With their telescopes they could see nothing on the horizon which indicated the presence of land.

If the sea should stretch out before them, as they hoped and expected, a sail of about seventy miles ought to bring them to the pole.
The Dipsey did not go at full speed; there was no hurry, and as he was in absolutely unknown waters, Captain Hubbell wished to take no risks of sunken reefs or barely submerged islands.

Soundings were frequent, and they found that the polar sea--at least that part over which they were sailing was a comparatively shallow body of water.
Before they left Sardis, preparations had been made for an appropriate and permanent designation of the exact position of the northern end of the earth's axis.

If this should be discovered to be on solid land, there was a great iron standard, or column, on board, in detached parts, with all appliances for setting it up firmly in the rocks or earth or ice; but if the end of the said axis should be found to be covered by water of not too great depth, a buoy had been provided which should be anchored upon the polar point.
This buoy was a large hollow, aluminium globe, from which a tall steel flag-post projected upward to a considerable height, bearing a light weather-vane, which, when the buoy should be in its intended position, would always point southward, no matter which way the wind might blow.
This great buoy contained various appropriate articles, which had been hermetically sealed up in it before it left Sardis, where it was manufactured.

All the documents, books, coins, and other articles which are usually placed in the corner-stones of important buildings were put in this, together with the names of the persons who had gone on this perilous expedition and those who had been its projectors and promoters.
More than this, there was an appropriate inscription deeply cut into the metal on the upper part of the buoy, with a space left for the date of the discovery, should it ever take place.
But the mere ceremony of anchoring a buoy at the exact position of the pole was not enough to satisfy the conscientious ambition of Mr.Gibbs.
He had come upon this perilous voyage with the earnest intention of doing his duty in all respects, while endeavoring to make the great discovery of the age; and if that discovery should be made, he believed that his country should share in the glory and in the material advantage, whatever that might be, of the achievement.