An Antarctic Mystery by Jules Verne Page A

surprised if this man
had Indian blood in his veins. Do you ever talk with Hunt?"
    "Very seldom, Mr. Jeorling. He keeps himself to himself, and away
from everybody. And yet, it is not for want of mouth. I never saw
anything like his! And his hands! Have you seen his hands? Be on
your guard, Mr. Jeorling, if ever he wants to shake hands with
you."
    "Fortunately, boatswain, Hunt does not seem to be quarrelsome. He
appears to be a quiet man who does not abuse his strength."
    "No—except when he is setting a halyard. Then I am always afraid
the pulley will come down and the yard with it."
    Hunt certainly was a strange being, and I could not resist observing
him with curiosity, especially as it struck me that he regarded me
at times with a curious intentness.
    On the 10th of November, at about two in the afternoon, the look-out
shouted,—
    "Land ahead, starboard!"
    An observation had just given 55° 7' latitude and 41° 13'
longitude. This land could only be the Isle de Saint Pierre—its
British names are South Georgia, New Georgia, and King George's
Island—and it belongs to the circumpolar regions.
    It was discovered by the Frenchman, Barbe, in 1675, before Cook;
but, although he came in second, the celebrated navigator gave it
the series of names which it still bears.
    The schooner took the direction of this island, whose snow-clad
heights—formidable masses of ancient rock-rise to an immense
altitude through the yellow fogs of the surrounding space.
    New Georgia, situated within five hundred leagues of Magellan
Straits, belongs to the administrative domain of the Falklands. The
British administration is not represented there by anyone, the
island is not inhabited, although it is habitable, at least in the
summer season.
    On the following day, while the men were gone in search of water, I
walked about in the vicinity of the bay. The place was an utter
desert, for the period at which sealing is pursued there had not
arrived. New Georgia, being exposed to the direct action of the
Antarctic polar current, is freely frequented by marine mammals. I
saw several droves of these creatures on the rocks, the strand, and
within the rock grottoes of the coast. Whole "smalas" of
penguins, standing motionless in interminable rows, brayed their
protest against the invasion of an intruder—I allude to myself.
    Innumerable larks flew over the surface of the waters and the sands;
their song awoke my memory of lands more favoured by nature. It is
fortunate that these birds do not want branches to perch on; for
there does not exist a tree in New Georgia. Here and there I found a
few phanerogams, some pale-coloured mosses, and especially tussock
grass in such abundance that numerous herds of cattle might be fed
upon the island.
    On the 12th November the
Halbrane
sailed once more, and having
doubled Charlotte Point at the extremity of Royal Bay, she headed in
the direction of the Sandwich Islands, four hundred miles from
thence.
    So far we had not encountered floating ice. The reason was that the
summer sun had not detached any, either from the icebergs or the
southern lands. Later on, the current would draw them to the height
of the fiftieth parallel, which, in the southern hemisphere, is that
of Paris or Quebec. But we were much impeded by huge banks of fog
which frequently shut out the horizon. Nevertheless, as these waters
presented no danger, and there was nothing to fear from ice packs or
drifting icebergs, the
Halbrane
was able to pursue her route towards
the Sandwich Islands comfortably enough. Great flocks of clangorous
birds, breasting the wind and hardly moving their wings, passed us
in the midst of the fogs, petrels, divers, halcyons, and albatross,
bound landwards, as though to show us the way.
    Owing, no doubt, to these mists, we were unable to discern Traversey
Island. Captain Len Guy, however, thought some vague streaks of
intermittent light which were perceived in the night, between the
14th and 15th, probably proceeded from a