2io SIEGE OF THE SOUTH POLE 
On May 8th, 1842, he yielded very reluctantly to the 
entreaties of his wife and son to leave his work and 
take a little holiday to see the fountains playing at Ver- 
sailles. As the party was returning an accident hap- 
pened, the train caught fire and all three lost their lives, 
the charred remains being identified with the utmost 
difficulty. It was remembered that half a century before 
while an infant Dumont D’Urville had fallen into the 
fire and been rescued not a moment too soon, a tragic 
coincidence that caught the public fancy for a moment. 
