On the 1st of January, 1861, the doctor made a discovery. It was not quite so cold, and he had resumed his interrupted studies; he was reading Sir Edward Belcher's account of his expedition to the Polar Seas; all at once a passage struck him; he read it again and again. It was where Sir Edward Belcher relates that after reaching the extremity of Queen's Channel he had discovered important traces of the passage and residence of men. "They were," said he, "very superior habitations to those which might be attributed to the wandering Esquimaux. The walls had foundations, the floors of the interior had been covered with a thick layer of fine gravel, and were paved. Reindeer, seal, and walrus bones were seen in great quantities. _We found some coal._" At the last words the doctor was struck with an idea; he carried the book to Hatteras and showed him the passage. "They could not have found coal on this deserted coast," said Hatteras; "it is not possible!" "Why should we doubt what Belcher says? He would not have recorded such a fact unless he had been certain and had seen it with his own eyes." "And what then, doctor?" "We aren't a hundred miles from the coast where Belcher saw the coal, and what is a hundred miles' excursion? Nothing. Longer ones than that have often been made across the ice." "We will go," said Hatteras. Johnson was immediately told of their resolution, of which he strongly approved; he told his companions about it: some were glad, others indifferent. "Coal on these coasts!" said Wall, stretched on his bed of pain. "Let them go," answered Shandon mysteriously. But before Hatteras began his preparations for the journey, he wished to be exactly certain of the _Forward's_ position. He was obliged to be mathematically accurate as to her whereabouts, because of finding her again. His task was very difficult; he went upon deck and took at different moments several lunar distances and the meridian heights of the principal stars. These observations were hard to make, for the glass and mirrors of the instrument were covered with ice from Hatteras's breath; he burnt his eyelashes more than once by touching the brass of the glasses. However, he obtained exact bases for his calculations, and came down to make them in the room. When his work was over, he raised his head in astonishment, took his map, pricked it, and looked at the doctor. "What is it?" asked the latter. "In what latitude were we at the beginning of our wintering?" "We were in latitude 78 degrees 15 minutes, by longitude 95 degrees 35 minutes; exactly at the Frozen Pole." "Well," said Hatteras, in a low tone, "our ice-field has been drifting! We are two degrees farther north and farther west, and three hundred miles at least from your store of coal!" "And those poor fellows don't know," said the doctor. "Hush!" said Hatteras, putting his finger on his lips. CHAPTER XXVIII PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE