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1THE ICEBERG The Nautilus was steadily pursuing its southerly course, following the fiftieth meridian with considerable
2speed. Did he wish to reach the pole? I did not think so, for every attempt to reach that point had hitherto failed.
3Again, the season was far advanced, for in the Antarctic regions the 13th of March corresponds with the 13th of
4September of northern regions, which begin at the equinoctial season. On the 14th of March I saw floating ice in
5latitude 55°, merely pale bits of debris from twenty to twenty-five feet long, forming banks over which the sea curled.
6The Nautilus remained on the surface of the ocean. Ned Land, who had fished in the Arctic Seas, was familiar with its
7icebergs; but Conseil and I admired them for the first time. In the atmosphere towards the southern horizon stretched a
8white dazzling band. English whalers have given it the name of "ice blink." However thick the clouds may be, it is
9always visible, and announces the presence of an ice pack or bank. Accordingly, larger blocks soon appeared, whose
10brilliancy changed with the caprices of the fog. Some of these masses showed green veins, as if long undulating lines
11had been traced with sulphate of copper; others resembled enormous amethysts with the light shining through them. Some
12reflected the light of day upon a thousand crystal facets. Others shaded with vivid calcareous reflections resembled a
13perfect town of marble. The more we neared the south the more these floating islands increased both in number and
14importance. At 60° lat. every pass had disappeared. But, seeking carefully, Captain Nemo soon found a narrow opening,
15through which he boldly slipped, knowing, however, that it would close behind him. Thus, guided by this clever hand, the
16Nautilus passed through all the ice with a precision which quite charmed Conseil; icebergs or mountains, ice-fields or
17smooth plains, seeming to have no limits, drift-ice or floating ice-packs, plains broken up, called palchs when they are
18circular, and streams when they are made up of long strips. The temperature was very low; the thermometer exposed to the
19air marked 2 deg. or 3° below zero, but we were warmly clad with fur, at the expense of the sea-bear and seal. The
20interior of the Nautilus, warmed regularly by its electric apparatus, defied the most intense cold. Besides, it would
21only have been necessary to go some yards beneath the waves to find a more bearable temperature. Two months earlier we
22should have had perpetual daylight in these latitudes; but already we had had three or four hours of night, and by and
23by there would be six months of darkness in these circumpolar regions. On the 15th of March we were in the latitude of
24New Shetland and South Orkney. The Captain told me that formerly numerous tribes of seals inhabited them; but that
25English and American whalers, in their rage for destruction, massacred both old and young; thus, where there was once
26life and animation, they had left silence and death. About eight o'clock on the morning of the 16th of March the
27Nautilus, following the fifty-fifth meridian, cut the Antarctic polar circle. Ice surrounded us on all sides, and closed
28the horizon. But Captain Nemo went from one opening to another, still going higher. I cannot express my astonishment at
29the beauties of these new regions. The ice took most surprising forms. Here the grouping formed an oriental town, with
30innumerable mosques and minarets; there a fallen city thrown to the earth, as it were, by some convulsion of nature. The
31whole aspect was constantly changed by the oblique rays of the sun, or lost in the greyish fog amidst hurricanes of
32snow. Detonations and falls were heard on all sides, great overthrows of icebergs, which altered the whole landscape
33like a diorama. Often seeing no exit, I thought we were definitely prisoners; but, instinct guiding him at the slightest
34indication, Captain Nemo would discover a new pass. He was never mistaken when he saw the thin threads of bluish water
35trickling along the ice-fields; and I had no doubt that he had already ventured into the midst of these Antarctic seas
36before. On the 16th of March, however, the ice-fields absolutely blocked our road. It was not the iceberg itself, as
37yet, but vast fields cemented by the cold. But this obstacle could not stop Captain Nemo: he hurled himself against it
38with frightful violence. The Nautilus entered the brittle mass like a wedge, and split it with frightful crackings. It
39was the battering ram of the ancients hurled by infinite strength. The ice, thrown high in the air, fell like hail
40around us. By its own power of impulsion our apparatus made a canal for itself; some times carried away by its own
41impetus, it lodged on the ice-field, crushing it with its weight, and sometimes buried beneath it, dividing it by a
42simple pitching movement, producing large rents in it. Violent gales assailed us at this time, accompanied by thick
43fogs, through which, from one end of the platform to the other, we could see nothing. The wind blew sharply from all
44parts of the compass, and the snow lay in such hard heaps that we had to break it with blows of a pickaxe. The
45temperature was always at 5 deg. below zero; every outward part of the Nautilus was covered with ice. A rigged vessel
46would have been entangled in the blocked up gorges. A vessel without sails, with electricity for its motive power, and
47wanting no coal, could alone brave such high latitudes. At length, on the 18th of March, after many useless assaults,
48the Nautilus was positively blocked. It was no longer either streams, packs, or ice-fields, but an interminable and
49immovable barrier, formed by mountains soldered together. "An iceberg!" said the Canadian to me. I knew that to Ned
50Land, as well as to all other navigators who had preceded us, this was an inevitable obstacle. The sun appearing for an
51instant at noon, Captain Nemo took an observation as near as possible, which gave our situation at 51° 30′ long. and 67°
5239′ of S. lat. We had advanced one degree more in this Antarctic region. Of the liquid surface of the sea there was no
53longer a glimpse. Under the spur of the Nautilus lay stretched a vast plain, entangled with confused blocks. Here and
54there sharp points and slender needles rising to a height of 200 feet; further on a steep shore, hewn as it were with an
55axe and clothed with greyish tints; huge mirrors, reflecting a few rays of sunshine, half drowned in the fog. And over
56this desolate face of nature a stern silence reigned, scarcely broken by the flapping of the wings of petrels and
57puffins. Everything was frozen--even the noise. The Nautilus was then obliged to stop in its adventurous course amid
58these fields of ice. In spite of our efforts, in spite of the powerful means employed to break up the ice, the Nautilus
59remained immovable. Generally, when we can proceed no further, we have return still open to us; but here return was as
60impossible as advance, for every pass had closed behind us; and for the few moments when we were stationary, we were
61likely to be entirely blocked, which did indeed happen about two o'clock in the afternoon, the fresh ice forming around
62its sides with astonishing rapidity. I was obliged to admit that Captain Nemo was more than imprudent. I was on the
63platform at that moment. The Captain had been observing our situation for some time past, when he said to me: "Well,
64sir, what do you think of this?" "I think that we are caught, Captain." [Illustration] The Nautilus was blocked up "So,
65M. Aronnax, you really think that the Nautilus cannot disengage itself?" "With difficulty, Captain; for the season is
66already too far advanced for you to reckon on the breaking of the ice." "Ah! sir," said Captain Nemo, in an ironical
67tone, "you will always be the same. You see nothing but difficulties and obstacles. I affirm that not only can the
68Nautilus disengage itself, but also that it can go further still." "Further to the South?" I asked, looking at the
69Captain. "Yes, sir; it shall go to the pole." "To the pole!" I exclaimed, unable to repress a gesture of incredulity.
70"Yes," replied the Captain, coldly, "to the Antarctic pole--to that unknown point from whence springs every meridian of
71the globe. You know whether I can do as I please with the Nautilus!"
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