268 THE STORY-BOOK OF SCIENCE 



the neighborhood of the pole, the sun does not even 

 show it self, and there is no longer any daylight; for 

 six months there is the same darkness in the middle 

 of the day as at midnight." 



"And do people live in that country of the 

 pole, where the year is composed of a day last- 

 ing six months and a night of six months?" asked 

 Jules. 



"No, up to this time 1 man has not been able to 

 reach the pole on account of the horrible cold there ; 

 but there are countries more or less near the pole 

 which are inhabited. When winter comes, wine, 

 beer, and other beverages turn into blocks of ice in 

 their casks; a glass of water thrown into the air 

 falls back in flakes of snow; the moisture of the 

 breath becomes needles of rime at the opening of 

 the nostrils; the sea itself freezes to a great depth 

 and thus increases the apparent extent of the dry 

 land, which it resembles, having, like it, its fields of 

 snow and mountains of ice. For whole months the 

 sun does not show itself, and there is no difference 

 between day and night, or rather it is one long night, 

 the same a*t midday as at midnight. However, when 

 the weather is fine darkness is not complete ; the light 

 of the moon and stars, augmented by the whiteness 

 of the snow, produces a kind of semi-daylight suffi- 

 cient for seeing. By this wan light, in sledges drawn 

 in disorderly fashion by teams of dogs, the people 

 of these dark regions hunt what scanty game there 

 is. Fishing furnishes them more abundant food. 



i This was written before Peary's and Amundsen's achievements 

 in polar exploration. Trttnxl<t1ur. 



