The months had flown, until it was
again December--the antarctic midsummer month, in which, and the greater
part of January, there is no night.
"At this, the delightful season of the antarctic year, a beautiful
yacht-like vessel was equipped; and with Peters as captain, and four men
under his orders; Lilama, and a lady friend, with two maids; and Pym,
accompanied by his now close friend, Diregus, the journey began.
"To Peters' mind, the most remarkable part of this pleasure excursion,
was the extreme differences in climatic conditions which the party
experienced within the range of a single day's, or even a single hour's
travel. In December and January, Hili-li was so warm as scarcely to be
habitable--certainly not comfortably habitable for natives of the
central temperate zone of North America; yet at this same period of
time, there was a small island on the meridian of Hili-li, and only
thirty miles from the large surface-crater, on which the temperature was
about 65 deg. F. There was, just across 'The Mountain'--as the Hili-lites
frequently spoke of the rings of mountain-ranges surrounding the central
crater--an island of somewhat greater area, upon which ice was at all
times to be found at a few feet above sea-level, and which, during eight
months of the year, was so cold that no animal life could have existed
upon it.
Pages:
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239