IQO THE FUR COUNTRY, almost audibly. She gazed across the sea for the missing continent, which was now left several hundred miles behind, and it rushed upon her mind with a fresh shock that she would never set foot on America again. Her agitation was indeed excusable, and it was shared by the Lieutenant and the Sergeant. All quickened their stei)S, eager to reach the abrupt angle in the south. The ground rose slightly as they advanced, and the layers of earth and sand became thicker; this of course was explained by the former proximity of this part of the coast to the true continent. The thickness of the crust of ice and of the layer of earth at the point of junction increasing, as it probably did, every century, explained the long resistance of the isthmus, which nothing but some extra- ordinary convulsion could have overcome. Such a convulsion was the earthquake of the 8th January, which, although it had only affected the continent of North America, had sufficed to break the connecting-link, and to launch Victoria Island upon the wide ocean. At four o'clock p.m., the angle was reached. Walruses* Bay, formed by an indentation of the firm ground, had disappeared! It had remained behind with the continent. "By my faith, madam! " exclaimed the Sergeant, " it's lucky for you we didn't call it Paulina Barnett Bay! " " Yes," replied the lady, " I begin to think I am an unlucky god- mother for newly-discovered places."
