They are flightless birds, but excellent swimmers and tremendous
in size, with white breast, short wings, black head, and long
peaked bills. They stand fully nine feet high. They looked at us
with little surprise, and presently waddled, rather than walked,
toward the water, and swam away in a northerly direction.[21]

[21 "The nights are never so dark at the Poles as in other
regions, for the moon and stars seem to possess twice as much
light and effulgence. In addition, there is a continuous light,
the varied shades and play of which are amongst the strangest
phenomena of nature." -- Rambrosson's Astronomy.]

The events that occurred during the following hundred or more
days beggar description. We were on an open and iceless sea. The
month we reckoned to be November or December, and we knew the
so-called South Pole was turned toward the sun. Therefore, when
passing out and away from the internal electrical light of "The
Smoky God" and its genial warmth, we would be met by the light
and warmth of the sun, shining in through the south opening of
the earth. We were not mistaken.[22]

[22 "The fact that gives the phenomenon of the polar aurora
its greatest importance is that the earth becomes self-luminous;
that, besides the light which as a planet is received from the
central body, it shows a capability of sustaining a luminous
process proper to itself." -- Humboldt.]

There were times when our little craft, driven by wind that was
continuous and persistent, shot through the waters like an arrow.