What became of the whales in that time? Doubtless they
went beneath the icebergs, seeking more practicable seas.
As to the seals and morses, accustomed to live in a hard climate,
they remained on these icy shores. These creatures have the
instinct to break holes in the ice-field and to keep them open.
To these holes they come for breath; when the birds,
driven away by the cold, have emigrated to the north,
these sea mammals remain sole masters of the polar continent.
But the reservoirs were filling with water, and the Nautilus
was slowly descending. At 1,000 feet deep it stopped;
its screw beat the waves, and it advanced straight towards
the north at a speed of fifteen miles an hour. Towards night
it was already floating under the immense body of the iceberg.
At three in the morning I was awakened by a violent shock.
I sat up in my bed and listened in the darkness,
when I was thrown into the middle of the room.
The Nautilus, after having struck, had rebounded violently.
I groped along the partition, and by the staircase to the saloon,
which was lit by the luminous ceiling.
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