110 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



the goose is an impassioned traveler, even more so 

 than its companion, the duck. Influenced by con- 

 siderations of convenience, the latter often nests in 

 our latitudes; the goose is more given to mistrust 

 and passes us by. For the laying of its eggs it must 

 seek regions as near the Pole as possible, regions 

 of never-melting ice. The desolate wastes of 

 Greenland and Spitzbergen, and, still farther north, 

 the islands lost in the fogs of the polar ocean, are 

 the regions whither they feel bound to return every 

 summer. The point of departure, where the bird 

 has passed the winter in the midst of plenty when 

 its native country was plunged in continual night 

 and buried under fathomless depths of snow and ice 

 the point of departure is far south, in central 

 Africa perhaps, so that the distance to be covered 

 measures almost a quarter-circumference of the 

 earth. Now, my friends, let us put ourselves in the 

 place of the wild goose just about to take its flight 

 for the long expedition, and see which of the two 

 parties will be the more perplexed, the more stupid. 

 I leave out of the account means of transportation : 

 however good a mount we might have, we should 

 cut a pitiable figure beside the goose, which with 

 powerful wing soars above the clouds and conquers 

 space. I pass by the means of transportation and 

 ask only what direction is to be taken. I appeal to 

 your knowledge of geography." 



"Since it is only necessary to go north," answered 

 Jules, "I should first make sure of the points of the 

 compass. I should turn toward the sun, and if it is 



