a quarter to twelve
In the distance lay the Nautilus like a cetacean asleep on the water . Behind us , to the south and east , an immense country and a chaotic heap of rocks and ice , the limits of which were not visible . On arriving at the summit Captain Nemo carefully took the mean height of the barometer , for he would have to consider that in taking his observations . At a quarter to twelve the sun , then seen only by refraction , looked like a golden disc shedding its last rays upon this deserted continent and seas which never man had yet ploughed . Captain Nemo , furnished with a lenticular glass which , by means of a mirror , corrected the refraction , watched the orb sinking below the horizon by degrees , following a lengthened diagonal . I held the chronometer . My heart beat fast .