"Of what use would the gold be to them in that case?" remarked Yondozi.
I replied that there was a large section of our people who would brave any dangers and endure the severest hardships and privations in order to become possessed of the coveted metal.
"And would they be wholly actuated by a spirit of gain?" he inquired.
"In many cases," I answered, "love of adventure alone would be the prime factor, while probably in the majority they would be influenced by a love of gain, adventure, and change."
Moro here remarked that perhaps we might be able to send them the Penguin with a full cargo of gold, or melema, as he termed it. "Perhaps," he went on, "one or two of the crew may be anxious to return to the land they left, and in that case he was sure some of their own men would be willing to accompany them, and run the risk of the ice."
Here one of the young men said that he would be willing to go; and, on hearing this, the other also offered his services.
Whereupon I replied that I had already disposed of the ship, and was doubtful if any of the crew were desirous of a repetition of what they had already experienced among the currents and
