. . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

XVII. ALTAMONT'S REVENGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

XVIII. THE LAST PREPARATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

XIX. THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

XX. FOOTPRINTS ON THE SNOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

XXI. THE OPEN SEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

XXII. THE APPROACH TO THE POLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

XXIII. THE ENGLISH FLAG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

XXIV. POLAR COSMOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

XXV. MOUNT HATTERAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420

XXVI. RETURN TO THE SOUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

XXVII. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE
"JOHNSON KNEW ALL THE SAILORS IN LIVERPOOL, AND IMMEDIATELY SET
ABOUT ENGAGING A CREW" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

"EVERYTHING WAS ENVELOPED IN ONE OF THE ORDINARY FOGS OF THAT
REGION" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

"THIS SPACE OF SIX FEET SQUARE CONTAINED INCALCULABLE WEALTH" . . 23

"THE NEWS SPEAD IMMEDIATELY THROUGHOUT THE CITY, AND A GREAT
CONCOURSE OF SPECTATORS THRONGED THE PIERS" . . . . . . . . . 27

"TOWARDS EVENING THE BRIG DOUBLED THE CALF OF MAN" . . . . . . . 29

"WOULD ONE NOT SAY IT WAS A FOREIGN CITY, AN EASTERN CITY, WITH
MINARETS AND MOSQUES IN THE MOONLIGHT" . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

"FORTUNATELY THE OPENING OF THESE HUTS WAS TOO SMALL, AND THE
ENTHUSIASTIC DOCTOR COULD NOT GET THROUGH" . . . . . . . . . . 71

"A STRANGE ANIMAL WAS BOUNDING ALONG WITHIN A CABLE'S LENGTH FROM
THE SHIP" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

"JOHN HATTERAS" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

"HE CAUGHT A LARGE NUMBER OF WHITE FOXES; HE HAD PUT ON THEIR
NECKS COPPER COLLARS" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

"ALL THESE POOR FELLOWS HAD DIED OF MISERY, SUFFERING, AND
STARVATION" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

"THE BRIG WAS TOSSED ABOUT LIKE A CHILD'S TOY" (_Frontispiece_) . 134

"THE WHALE SWAM AWAY FROM THE BRIG AND HASTENED TOWARDS THE
MOVING ICEBERGS" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

"THE FO