"As I know," he said, "that the developments of the past three days must, quite naturally, have developed a curiosity in you of some intensity to hear the sequel of the Pym adventures, I shall endeavor not to keep you unnecessarily waiting; but shall allay at once a portion of your curiosity. Later--tomorrow, if agreeable--I will deal with the particulars of that strange voyage--perhaps the strangest ever made by man." He picked up, and smoothed out upon the table, the roll of paper which he had brought with him; and then continued: "In the first place, I will briefly and in a very general way describe for you the south polar region, which, I feel certain, Pym and Peters reached, and where they resided for somewhat more than one year. Here is a map which I have with some care drawn from rough sketches jotted down as I sat on the edge of Peters' cot, and each of which sketches I had him verify. [Illustration: Map of Southpolar region and hili-li A. Central space of boiling lava Diameter 15 miles. Probable situation South Pole B. Ring of hot lava, white hot at inner edge, red hot at outer edge. Width, about 4 miles C. Ring of hot lava, dull red, shading to black heat at outer edge. Width, about 4 miles D. Ring 4m in width. Blocks of lava, rock salt, and coral-like terrains EEE. Volcanic mountains, up to 8m in height and valleys FFF. Antarctic Ocean with islands SOUTH POLAR REGION _and_ HILI-LI LAND.] "Now move this way with your chair, and look at this map. And in the first place, I will tell you that at the South Pole--probably not precisely at the pole, but certainly within the sixth of a degree of it--is a circular surface of absolutely white-hot, boiling lava, about fifteen miles in diameter. This surface was, in ages past, as indicated by surroundings, many times its present surface extent--say from seventy to seventy-five miles across. No doubt the surface of the earth at the Antarctic Pole had once cooled, and later become covered with water, though with very shallow water--probably at some points by none, at others by a depth of ten or fifteen feet. From some cause--and many causes might be imagined--this earth-and-water surface of say two hundred miles in circumference, sank into the interior of the earth, and the boiling lava came to the surface. We can scarcely conceive of the awful effect when the Antarctic Sea poured over the circumference of this mass of boiling earth and metal.