Captains Ganoe and Battell held a council in the library and made a careful study of the best authorities, but could find no solution to the problem, as to why we should be going south. It was determined to change our course to the northeast. Continuing in this direction, we found the cold increasing, while the northern lights grew brighter, and stars that had been obscured, again made their appearance above the horizon. At the end of this run, the ice-pack, now frozen solid, made its appearance. We changed our course toward the east, keeping the ice on our starboard quarter until we were again at the great tower from which we had started. We had discovered no opening in the ice-barriers and no solution to the problem we had started out to investigate. We found ourselves in an open sea, but encompassed by an impassable barrier of ice. We again determined to sail directly north, and, if possible, cross this wide expanse of ocean around which we had been sailing. In a few days we again found ourselves running south and leaving the pole star behind us. Star after star began to disappear behind the horizon. Again the light in the south appeared and began to grow brighter. Again, Captains Ganoe and Battell held a conference. After carefully comparing notes and going over all the facts revealed by our observations, Captain Ganoe asked me to hand him a magazine which he selected from the catalogue. I complied, and he looked through it for a minute and handed it to me saying: "There is the solution of the problem." I found the article which he had marked, to be a review of the "THEORY OF CONCENTRIC SPHERES," by Captain John Cleves Symms. "According to this theory," says the reviewer, "the earth is a hollow globe and open at the poles. The diameter of the northern opening, is about 2,000 miles, or 4,000 miles from outside to outside. The south opening is somewhat larger. The planes of these openings are parallel with each other, and form an angle of twelve degrees with the equator. The shell of the earth is about 1,000 miles thick, and the edges of the shell at the openings are called verges, and measure from the regular convexity without to the regular concavity within, about 1,500 miles." I turned and read the passage again, which he had marked for my careful perusal. I had never heard of this "Theory of Concentric Spheres." Could this earth be a hollow shell with an outer and inner surface? At first thought I felt like rejecting the idea as utterly absurd, but in view of the strange and inexplicable phenomena which we had encountered, and my confidence in the judgment of Captain Ganoe, I only requested him to tell me just what he thought about this "Hollow Globe Theory."