“Because when the orb of day sweeps in such long spirals, it’s difficult to measure its exact altitude above the horizon, and our instruments are open to committing serious errors.”
“Then what can you do?”
“I use only my chronometer,” Captain Nemo answered me. “At noon tomorrow, March 21, if, after accounting for refraction, the sun’s disk is cut exactly in half by the northern horizon, that will mean I’m at the South Pole.”
“Right,” I said. “Nevertheless, it isn’t mathematically exact proof, because the equinox needn’t fall precisely at noon.”
“No doubt, sir, but the error will be under 100 meters, and that’s close enough for us. Until tomorrow then.”
Captain Nemo went back on board. Conseil and I stayed behind until five o’clock, surveying the beach, observing and studying. The only unusual object I picked up was an auk’s egg of remarkable size, for which a collector would have paid more than 1,000 francs. Its cream-colored tint, plus the streaks and markings that decorated it like so many hieroglyphics, made it a rare trinket. I placed it in Conseil’s hands, and holding it like precious porcelain from China, that cautious, sure-footed lad got it back to the Nautilus in one piece.
There I put this rare egg inside one of the glass cases in the museum. I ate supper, feasting with appetite on an excellent piece of seal liver whose flavor reminded me of pork. Then I went to bed; but not without praying, like a good Hindu, for the favors of the radiant orb.
The next day, March 21, bright and early at five o’clock in the morning, I climbed onto the platform. I found Captain Nemo there.
“The weather is clearing a bit,” he told me. “I have high hopes. After breakfast we’ll make our way ashore and choose an observation post.”
This issue settled, I went to find Ned Land. I wanted to take him with me. The obstinate Canadian refused, and I could clearly see that his tight-lipped mood and his bad temper were growing by the day. Under the circumstances I ultimately wasn’t sorry that he refused. In truth, there were too many seals ashore, and it would never do to expose this impulsive fisherman to such temptations.