as if square miles of atmosphere were driving onward in a steady
mass, and hurled him and his ship against an iceberg, and nothing
of his vessel but pieces of wood and iron, which the bears could
not eat, was ever seen again. This was the last polar expedition
of that sort, or any sort; but my plan is so easy of
accomplishment--at least, so it seems to me--and so devoid of risk
and danger, that it amazes me that it has never been tried before.
In fact, if I had not thought that it would be such a comparatively
easy thing to go to the pole, I believe I should have been there
long ago; but I have always considered that it could be done at
some season when more difficult and engrossing projects were not
pressing upon me.

"What I propose to do is to sink down below the bottom of the ice
in the arctic regions, and then to proceed in a direct line
northward to the pole. The distance between the lower portions
of the ice and the bottom of the Arctic Ocean I believe to be
quite sufficient to allow me all the room needed for navigation.
I do not think it necessary to even consider the contingency of
the greatest iceberg or floe reaching the bottom of the arctic
waters; consequently, without trouble or danger, the Dipsey can
make a straight course for the extreme north.

"By means of the instruments the Dipsey will carry it will be
comparatively easy to determine the position of the pole, and
before this point is reached I believe she will find herself in
an open sea, where she may rise to the surface. But if this
should not be the case, a comparatively thin place in the ice
will be chosen, and a great opening blown through it by means of
an ascensional shell, several of which she will carry. She will