The Sphinx of the Ice Realm by Verne Jules Walter Frederick Paul. Poe Edgar Allan

Author:Verne, Jules,Walter, Frederick Paul.,Poe, Edgar Allan [Verne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781438442136
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 2012-06-24T16:00:00+00:00

28. MAKING CAMP

y a little past noon, land lay no more than a mile off. The unanswered question was whether or not the current would take us beyond it.

I have to admit, if we'd had the choice of pulling up to that shoreline or staying in motion, I'm not sure which would have been preferable.

I was talking it over with Captain Guy and his first officer when West interrupted me, saying:

“Mr. Jeorling, what's the point of discussing this possibility, may I ask?”

“Yes, what's the point, since our hands are tied,” Len Guy added. “Maybe the iceberg will blunder into that coastline, or maybe we'll sidestep it if we keep riding the current.”

“True,” I went on, “but my question's still on the table. Are we better off leaving this iceberg or staying on it?”

“Staying on it,” West answered.

Actually, if the dinghy could have taken everybody plus provisions for a five-to-six-week trip, we would have launched it without hesitation, struck out across the open sea, and benefited from the northbound wind. But since the dinghy could handle only eleven or twelve men at best, we would need to draw straws. And think of the men who would be left behind—weren't they doomed to die of cold, if not hunger, in this region that winter would soon bury under ice and vile weather?

Now then, if our iceberg kept drifting in the same direction, it would, after all, do an acceptable job of taking us most of the way back. True, our chariot of ice could let us down by getting stuck again, even somersaulting, or falling in with some countercurrent that would take it off course … whereas our dinghy could tack with the wind when it became contrary and carry us to our destination—assuming storms left it alone and the ice barrier offered it a way through.

But as West just said, what was the use of discussing this possibility?

After dinner the crew headed up to the ice slab on top where Peters was. As we drew near, the half-breed retreated down the opposite slope, and when I got to the summit, he was out of sight.

By then we were all at that locality—all except Endicott, who tended to get nervous away from his stove.

The shore visible to the north stood out against a tenth of the horizon, its coastline trimmed with beaches, perforated by coves, and bulging with promontories, its background topped by the craggy outlines of mountains with hills a bit closer in. It was a continent, or at the very least an island of pretty substantial size.

These lands stretched to the east as far as the eye could see, and their remotest reaches didn't seem to be on this side.

At their western end a pointy cape took form, topped by a bluff whose profile looked like the head of an enormous seal. Then, beyond it, the sea seemed to widen out.

Every one of us was clear on our situation. To pull up to those lands depended on the current and

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