The Adventures of Captain Hatteras · Chapter
XXI: The Open Sea explained
The crew departs Altamont Harbor after discovering that mysterious footprints were their own.
What happens
The crew departs Altamont Harbor after discovering that mysterious footprints were their own. They sail northward across an open, vibrant polar sea teeming with wildlife, experiencing strange optical and atmospheric phenomena as they approach the North Pole.
Themes in this chapter
Exploration and Discovery
The crew pushes into unknown waters, driven by the hope of reaching the North Pole and discovering new land.
The Sublime and Dangerous Nature
The sea is depicted as a wondrous, almost supernatural realm filled with gigantic creatures and strange optical effects, yet it remains a perilous frontier.
Obsession and Madness
Hatteras is consumed by his fixation on the Pole, standing motionless at the bow, unable to look away from the horizon.
Characters to notice
- John Hatteras
Stands at the bow, gazing north with intense desire, hoping to find land at the Pole.
- Dr. Clawbonny
Discovers the missing object-glass, realizes the footprints were their own, and marvels at the abundant marine life.
- Johnson
Helps prepare the launch and takes the helm as they sail north.
- Bell
Assists with preparations; his broken snowshoes had created the misleading footprints.
- Altamont
Lies among the cargo in the launch during the voyage.
Key passages
“The doctor, who was harassed by his thoughts, wanted to take a last view of the country, and he ascended a little hill about a hundred feet high, whence he had a distant view to the south.”
Troubled by lingering doubts, the doctor climbed a small hill to survey the southern landscape one final time.
Dr. Clawbonny's unease leads him to seek a last vantage point.
“The sea, with its various colors, appeared strangely transparent, and endowed with a wonderful dispersive quality, as if it had been made with carburet of sulphur.”
The ocean displayed an uncanny clarity and prismatic effect, resembling a liquid made of carbon disulfide.
Description of the sea's remarkable transparency and color.
“Their emotions, their breathing and digestion, were endowed with superhuman energy; their ideas became more excited; they lived a whole day in an hour.”
Their feelings, breath, and even digestion seemed supercharged; their thoughts raced, and time felt compressed.
The intense polar atmosphere heightens the crew's physical and mental state.