At length, about six in the evening, a dim, hazy, shapeless sort of mist seemed to rise far away between sea and sky. It was not a cloud, for it was constantly vanishing, and then reappearing next minute. Hatteras was the first to notice this peculiar phenomenon; but after an hour's scrutiny through his telescope, he could make nothing of it. All at once, however, some sure indication met his eye, and stretching out his arm to the horizon, he shouted, in a clear ringing voice--- "Land! land!" His words produced an electrical effect on his companions, and every man rushed to his side. "I see it, I see it," said Clawbonny. "Yes, yes, so do I!" exclaimed Johnson. "It is a cloud," said Altamont. "Land! land!" repeated Hatteras, in tones of absolute conviction. Even while he spoke the appearance vanished, and when it returned again the Doctor fancied he caught a gleam of light about the smoke for an instant. [Illustration: "It is a volcano!" he exclaimed.--P.217] "It is a volcano!" he exclaimed. "A volcano?" repeated Altamont. "Undoubtedly." [Illustration: ] "In so high a latitude?" "Why not? Is not Iceland a volcanic island--indeed, almost made of volcanoes, one might say?" "Well, has not our famous countryman, James Ross, affirmed the existence of two active volcanoes, the Erebus and the Terror, on the Southern Continent, in longitude 170 deg. and latitude 78 deg.? Why, then, should not volcanoes be found near the North Pole?" "It is possible, certainly," replied Altamont. "Ah, now I see it distinctly," exclaimed the Doctor." It is a volcano!" "Let us make right for it then," said Hatteras. [Illustration: ] It was impossible longer to doubt the proximity of the coast. In twenty-four hours, probably, the bold navigators might hope to set foot on its untrodden soil. But strange as it was, now that they were so near the goal of their voyage, no one showed the joy which might have been expected. Each man sat silent, absorbed in his own thoughts, wondering what sort of place this Pole must be. The birds seemed to shun it, for though it was evening, they were all flying towards the south with outspread wings. Was it, then, so inhospitable, that not so much as a sea-gull or a ptarmigan could find a shelter? The fish, too, even the large cetacea, were hastening away through the transparent waters. What [Illustration: ] could cause this feeling either of repulsion or terror? At last sleep overcame the tired men, and one after another dropped off, leaving Hatteras to keep watch.