in the month of June. It is
demoralizing, and bad for the health. The spirits of the crew are soon
cast down during this long rest among real sufferings. So I had made
up my mind to winter at a latitude nearer the Pole."

"Yes, but, unluckily, Baffin's Bay was closed."

"Any one else would have found it open," cried Hatteras; "that
American, that--"

"Come, Hatteras," said the doctor, purposely interrupting him, "it's
now only the 5th of June; we should not despair; a path may open
before us suddenly; you know the ice often breaks into separate
pieces, even when the weather is calm, as i