This notion, repeated as a motif throughout the previous chapter (see, for instance,
I:3:1 and note; also the definition), is at last recognized here as an energy exceeding
proper limits.

The repetition of wording within this paragraph (which is immediately reaccentuated
in the second sentence of the following one) alerts us to the "burning," that is to
say, "consuming," nature of this pursuit for Victor Frankenstein and echoes the similar
language of Walton (I:L1:2). Variations on this language recur throughout the chapter
and become increasingly associated with disease (I:3:9, I:3:14).

An explicit linkage of Walton and Victor through this echoed word first encountered
in Walton's initial letter (I:L1:2) and strongly emphasized in the first two paragraphs
of the present chapter (see I:3:1 and I:3:2).

The shores to which Walton refers are those of Siberia and Alaska (also at this point
a Russian dominion) fronting on the Bering Straits. Once again, his innocent choice
of language links his present and past states of enthusiasm (see I:L1:2, I:L2:2) and
prepares us for similar language surrounding Victor Frankenstein's scientific pursuits
(I:2:7, I:3:1).