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The idea of betaking themselves to the Dobryna and Hansa could
not for a moment be seriously entertained; not only did the structure
of the vessels make them utterly insufficient to give substantial shelter,
but they were totally unfitted to be trusted as to their stability
when exposed to the enormous pressure of the accumulated ice.
Neither Servadac, nor the count, nor Lieutenant Procope were men to be
easily disheartened, but it could not be concealed that they felt themselves
in circumstances by which they were equally harassed and perplexed.
The sole expedient that their united counsel could suggest was to obtain
a refuge below ground, and that was denied them by the strange and
impenetrable substratum of the soil; yet hour by hour the sun's disc was
lessening in its dimensions, and although at midday some faint radiance
and glow were to be distinguished, during the night the painfulness
of the cold was becoming almost intolerable.
Mounted upon Zephyr and Galette, the captain and the count
scoured the island in search of some available retreat.
Scarcely a yard of ground was left unexplored, the horses clearing
every obstacle as if they were, like Pegasus, furnished with wings.
But all in vain. Soundings were made again and again,
but invariably with the same result; the rock, hard as adamant,
never failed to reveal itself within a few feet of the surface
of the ground.
The excavation of any silo being thus manifestly hopeless,
there seemed nothing to be done except to try and render
the buildings alongside the gourbi impervious to frost.
To contribute to the supply of fuel, orders were given to collect
every scrap of wood, dry or green, that the island produced;
and this involved the necessity of felling the numerous trees
that were scattered over the plain. But toil as they might
at the accumulation of firewood, Captain Servadac and his
companions could not resist the conviction that the consumption
of a very short period would exhaust the total stock.
And what would happen then?
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