(Also called THE SPHINX OF THE ICE FIELDS) Jules Verne CHAPTER I. THE KERGUELEN ISLANDS No doubt the narrative will be received with entire incredulity, but I think it well that the public should be put in possession of the facts narrated in “An Antarctic Mystery.” The public is free to believe them or not, at its good pleasure. No more appropriate scene for the wonderful and terrible adventures which I am about to relate could be imagined than the Desolation Islands, so called, in 1779, by Captain Cook. I lived there for several weeks, and I can ...Read More

CHAPTER II. THE SCHOONER HALBRANE The Halbrane was a schooner of three hundred tons, and a fast sailer. On there was a captain, a mate, or lieutenant, a boatswain, a cook, and eight sailors; in all twelve men, a sufficient number to work the ship. Solidly built, copper-bottomed, very manageable, well suited for navigation between the fortieth and sixtieth parallels of south latitude, the Halbrane was a credit to the ship-yards of Birkenhead. All this I learned from Atkins, who adorned his narrative with praise and admiration of its theme. Captain Len Guy, of Liverpool, was three-fifths owner of ...Read More

CHAPTER III. CAPTAIN LEN GUY I slept ill. Again and again I “dreamed that I was dreaming.” Now—this is observation made by Edgar Poe—when one suspects that one is dreaming, the waking comes almost instantly. I woke then, and every time in a very bad humour with Captain Len Guy. The idea of leaving the Kerguelens on the Halbrane had full possession of me, and I grew more and more angry with her disobliging captain. In fact, I passed the night in a fever of indignation, and only recovered my temper with daylight. Nevertheless I was determined to have ...Read More

CHAPTER IV. FROM THE KERGUELEN ISLES TO PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND Never did a voyage begin more prosperously, or a start in better spirits. The interior of the Halbrane corresponded with its exterior. Nothing could exceed the perfect order, the Dutch cleanliness of the vessel. The captain’s cabin, and that of the lieutenant, one on the port, the other on the starboard side, were fitted up with a narrow berth, a cupboard anything but capacious, an arm-chair, a fixed table, a lamp hung from the ceiling, various nautical instruments, a barometer, a thermometer, a chronometer, and a sextant in its ...Read More

CHAPTER V. EDGAR POE’S ROMANCE In this chapter I have to give a brief summary of Edgar Poe’s romance, was published at Richmond under the title of THE ADVENTURES OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM. We shall see whether there was any room for doubt that the adventures of this hero of romance were imaginary. But indeed, among the multitude of Poe’s readers, was there ever one, with the sole exception of Len Guy, who believed them to be real? The story is told by the principal personage. Arthur Pym states in the preface that on his return from his voyage ...Read More

CHAPTER VI. AN OCEAN WAIF. The navigation of the Halbrane went on prosperously with the help of the sea the wind. In fifteen days, if this state of things lasted, she might reach Tristan d’Acunha. Captain Len Guy left the working of the ship to James West, and well might he do so; there was nothing to fear with such a seaman as he. “Our lieutenant has not his match afloat,” said Hurliguerly to me one day. “He ought to be in command of a flag-ship.” “Indeed,” I replied, “he seems to be a true son of the sea.” ...Read More

CHAPTER VII. TRISTAN D’ACUNHA. Four days later, the Halbrane neared that curious island of Tristan d’Acunha, which may be as the big boiler of the African seas. By that time I had come to realize that the “hallucination” of Captain Len Guy was a truth, and that he and the captain of the Jane (also a reality) were connected with each other by this ocean waif from the authentic expedition of Arthur Pym. My last doubts were buried in the depths of the ocean with the body of Patterson. And now, what was Captain Len Guy going to do? ...Read More

CHAPTER VIII. BOUND FOR THE FALKLANDS. On the 8th of September, in the evening, I had taken leave of Excellency the Governor-General of the Archipelago of Tristan d’Acunha—for such is the official title bestowed upon himself by that excellent fellow, Glass, ex-corporal of artillery in the British Army. On the following day, before dawn, the Halbrane sailed. After we had rounded Herald Point, the few houses of Ansiedlung disappeared behind the extremity of Falmouth Bay. A fine breeze from the east carried us along gaily. During the morning we left behind us in succession Elephant Bay, Hardy Rock, West ...Read More

CHAPTER IX. FITTING OUT THE HALBRANE On the 15th of October, our schooner cast anchor in Port Egmont, on north of West Falkland. The group is composed of two islands, one the above-named, the other Soledad or East Falkland. Captain Len Guy gave twelve hours’ leave to the whole crew. The next day the proceedings were to begin by a careful and minute inspection of the vessel’s hull and keel, in view of the contemplated prolonged navigation of the Antarctic seas. That day Captain Len Guy went ashore, to confer with the Governor of the group on the subject ...Read More

CHAPTER X. THE OUTSET OF THE ENTERPRISE. Here was I, then, launched into an adventure which seemed likely to all my former experiences. Who would have believed such a thing of me. But I was under a spell which drew me towards the unknown, that unknown of the polar world whose secrets so many daring pioneers had in vain essayed to penetrate. And this time, who could tell but that the sphinx of the Antarctic regions would speak for the first time to human ears! The new crew had firstly to apply themselves to learning their several duties, and ...Read More

CHAPTER XI. FROM THE SANDWICH ISLANDS TO THE POLAR CIRCLE. The Halbrane, singularly favoured by the weather, sighted the South Orkneys group in six days after she had sailed from the Sandwich Islands. This archipelago was discovered by Palmer, an American, and Bothwell, an Englishman, jointly, in 1821-22. Crossed by the sixty-first parallel, it is comprehended between the forty-fourth and the forty, seventh meridian. On approaching, we were enabled to observe contorted masses and steep cliffs on the north side, which became less rugged as they neared the coast, at whose edge lay enormous ice-floes, heaped together in formidable ...Read More

CHAPTER XII. BETWEEN THE POLAR CIRCLE AND THE ICE WALL. Since the Halbrane has passed beyond the imaginary curve at twenty-three and a half degrees from the Pole, it seems as though she had entered a new region, “that region of Desolation and Silence,” as Edgar Poe says; that magic person of splendour and glory in which the Eleanora’s singer longed to be shut up to all eternity; that immense ocean of light ineffable. It is my belief—to return to less fanciful hypotheses—that the Antarctic region, with a superficies of more than five millions of square miles, has remained ...Read More

CHAPTER XIII. ALONG THE FRONT OF THE ICEBERGS. Although the seas beyond the Polar Circle were wildly tumultuous, it but just to acknowledge that our navigation had been accomplished so far under exceptional conditions. And what good luck it would be if the Halbrane, in this first fortnight of December, were to find the Weddell route open! There! I am talking of the Weddell route as though it were a macadamized road, well kept, with mile-stones and “This way to the South Pole” on a signpost! The numerous wandering masses of ice gave our men no trouble; they were ...Read More

CHAPTER XIV. A VOICE IN A DREAM. Entirely free from ice? No. It would have been premature to affirm as a fact. A few icebergs were visible in the distance, while some drifts and packs were still going east. Nevertheless, the break-up had been very thorough on that side, and the sea was in reality open, since a ship could sail freely. “God has come to our aid,” said Captain Len Guy. “May He be pleased to guide us to the end.” “In a week,” I remarked, “our schooner might come in sight of Tsalal Island.” “Provided that the ...Read More

CHAPTER XV. BENNET ISLET. The Halbrane was then within sight of Bennet Islet! The crew urgently needed rest, so disembarkation was deferred until the following day, and I went back to my cabin. The night passed without disturbance, and when day came not a craft of any kind was visible on the waters, not a native on the beach. There were no huts upon the coast, no smoke arose in the distance to indicate that Bennet Islet was inhabited. But William Guy had not found any trace of human beings there, and what I saw of the islet answered ...Read More

CHAPTER XVI. TSALAL ISLAND. The night passed without alarm. No boat had put off from the island, nor had native shown himself upon the beach. The Halbrane, then, had not been observed on her arrival; this was all the better. We had cast anchor in ten fathoms, at three miles from the coast. When the Jane appeared in these waters, the people of Tsalal beheld a ship for the first time, and they took it for an enormous animal, regarding its masts as limbs, and its sails as garments. Now, they ought to be better informed on this subject, ...Read More

CHAPTER XVII. AND PYM? “And Pym—poor Pym?” I turned round quickly. Hunt had spoken. This strange person was standing at a little distance, gazing fixedly at the horizon. It was so unusual to hear Hunt’s voice on board the schooner, that the men, whom the unaccustomed sound reached, drew near, moved by curiosity. Did not his unexpected intervention point to—I had a presentiment that it did—some wonderful revelation? A movement of West’s hand sent the men forward, leaving only the mate, the boatswain, Martin Holt, the sailing-master, and Hardy, with the captain and myself in the vicinity of Hunt. ...Read More

CHAPTER XVIII. A REVELATION. The following day, the 29th of December, at six in the morning, the schooner set with a north-east wind, and this time her course was due south. The two succeeding days passed wholly without incident; neither land nor any sign of land was observed. The men on the Halbrane took great hauls of fish, to their own satisfaction and ours. It was New Year’s Day, 1840, four months and seventeen days since I had left the Kerguelens and two months and five days since the Halbrane had sailed from the Falklands. The half-breed, between whom ...Read More

CHAPTER XIX. LAND? “Land” is the only word to be found at the beginning of the nineteenth chapter of Poe’s book. I thought it would be a good idea—placing after it a note of interrogation—to put it as a heading to this portion of our narrative. Did that word, dropped from our fore-masthead, indicate an island or a continent? And, whether a continent or an island, did not a disappointment await us? Could they be there whom we had come to seek? And Arthur Pym, who was dead, unquestionably dead, in spite of Dirk Peters’ assertions, had he ever ...Read More

CHAPTER XX. “UNMERCIFUL DISASTER” In the morning, after breakfast, it was decided that the men should begin to dig sloping bed which would allow the Halbrane to slide to the foot of the iceberg. Would that Heaven might grant success to the operation, for who could contemplate without terror having to brave the severity of the austral winter, and to pass six months under such conditions as ours on a vast iceberg, dragged none could tell whither? Once the winter had set in, none of us could have escaped from that most terrible of fates—dying of cold. At this ...Read More

CHAPTER XXI. AMID THE MISTS. So this was the sum of all our efforts, trials and disappointments! Not to of the destruction of the Halbrane, the expedition had already cost nine lives. From thirty-two men who had embarked on the schooner, our number was reduced to twenty-three: how low was that figure yet to fall? Between the south pole and antarctic circle lay twenty degrees, and those would have to be cleared in a month or six weeks at the most; if not, the iceberg barrier would be re-formed and closed-up. As for wintering in that part of the ...Read More

CHAPTER XXII. IN CAMP. A little after noon, the iceberg was within a mile of the land. After their the crew climbed up to the topmost block, on which Dirk Peters was stationed. On our approach the half-breed descended the opposite slope and when I reached the top he was no longer to be seen. The land on the north evidently formed a continent or island of considerable extent. On the west there was a sharply projecting cape, surmounted by a sloping height which resembled an enormous seal’s head on the side view; then beyond that was a wide ...Read More

CHAPTER XXIII. FOUND AT LAST The question of our wintering on the land whereon we had been thrown was for us. But, after all, the situation was not changed for those among the nine (now only remaining of the twenty-three) who should not have drawn the lot of departure. Who could speculate upon the chances of the whole nine? Might not all of them have drawn the lot of “stay”? And, when every chance was fully weighed, was that of those who had left us the best? To this question there could be no answer. When the boat had ...Read More

CHAPTER XXIV. ELEVEN YEARS IN A FEW PAGES. The heading of the following chapter indicates that the adventures of Guy and his companions after destruction of the English schooner, and the details of their history subsequent to the departure of Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters, are about to be narrated with all possible brevity. We carried our treasure-trove to the cavern, and had happiness of restoring all four men to life. In reality, it was hunger, nothing but hunger, which had reduced the poor fellows to the semblance of death. On the 8th of February, 1828, the crew of ...Read More

CHAPTER XXV. “WE WERE THE FIRST.” Two days later not one of the survivors from the two schooners, the and the Halbrane, remained upon any coast of the Antarctic region. On the 21st of February, at six o’clock in the morning, the boat, with us all (we numbered thirteen) in it, left the little creek and doubled the point of Halbrane Land. On the previous day we had fully and finally debated the question of our departure, with the understanding that if it were settled in the affirmative, we should start without delay. The captain of the Jane was ...Read More

CHAPTER XXVI. A LITTLE REMNANT. That same day, in the afternoon, the Paracuta departed from the coast of the of the Sphinx, which had lain to the west of us since the 21st of February. By the death of Dirk Peters the number of the passengers was reduced to twelve. These were all who remained of the double crew of the two schooners, the first comprising thirty-eight men, the second, thirty-two; in all seventy souls. But let it not be forgotten that the voyage of the Halbrane had been undertaken in fulfillment of a duty to humanity, and four ...Read More