I can liken it to nothing but a limitless
      cataract, rolling silently into the sea from some immense and
      far-distant rampart in the heaven. The gigantic curtain ranged
      along the whole extent of the southern horizon. It emitted no
      sound. _March 21st._-A sullen darkness now hovered above us—but from out
      the milky depths of the ocean a luminous glare arose, and stole
      up along the bulwarks of the boat. We were nearly overwhelmed by
      the white ashy shower which settled upon us and upon the canoe,
      but melted into the water as it fell. The summit of the cataract
      was utterly lost in the dimness and the distance. Yet we were
      evidently approaching it with a hideous velocity. At intervals
      there were visible in it wide, yawning, but momentary rents, and
      from out these rents, within which was a chaos of flitting and
      indistinct images, there came rushing and mighty, but soundless
      winds, tearing up the enkindled ocean in their course. _March 22d._-The darkness had materially increased, relieved only
      by the glare of the water thrown back from the white curtain
      before us. Many gigantic and pallidly white birds flew
      continuously now from beyond the veil, and their scream was the
      eternal _Tekeli-li!_as they retreated from our vision. Hereupon
      Nu-Nu stirred in the bottom of the boat; but upon touching him we
      found his spirit departed. And now we rushed into the embraces of
      the cataract, where a chasm threw itself open to receive us. But
      there arose in our pathway a shrouded human figure, very far
      larger in its proportions than any dweller among men. And the hue
      of the skin of the figure was of the perfect whiteness of the
      snow. NOTE

      THE circumstances connected with the late sudden and distressing
      death of Mr. Pym are already well known to the public through the
      medium of the daily press. It is feared that the few remaining
      chapters which were to have completed his narrative, and which
      were retained by him, while the above were in type, for the
      purpose of revision, have been irrecoverably lost through the
      accident by which he perished himself. This, however, may prove
      not to be the case, and the papers, if ultimately found, will be
      given to the public. No means have been left untried to remedy the deficiency. The
      gentleman whose name is mentioned in the preface, and who, from
      the statement there made, might be supposed able to fill the
      vacuum, has declined the task—this, for satisfactory reasons
      connected with the general inaccuracy of the details afforded
      him, and his disbelief in the entire truth of the latter portions
      of the narration. Peters, from whom some information might be
      expected, is still alive, and a resident of Illinois, but cannot
      be met with at present. He may hereafter be found, and will, no
      doubt, afford material for a conclusion of Mr. Pym’s account. The loss of two or three final chapters (for there were but two
      or three) is the more deeply to be regretted, as it can not be
      doubted they contained matter relative to the Pole itself, or at
      least to regions in its very near proximity; and as, too, the
      statements of the author in relation to these regions may shortly
      be verified or contradicted by means of the governmental
      expedition now preparing for the Southern Ocean. On one point in the narrative some remarks may well be offered;
      and it would afford the writer of this appendix much pleasure if
      what he may here observe should have a tendency to throw credit,
      in any degree, upon the very singular pages now published. We
      allude to the chasms found in the island of Tsalal, and to the
      whole of the figures upon pages 245-47 {of the printed
      edition—ed.}. (Note: No figures were included with this text)

      Mr. Pym has given the figures of the chasms without comment, and
      speaks decidedly of the _indentures_found at the extremity of the
      most easterly of these chasms as having but a fanciful
      resemblance to alphabetical characters, and, in short, as being
      positively _not such. _This assertion is made in a manner so
      simple, and sustained by a species of demonstration so conclusive
      (viz., the fitting of the projections of the fragments found
      among the dust into the indentures upon the wall), that we are
      forced to believe the writer in earnest; and no reasonable reader
      should suppose otherwise. But as the facts in relation to all the
      figures are most singular (especially when taken in connection
      with statements made in the body of the narrative), it may be as
      well to say a word or two concerning them all—this, too, the more
      especially as the facts in question have, beyond doubt, escaped
      the attention of Mr. Poe. Figure 1, then, figure 2, figure 3, and figure 5, when conjoined
      with one another in the precise order which the chasms themselves
      presented, and when deprived of the small lateral branches or
      arches (which, it will be remembered, served only as a means of
      communication between the main chambers, and were of totally
      distinct character), constitute an Ethiopian verbal root—the root
      “To be shady,’—whence all the inflections of shadow or darkness. In regard to the “left or most northwardly” of the indentures in
      figure 4, it is more than probable that the opinion of Peters was
      correct, and that the hieroglyphical appearance was really the
      work of art, and intended as the representation of a human form. The delineation is before the reader, and he may, or may not,
      perceive the resemblance suggested; but the rest of the
      indentures afford strong confirmation of Peters’ idea. The upper
      range is evidently the Arabic verbal root “To be white,” whence
      all the inflections of brilliancy and whiteness. The lower range
      is not so immediately perspicuous. The characters are somewhat
      broken and disjointed; nevertheless, it can not be doubted that,
      in their perfect state, they formed the full Egyptian word, “The
      region of the south.” It should be observed that these
      interpretations confirm the opinion of Peters in regard to the
      “most northwardly” of the figures. The arm is outstretched toward
      the south. Conclusions such as these open a wide field for speculation and
      exciting conjecture. They should be regarded, perhaps, in
      connection with some of the most faintly detailed incidents of
      the narrative; although in no visible manner is this chain of
      connection complete. Tekeli-li! was the cry of the affrighted
      natives of Tsalal upon discovering the carcase of the
      _white_animal picked up at sea.