Chapter 54 Chapter 22 Near the North Pole

Time is spent in everyone's guesswork.In this environment that seemed to freeze everything, nothing flickered.Not in the sky, nor in the sea.Nothing floated on the surface of the waves, even a small terrestrial aquatic plant appeared!It is also enough to make Columbus ecstatic to discover North America. Hatteras watched for a long time. At last, near six o'clock in the evening, an unknown but apparently rising cloud of gas appeared above the sea level; one could guess that it was a cloud of smoke; the sky was so clear that this cloud of smoke could not be a cloud; it seemed to be Flickering like restlessness.

Hatteras was the first to observe this phenomenon; this undefined doubt, this unexplained cloud, he aimed them in the box of his telescope, and for a whole hour he had been relentlessly monitoring with. Suddenly, signs, signs that seemed sure, appeared to him, for he stretched his arms toward the horizon and exclaimed in a sonorous voice: "Land! Land!" This cry made everyone jump up like an electric shock. A cloud of smoke visibly rises above sea level. "I see! I see!" cried the doctor joyfully. "Yes! Sure... yes," Johnson responded. "It's a cloud," Altamon said.

"Land! Land!" said Hatteras in a tone of firm confidence. The five navigators watched with the utmost attention. But, as often happens, the object is blurred by the great distance between the objects, and the observed point seems to disappear.At last the eye caught it again, and the doctor was even surprised to see a flash of light galloping north at a speed of twenty or twenty-five miles. "It's a volcano!" he exclaimed. "Volcano?" Altamon asked. "There is no doubt about it." "In this high latitude?" "Why not?" asked the doctor; "isn't Iceland a volcanic island, that is, an island formed by volcanoes?"

"Yes! Iceland is," replied the American, "but it's so close to the North Pole!" "Then, did not our illustrious compatriot, Commodore James Ross, observe that there are two active volcanoes, Mount Erebus and Mount Trillion, at the position of longitude 170° and latitude 78° in the Southern Continent? Then why can’t there be volcanoes in the Arctic?” "As a matter of fact, it is possible," replied Altamon. "Ah, I can see it clearly. It's really a volcano!" The doctor exclaimed. "Go for it, then," said Hatteras. "It's getting windy," Johnson reminded.

"Tighten the foresail and sail." As it turned out, the sailor steered the ship so far from the target that even the most attentive eye could not perceive it. Of course, no one doubted being near the coast anymore.And that's the purpose of the expedition, to conquer it.There is no doubt that twenty-four hours cannot just pass in vain before human footsteps set foot on this new land.Providence, having graciously allowed them to come so close, would not have prevented these brave sailors from landing here. In this particular environment of finding a new discovery, everyone concealed their joy; everyone quietly wondered what the situation of this arctic land was like.The animals seem to be fleeing from here in a hurry, and at night, the birds are flying south with wings!Is the Arctic so desolate and dreadful that not even a gull or ptarmigan can find a place to hide?The fish and giant whales quickly escaped from the coast through the transparent water.Where did this rejection come from?Could it be because of fear, like all life forms on earth?

Voyagers take in the general impression here, they ignore their own feelings about their surroundings, and gradually their eyelids droop down. It's Hatteras' turn to be on duty!He held the handle; the doctor, Altamon, Johnson, and Bell lay down on their seats, and fell asleep one after another, and soon all fell into sweet dreams. Hatteras struggled against drowsiness. He didn't want to waste every precious minute, but the slow rocking of the boat subconsciously soothed him, and soon he too fell into an irresistible half-sleep. At this moment, the boat floated slowly; the wind was weak, and the sail could not be bulged.In the distance, in the western part of the ocean, a few pieces of shining ice floes quietly swayed, forming shiny panels of light in the vast ocean.Hatteras began to fall asleep, and thoughts carried him swiftly into his life; in dreams the speed of this retracing was astonishingly fast, and no one has yet measured it; Afterwards, stuck in memory: the winter layoffs, the Victoria Sea, God's Fortress, the Doctor's House, encounters with Americans under the ice.

Then the dream dragged him deeper into his past; he dreamed of his burnt ship, the Forward, his companions, the traitors who had betrayed him.How are they?He thought of Sandon and Wall and rough Payne.where are theyDid they make it through the iceberg to Baffin Bay? Immediately afterwards, he sleepwalked in deeper memories.It seemed he was back in England where he started.His past journeys, his dreams, his ambitions, his trials flashed before his eyes.He forgot about where he was, about his impending success, about his hopes.In the dream he was thrown from a state of happiness into anxiety again.

After two hours of gliding like this, his thoughts took him into a whole new place; he was sent to the North Pole, and he saw his feet finally set foot on this piece of British land, where the flag of the United Kingdom was planted. While he was sleeping, a large dark green cloud rose from the sea level.Suddenly, the ocean was shrouded in darkness. It is hard to imagine how fierce the hurricane swept across the Arctic Ocean.The atmospheric mass produced in the equatorial region condenses on the large northern glaciers, and driven by the powerful airflow, it forms a fierce and swift arctic storm.

A strong sea breeze blew; they were pulled out of sleep all at once.They immediately entered a state of emergency response. The sea raised violent waves, and the bottom of the sea was like a big sack that was emptied; the small boat was swayed by a swift and violent wave, and was sometimes slid into the bottomless abyss, and sometimes it was suddenly arched by the waves. The 45° tilt angle struggled. Hatteras gripped the helm firmly with one strong hand, his knuckles rattling.But the wild waves beat the boat violently.No matter how skilled the helmsman is, there is nothing he can do to allow the slanted boat to lean forward and backward.Johnson and Bell mechanically waved their arms, emptying the influx of water.

"It was really a sudden storm," said Altamon, who was firmly attached to the board. "Here, one has to be mentally prepared for everything," replied the doctor. Amid the howling of the storm and the crashing of the waves, they exchanged views.The momentum of the strong wind is slightly reduced, and in the fusion with the waves, it is intertwined into an impalpable fog curtain; at this time, it is impossible to hear the other party's words clearly. The journey to the north became difficult; thick fog obscured the course of the boat, and all signs were lost in the mist.

This fierce storm came suddenly when the navigators were full of ambition, as if showing them a ruthless yellow card; the storm showed a stubborn trend, like a copper wall blocking the way.Does nature intend to impose a ban on explorers in the Arctic?Has the pole of the earth been surrounded by a fortification of hurricanes and storms to hold back admirers? But, looking through the faces of the men who are resolute and fearless, they can understand that nothing, whether it is fierce and swift winds or treacherous waves, will stop them from reaching the North Pole. In this way, they wrestled all day.Smile to death every moment. Their Arctic voyage made no progress, but it suffered no less.Rain, waves and storms ravaged their faces and bodies.In the whistling sound of the strong wind, the wailing of seabirds is mixed in from time to time. After dancing wildly for a long time, the angry Haitao finally stopped suddenly at six o'clock in the evening.The wind also miraculously died down.The sea appeared calm and peaceful, as if the twelve hours of churning had never happened.Hurricanes also pay homage to this Arctic Ocean territory. What kind of strange power dominates this magical and ineffable phenomenon? The fog did not rise, and the sea level showed a rare clarity. The boat glides in a bright light, and the flames on the volcano are flickering, but it doesn't feel the slightest heat.The fore-sail and rigging stood up against the phosphorescent sky, which took on an incomparable clarity; the faces of the navigators were bathed in streaks of transparent light, and their faces were flushed. The sudden calm in this Arctic Ocean region was obviously caused by the rising movement of the atmosphere. At this time, a tornado-like storm was revolving around the center of this calm with fierce speed. But the flickering atmosphere gave Hatteras a thought. "Volcano!" he exclaimed. "Is it possible?" Bell asked. "No! No!" replied the doctor, "if the flames of the volcano really had spread all the way here, we would have been asphyxiated." "It might be a glint in the smoke," Altamon said. "Not necessarily. It needs to be accepted that we are close to land, so we heard the crackling of the eruption." "So...?" asked the captain. "This is a cosmic phenomenon," the doctor explained, "so far unknown... If we keep going, we will get out of this dazzling fireball and back into the night and the storm as quickly as possible." "Anyway, sail forward!" Hatteras commanded. "Drive forward!" The companions responded in unison, never thinking about taking a breather in this calm submarine basin. The sails, shining with fire, are hung on the shining mast; the wooden oars are waving in the red waves, as if sparking sparks strung by countless deeply red water droplets. Holding the compass in his hand, Hatteras adjusted his journey to the North Pole; gradually sailed out of the bright and clear area, and the fog surrounded the surroundings again; Swaying, entered the storm area. Fortunately, the hurricane was blowing south, and the boat was sailing against the wind, heading straight for the North Pole. Fearing that it would sink, the boat rushed at a crazy speed; every moment it might hit a reef, rock, or ice flashing on the sea surface pieces, no doubt, the boat would be in pieces. However, none of the men spoke against it, and none of them uttered words to be careful.They have already put life and death aside.Longing for the North Pole takes hold.They came running with a purpose, but at this moment they were a little dizzy, feeling that compared with their impatient desire, the progress of this speedy sailing was still too slow.Hatteras steered firmly at the helm, and sailed in a firm direction amidst the raging wind and waves. At this time, people feel that they are approaching the coast.Strange omens appeared in the sky. Suddenly, like a curtain torn by the wind, the dense fog bursts out like lightning, and this scene lasts for a long time.On the horizon, wisps of flames shot straight into the sky. "Volcano! Volcano!..." As soon as these words came out of my mouth, the illusion disappeared quickly; the strong wind from the southeast violently blocked the small boat, and escaped from this untouched land through it. "Damn luck!" cursed Hatteras, who was pulling the fore-sail tight. "We're only three miles from shore!" Hatteras could not stand against the mighty storm; but steered unyieldingly, staggering through the indescribable gale. For a moment, the boat overturned to one side, worrying that the front and rear edges were no longer exposed to the sea; however, with the efforts of the helmsman, it finally turned back; like a war horse with bent legs, the owner tightened the reins and whipped With a wave, he straightened his body back, and stood up the war horse again.Hatteras' hair was disheveled, and his hands were cast on the tiller, as if the soul and the boat had become one, and like a good rider, the horse and the horse fit together seamlessly. Suddenly, a terrifying scene unfolded in front of his eyes. Less than ten meters away from them, an ice floe was swinging on the top of the turbulent waves; it surged and slid like a boat, approaching the boat dangerously.Sliding ice just needs to bump against it, and the boat will be broken into pieces. The danger of being sucked into the abyss has not escaped, and the boat does not care about the appearance of another terrible danger; because, on the floating ice, there are a group of polar bears huddling close to each other, scared out of their wits. "Polar bear! Polar bear!" Bell exclaimed in a tight voice. Everyone, horrified, stared in front of them. The ice floe sloped horribly; at times, it swayed at such a high slope that the bears rolled and squeezed in a frenzy.Their struggling howls mingled with the howling of the storm, creating a strange ensemble of floating animals. As the ice heaved with the waves, the polar bear slammed into the boat, almost touching it. For a quarter of an hour, what seemed like a century, during this period, the boat and the ice block sailed against each other, either twenty meters apart, or almost collided with each other; the animals had to resign themselves to their fate.The Greenland dog was trembling with fright, but Duck said nothing. Hatteras and his companions remained silent; it did not even occur to them to lower the pole to avoid a collision, and they sailed their way with unwavering rigor.A vague feeling of amazement rather than horror rose in their minds; and they enjoyed the horrific spectacle which added a new challenge to their struggle. Finally, driven by the wind, the ice gradually moved away and disappeared into the mist; the howling sound from time to time in the distance reminded me of this unique sailing team. At this time, the storm was twice as fierce as before, and the unknown atmosphere seemed to be torn apart; the small boat exposed to the waves began to spin at a dizzying high speed; A great white bird disappeared into the darkness; a deep circular hole was formed in the eddies of the waves, and the voyagers caught up in the vortex sailed at full speed, so fast that it seemed that the tangent of the vortex in the center of the rotation was also stationary, although their The speed was unfathomably fast, but they gradually sank.At the bottom of the abyss, a powerful external force sucked them irresistibly and swallowed them alive. Then all five rose up, and they watched with terrified eyes.A bout of dizziness followed.They experienced the unparalleled taste of the abyss! Suddenly, the boat rose vertically.It goes beyond the tangent of the vortex, and its speed is fast enough to break away from the central suction of the vortex, and is thrown away by the tangent of the circumference at a speed of more than one thousand per second, and is thrown away at the speed of a round shell. Altamon, the doctor, Johnson, and Bell fell on all fours beside their seats. When they turned around again, Hatteras was gone. It was two o'clock in the morning.