Every day that passed by found the temperature decreasing.
Our friends were obliged to put on fur clothing, and the electric heating apparatus was put in operation.
It made the interior of the Ranger warm and comfortable, and rendered its inmates quite cozy.
The mercury in the thermometer had gone down to within two degrees of zero, and the upper regions of the air became filled with fine needles of ice that stung the skin of our friends when exposed to it.
But little sunlight was seen each day owing to the winter season.
Moreover, the sky in this region was so filled with heavy leaden-hued clouds that the meager light was still further reduced.
Upon first observing the icy particles that constantly filled the air, Frank was very much amazed, and involuntarily cried:
“We have been driven adrift in a frozen sky.”
“There is the island of Nova Zembla now,” said the professor, pointing away to the northeastward. “It is a land the interior of which has never been explored yet.”
Frank did not like the appearance of the island.