about two o'clock in the afternoon
Everything was frozen -- even the noise . The Nautilus was then obliged to stop in its adventurous course amid these fields of ice . In spite of our efforts , in spite of the powerful means employed to break up the ice , the Nautilus remained immovable . Generally , when we can proceed no further , we have return still open to us ; but here return was as impossible as advance , for every pass had closed behind us ; and for the few moments when we were stationary , we were likely to be entirely blocked , which did indeed happen about two o'clock in the afternoon , the fresh ice forming around its sides with astonishing rapidity . I was obliged to admit that Captain Nemo was more than imprudent . I was on the platform at that moment . The Captain had been observing our situation for some time past , when he said to me : `` Well , sir , what do you think of this ? ''