Over all the known surface of the earth no one had ever seen anything like this; there were but two places where such an immeasurable plain was possible, and those were at the flattened poles.

Where I was I now knew well.

I had reached the antarctic pole.

Here the earth was flat--an immense level with no roundness to lessen the reach of the horizon but an almost even surface that gave an unimpeded view for hundreds of miles.
The subterranean channel had rushed through the mountains and had carried me here.

Here came all the waters of the Northern ocean pouring into this vast polar sea, perhaps to issue forth from it by some similar passage.