The Purchase of the North Pole: A sequel to "From the earth to the moon"Verne, Jules
Science
The Purchase of the North Pole: A sequel to "From the earth to the moon"
Verne, Jules
Science fiction, French -- Translations into English
“It is worthy of note that Barbicane & Co., or rather the directors of
the North Polar Practical Association, have evidently been desirous of
doing as little damage as possible. Had the discharge been effected
towards the north, the consequences would have been disastrous for the
most civilized portions of the globe; but by firing towards the south
the consequences, so far as the submergence of the land is concerned,
will only affect the less peopled and wilder countries.
“The globe will, for the purposes of this inquiry, be divided by two
great circles, intersecting at right angles at Kilimanjaro and the
antipodes of that mountain, thus giving four segments, two in the
northern hemisphere, and two in the southern hemisphere, separated by
lines in which no alteration of level will occur.
“1. The northern hemisphere:—
“The first segment, to the west of Kilimanjaro, will comprise Africa
from the Congo to Egypt, Europe from Turkey to Greenland, America from
British Columbia to Peru and Brazil north of San Salvador—in fact the
whole of the North Atlantic and the greater part of the Equatorial
Atlantic.
“The second segment, to the east of Kilimanjaro, will comprise the
greater part of Europe from the Black Sea to Sweden, the Russian Empire,
Arabia, almost all India, Persia, Beloochistan, Afghanistan, Turkestan,
the Celestial Empire, Mongolia, Japan, Corea, the Northern Pacific and
Alaska—and also the Polar regions, so regrettably placed in the
possession of Barbicane & Co.
“2. The southern hemisphere:—
“The third segment, to the east of Kilimanjaro, will comprise
Madagascar, Kerguelen Island, Mauritius, and all the islands of the
Indian Ocean, the Antarctic Ocean to the New Pole, the Malay Peninsula,
Java, Sumatra, Borneo, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and all
the southern Pacific up to the meridian of the Society Islands.
“The fourth segment, to the west of Kilimanjaro, will include Africa
south of the Congo and the Mozambique Channel, the Cape of Good Hope,
the South Atlantic, South America below Pernambuco and Lima, Bolivia,
Brazil, Uruguay, the Argentine Confederation, Tierra del Fuego, the
Sandwich and South Shetland Islands, and a portion of the South Pacific.
“Such will be the four segments of the globe divided by lines of no
alteration in level.
“In each of these four segments there will be a central point where the
effect will attain its maximum, either of increase or decrease.
“This maximum will approach 25,000 feet at each point and at the point
the consequences will be most serious.
“In two of the segments situated opposite each other in the northern and
southern hemispheres, the sea will retire to flow into the two other
segments.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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