"I dare say," said Johnson; "you know everything."
"My friends, I only know what others have taught me, and when I've finished you'll know exactly as much. This is what I know about cold and the lowest temperatures observed in Europe. A great many noteworthy winters have been known, and it seems as if the severest has a periodic return about every forty-one years,—a period which nearly corresponds with the greater appearance of spots on the sun. I can mention the winter of 1364, when the Rhone was frozen as far as Arles; that of 1408, when the Danube was frozen its whole length, and when wolves ran over to Jutland without wetting their feet; that of 1509, during which the Mediterranean at Cette and Marseilles and the Adriatic at Venice were frozen, and the Baltic as late as April 10; that of 1608, which killed all the cattle in England; that of 1789, when the Thames was frozen—as far as Gravesend, six leagues—below London; that of 1813, of which the French retain such a terrible memory; and that of 1829, the earliest and longest winter of this century. So much for Europe."
"But what temperature has been reached above the Arctic Circle?" asked Altamont.
"Really," said the doctor, "I believe we have experienced the greatest cold that has ever been observed, since our spirit thermometer indicated one day -72°; and if I remember aright, the lowest temperatures ever observed before were only -61° at Melville Island, -65° at Port Felix, and -70° at Fort Reliance."
"Yes," said Hatteras; "we were delayed, and unfortunately too, by a very severe winter!"
"You were delayed?" exclaimed Altamont, staring at the captain.
"In our journey westward," interposed the doctor, hastily.
"So," said Altamont, continuing the conversation, "the maximum and minimum temperatures endured by men vary about two hundred degrees?"
"Yes," answered the doctor; "a thermometer exposed to the open air and sheltered from reflection has never risen above 135°, and in the greatest colds it never falls below -72°. So, my friends, you see we can take our ease."
"But still," said Johnson, "if the sun were to be extinguished suddenly, would not the earth endure greater cold?"