On hearing this information, I suffered a temporary access of
despair. He had escaped me; and I must commence a destructive
and almost endless journey across the mountainous ices of the
ocean, -- amidst cold that few of the inhabitants could long
endure, and which I, the native of a genial and sunny climate,
could not hope to survive. Yet at the idea that the fiend should
live and be triumphant, my rage and vengeance returned, and,
like a mighty tide, overwhelmed every other feeling. After a
slight repose, during which the spirits of the dead hovered
round, and instigated me to toil and revenge, I prepared for my
journey.
I exchanged my land-sledge for one fashioned for the
inequalities of the Frozen Ocean; and purchasing a plentiful
stock of provisions, I departed from land.
I cannot guess how many days have passed since then; but I have
endured misery, which nothing but the eternal sentiment of a
just retribution burning within my heart could have enabled me
to support. Immense and rugged mountains of ice often barred up
my passage, and I often heard the thunder of the ground sea,
which threatened my destruction. But again the frost came, and
made the paths of the sea secure.