"But, Lieutenant," said Mrs Barnett, "can we not count upon a few days' thaw-will not all this snow be rapidly converted into water?"
"Oh no, madam," replied Hobson, "a thaw at this time of year is not at all likely. Indeed I expect the thermometer will fall still lower, and it is very much to be regretted that we were unable to remove the snow when it was soft."
What, you think the temperature likely to become much colder?"
"I do most certainly, madam, 4? below zero-what is that at this latitude?"
"What would it be if we were at the Pole itself?"
"The Pole, madam, is probably not the coldest point of the globe, for most navigators agree that the sea is there open. From certain peculiarities of its geographical position it would appear that a certain spot on the shores of North Georgia, 95? longitude and 78? latitude, has the coldest mean temperature in the world: 2? below zero all the year round. It is, therefore, called the 'pole of cold.' "
"But," said Mrs Barnett, "we are more than 8? further south than that famous point."
"Well, I don't suppose we shall suffer as much at Cape Bathurst as we might have done in North Georgia. I only tell you of the 'pole of cold,' that you may not confound it with the Pole properly so-called when the lowness of the temperature is discussed. Great cold has besides been experienced on other points of the globe. The difference is, that the low temperature is not there maintained."
"To what places do you allude?" inquired Mrs Barnett; "I assure you I take the greatest interest in this matter of degrees of cold."
"As far as I can remember, madam," replied the Lieutenant, Arctic explorers state that at Melville Island the temperature fell to 61? below zero, and at Port Felix to 65?."