Gunnison news-champion., 1916-11-24

the bottom. The thermometer marked
, degrees g. above zero II was com
paratively spring. shut up as We were
behind an iceberg. whose heightened
mass was dlnIy seen on our northern
horizon.
Are w OF the poIeT''I asked the
captain. with a beating heart
Il do no' know" he replied AT
noon | will take our bearings"
But vii the sun show himself
through this fng;' said |. looking AT
the lcaden sky
However little 1t shows II Will he
enough. replied the captain.
Abuut ten miles south solitary Is
land rose to a height OF lOi yards. We
made for II. but carefully. for the sea
might he sIrcwn with hanks. One
hour aftcrwari We had reached Il: two
hours later We had made the round OF
Il Il measured four or i've miles In
cir r-umfercnce \ narrow canal sep
araiei II from n considerable stretch
Of land. perhaps a continent FOR We
could not see its limits. The existence
OF this land seemed Ia give some color
10 Naury's hypothesis. The ingenious
American has ramarked that between
the south pole al. the siXtieth parallel
the sea Is covered with floating Ice OF
enormous size. which Is never met
with In the north Atlantic. From this
fact he has dra wn the conclusion that
the antarctic circle iucloses cousidcra,
Ia. isal.rtF- form
IN open sea. but only on the coasts
According to these calculations, the
mass OF ice surrounding the southern
pole forms vast cap. the circumier
cnCe OF which must be at least 2.JDb
miles. But the Nautilus. for fear Of
running aground. had stopped about
three cables length from II Strand over
which reared n superb heap Of rocks
The boat was launched The captain.
two OF his men bearing instruments.
Conscil and myself were In 1t. II was
10 In the morning | had not seen Ned
Land Doubtless the Canadian did not
wish to admit the presence Of the
south pole. few strokes OF the oar
brought us to the sand. where We ran
hNubAt ''iI'7tiA was ~NAAAE w jump VA
to the land when held him back.
sir" said to Captain Memo. TO
you belongs the honor OF first setting
foot on this land"
Yes. sir" said the captain. and II
| do not hesitate to tread this south
pole It is because up to this time no
human being has left trace there
Saying this. lie jumped lightly on to
the sand His heart beat with emo
ton. He climbed rock sOpinG 10
little prumontnry. and there. with his
arms crossed. mute and motIonless and
with an eager look, he seemed to take
possession OF these southern regions.
After five minutes passed in this costa
sy he turned TO us
when you Ike. SIR
| landed. followed by Conscil. leaving
the two men In the boat For long
way the soil was composed OF a red
dish. sandy stone. something like
crushed brick. scoriae. streams OF lava
and pumice stones. One could not mis-
tnke Its volcanic origin, In some parts
slight curls of smoke emitted sui
phurous smell. proving that the inter
nal fires had lost nothing of their ex.
pansive powers. though. having climb
ed high activity. | could see no vol
cano for n radius of several miles.
About half mile farther on the soil
was riddled with ruffs' nests. sort of
laying ground. out OF which manr
birds were issuing. Captain Memo hal
some hundreds hunted. They uttcrel
cry like the braying OF an ass. were
about the size Of n goose. slate color
on the body. white beneath. with n
yellow line round their throats: they
allowed themselves to he X He'd with
stone. never trying 10 eSCaIe Bui
the fog did not lift. and at II the SUI
had not yet shown itself Its ahsenfs
made me uneasy Without IL no oh
servations were possible How. then
could we decide whether we hia reacl
ed the pole? When reIoined CAPITA,
Memo found him leaning IN a p!ec-
of rock silently watching the sky II
seemed inpatient and veStd Eu
what was To he done: This riiSh an
powerful r,;Nn could not command IL
sun as he did the sea Noon arrive
without the orb OF day showing iiSei
for an instant We could not even tc
Its position behind the curtain Of ~.
and soon the fog turned TO snow
Till tomorrow" said the caprar
quietly. and we returned to the Nan
illus anil these atmospheric disturb
nnces
The tempest Of snow continued I'll
the next day II was impossible to
remain on the platform. From the s;i
loon where ] was taking notes Of Incl
dents happening during this excursion
to the polar continent ] could hear
the cries OF petrels and albntrosses
sporting In the midst Of this violen,
storm The Nsnt..cs d.! not remain