"Then," continued Bainbridge, "it must be remembered that so far as the
actual leap is concerned, he missed the opposite edge of the abyss--for
he did miss it, and any other man would have gone to the bottom of the
chasm. It was only the length of his arm, with its excessive strength,
and the iron grip of that enormous hand, which prevented complete
failure. As a matter of fact, the walls of the abyss being fifty feet
apart, Peters leaped only forty-seven feet. Am I correct?"

Again I assented.

"Then," said Bainbridge, "we have brought within the limits of reason
thirty-five of the fifty feet, and fifteen feet remain to be accounted
for. Now let us recall to your memory the fact that the edge of the
abyss toward which he leaped was twelve feet lower than the edge from
which he sprung; and that, in his progress across the chasm he fell, in
addition to this twelve feet, his own height--which, according to Pym's
diary was, at that period, four feet and eight inches. If Peters could
have covered thirty-five feet on level ground, could he have covered
fifty feet with the advantage of a drop of nearly seventeen feet?
Assuming a certain weight for Peters, we could calculate the number of
foot-pounds of energy, or the initial velocity, necessary to make a leap
of thirty-five feet on level ground, and how many foot-pounds it would
require to make a leap of fifty feet with a drop of sixteen feet and
eight inches taken into the conditions. But as most of the equations in
our calculation are approximative, I prefer that the element of
gravitation should be handled in a general way. If a leaper were to
impel himself horizontally only, he would, in the shortest leap, fall
below a level. This fall may be met to the extent of about two feet, by
drawing up the legs--that is, by 'hunkering' as the leap progresses, and
alighting on his feet with the body to that extent lower than when the