The story is set in 1839, eleven years after the events in Edgar Allan Poe's novel Arthur Gordon Pym. The narrator is a wealthy American, named Jeorling, who has entertained himself with private studies of the wildlife on the Kerguelen Islands and is now looking for a passage back to the USA. The Halbrane is one of the first ships to arrive at Kerguelen, and its captain Len Guy who somewhat reluctantly agrees to have Jeorling as a passenger. Underway, they meet a stray iceberg with a dead body on it, which turns out to be a sailor from the Jane. A note found with him indicates that he and several others including Jane's captain William Guy had survived the assassination attempt at Tsalal and are still alive...