But, although he was not hunting, the doctor had not time to geologize; he had to walk too quickly, in order to keep up with his friends. Still, he observed the land and talked as much as possible, for had he not there would have been total silence in the little band; neither Altamont nor the captain had any desire to talk to one another.
By ten o'clock the hunters had got a dozen miles to the east; the sea was hidden beneath the horizon; the doctor proposed a halt for breakfast. They swallowed it rapidly, and in half an hour they were off again. The ground was sloping gently; a few patches of snow, preserved either by their position or the slope of the rocks, gave it a woolly appearance, like waves in a high wind. The country was still barren, and looking as if no living being had ever set foot in it.
"We have no luck," said Altamont to the doctor; "to be sure, the country doesn't offer much food to animals, but the game here ought not to be over-particular, and ought to show itself."
"Don't let us despair," said the doctor; "the summer has hardly begun; and if Parry met so many animals at Melville Island, we may be as lucky here."
"Still, we are farther north," said Hatteras.
"Certainly, but that is unimportant; it is the pole of cold we ought to consider; that is to say, that icy wilderness in the middle of which we wintered with the Forward; now the farther north we go, the farther we are from the coldest part of the globe; we ought to find, beyond, what Parry, Ross, and others found on the other side."
"Well," said Altamont, with a regretful sigh, "so far we've been travellers rather than hunters."
"Be patient," answered the doctor; "the country is changing gradually, and I should be astonished if we don't find game enough in the ravines where vegetation has had a chance to sprout."