e.

And then a possibility flashed into my mind, an hypothesis which
explained these astonishing phenomena.

"Ah!" I exclaimed, "a loadstone! that is it! A magnet with
prodigious power of attraction!"

I was understood, and in an instant the final catastrophe, to which
Hearne and his companions were victims, was explained with terrible
clearness.

The Antarctic Sphinx was simply a colossal magnet. Under the
influence of that magnet the iron bands of the _Halbrane's_ boat had
been torn out and projected as though by the action of a catapult.
This was the occult force that had irresistibly attracted everything
made of iron on the _Paracuta_. And the boat itself would have shared
the fate of the _Halbrane's_ boat had a single bit of that metal
been employed in its construction. Was it, then, the proximity of
the magnetic pole that produced such effects?

At first we entertained this idea, but on reflection we rejected it.

At the place where the magnetic meridians cross, the only phenomenon
produced is the vertical position of the magnetic needle in two
similar points of the terrestrial globe. This phenomenon, already
proved by observations made on the spot, must be identical in the
Antarctic regions.

Thus, then, there did exist a magnet of prodigious intensity in the
zone of attraction which we had entered. Under our eyes one of those
surprising effects which had hitherto been classed among fables was
actually produced.

The following appeared to me to be the true explanation.

The Trade-winds bring a constant succession of clouds or mists in
which immense quantities of electricity not completely exhausted by
storms, are stored. Hence there exists a formidable accumulation of
electric fluid at the poles, and it flows towards the land in a
permanent stream.

From this cause come the northern and southern auroras, whose
luminous splendours shine above the horizon, especially during the
long polar night, and are visible even in the temperate zones when
they attain theix maximum of culmination.

These continuous currents at the poles, which bewilder our
compasses, must possess an extraordinary influence. And it would
suffice that a block of iron should be subjected to their action for
it to be changed into a magnet of power proportioned to the
intensity of the current, to the number of turns of the electric
helix, and to the square root of the diameter of the block of
magnetized iron. Thus, then, the bulk of