twelve o’clock
Northwardly from that huge rim before mentioned , and which , with slight qualification , may be called the limit of human discovery in these regions , one unbroken , or nearly unbroken , sheet of ice continues to extend . In the first few degrees of this its progress , its surface is very sensibly flattened , farther on depressed into a plane , and finally , becoming not a little concave , it terminates , at the Pole itself , in a circular centre , sharply defined , whose apparent diameter subtended at the balloon an angle of about sixty-five seconds , and whose dusky hue , varying in intensity , was , at all times , darker than any other spot upon the visible hemisphere , and occasionally deepened into the most absolute and impenetrable blackness . Farther than this , little could be ascertained . By twelve o'clock the circular centre had materially decreased in circumference , and by seven P.M. I lost sight of it entirely ; the balloon passing over the western limb of the ice , and floating away rapidly in the direction of the equator . `` April 8th . Found a sensible diminution in the earth 's apparent diameter , besides a material alteration in its general color and appearance . The whole visible area partook in different degrees of a tint of pale yellow , and in some portions had acquired a brilliancy even painful to the eye .