Texte d'origine - Anglais - To Mrs Saville, England

You will be happy to hear that no disaster has occures at the beginnining of my enterprise which you have regarded with evil forebodings. I am far north of London and I can feel the icy climate of the pole upon my cheeks. With this feeling I become very excited since my dreams become more vivid.
If I can land on a part of the wold never visited and the country of the eternal light, I will satiate my curosity and my hunger knowledge. You know, my education was neglected but I was passionately fond of reading. In our uncle Thomas's library, I read a lot of books about the expanditions made in the prospect of arriving at the North Pacific Ocean through the seas which surround the pole. Now, I am on the expedition, after the failure in writing poems I have been in the pursuit of my new dreams of being an explorer for six years. I have worked too hard to go on this voyage and I don't intend to return without victory.