How,then,could we decide whether we had reached the pole?When Irejoined Captain Nemo,Ifound him leaning on a piece of rock,silently watching the sky.He seemed impatient and vexed.But what was to be done?
This rash and powerful man could not command the sun as he did the sea.
Noon arrived without the orb of day showing itself for an instant.
We could not even tell its position behind the curtain of fog;and soon the fog turned to snow.
"Till to-morrow,"said the Captain,quietly,and we returned to the Nautilus amid these atmospheric disturbances.
The tempest of snow continued till the next day.
It was impossible to remain on the platform.From the saloon,where Iwas taking notes of incidents happening during this excursion to the polar continent,Icould hear the cries of petrels and albatrosses sporting in the midst of this violent storm.
The Nautilus did not remain motionless,but skirted the coast,advancing ten miles more to the south in the half-light left by the sun as it skirted the edge of the horizon.
The next day,the 20th of March,the snow had ceased.
The cold was a little greater,the thermometer showing 2@below zero.The fog was rising,and Ihoped that that day our observations might be taken.Captain Nemo not having yet appeared,the boat took Conseil and myself to land.
The soil was still of the same volcanic nature;everywhere were traces of lava,scoriae,and basalt;but the crater which had vomited them Icould not see.
Here,as lower down,this continent was alive with myriads of birds.But their rule was now divided with large troops of sea-mammals,looking at us with their soft eyes.
There were several kinds of seals,some stretched on the earth,some on flakes of ice,many going in and out of the sea.They did not flee at our approach,never having had anything to do with man;and Ireckoned that there were provisions there for hundreds of vessels.
"Sir,"said Conseil,"will you tell me the names of these creatures?""They are seals and morses."
It was now eight in the morning.Four hours remained to us before the sun could be observed with advantage.Idirected our steps towards a vast bay cut in the steep granite shore.There,Ican aver that earth and ice were lost to sight by the numbers of sea-mammals covering them,and Iinvoluntarily sought for old Proteus,the mythological shepherd who watched these immense flocks of Neptune.
There were more seals than anything else,forming distinct groups,male and female,the father watching over his family,the mother suckling her little ones,some already strong enough to go a few steps.
When they wished to change their place,they took little jumps,made by the contraction of their bodies,and helped awkwardly enough by their imperfect fin,which,as with the lamantin,their cousins,forms a perfect forearm.Ishould say that,in the water,which is their element--the spine of these creatures is flexible;with smooth and close skin and webbed feet--they swim admirably.
In resting on the earth they take the most graceful attitudes.
Thus the ancients,observing their soft and expressive looks,which cannot be surpassed by the most beautiful look a woman can give,their clear voluptuous eyes,their charming positions,and the poetry of their manners,metamorphosed them,the male into a triton and the female into a mermaid.Imade Conseil notice the considerable development of the lobes of the brain in these interesting cetaceans.
No mammal,except man,has such a quantity of brain matter;they are also capable of receiving a certain amount of education,are easily domesticated,and Ithink,with other naturalists,that if properly taught they would be of great service as fishing-dogs.
The greater part of them slept on the rocks or on the sand.
Amongst these seals,properly so called,which have no external ears (in which they differ from the otter,whose ears are prominent),Inoticed several varieties of seals about three yards long,with a white coat,bulldog heads,armed with teeth in both jaws,four incisors at the top and four at the bottom,and two large canine teeth in the shape of a fleur-de-lis.Amongst them glided sea-elephants,a kind of seal,with short,flexible trunks.
The giants of this species measured twenty feet round and ten yards and a half in length;but they did not move as we approached.
"These creatures are not dangerous?"asked Conseil.
"No;not unless you attack them.When they have to defend their young their rage is terrible,and it is not uncommon for them to break the fishing-boats to pieces.""They are quite right,"said Conseil.
"Ido not say they are not."
Two miles farther on we were stopped by the promontory which shelters the bay from the southerly winds.Beyond it we heard loud bellowings such as a troop of ruminants would produce.
"Good!"said Conseil;"a concert of bulls!""No;a concert of morses."
"They are fighting!"
"They are either fighting or playing."
We now began to climb the blackish rocks,amid unforeseen stumbles,and over stones which the ice made slippery.More than once Irolled over at the expense of my loins.Conseil,more prudent or more steady,did not stumble,and helped me up,saying:
"If,sir,you would have the kindness to take wider steps,you would preserve your equilibrium better."Arrived at the upper ridge of the promontory,Isaw a vast white plain covered with morses.They were playing amongst themselves,and what we heard were bellowings of pleasure,not of anger.
As Ipassed these curious animals Icould examine them leisurely,for they did not move.Their skins were thick and rugged,of a yellowish tint,approaching to red;their hair was short and scant.Some of them were four yards and a quarter long.
Quieter and less timid than their cousins of the north,they did not,like them,place sentinels round the outskirts of their encampment.
After examining this city of morses,Ibegan to think of returning.
