By this time their return was expected in the northern metropolis, and the anxiety of the people had risen to very great intensity. As the ship was entering the harbour the whole population swarmed on the quays. The city was decked with every sign of rejoicing, and the sweet-toned peal of the great bells which hung in the towers of the vast world-cathedral, erected in honour of the Unknown, filled the air with their music. But when the engineers landed with their company who had returned from the dead, and when the knowledge of what had been found spread into the city, all was hushed in silence. Joy at the safety of the crew, and at the unexpected sight of their departed friends, was none the less; but awe was the predominant feeling. The certainty of everlasting life, and of the shutting for ever of the only door of exit, were not to be lightly received. The tremendous intelligence was immediately communicated to the world, and the Modern History of Hesperos began. CHAPTER XI. HERE BEGINS THE MODERN HISTORY OF HESPEROS. How the two hemispheres were amalgamated—Concerning the Sympathetic Telegraph; and how the great astonishment of the Hesperians at the first sight of the Doctor was fully explained. On the morning after the return of the ship the parliament met, and immediately passed a vote for the construction of a large fleet of submarine vessels, to be built on the pattern of the original whose voyage had proved so successful. It was evident that intercourse on a very large scale would take place between the two hemispheres. The southerly journey, as was now well known, might be effected in quite a different way; for an energetic blow on the head provided the intending traveller with a swift and gratuitous passage to the South Pole. But there were many objections to this mode of transit; and, at all events, the return journey was strictly confined to the submarine route. So the new fleet was at once put on the stocks, and all the Hesperian dockyards were provided with work in abundance for several years. Meanwhile the original ship was kept on hard duty. On each voyage, and in both directions, she was crowded with passengers, some eager to see the new discovered world, others longing to revisit the scenes of their former life. Presently, as one of the results of the discovery, there arose an important question in international law. Whether those persons, now residing in the southern hemisphere, and subjects of its government, but whose evanescence had taken place subsequently to the establishment of the universal empire of the north, were still bound by their northern allegiance, or, had the fact of evanescence discharged them of that allegiance, thus leaving them lawful citizens of the south.