Таємничий острів

           Now,thisanglebyaddingtoitthetwenty-sevendegreeswhichseparatedAlphafromtheantarcticpole,andbyreducingtotheleveloftheseatheheightofthecliffonwhichtheobservationhadbeenmade,wasfoundtobefifty-threedegrees.Thesefifty-threedegreesbeingsubtractedfromninetydegrees—thedistancefromthepoletotheequator—thereremainedthirty-sevendegrees.CyrusHardingconcluded,therefore,thatLincolnIslandwassituatedonthethirty-seventhdegreeofthesouthernlatitude,ortakingintoconsiderationthroughtheimperfectionoftheperformance,anerroroffivedegrees,thatitmustbesituatedbetweenthethirty-fifthandthefortiethparallel.

           Therewasonlythelongitudetobeobtained,andthepositionoftheislandwouldbedetermined,Theengineerhopedtoattemptthisthesameday,attwelveo’clock,atwhichmomentthesunwouldpassthemeridian.

           ItwasdecidedthatSundayshouldbespentinawalk,orratheranexploringexpedition,tothatsideoftheislandbetweenthenorthofthelakeandSharkGulf,andiftherewastimetheywouldpushtheirdiscoveriestothenorthernsideofCapeSouthMandible.Theywouldbreakfastonthedowns,andnotreturntillevening.

           Athalf-pasteightthelittlebandwasfollowingtheedgeofthechannel.Ontheotherside,onSafetyIslet,numerousbirdsweregravelystrutting.Theyweredivers,easilyrecognizedbytheircry,whichmuchresemblesthebrayingofadonkey.