"Because they have been made by the hand of man!"
"And why shouldn't they be?"
"For a very simple reason. Because man does not inhabit these islands!"
"Then how is your theory supported?"
"By an enormous array of accumulated evidence that there are vast continents to the north of us, which are inhabited both by man, reindeer, and other animals!"
"You mean continent, not continents," I suggested.
"On the contrary; I believe there are continents fully equaling in size Europe, Asia, Africa and the two Americas!"
Had the fellow lost his mind? I looked carefully to see if he were serious, and observing no indications of a joke, answered:
"Your theory might be all right if there was room enough around the pole for all the land you speak of; but as there isn't, I am afraid you'll have to be contented with one very moderate-sized continent, which I will admit it is barely possible may exist. As for its being inhabited, I don't believe it."
"It's a pity, Gurthrie, for you'll have to believe a great deal more than that before you get through with this journey. But speaking of the reindeer, do you know that immense herds of them roam over these islands; and that the enormous numbers which have been killed in former years—amounting to several thousand sometimes, in a single season—tends to support the theory that they have migrated from another land? But that is not all; for these creatures carry with them stronger evidences of a habitable region to the north—for they cannot have migrated from the south."