of the sole remaining fragment of Gibraltar.

CHAPTER XV
AN ENIGMA FROM THE SEA

Lieutenant Procope had been left on board in charge of the _Dobryna_,
and on resuming the voyage it was a task of some difficulty

to make him understand the fact that had just come to light.
Some hours were spent in discussion and in attempting to penetrate

the mysteries of the situation.
There were certain things of which they were perfectly certain.

They could be under no misapprehension as to the distance they
had positively sailed from Gourbi Island towards the east

before their further progress was arrested by the unknown shore;
as nearly as possible that was fifteen degrees; the length

of the narrow strait by which they had made their way across
that land to regain the open sea was about three miles and a half;

thence onward to the island, which they had been assured,
on evidence that they could not disbelieve, to be upon

the site of Gibraltar, was four degrees; while from Gibraltar
to Gourbi Island was seven degrees or but little more.

What was it altogether? Was it not less than thirty degrees?
In that latitude, the degree of longitude represents eight

and forty miles. What, then, did it all amount to?
Indubitably, to less than 1,400 miles. So brief a voyage would bring

the _Dobryna_ once again to her starting-point, or, in other words,
would enable her to complete the circumnavigation of the globe.

How changed the condition of things! Previously, to sail from
Malta to Gibraltar by an eastward course would have involved

the passage of the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean,
the Pacific, the Atlantic; but what had happened now?

Why, Gibraltar had been reached as if it had been just at Corfu,
and some three hundred and thirty degrees of the earth's circuit

had vanished utterly.
After allowing for a certain margin of miscalculation, the main fact

remained undeniable; and the necessary inference that Lieutenant Procope
drew from the round of the earth being completed in 1 ,400 miles,

was that the earth's diameter had been reduced by about fifteen
sixteenths of its length.

"If that be so," observed the count, "it accounts for some
of the strange phenomena we witness. If our world has become

so insignificant a spheroid, not only has its gravity diminished,
but its rotary speed has been accelerated; and this affords an

adequateexplanation of our days and nights being thus curtailed.
But how about the new orbit in which we are moving?"

He paused and pondered, and then looked at Procope as though
awaiting from him some further elucidation of the difficulty.

The lieutenant hesitated. When, in a few moments, he began
to speak, Servadac smiled intelligently, anticipating the answer

he was about to hear.
"My conjecture is," said Procope, "that a fragment of considerable magnitude

has been detached from the earth; that it has carried with it an envelope
of the earth's sphere" target="_blank" title="n.大气；空气；气氛">atmosphere, and that it is now traveling through the solar

system in an orbit that does not correspond at all with the proper orbit
of the earth."

The hypothesis was plausible; but what a multitude of bewildering
speculations it entailed! If, in truth, a certain mass had been broken

off from the terrestrial sphere, whither would it wend its way?
What would be the measure of the eccentricity of its path?

What would be its period round the sun? Might it not, like a comet,
be carried away into the vast infinity of space? or, on the other hand,

might it not be attracted to the great central source of light and heat,
and be absorbed in it? Did its orbit correspond with the orbit

of the ecliptic? and was there no chance of its ever uniting again
with the globe, from which it had been torn off by so sudden and

violent a disruption?
A thoughtful silence fell upon them all, which Servadac was the first

to break. "Lieutenant," he said, "your explanation is ingenious,
and accounts for many appearances; but it seems to me that in one

point it fails."
"How so?" replied Procope. "To my mind the theory meets all objections."

"I think not," Servadac answered. "In one point, at least,
it appears to me to break down completely."

"What is that?" asked the lieutenant.
"Stop a moment," said the captain. "Let us see that we understand

each other right. Unless I mistake you, your hypothesis is that a
fragment of the earth, comprising the Mediterranean and its shores

from Gibraltar to Malta, has been developed into a new asteroid,
which is started on an independent orbit in the solar regions.

Is not that your meaning?"
"Precisely so," the lieutenant acquiesced.

"Well, then," continued Servadac, "it seems to me to be at
fault in this respect: it fails, and fails completely,

to account for the geologicalcharacter of the land that we
have found now encompassing this sea. Why, if the new land is

a fragment of the old--why does it not retain its old formation?
What has become of the granite and the calcareous deposits?

How is it that these should all be changed into a mineral
concrete with which we have no acquaintance?"

No doubt, it was a serious objection; for, however likely it might
be that a mass of the earth on being detached would be eccentric

in its movements, there was no probable reason to be alleged why
the material of its substance should undergo so complete a change.

There was nothing to account for the fertile shores, rich in vegetation,
being transformed into rocks arid and barren beyond precedent.

The lieutenant felt the difficulty, and owned himself unprepared to give at
once an adequatesolution; nevertheless, he declined to renounce his theory.

He asserted that the arguments in favor of it carried conviction to his mind,
and that he entertained no doubt but that, in the course of time,

all apparently antagonistic circumstances would be explained so as to become
consistent with the view he took. He was careful, however, to make it

understood that with respect to the original cause of the disruption
he had no theory to offer; and although he knew what expansion

might be the result of subterranean forces, he did not venture to say
that he considered it sufficient to produce so tremendous an effect.

The origin of the catastrophe was a problem still to be solved.
"Ah! well," said Servadac, "I don't know that it matters much

where our new little planet comes from, or what it is made of,
if only it carries France along with it."

"And Russia," added the count.
"And Russia, of course," said Servadac, with a polite bow.

There was, however, not much room for this sanguine expectation,
for if a new asteroid had thus been brought into existence,

it must be a sphere of extremelylimited dimensions, and there could
be little chance that it embraced more than the merest fraction

of either France or Russia. As to England, the total cessation
of all telegraphic communication between her shores and Gibraltar

was a virtual proof that England was beyond its compass.
And what was the true measurement of the new little world?

At Gourbi Island the days and nights were of equal length,
and this seemed to indicate that it was situated on the equator;

hence the distance by which the two poles stood apart would
be half what had been reckoned would be the distance completed

by the _Dobryna_ in her circuit. That distance had been already
estimated to be something under 1,400 miles, so that the Arctic Pole

of their recently fashioned world must be about 350 miles to the north,
and the Antarctic about 350 miles to the south of the island.

Compare these calculations with the map, and it is at once
apparent that the northernmost limit barely touched the coast

of Provence, while the southernmost reached to about lat.
20 degrees N., and fell in the heart of the desert.

The practical test of these conclusions would be made by
future investigation, but meanwhile the fact appeared very much

to strengthen the presumption that, if Lieutenant Procope
had not arrived at the whole truth, he had made a considerable

advance towards it.
The weather, ever since the storm that had driven the _Dobryna_

into the creek, had been magnificent. The wind continued favorable,
and now under both steam and canvas, she made a rapid progress towards

the north, a direction in which she was free to go in consequence
of the total disappearance of the Spanish coast, from Gibraltar right