

With difficulty a fjord is found and the group get ashore. Here they discover an island, an active volcano, and name it after Hatteras. The travellers build a boat from the shipwreck and head towards the pole. When the winter ends the sea becomes ice-free. The travellers winter on the island and survive mainly due to the ingenuity of Doctor Clawbonny (who is able to make fire with an ice lens, make bullets from frozen mercury and repel attacks by polar bears with remotely controlled explosions of black powder). Doctor Clawbonny recalls in mind the plan of the real Ice palace, constructed completely from ice in Russia in 1740 to build a snow-house, where they should spend a winter. On the shore of the island of "New America (Actually New Foundland)" he discovers the remains of a ship used by the previous expedition from the United States. Mutiny by the crew results in destruction of their ship but Hatteras, with a few men, continues on the expedition. Hatteras is convinced that the sea around the pole is not frozen and his obsession is to reach the place no matter what.

The novel, set in 1861, described adventures of British expedition led by Captain John Hatteras to the North Pole. 'The Adventures of Captain Hatteras, Part 1: The English at the North Pole' Summary
