towards it; an opening in the cairn let him see a tin box in which
James Ross had placed an account of his discovery. No living being had
visited this lonely spot for thirty years.

At this place a needle suspended as delicately as possible assumed a
nearly vertical position under the magnetic influence; hence the
centre of attraction was near, if not immediately beneath, the needle.

[Illustration]

The doctor made the experiment with all care. But if James Ross, owing
to the imperfection of his instruments, found a declination of only 89
degrees 50 minutes, the real magnetic point is found within a minute
of this spot. Dr. Clawbonny was more fortunate, and at a little
distance from there he found a declination of 90 degrees.

"This is exactly the magnetic pole of the earth!" he cried, stamping
on the ground.

"Just here?" asked Johnson.

"Precisely here, my friend!"

"Well, then," resumed the boatswain, "we must give up all the stories
of a magnetic mountain or large mass."

"Yes, Johnson," answered the doctor, laughing, "those are empty
hypotheses! As you see, there is no mountain capable of attracting
ships, of drawing their iron from them anchor after anchor, bolt after
bolt! and your shoes here are as light as anywhere in the world."

"But how do you explain--"

"There is no explanation, Johnson; we are not wise enough for that.
But what is mathematically certain is that the magnetic pole is at
this very spot!"

"Ah, Dr. Clawbonny, how glad the captain would be to say as much of
the North Pole!"

"He'll say it, Johnson; he'll say it!"

"God grant it!" was the answer.

The doctor and his companion raised a cairn at the spot where they
tried their experiment, and the signal for their return being made,
they returned to the ship at five o'clock of the evening.

CHAPTER XVII.
THE FATE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.

The _Forward_ succeeded, though not without difficulty, in getting by
James Ross Sound, by frequent use of the ice-saws and gunpowder; the
crew was very much fatigued. Fortunately the temperature was
agreeable, and even thirty degrees above what James Ross found at the
same time of year. The thermometer marked 34 degrees.

Saturday they doubled Cape Felix at the northern end of King William's
Land, one of the smaller islands of northern seas.

At that time the crew became very much depressed; they gazed wistfully
and sadly at its far-stretching shores.

In fact, they were gazing a