Ледяной сфинкс
Chapter X. The Outset of the Enterprise
CaptainLenGuy’sintentionwastotaketheSandwichIslesforhispointofdeparturetowardsthesouth,afterhavingmadeacquaintancewithNewGeorgia,distanteighthundredmilesfromtheFalklands.ThustheschoonerwouldbeinlongitudeontherouteoftheJane.
Onthe2ndofNovemberthiscoursebroughtustothebearingswhichcertainnavigatorshaveassignedtotheAuroraIslands,30°15’oflatitudeand47°33’ofeastlongitude.
Well,then,notwithstandingtheaffirmations—whichIregardedwithsuspicion—ofthecaptainsoftheAurorain1762,oftheSaintMiguel,in1769,ofthePearl,in1779,ofthePrinicusandtheDolores,in1790,oftheAtrevida,in1794,whichgavethebearingsofthethreeislandsofthegroup,wedidnotperceiveasingleindicationoflandinthewholeofthespacetraversedbyus.ItwasthesamewithregardtotheallegedislandsoftheconceitedGlass.Notasinglelittleisletwastobeseeninthepositionhehadindicated,althoughthelook-outwasmostcarefullykept.ItistobefearedthathisExcellencytheGovernorofTristand’Acunhawillneverseehisnamefiguringingeographicalnomenclature.
Itwasnowthe6thofNovember.OurpassagepromisedtobeshorterthanthatoftheJane.Wehadnoneedtohurry,however.Ourschoonerwouldarrivebeforethegatesoftheicebergwallwouldbeopen.Forthreedaystheweathercausedtheworkingoftheshiptobeunusuallylaborious,andthenewcrewbehavedverywell;thereupontheboatswaincongratulatedthem.
