of a burning mountain is generally strewn.

Captain Servadac was of opinion that this peculiarity augured
favorably for the continuance of the eruption. Extreme violence

in physical, as well as in moral nature, is never of long duration.
The most terrible storms, like the most violent fits of passion,

are not lasting; but here the calm flow of the liquid fire appeared
to be supplied from a source that was inexhaustible, in the same way

as the waters of Niagara, gliding on steadily to their final plunge,
would defy all effort to arrest their course.

Before the evening of this day closed in, a most important change
was effected in the condition of the Gallian Sea by the intervention

of human agency. Notwithstanding the increasing cold, the sea,
unruffled as it was by a breath of wind, still retained its liquid state.

It is an established fact that water, under this condition of absolute
stillness, will remain uncongealed at a temperature several degrees

below zero, whilst experiment, at the same time, shows that a very
slight shock will often be sufficient to convert it into solid ice.

It had occurred to Servadac that if some communication could be opened
with Gourbi Island, there would be a fine scope for hunting expeditions.

Having this ultimate object in view, he assembled his little
colony upon a projecting rock at the extremity of the promontory,

and having called Nina and Pablo out to him in front, he said:
"Now, Nina, do you think you could throw something into the sea?"

"I think I could," replied the child, "but I am sure that Pablo
would throw it a great deal further than I can."

"Never mind, you shall try first."
Putting a fragment of ice into Nina's hand, he addressed himself to Pablo:

"Look out, Pablo; you shall see what a nice little fairy Nina is!
Throw, Nina, throw, as hard as you can."

Nina balanced the piece of ice two or three times in her hand,
and threw it forward with all her strength.

A sudden thrill seemed to vibrate across the motionless waters
to the distant horizon, and the Gallian Sea had become a solid

sheet of ice!
CHAPTER XXIII

A CARRIER-PIGEON
When, three hours after sunset, on the 23d of March, the Gallian

moon rose upon the westernhorizon, it was observed that she
had entered upon her last quarter. She had taken only four days

to pass from syzygy to quadrature, and it was consequently evident
that she would be visible for little more than a week at a time,

and that her lunation would be accomplished within sixteen days.
The lunar months, like the solar days, had been diminished by

one-half. Three days later the moon was in conjunction with the sun,
and was consequently lost to view; Ben Zoof, as the first observer

of the satellite, was extremely interested in its movements,
and wondered whether it would ever reappear.

On the 26th, under an sphere" target="_blank" title="n.大气；空气；气氛">atmosphereperfectly clear and dry,
the thermometer fell to 12 degrees F. below zero.

Of the present distance of Gallia from the sun, and the number
of leagues she had traversed since the receipt of the last

mysterious document, there were no means of judging;
the extent of diminution in the apparent disc of the sun did

not afford sufficient basis even for an approximate calculation;
and Captain Servadac was perpetually regretting that they could

receive no further tidings from the anonymous correspondent,
whom he persisted in regarding as a fellow-countryman.

The solidity of the ice was perfect; the utter stillness of the air at
the time when the final congelation of the waters had taken place had resulted

in the formation of a surface that for smoothness would rival a skating-rink;
without a crack or flaw it extended far beyond the range of vision.

The contrast to the ordinary aspect of polar seas was very remarkable.
There, the ice-fields are an agglomeration of hummocks and icebergs,

massed in wild confusion, often towering higher than the masts
of the largest whalers, and from the instability of their foundations

liable to an instantaneous loss of equilibrium; a breath of wind,
a slight modification of the temperature, not unfrequently serving

to bring about a series of changes outrivaling the most elaborate
transformation scenes of a pantomime. Here, on the contrary, the vast

white plain was level as the desert of Sahara or the Russian steppes;
the waters of the Gallian Sea were imprisoned beneath the solid sheet,

which became continually" target="_blank" title="ad.不断地，频繁地">continually stouter in the increasing cold.
Accustomed to the uneven crystallizations of their own freeze 的过去分词">frozen seas,

the Russians could not be otherwise than delighted with the polished
surface that afforded them such excellent opportunity for enjoying

their favorite pastime of skating. A supply of skates, found hidden
away amongst the _Dobryna's_ stores, was speedily brought into use.

The Russians undertook the instruction of the Spaniards,
and at the end of a few days, during which the temperature

was only endurable through the absence of wind, there was not
a Gallian who could not skate tolerably well, while many of them

could describe figures involving the most complicated curves.
Nina and Pablo earned loud applause by their rapid proficiency;

Captain Servadac, an adept in athletics, almost outvied his instructor,
the count; and Ben Zoof, who had upon some rare occasions skated upon

the Lake of Montmartre (in his eyes, of course, a sea), performed
prodigies in the art.

This exercise was not only healthful in itself, but it was acknowledged that,
in case of necessity, it might become a very useful means of locomotion.

As Captain Servadac remarked, it was almost a substitute for railways,
and as if to illustrate this proposition, Lieutenant Procope, perhaps the

greatest expert in the party, accomplished the twenty miles to Gourbi Island
and back in considerably less than four hours.

The temperature, meanwhile, continued to decrease, and the average reading
of the thermometer was about 16 degrees F. below zero; the light also

diminished in proportion, and all objects appeared to be enveloped in a
half-defined shadow, as though the sun were undergoing a perpetual eclipse.

It was not surprising that the effect of this continuously overhanging gloom
should be to induce a frequentdepression of spirits amongst the majority

of the little population, exiles as they were from their mother earth,
and not unlikely" target="_blank" title="a.不像的；未必可能的">unlikely, as it seemed, to be swept far away into the regions

of another planetary sphere. Probably Count Timascheff, Captain Servadac,
and Lieutenant Procope were the only members of the community who could

bring any scientific judgment to bear upon the uncertainty that was
before them, but a general sense of the strangeness of their situation