“I? No!” said the doctor.
“Can you, Lowe?” asked the captain of the mate, who had now joined them after a good morning’s sleep.
“No, sir. It’s all chance work, this sailing to the north. We must search where we can. It’s of no use to say we’ll go here or there; we must go where the ice will let us.”
“Exactly; and take what walrus and seal we can on the way. Have you ever touched at Jan Mayen?”
“No, and never could get near enough to the island for fog and ice.”
“But you’ve heard a good deal about the place?”
“Yes; I’ve heard that it’s a land of high mountains, and that there’s a volcano at one end. Let’s see, there’s a kind of seal there, too, that is very abundant; but the place is rarely touched at, being famous for fogs, currents, and ice—all enemies to navigation.”
“Well, we will see if we cannot have better luck, and try to get there in fine weather,” said Captain Marsham. “What do you say, doctor?”
“That it will be a treat to land there. Besides, we may find our friends.”
The doctor walked forward, and Steve followed, with the idea of landing upon an unexplored coast growing in its fascination; and as the naturalist leaned over the bows to peer down into the clear water, the lad edged up alongside.