“You may be sure of that, Ned,” I answered, “but I’m not. That’s why I want to see for myself.” “Well, professor,” the Canadian replied, “you can just drop that idea! You’ve made it to the Ice Bank, which is already far enough, but you won’t get any farther, neither your Captain Nemo or his Nautilus. And whether he wants to or not, we’ll head north again, in other words, to the land of sensible people.” I had to agree that Ned Land was right, and until ships are built to navigate over tracts of ice, they’ll have to stop at the Ice Bank. Indeed, despite its efforts, despite the powerful methods it used to split this ice, the Nautilus was reduced to immobility. Ordinarily, when someone can’t go any farther, he still has the option of returning in his tracks. But here it was just as impossible to turn back as to go forward, because every passageway had closed behind us, and if our submersible remained even slightly stationary, it would be frozen in without delay. Which is exactly what happened near two o’clock in the afternoon, and fresh ice kept forming over the ship’s sides with astonishing speed. I had to admit that Captain Nemo’s leadership had been most injudicious. Just then I was on the platform. Observing the situation for some while, the captain said to me: “Well, professor! What think you?” “I think we’re trapped, captain.” “Trapped! What do you mean?” “I mean we can’t go forward, backward, or sideways. I think that’s the standard definition of ‘trapped,’ at least in the civilized world.” “So, Professor Aronnax, you think the Nautilus won’t be able to float clear?” “Only with the greatest difficulty, captain, since the season is already too advanced for you to depend on an ice breakup.” “Oh, professor,” Captain Nemo replied in an ironic tone, “you never change! You see only impediments and obstacles! I promise you, not only will the Nautilus float clear, it will go farther still!” “Farther south?” I asked, gaping at the captain. “Yes, sir, it will go to the pole.” “To the pole!” I exclaimed, unable to keep back a movement of disbelief. “Yes,” the captain replied coolly, “the Antarctic pole, that unknown spot crossed by every meridian on the globe. As you know, I do whatever I like with my Nautilus.” Yes, I did know that! I knew this man was daring to the point of being foolhardy. But to overcome all the obstacles around the South Pole—even more unattainable than the North Pole, which still hadn’t been reached by the boldest navigators—wasn’t this an absolutely insane undertaking, one that could occur only in the brain of a madman? It then dawned on me to ask Captain Nemo if he had already discovered this pole, which no human being had ever trod underfoot. “No, sir,” he answered me, “but we’ll discover it together. Where others have failed, I’ll succeed. Never before has my Nautilus cruised so far into these southernmost seas, but I repeat: it will go farther still.”