So far as I could perceive, we were quite at liberty, if we wished, to take a boat and escape over the sea.

It seemed also quite likely that if we had ordered out a galley and a gang of oarsmen, we should have been supplied with all that we might want in the most cheerful manner.

Such a thought, however, was absurd.

Flight! Why should I think of flying?
I had long ago lost all idea of time; and here, where it was for the present perpetual day, I was more at a loss than ever.

I supposed that it was somewhere in the month of March, but whether at the beginning or the end I could not tell.