352 PLANTING THE FLAG. 



It possessed a fascination for me, and it was with no 

 ordinary sensations that I contemplated my situation, 

 with one solitary companion, in that hitherto untrod- 

 den desert ; while my nearness to the earth's axis, the 

 consciousness of standing upon land far beyond the 

 limits of previous observation, the reflections which 

 crossed my mind respecting the vast ocean which lay 

 spread out before me, the thought that these ice- 

 girdled waters might lash the shores of distant islands 

 where dwell human beings of an unknown race, were 

 circumstances calculated to invest the very air Avith 

 mystery, to deepen the curiosity, and to strengthen 

 the resolution to persevere in my determination to 

 sail upon this sea and to explore its furthest limits ; 

 and as I recalled the struggles which had been made 

 to reach this sea, — through the ice and across the 

 ice, — by generations of brave men, it seemed as if 

 the spirits of these Old Worthies came to encourage 

 me, as their experience had already guided me ; and 

 I felt that 1 had within my grasp " the great and 

 notable thing " which had inspired the zeal of sturdy 

 Frobrisher, and that I had achieved the hope of 

 matchless Parry. 





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