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diff --git a/22759.txt b/22759.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3967a75 --- /dev/null +++ b/22759.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8160 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The English at the North Pole, by Jules Verne + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The English at the North Pole + Part I of the Adventures of Captain Hatteras + +Author: Jules Verne + +Release Date: September 24, 2007 [EBook #22759] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ENGLISH AT THE NORTH POLE *** + + + + +Produced by Ron Swanson + + + + + +THE ENGLISH AT THE NORTH POLE + +PART I +OF +THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HATTERAS + + +BY + +JULES VERNE + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAP. PAGE + I.--THE "FORWARD" . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 + II.--AN UNEXPECTED LETTER . . . . . . . . . 14 + III.--DR. CLAWBONNY . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 + IV.--DOG-CAPTAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 + V.--OUT AT SEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 + VI.--THE GREAT POLAR CURRENT . . . . . . . 44 + VII.--DAVIS'S STRAITS . . . . . . . . . . . 52 + VIII.--GOSSIP OF THE CREW . . . . . . . . . . 61 + IX.--NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 + X.--DANGEROUS NAVIGATION . . . . . . . . . 78 + XI.--THE DEVIL'S THUMB . . . . . . . . . . 88 + XII.--CAPTAIN HATTERAS . . . . . . . . . . . 98 + XIII.--THE PROJECTS OF HATTERAS . . . . . . . 109 + XIV.--EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF FRANKLIN . . . 118 + XV.--THE "FORWARD" DRIVEN BACK SOUTH . . . 127 + XVI.--THE MAGNETIC POLE . . . . . . . . . . 135 + XVII.--THE FATE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN . . . . 144 + XVIII.--THE NORTHERN ROUTE . . . . . . . . . . 150 + XIX.--A WHALE IN SIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . 155 + XX.--BEECHEY ISLAND . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 + XXI.--THE DEATH OF BELLOT . . . . . . . . . 170 + XXII.--BEGINNING OF REVOLT . . . . . . . . . 178 + XXIII.--ATTACKED BY ICEBERGS . . . . . . . . . 184 + XXIV.--PREPARATIONS FOR WINTERING . . . . . . 193 + XXV.--AN OLD FOX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 + XXVI.--THE LAST LUMP OF COAL . . . . . . . . 209 + XXVII.--CHRISTMAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 +XXVIII.--PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE . . . . . . 222 + XXIX.--ACROSS THE ICE . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 + XXX.--THE CAIRN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 + XXXI.--THE DEATH OF SIMPSON . . . . . . . . . 243 + XXXII.--THE RETURN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE "FORWARD" + + +"To-morrow, at low tide, the brig _Forward_, Captain K. Z----, Richard +Shandon mate, will start from New Prince's Docks for an unknown +destination." + +The foregoing might have been read in the _Liverpool Herald_ of April +5th, 1860. The departure of a brig is an event of little importance +for the most commercial port in England. Who would notice it in the +midst of vessels of all sorts of tonnage and nationality that six +miles of docks can hardly contain? However, from daybreak on the 6th +of April a considerable crowd covered the wharfs of New Prince's +Docks--the innumerable companies of sailors of the town seemed to +have met there. Workmen from the neighbouring wharfs had left their +work, merchants their dark counting-houses, tradesmen their shops. +The different-coloured omnibuses that ran along the exterior wall +of the docks brought cargoes of spectators at every moment; the town +seemed to have but one pre-occupation, and that was to see the +_Forward_ go out. + +The _Forward_ was a vessel of a hundred and seventy tons, charged +with a screw and steam-engine of a hundred and twenty horse-power. +It might easily have been confounded with the other brigs in the port. +But though it offered nothing curious to the eyes of the public, +connoisseurs remarked certain peculiarities in it that a sailor +cannot mistake. On board the _Nautilus_, anchored at a little distance, +a group of sailors were hazarding a thousand conjectures about the +destination of the _Forward_. + +"I don't know what to think about its masting," said one; "it isn't +usual for steamboats to have so much sail." + +"That ship," said a quartermaster with a big red face--"that ship +will have to depend more on her masts than her engine, and the topsails +are the biggest because the others will be often useless. I haven't +got the slightest doubt that the _Forward_ is destined for the Arctic +or Antarctic seas, where the icebergs stop the wind more than is good +for a brave and solid ship." + +"You must be right, Mr. Cornhill," said a third sailor. "Have you +noticed her stern, how straight it falls into the sea?" + +"Yes," said the quartermaster, "and it is furnished with a steel +cutter as sharp as a razor and capable of cutting a three-decker in +two if the _Forward_ were thrown across her at top speed." + +"That's certain," said a Mersey pilot; "for that 'ere vessel runs +her fourteen knots an hour with her screw. It was marvellous to see +her cutting the tide when she made her trial trip. I believe you, +she's a quick un." + +"The canvas isn't intricate either," answered Mr. Cornhill; "it goes +straight before the wind, and can be managed by hand. That ship is +going to try the Polar seas, or my name isn't what it is. There's +something else--do you see the wide helm-port that the head of her +helm goes through?" + +"It's there, sure enough," answered one; "but what does that prove?" + +"That proves, my boys," said Mr. Cornhill with disdainful +satisfaction, "that you don't know how to put two and two together +and make it four; it proves that they want to be able to take off +the helm when they like, and you know it's a manoeuvre that's often +necessary when you have ice to deal with." + +"That's certain," answered the crew of the _Nautilus_. + +"Besides," said one of them, "the way she's loaded confirms Mr. +Cornhill's opinion. Clifton told me. The _Forward_ is victualled and +carries coal enough for five or six years. Coals and victuals are +all its cargo, with a stock of woollen garments and sealskins." + +"Then," said the quartermaster, "there is no more doubt on the matter; +but you, who know Clifton, didn't he tell you anything about her +destination?" + +"He couldn't tell me; he doesn't know; the crew was engaged without +knowing. He'll only know where he's going when he gets there." + +"I shouldn't wonder if they were going to the devil," said an +unbeliever: "it looks like it." + +"And such pay," said Clifton's friend, getting warm--"five times more +than the ordinary pay. If it hadn't been for that, Richard Shandon +wouldn't have found a soul to go with him. A ship with a queer shape, +going nobody knows where, and looking more like not coming back than +anything else, it wouldn't have suited this child." + +"Whether it would have suited you or not," answered Cornhill, "you +couldn't have been one of the crew of the _Forward_." + +"And why, pray?" + +"Because you don't fulfil the required conditions. I read that all +married men were excluded, and you are in the category, so you needn't +talk. Even the very name of the ship is a bold one. The +_Forward_--where is it to be forwarded to? Besides, nobody knows who +the captain is." + +"Yes, they do," said a simple-faced young sailor. + +"Why, you don't mean to say that you think Shandon is the captain +of the _Forward_?" said Cornhill. + +"But----" answered the young sailor-- + +"Why, Shandon is commander, and nothing else; he's a brave and bold +sailor, an experienced whaler, and a jolly fellow worthy in every +respect to be the captain, but he isn't any more captain than you +or I. As to who is going to command after God on board he doesn't +know any more than we do. When the moment has come the true captain +will appear, no one knows how nor where, for Richard Shandon has not +said and hasn't been allowed to say to what quarter of the globe he +is going to direct his ship." + +"But, Mr. Cornhill," continued the young sailor, "I assure you that +there is someone on board who was announced in the letter, and that +Mr. Shandon was offered the place of second to." + +"What!" said Cornhill, frowning, "do you mean to maintain that the +_Forward_ has a captain on board?" + +"Yes, Mr. Cornhill." + +"Where did you get your precious information from?" + +"From Johnson, the boatswain." + +"From Johnson?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Johnson told you so?" + +"He not only told me so, but he showed me the captain." + +"He showed him to you!" said Cornhill, stupefied. "And who is it, +pray?" + +"A dog." + +"What do you mean by a dog?" + +"A dog on four legs." + +Stupefaction reigned amongst the crew of the _Nautilus_. Under any +other circumstances they would have burst out laughing. A dog captain +of a vessel of a hundred and seventy tons burden! It was enough to +make them laugh. But really the _Forward_ was such an extraordinary +ship that they felt it might be no laughing matter, and they must +be sure before they denied it. Besides, Cornhill himself didn't laugh. + +"So Johnson showed you the new sort of captain, did he?" added he, +addressing the young sailor, "and you saw him?" + +"Yes, sir, as plainly as I see you now." + +"Well, and what do you think about it?" asked the sailors of the +quartermaster. + +"I don't think anything," he answered shortly. "I don't think anything, +except that the _Forward_ is a ship belonging to the devil, or madmen +fit for nothing but Bedlam." + +The sailors continued silently watching the _Forward_, whose +preparations for departure were drawing to an end; there was not one +of them who pretended that Johnson had only been laughing at the young +sailor. The history of the dog had already made the round of the town, +and amongst the crowd of spectators many a one looked out for the +dog-captain and believed him to be a supernatural animal. Besides, +the _Forward_ had been attracting public attention for some months +past. Everything about her was marvellous; her peculiar shape, the +mystery which surrounded her, the incognito kept by the captain, the +way Richard Shandon had received the proposition to direct her, the +careful selection of the crew, her unknown destination, suspected +only by a few--all about her was strange. + +To a thinker, dreamer, or philosopher nothing is more affecting than +the departure of a ship; his imagination plays round the sails, sees +her struggles with the sea and the wind in the adventurous journey +which does not always end in port; when in addition to the ordinary +incidents of departure there are extraordinary ones, even minds +little given to credulity let their imagination run wild. + +So it was with the _Forward_, and though the generality of people +could not make the knowing remarks of Quartermaster Cornhill, it did +not prevent the ship forming the subject of Liverpool gossip for three +long months. The ship had been put in dock at Birkenhead, on the +opposite side of the Mersey. The builders, Scott and Co., amongst +the first in England, had received an estimate and detailed plan from +Richard Shandon; it informed them of the exact tonnage, dimensions, +and store room that the brig was to have. They saw by the details +given that they had to do with a consummate seaman. As Shandon had +considerable funds at his disposal, the work advanced rapidly, +according to the recommendation of the owner. The brig was constructed +of a solidity to withstand all tests; it was evident that she was +destined to resist enormous pressure, for her ribs were built of +teak-wood, a sort of Indian oak, remarkable for its extreme hardness, +and were, besides, plated with iron. Sailors asked why the hull of +a vessel made so evidently for resistance was not built of sheet-iron +like other steamboats, and were told it was because the mysterious +engineer had his own reasons for what he did. + +Little by little the brig grew on the stocks, and her qualities of +strength and delicacy struck connoisseurs. As the sailors of the +_Nautilus_ had remarked, her stern formed a right angle with her keel; +her steel prow, cast in the workshop of R. Hawthorn, of Newcastle, +shone in the sun and gave a peculiar look to the brig, though otherwise +she had nothing particularly warlike about her. However, a 16-pounder +cannon was installed on the forecastle; it was mounted on a pivot, +so that it might easily be turned in any direction; but neither the +cannon nor the stern, steel-clad as they were, succeeded in looking +warlike. + +On the 5th of February, 1860, this strange vessel was launched in +the midst of an immense concourse of spectators, and the trial trip +was perfectly successful. But if the brig was neither a man-of-war, +a merchant vessel, nor a pleasure yacht--for a pleasure trip is not +made with six years' provisions in the hold--what was it? Was it a +vessel destined for another Franklin expedition? It could not be, +because in 1859, the preceding year, Captain McClintock had returned +from the Arctic seas, bringing the certain proof of the loss of the +unfortunate expedition. Was the _Forward_ going to attempt the famous +North-West passage? What would be the use? Captain McClure had +discovered it in 1853, and his lieutenant, Creswell, was the first +who had the honour of rounding the American continent from Behring's +Straits to Davis's Straits. Still it was certain to competent judges +that the _Forward_ was prepared to face the ice regions. Was it going +to the South Pole, farther than the whaler Weddell or Captain James +Ross? But, if so, what for? + +The day after the brig was floated her engine was sent from Hawthorn's +foundry at Newcastle. It was of a hundred and twenty horse-power, +with oscillating cylinders, taking up little room; its power was +considerable for a hundred-and-seventy-ton brig, with so much sail, +too, and of such fleetness. Her trial trips had left no doubt on that +subject, and even the boatswain, Johnson, had thought right to express +his opinion to Clifton's friend-- + +"When the _Forward_ uses her engine and sails at the same time, her +sails will make her go the quickest." + +Clifton's friend did not understand him, but he thought anything +possible of a ship commanded by a dog. After the engine was installed +on board, the stowage of provisions began. This was no slight work, +for the vessel was to carry enough for six years. They consisted of +dry and salted meat, smoked fish, biscuit, and flour; mountains of +tea and coffee were thrown down the shafts in perfect avalanches. +Richard Shandon presided over the management of this precious cargo +like a man who knows what he is about; all was stowed away, ticketed, +and numbered in perfect order; a very large provision of the Indian +preparation called pemmican, which contains many nutritive elements +in a small volume, was also embarked. The nature of the provisions +left no doubt about the length of the cruise, and the sight of the +barrels of lime-juice, lime-drops, packets of mustard, grains of +sorrel and _cochlearia_, all antiscorbutic, confirmed the opinion +on the destination of the brig for the ice regions; their influence +is so necessary in Polar navigation. Shandon had doubtless received +particular instructions about this part of the cargo, which, along +with the medicine-chest, he attended to particularly. + +Although arms were not numerous on board, the powder-magazine +overflowed. The one cannon could not pretend to use the contents. +That gave people more to think about. There were also gigantic saws +and powerful instruments, such as levers, leaden maces, handsaws, +enormous axes, etc., without counting a considerable quantity of +blasting cylinders, enough to blow up the Liverpool Customs--all that +was strange, not to say fearful, without mentioning rockets, signals, +powder-chests, and beacons of a thousand different sorts. The +numerous spectators on the wharfs of Prince's Docks admired likewise +a long mahogany whaler, a tin _pirogue_ covered with gutta-percha, +and a certain quantity of halkett-boats, a sort of indiarubber cloaks +that can be transformed into canoes by blowing in their lining. +Expectation was on the _qui vive_, for the _Forward_ was going out +with the tide. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AN UNEXPECTED LETTER + + +The letter received by Richard Shandon, eight months before, ran as +follows:-- + + + "ABERDEEN, + + "August 2nd, 1859. + +"To Mr. Richard Shandon, + + "Liverpool. + +"SIR,--I beg to advise you that the sum of sixteen thousand pounds +sterling has been placed in the hands of Messrs. Marcuart and Co., +bankers, of Liverpool. I join herewith a series of cheques, signed +by me, which will allow you to draw upon the said Messrs. Marcuart +for the above-mentioned sum. You do not know me, but that is of no +consequence. I know you: that is sufficient. I offer you the place +of second on board the brig _Forward_ for a voyage that may be long +and perilous. If you agree to my conditions you will receive a salary +of 500 pounds, and all through the voyage it will be augmented +one-tenth at the end of each year. The _Forward_ is not yet in +existence. You must have it built so as to be ready for sea at the +beginning of April, 1860, at the latest. Herewith is a detailed plan +and estimate. You will take care that it is scrupulously followed. +The ship is to be built by Messrs. Scott and Co., who will settle +with you. I particularly recommend you the choice of the _Forward's_ +crew; it will be composed of a captain, myself, of a second, you, +of a third officer, a boatswain, two engineers, an ice pilot, eight +sailors, and two others, eighteen men in all, comprising Dr. Clawbonny, +of this town, who will introduce himself to you when necessary. The +_Forward's_ crew must be composed of Englishmen without incumbrance; +they should be all bachelors and sober--for no spirits, nor even beer, +will be allowed on board--ready to undertake anything, and to bear +with anything. You will give the preference to men of a sanguine +constitution, as they carry a greater amount of animal heat. Offer +them five times the usual pay, with an increase of one-tenth for each +year of service. At the end of the voyage five hundred pounds will +be placed at the disposition of each, and two thousand at yours. These +funds will be placed with Messrs. Marcuart and Co. The voyage will +be long and difficult, but honourable, so you need not hesitate to +accept my conditions. Be good enough to send your answer to K. Z., +Poste Restante, Goteborg, Sweden. + +"P.S.--On the 15th of February next you will receive a large Danish +dog, with hanging lips, and tawny coat with black stripes. You will +take it on board and have it fed with oaten bread, mixed with tallow +grease. You will acknowledge the reception of the said dog to me under +the same initials as above, Poste Restante, Leghorn, Italy. + +"The captain of the _Forward_ will introduce himself to you when +necessary. When you are ready to start you will receive further +instructions. + + "THE CAPTAIN OF THE 'FORWARD,' + + "K. Z." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +DR. CLAWBONNY + + +Richard Shandon was a good sailor; he had been commander of whalers +in the Arctic seas for many years, and had a wide reputation for skill. +He might well be astonished at such a letter, and so he was, but +astonished like a man used to astonishments. He fulfilled, too, all +the required conditions: he had no wife, children, or relations; he +was as free as a man could be. Having no one to consult, he went straight +to Messrs. Marcuart's bank. + +"If the money is there," he said to himself, "I'll undertake the rest." + +He was received by the firm with all the attention due to a man with +sixteen thousand pounds in their safes. Sure of that fact, Shandon +asked for a sheet of letter-paper, and sent his acceptance in a large +sailor's hand to the address indicated. The same day he put himself +in communication with the Birkenhead shipbuilders, and twenty-four +hours later the keel of the _Forward_ lay on the stocks in the +dockyard. + +Richard Shandon was a bachelor of forty, robust, energetic, and brave, +three sailor-like qualities, giving their possessor confidence, +vigour, and _sang-froid_. He was reputed jealous and hard to be +pleased, so he was more feared than loved by his sailors. But this +reputation did not increase the difficulty of finding a crew, for +he was known to be a clever commander. He was afraid that the mystery +of the enterprise would embarrass his movements, and he said to +himself, "The best thing I can do is to say nothing at all; there +are sea-dogs who will want to know the why and the wherefore of the +business, and as I know nothing myself, I can't tell them. K. Z. is +a queer fish, but after all he knows me, and has confidence in me; +that's enough. As to the ship, she will be a handsome lass, and my +name isn't Richard Shandon if she is not destined for the Frozen Seas. +But I shall keep that to myself and my officers." + +Upon which Richard Shandon set about recruiting his crew upon the +conditions of family and health exacted by the captain. He knew a +brave fellow and capital sailor, named James Wall. Wall was about +thirty, and had made more than one trip to the North Seas. Shandon +offered him the post of third officer, and he accepted blindly; all +he cared for was to sail, as he was devoted to his profession. Shandon +told him and Johnson (whom he engaged as boatswain) all he knew about +the business. + +"Just as soon go there as anywhere else," answered Wall. "If it's +to seek the North-West passage, many have been and come back." + +"Been, yes; but come back I don't answer for," said Johnson; "but +that's no reason for not going." + +"Besides, if we are not mistaken in our conjectures," said Shandon, +"the voyage will be undertaken under good conditions. The _Forward's_ +a bonny lass, with a good engine, and will stand wear and tear. +Eighteen men are all the crew we want." + +"Eighteen men?" said Johnson. "That's just the number that the +American, Kane, had on board when he made his famous voyage towards +the North Pole." + +"It's a singular fact that there's always some private individual +trying to cross the sea from Davis's Straits to Behring's Straits. +The Franklin expeditions have already cost England more than seven +hundred and sixty thousand pounds without producing any practical +result. Who the devil means to risk his fortune in such an enterprise?" + +"We are reasoning now on a simple hypothesis," said Shandon. "I don't +know if we are really going to the Northern or Southern Seas. Perhaps +we are going on a voyage of discovery. We shall know more when Dr. +Clawbonny comes; I daresay he will tell us all about it." + +"There's nothing for it but to wait," answered Johnson; "I'll go and +hunt up some solid subjects, captain; and as to their animal heat, +I guarantee beforehand you can trust me for that." + +Johnson was a valuable acquisition; he understood the navigation of +these high latitudes. He was quartermaster on board the _Phoenix_, +one of the vessels of the Franklin expedition of 1853. He was witness +of the death of the French lieutenant Bellot, whom he had accompanied +in his expedition across the ice. Johnson knew the maritime population +of Liverpool, and started at once on his recruiting expedition. +Shandon, Wall, and he did their work so well that the crew was complete +in the beginning of December. It had been a difficult task; many, +tempted by the high pay, felt frightened at the risk, and more than +one enlisted boldly who came afterwards to take back his word and +enlistment money, dissuaded by his friends from undertaking such an +enterprise. All of them tried to pierce the mystery, and worried +Shandon with questions; he sent them to Johnson. + +"I can't tell you what I don't know," he answered invariably; "you'll +be in good company, that's all I can tell you. You can take it or +leave it alone." + +And the greater number took it. + +"I have only to choose," added the boatswain; "such salary has never +been heard of in the memory of sailors, and then the certainty of +finding a handsome capital when we come back. Only think: it's +tempting enough." + +"The fact is," answered the sailor, "it is tempting; enough to live +on till the end of one's days." + +"I don't hide from you," continued Johnson, "that the cruise will +be long, painful, and perilous; that is formally stated in our +instructions, and you ought to know what you undertake; you will very +likely be required to attempt all that it is possible for human beings +to do, and perhaps more. If you are the least bit frightened, if you +don't think you may just as well finish yonder as here, you'd better +not enlist, but give way to a bolder man." + +"But, Mr. Johnson," continued the sailor, for the want of something +better to say, "at least you know the captain?" + +"The captain is Richard Shandon till another comes." + +Richard Shandon, in his secret heart, hoped that the command would +remain with him, and that at the last moment he should receive precise +instructions as to the destination of the _Forward_. He did all he +could to spread the report in his conversations with his officers, +or when following the construction of the brig as it grew in the +Birkenhead dockyard, looking like the ribs of a whale turned upside +down. Shandon and Johnson kept strictly to their instructions +touching the health of the sailors who were to form the crew; they +all looked hale and hearty, and had enough heat in their bodies to +suffice for the engine of the _Forward_; their supple limbs, their +clear and florid complexions were fit to react against the action +of intense cold. They were confident and resolute men, energetically +and solidly constituted. Of course they were not all equally vigorous; +Shandon had even hesitated about taking some of them, such as the +sailors Gripper and Garry, and the harpooner Simpson, because they +looked rather thin; but, on the whole, their build was good; they +were a warm-hearted lot, and their engagement was signed. + +All the crew belonged to the same sect of the Protestant religion; +during these long campaigns prayer in common and the reading of the +Bible have a good influence over the men and sustain them in the hour +of discouragement; it was therefore important that they should be +all of the same way of thinking. Shandon knew by experience the utility +of these practices, and their influence on the mind of the crew; they +are always employed on board ships that are intended to winter in +the Polar Seas. The crew once got together, Shandon and his two +officers set about the provisions; they strictly followed the +instructions of the captain; these instructions were clear, precise, +and detailed, and the least articles were put down with their quality +and quantity. Thanks to the cheques at the commander's disposition, +every article was paid for at once with a discount of 8 per cent, +which Richard carefully placed to the credit of K. Z. + +Crew, provisions, and cargo were ready by January, 1860; the _Forward_ +began to look shipshape, and Shandon went daily to Birkenhead. On +the morning of the 23rd of January he was, as usual, on board one +of the Mersey ferry-boats with a helm at either end to prevent having +to turn it; there was a thick fog, and the sailors of the river were +obliged to direct their course by means of the compass, though the +passage lasts scarcely ten minutes. But the thickness of the fog did +not prevent Shandon seeing a man of short stature, rather fat, with +an intelligent and merry face and an amiable look, who came up to +him, took him by the two hands, and shook them with an ardour, a +petulance, and a familiarity "quite meridional," as a Frenchman would +have said. But if this person did not come from the South, he had +got his temperament there; he talked and gesticulated with +volubility; his thought must come out or the machine would burst. +His eyes, small as those of witty men generally are, his mouth, large +and mobile, were safety-pipes which allowed him to give passage to +his overflowing thoughts; he talked, and talked, and talked so much +and so fast that Shandon couldn't understand a word he said. However, +this did not prevent the _Forward's_ mate from recognising the little +man he had never seen before; a lightning flash traversed his mind, +and when the other paused to take breath, Shandon made haste to get +out the words, "Doctor Clawbonny!" + +"Himself in person, commander! I've been at least half a quarter of +an hour looking for you, asking everybody everywhere! Just think how +impatient I got; five minutes more and I should have lost my head! +And so you are the commander Richard? You really exist? You are not +a myth? Your hand, your hand! I want to shake it again. It is Richard +Shandon's hand, and if there is a commander Shandon, there's a brig +_Forward_ to command; and if he commands he will start, and if he +starts he'll take Dr. Clawbonny on board." + +"Well, yes, doctor, I am Richard Shandon; there is a brig _Forward_, +and it will start." + +"That's logic," answered the doctor, after taking in a large provision +of breathing air--"that's logic. And I am ready to jump for joy at +having my dearest wishes gratified. I've wanted to undertake such +a voyage. Now with you, commander----" + +"I don't----" began Shandon. + +"With you," continued Clawbonny, without hearing him, "we are sure +to go far and not to draw back for a trifle." + +"But----" began Shandon again. + +"For you have shown what you are made of, commander; I know your deeds +of service. You are a fine sailor!" + +"If you will allow me----" + +"No, I won't have your bravery, audacity, and skill put an instant +in doubt, even by you! The captain who chose you for his mate is a +man who knows what he's about, I can tell you." + +"But that's nothing to do with it," said Shandon, impatient. + +"What is it, then? Don't keep me in suspense another minute." + +"You don't give me time to speak. Tell me, if you please, doctor, +how it comes that you are to take part in the expedition of the +_Forward_." + +"Read this letter, this worthy letter, the letter of a brave +captain--very laconic, but quite sufficient." + +Saying which the doctor held out the following letter to Shandon:-- + + + "INVERNESS, + + "Jan. 22nd, 1860. + +"To Dr. Clawbonny. + +"If Dr. Clawbonny wishes to embark on board the _Forward_ for a long +cruise, he may introduce himself to the commander, Richard Shandon, +who has received orders concerning him. + + "THE CAPTAIN OF THE 'FORWARD,' + + "K. Z." + + +"This letter reached me this morning, and here I am, ready to embark." + +"But, doctor, do you know where we are going to?" + +"I haven't the slightest idea, and I do not care so that it is somewhere. +They pretend that I am learned; they are mistaken, commander. I know +nothing, and if I have published a few books that don't sell badly, +I ought not to have done it; the public is silly for buying them. +I know nothing, I tell you. I am only an ignorant man. When I have +the offer of completing, or rather of going over again, my knowledge +of medicine, surgery, history, geography, botany, mineralogy, +conchology, geodesy, chemistry, natural philosophy, mechanics, and +hydrography, why I accept, of course." + +"Then," said Shandon, disappointed, "you do not know where the +_Forward_ is bound for?" + +"Yes, I do; it is bound for where there is something to learn, to +discover, and to compare--where we shall meet with other customs, +other countries, other nations, to study in the exercise of their +functions; it is going, in short, where I have never been." + +"But I want to know something more definite than that," cried Shandon. + +"Well, I have heard that we are bound for the Northern Seas." + +"At least," asked Shandon, "you know the captain?" + +"Not the least bit in the world! But he is an honest fellow, you may +believe me." + +The commander and the doctor disembarked at Birkenhead; the former +told the doctor all he knew about the situation of things, and the +mystery inflamed the imagination of the doctor. The sight of the brig +caused him transports of joy. From that day he stopped with Shandon, +and went every day to pay a visit to the shell of the _Forward_. Besides, +he was specially appointed to overlook the installation of the ship's +medicine-chest. For Dr. Clawbonny was a doctor, and a good one, though +practising little. At the age of twenty-five he was an ordinary +practitioner; at the age of forty he was a _savant_, well known in +the town; he was an influential member of all the literary and +scientific institutions of Liverpool. His fortune allowed him to +distribute counsels which were none the worse for being gratuitous; +beloved as a man eminently lovable must always be, he had never wronged +any one, not even himself; lively and talkative, he carried his heart +in his hand, and put his hand into that of everybody. When it was +known in Liverpool that he was going to embark on board the _Forward_ +his friends did all they could to dissuade him, and only fixed him +more completely in his determination, and when the doctor was +determined to do anything no one could prevent him. From that time +the suppositions and apprehensions increased, but did not prevent +the _Forward_ being launched on the 5th of February, 1860. Two months +later she was ready to put to sea. On the 15th of March, as the letter +of the captain had announced, a dog of Danish breed was sent by railway +from Edinburgh to Liverpool, addressed to Richard Shandon. The animal +seemed surly, peevish, and even sinister, with quite a singular look +in his eyes. The name of the _Forward_ was engraved on his brass collar. +The commander installed it on board the same day, and acknowledged +its reception to K. Z. at Leghorn. Thus, with the exception of the +captain, the crew was complete. It was composed as follows:-- + +1. K. Z., captain; 2. Richard Shandon, commander; 3. James Wall, third +officer; 4. Dr. Clawbonny; 5. Johnson, boatswain; 6. Simpson, +harpooner; 7. Bell, carpenter; 8. Brunton, chief engineer; 9. Plover, +second engineer; 10. Strong (negro), cook; 11. Foker, ice-master; +12. Wolsten, smith; 13. Bolton, sailor; 14. Garry, sailor; 15. Clifton, +sailor; 16. Gripper, sailor; 17. Pen, sailor; 18. Warren, stoker. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +DOG-CAPTAIN + + +The day of departure arrived with the 5th of April. The admission +of the doctor on board had given the crew more confidence. They knew +that where the worthy doctor went they could follow. However, the +sailors were still uneasy, and Shandon, fearing that some of them +would desert, wished to be off. With the coast out of sight, they +would make up their mind to the inevitable. + +Dr. Clawbonny's cabin was situated at the end of the poop, and occupied +all the stern of the vessel. The captain's and mate's cabins gave +upon deck. The captain's remained hermetically closed, after being +furnished with different instruments, furniture, travelling +garments, books, clothes for changing, and utensils, indicated in +a detailed list. According to the wish of the captain, the key of +the cabin was sent to Lubeck; he alone could enter his room. + +This detail vexed Shandon, and took away all chance of the chief +command. As to his own cabin, he had perfectly appropriated it to +the needs of the presumed voyage, for he thoroughly understood the +needs of a Polar expedition. The room of the third officer was placed +under the lower deck, which formed a vast sleeping-room for the +sailors' use; the men were very comfortably lodged, and would not +have found anything like the same convenience on board any other ship; +they were cared for like the most priceless cargo: a vast stove +occupied all the centre of the common room. Dr. Clawbonny was in his +element; he had taken possession of his cabin on the 6th of February, +the day after the _Forward_ was launched. + +"The happiest of animals," he used to say, "is a snail, for it can +make a shell exactly to fit it; I shall try to be an intelligent snail." + +And considering that the shell was to be his lodging for a considerable +time, the cabin began to look like home; the doctor had a _savant's_ +or a child's pleasure in arranging his scientific traps. His books, +his herbals, his set of pigeon-holes, his instruments of precision, +his chemical apparatus, his collection of thermometers, barometers, +hygrometers, rain-gauges, spectacles, compasses, sextants, maps, +plans, flasks, powders, bottles for medicine-chest, were all classed +in an order that would have shamed the British Museum. The space of +six square feet contained incalculable riches: the doctor had only +to stretch out his hand without moving to become instantaneously a +doctor, a mathematician, an astronomer, a geographer, a botanist, +or a conchologist. It must be acknowledged that he was proud of his +management and happy in his floating sanctuary, which three of his +thinnest friends would have sufficed to fill. His friends came to +it in such numbers that even a man as easy-going as the doctor might +have said with Socrates, "My house is small, but may it please Heaven +never to fill it with friends!" + +To complete the description of the _Forward_ it is sufficient to say +that the kennel of the large Danish dog was constructed under the +window of the mysterious cabin but its savage inhabitant preferred +wandering between decks and in the hold; it seemed impossible to tame +him, and no one had been able to become his master; during the night +he howled lamentably, making the hollows of the ship ring in a sinister +fashion. Was it regret for his absent master? Was it the instinct +of knowing that he was starting for a perilous voyage? Was it a +presentiment of dangers to come? The sailors decided that it was for +the latter reason, and more than one pretended to joke who believed +seriously that the dog was of a diabolical kind. Pen, who was a brutal +man, was going to strike him once, when he fell, unfortunately, +against the angle of the capstan, and made a frightful wound in his +head. Of course this accident was placed to the account of the +fantastic animal. Clifton, the most superstitious of the crew, made +the singular observation that when the dog was on the poop he always +walked on the windward side, and afterwards, when the brig was out +at sea, and altered its tack, the surprising animal changed its +direction with the wind the same as the captain of the _Forward_ would +have done in his place. Dr. Clawbonny, whose kindness and caresses +would have tamed a tiger, tried in vain to win the good graces of +the dog; he lost his time and his pains. The animal did not answer +to any name ever written in the dog calendar, and the crew ended by +calling him Captain, for he appeared perfectly conversant with ship +customs; it was evident that it was not his first trip. From such +facts it is easy to understand the boatswain's answer to Clifton's +friend, and the credulity of those who heard it; more than one repeated +jokingly that he expected one day to see the dog take human shape +and command the manoeuvres with a resounding voice. + +If Richard Shandon did not feel the same apprehensions he was not +without anxiety, and the day before the departure, in the evening +of April 5th, he had a conversation on the subject with the doctor, +Wall, and Johnson in the poop cabin. These four persons were tasting +their tenth grog, and probably their last, for the letter from +Aberdeen had ordered that all the crew, from the captain to the stoker, +should be teetotallers, and that there should be no wine, beer, nor +spirits on board except those given by the doctor's orders. The +conversation had been going on about the departure for the last hour. +If the instructions of the captain were realised to the end, Shandon +would receive his last instructions the next day. + +"If the letter," said the commander, "does not tell me the captain's +name, it must at least tell me the destination of the brig, or I shall +not know where to take her to." + +"If I were you," said the impatient doctor, "I should start whether +I get a letter or no; they'll know how to send after you, you may +depend." + +"You are ready for anything, doctor; but if so, to what quarter of +the globe should you set sail?" + +"To the North Pole, of course; there's not the slightest doubt about +that." + +"Why should it not be the South Pole?" asked Wall. + +"The South Pole is out of the question. No one with any sense would +send a brig across the whole of the Atlantic. Just reflect a minute, +and you'll see the impossibility." + +"The doctor has an answer to everything," said Wall. + +"Well, we'll say north," continued Shandon. "But where north? To +Spitzbergen or Greenland? Labrador or Hudson's Bay? Although all +directions end in insuperable icebergs, I am not less puzzled as to +which to take. Have you an answer to that, doctor?" + +"No," he answered, vexed at having nothing to say; "but if you don't +get a letter what shall you do?" + +"I shall do nothing; I shall wait." + +"Do you mean to say you won't start?" cried Dr. Clawbonny, agitating +his glass in despair. + +"Certainly I do." + +"And that would be the wisest plan," said Johnson tranquilly, while +the doctor began marching round the table, for he could not keep still; +"but still, if we wait too long, the consequences may be deplorable; +the season is good now if we are really going north, as we ought to +profit by the breaking up of the ice to cross Davis's Straits; besides, +the crew gets more and more uneasy; the friends and companions of +our men do all they can to persuade them to leave the _Forward_, and +their influence may be pernicious for us." + +"Besides," added Wall, "if one of them deserted they all would, and +then I don't know how you would get another crew together." + +"But what can I do?" cried Shandon. + +"What you said you would do," replied the doctor; "wait and wait till +to-morrow before you despair. The captain's promises have all been +fulfilled up to now with the greatest regularity, and there's no +reason to believe we shan't be made acquainted with our destination +when the proper time comes. I haven't the slightest doubt that +to-morrow we shall be sailing in the Irish Channel, and I propose +we drink a last grog to our pleasant voyage. It begins in an +unaccountable fashion, but with sailors like you there are a thousand +chances that it will end well." + +And all four drank to their safe return. + +"Now, commander," continued Johnson, "if you will allow me to advise +you, you will prepare everything to start; the crew must think that +you know what you are about. If you don't get a letter to-morrow, +set sail; do not get up the steam, the wind looks like holding out, +and it will be easy enough to sail; let the pilot come on board; go +out of the docks with the tide, and anchor below Birkenhead; our men +won't be able to communicate with land, and if the devil of a letter +comes it will find us as easily there as elsewhere." + +"By heavens! you are right, Johnson!" cried the doctor, holding out +his hand to the old sailor. + +"So be it," answered Shandon. + +Then each one entered his cabin, and waited in feverish sleep for +the rising of the sun. The next day the first distribution of letters +took place in the town, and not one bore the address of the commander, +Richard Shandon. Nevertheless, he made his preparations for +departure, and the news spread at once all over Liverpool, and, as +we have already seen, an extraordinary affluence of spectators +crowded the wharfs of New Prince's Docks. Many of them came on board +to shake hands for the last time with a comrade, or to try and dissuade +a friend, or to take a look at the brig, and to know its destination; +they were disappointed at finding the commander more taciturn and +reserved than ever. He had his reasons for that. + +Ten o'clock struck. Eleven followed. The tide began to go out that +day at about one o'clock in the afternoon. Shandon from the top of +the poop was looking at the crowd with uneasy eyes, trying to read +the secret of his destiny on one of the faces. But in vain. The sailors +of the _Forward_ executed his orders in silence, looking at him all +the time, waiting for orders which did not come. Johnson went on +preparing for departure. The weather was cloudy and the sea rough; +a south-easter blew with violence, but it was easy to get out of the +Mersey. + +At twelve o'clock nothing had yet been received. Dr. Clawbonny marched +up and down in agitation, looking through his telescope, +gesticulating, impatient for the sea, as he said. He felt moved, +though he struggled against it. Shandon bit his lips till the blood +came. Johnson came up to him and said-- + +"Commander, if we want to profit by the tide, there is no time to +be lost; we shall not be clear of the docks for at least an hour." + +Shandon looked round him once more and consulted his watch. The twelve +o'clock letters had been distributed. In despair he told Johnson to +start. The boatswain ordered the deck to be cleared of spectators, +and the crowd made a general movement to regain the wharves while +the last moorings were unloosed. Amidst the confusion a dog's bark +was distinctly heard, and all at once the animal broke through the +compact mass, jumped on to the poop, and, as a thousand spectators +can testify, dropped a letter at Shandon's feet. + +"A letter!" cried Shandon. "_He_ is on board, then?" + +"He was, that's certain, but he isn't now," said Johnson, pointing +to the deserted deck. + +Shandon held the letter without opening it in his astonishment. + +"But read it, read it, I say," said the doctor. + +Shandon looked at it. The envelope had no postmark or date; it was +addressed simply to: + + + "RICHARD SHANDON, + + "Commander on board the brig + + "_Forward_." + + +Shandon opened the letter and read as follows:-- + + +"Sail for Cape Farewell. You will reach it by the 20th of April. If +the captain does not appear on board, cross Davis's Straits, and sail +up Baffin's Sea to Melville Bay. + + "THE CAPTAIN OF THE 'FORWARD,' + + "K. Z." + + +Shandon carefully folded this laconic epistle, put it in his pocket, +and gave the order for departure. His voice, which rang above the +east wind, had something solemn in it. + +Soon the _Forward_ had passed the docks, and directed by a Liverpool +pilot whose little cutter followed, went down the Mersey with the +current. The crowd precipitated itself on to the exterior wharf along +the Victoria Docks in order to get a last glimpse of the strange brig. +The two topsails, the foresail and the brigantine sail were rapidly +set up, and the _Forward_, worthy of its name, after having rounded +Birkenhead Point, sailed with extraordinary fleetness into the Irish +Sea. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +OUT AT SEA + + +The wind was favourable, though it blew in April gales. The _Forward_ +cut through the waves, and towards three o'clock crossed the mail +steamer between Liverpool and the Isle of Man. The captain hailed +from his deck the last adieu that the _Forward_ was destined to hear. + +At five o'clock the pilot left the command in the hands of Richard +Shandon, the commander of the brig, and regained his cutter, which, +turning round, soon disappeared on the south-west. Towards evening +the brig doubled the Calf of Man at the southern extremity of the +island. During the night the sea was very rough, but the _Forward_ +behaved well, left the point of Ayr to the north-west, and directed +its course for the Northern Channel. Johnson was right; once out at +sea the maritime instinct of the sailors gained the upper hand. Life +on board went on with regularity. + +The doctor breathed in the sea air with delight; he walked about +vigorously in the squalls, and for a _savant_ he was not a bad sailor. + +"The sea is splendid," said he to Johnson, coming up on deck after +breakfast. "I have made its acquaintance rather late, but I shall +make up for lost time." + +"You are right, Mr. Clawbonny. I would give all the continents of +the world for a corner of the ocean. They pretend that sailors soon +get tired of their profession, but I've been forty years on the sea +and I love it as much as the first day." + +"It is a great pleasure to feel a good ship under one's feet, and +if I'm not a bad judge the _Forward_ behaves herself well." + +"You judge rightly, doctor," answered Shandon, who had joined the +talkers; "she is a good ship, and I acknowledge that a vessel destined +for navigation amongst ice has never been better equipped. That +reminds me that thirty years ago Captain James Ross, sailing for the +North-West passage----" + +"In the _Victory_," added the doctor quickly, "a brig about the same +tonnage as ours, with a steam-engine too." + +"What! you know about that?" + +"Judge if I do," answered the doctor. "Machines were then in their +infancy, and the _Victory's_ kept her back; the captain, James Ross, +after having vainly repaired it bit by bit, finished by taking it +down, and abandoned it at his first winter quarters." + +"The devil!" said Shandon. "You know all about it, I see." + +"Yes. I've read the works of Parry, Ross, and Franklin, and the reports +of McClure, Kennedy, Kane, and McClintock, and I remember something +of what I've read. I can tell you, too, that this same McClintock, +on board the _Fox_, a screw brig in the style of ours, went easier +to his destination than any of the men who preceded him." + +"That's perfectly true," answered Shandon; "he was a bold sailor was +McClintock; I saw him at work. You may add that, like him, we shall +find ourselves in Davis's Straits in April, and if we succeed in +passing the ice our voyage will be considerably advanced." + +"Unless," added the doctor, "it happens to us like it did to the _Fox_ +in 1857, to be caught the very first year by the ice in Baffin's Sea, +and have to winter in the midst of the icebergs." + +"We must hope for better luck," answered Johnson. "If a ship like +the _Forward_ can't take us where we want to go, we must renounce +all hope for ever." + +"Besides," said the doctor, "if the captain is on board he will know +better than we do what must be done. We know nothing as yet; his letter +says nothing about what our voyage is for." + +"It is a good deal to know which way to go," answered Shandon quickly. +"We can do without the captain and his instructions for another month +at least. Besides, you know what I think about it." + +"A short time ago," said the doctor, "I thought like you that the +captain would never appear, and that you would remain commander of +the ship; but now----" + +"Now what?" replied Shandon in an impatient tone. + +"Since the arrival of the second letter I have modified that opinion." + +"Why, doctor?" + +"Because the letter tells you the route to follow, but leaves you +ignorant of the _Forward's_ destination; and we must know where we +are going to. How the deuce are you to get a letter now we are out +at sea? On the coast of Greenland the service of the post must leave +much to wish for. I believe that our gentleman is waiting for us in +some Danish settlement--at Holsteinborg or Uppernawik; he has +evidently gone there to complete his cargo of sealskins, buy his +sledges and dog, and, in short, get together all the tackle wanted +for a voyage in the Arctic Seas. I shouldn't be at all surprised to +see him come out of his cabin one of these fine mornings and begin +commanding the ship in anything but a supernatural way." + +"It's possible," answered Shandon drily; "but in the meantime the +wind is getting up, and I can't risk my gallant sails in such weather." + +Shandon left the doctor and gave the order to reef the topsails. + +"He takes it to heart," said the doctor to the boatswain. + +"Yes," answered the latter, "and it's a great pity, for you may be +right, Mr. Clawbonny." + +In the evening of Saturday the _Forward_ doubled the Mull of Galloway, +whose lighthouse shone to the north-east; during the night they left +the Mull of Cantyre to the north, and Cape Fair, on the coast of Ireland, +to the east. Towards three o'clock in the morning, the brig, leaving +Rathlin Island on her starboard side, disembogued by the Northern +Channel into the ocean. It was Sunday, the 8th of April, and the doctor +read some chapters of the Bible to the assembled seamen. The wind +then became a perfect hurricane, and tended to throw the brig on to +the Irish coast; she pitched, and rolled, and tossed, and if the doctor +was not seasick it was because he would not be, for nothing was easier. +At noon Cape Malinhead disappeared towards the south; it was the last +European ground that these bold sailors were to perceive, and more +than one watched it out of sight, destined never to see it again. +They were then in 55 degrees 57 minutes latitude and 7 degrees 40 +minutes longitude by the Greenwich meridian. + +The storm spent itself out about nine o'clock in the evening; the +_Forward_, like a good sailor, maintained her route north-west. She +showed by her behaviour during the day what her sailing capacities +were, and as the Liverpool connoisseurs had remarked, she was above +all, a sailing vessel. During the following days the _Forward_ gained +the north-west with rapidity; the wind veered round south, and the +sea had a tremendous swell on; the brig was then going along under +full sail. Some petrels and puffins came sailing over the poop; the +doctor skilfully shot one of the latter, and it fell, fortunately, +on the deck. The harpooner, Simpson, picked it up and brought it to +its owner. + +"Nasty game that, Mr. Clawbonny," he said. + +"It will make an excellent meal, on the contrary," said the doctor. + +"You don't mean to say you are going to eat that thing?" + +"And so are you, old fellow," said the doctor, laughing. + +"Poh!" replied Simpson, "but it's oily and rancid, like all other +sea birds." + +"Never mind!" answered the doctor, "I have a peculiar way of cooking +that game, and if you recognise it for a sea bird I'll consent never +to kill another in my life." + +"Do you know how to cook, then?" + +"A _savant_ ought to know how to do a little of everything." + +"You'd better take care, Simpson," said the boatswain; "the doctor's +a clever man, and he'll make you take this puffin for a grouse." + +The fact is that the doctor was quite right about his fowl; he took +off all the fat, which all lies under the skin, principally on the +thighs, and with it disappeared the rancidity and taste of fish which +is so disagreeable in a sea bird. Thus prepared the puffin was declared +excellent, and Simpson acknowledged it the first. + +During the late storm Richard Shandon had been able to judge of the +qualities of his crew; he had watched each man narrowly, and knew +how much each was to be depended upon. + +James Wall was devoted to Richard, understood quickly and executed +well, but he might fail in initiative; he placed him in the third +rank. Johnson was used to struggle with the sea; he was an old stager +in the Arctic Ocean, and had nothing to learn either in audacity or +_sang-froid_. The harpooner, Simpson, and the carpenter, Bell, were +sure men, faithful to duty and discipline. The ice-master, Foker, +was an experienced sailor, and, like Johnson, was capable of rendering +important service. Of the other sailors Garry and Bolton seemed to +be the best; Bolton was a gay and talkative fellow; Garry was +thirty-five, with an energetic face, but rather pale and sad-looking. +The three sailors, Clifton, Gripper, and Pen, seemed less ardent and +resolute; they easily grumbled. Gripper wanted to break his +engagement even before the departure of the _Forward_; a sort of shame +kept him on board. If things went on all right, if there were not +too many risks to run, no dangers to encounter, these three men might +be depended upon; but they must be well fed, for it might be said +that they were led by their stomachs. Although warned beforehand, +they grumbled at having to be teetotallers; at their meals they +regretted the brandy and gin; it did not, however, make them spare +the tea and coffee, which was prodigally given out on board. As to +the two engineers, Brunton and Plover, and the stoker, Warren, there +had been nothing for them to do as yet, and Shandon could not tell +anything about their capabilities. + +On the 14th of April the _Forward_ got into the grand current of the +Gulf Stream, which, after ascending the eastern coast of America to +Newfoundland, inclines to the north-east along the coast of Norway. +They were then in 57 degrees 37 minutes latitude by 22 degrees 58 +minutes longitude, at two hundred miles from the point of Greenland. +The weather grew colder, and the thermometer descended to thirty-two +degrees, that is to say to freezing point. + +The doctor had not yet begun to wear the garments he destined for +the Arctic Seas, but he had donned a sailor's dress like the rest; +he was a queer sight with his top-boots, in which his legs disappeared, +his vast oilcloth hat, his jacket and trousers of the same; when +drenched with heavy rains or enormous waves the doctor looked like +a sort of sea-animal, and was proud of the comparison. + +During two days the sea was extremely rough; the wind veered round +to the north-west, and delayed the progress of the _Forward_. From +the 14th to the 16th of April the swell was great, but on the Monday +there came such a torrent of rain that the sea became calm immediately. +Shandon spoke to the doctor about this phenomenon. + +"It confirms the curious observations of the whaler Scoresby, who +laid it before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, of which I have the +honour to be an honorary member. You see that when it rains the waves +are not very high, even under the influence of a violent wind, and +when the weather is dry the sea is more agitated, even when there +is less wind." + +"But how is this phenomenon accounted for?" + +"Very simply; it is not accounted for at all." + +Just then the ice-master, who was keeping watch on the crossbars of +the topsails, signalled a floating mass on the starboard, at about +fifteen miles distance before the wind. + +"An iceberg here!" cried the doctor. + +Shandon pointed his telescope in the direction indicated, and +confirmed the pilot's announcement. + +"That is curious!" said the doctor. + +"What! you are astonished at last!" said the commander, laughing. + +"I am surprised, but not astonished," answered the doctor, laughing; +"for the brig _Ann_, of Poole, from Greenspond, was caught in 1813 +in perfect ice-fields, in the forty-fourth degree of north latitude, +and her captain, Dayernent, counted them by hundreds!" + +"I see you can teach us something, even upon that subject." + +"Very little," answered Clawbonny modestly; "it is only that ice has +been met with in even lower latitudes." + +"I knew that already, doctor, for when I was cabinboy on board the +war-sloop _Fly_----" + +"In 1818," continued the doctor, "at the end of March, almost in April, +you passed between two large islands of floating ice under the +forty-second degree of latitude." + +"Well, I declare you astonish me!" cried Shandon. + +"But the iceberg doesn't astonish me, as we are two degrees further +north." + +"You are a well, doctor," answered the commander, "and all we have +to do is to be water-buckets." + +"You will draw me dry sooner than you think for; and now, Shandon, +if we could get a nearer look at this phenomenon, I should be the +happiest of doctors." + +"Just so, Johnson," said Shandon, calling his boatswain. "It seems +to me that the breeze is getting up." + +"Yes, commander," answered Johnson; "we are making very little way, +and the currents of Davis's Straits will soon be against us." + +"You are right, Johnson, and if we wish to be in sight of Cape Farewell +on the 20th of April we must put the steam on, or we shall be thrown +on the coasts of Labrador. Mr. Wall, will you give orders to light +the fires?" + +The commander's orders were executed, an hour afterwards the steam +was up, the sails were furled, and the screw cutting the waves sent +the _Forward_ against the north-west wind. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE GREAT POLAR CURRENT + + +A short time after the flights of birds became more and more numerous. +Petrels, puffins, and mates, inhabitants of those desolate quarters, +signalled the approach of Greenland. The _Forward_ was rapidly +nearing the north, leaving to her leeward a long line of black smoke. + +On Tuesday the 17th of April, about eleven o'clock in the morning, +the ice-master signalled the first sight of the ice-blink; it was +about twenty miles to the N.N.W. This glaring white strip was +brilliantly lighted up, in spite of the presence of thick clouds in +the neighbouring parts of the sky. Experienced people on board could +make no mistake about this phenomenon, and declared, from its +whiteness, that the blink was owing to a large ice-field, situated +at about thirty miles out of sight, and that it proceeded from the +reflection of luminous rays. Towards evening the wind turned round +to the south, and became favourable; Shandon put on all sail, and +for economy's sake caused the fires to be put out. The _Forward_, +under her topsails and foresails, glided on towards Cape Farewell. + +At three o'clock on the 18th they came across the ice-stream, and +a white thick line of a glaring colour cut brilliantly the lines of +the sea and sky. It was evidently drifting from the eastern coast +of Greenland more than from Davis's Straits, for ice generally keeps +to the west coast of Baffin's Sea. An hour afterwards the _Forward_ +passed in the midst of isolated portions of the ice-stream, and in +the most compact parts, the icebergs, though welded together, obeyed +the movements of the swell. The next day the man at the masthead +signalled a vessel. It was the _Valkirien_, a Danish corvette, running +alongside the _Forward_, and making for the bank of Newfoundland. +The current of the Strait began to make itself felt, and Shandon had +to put on sail to go up it. At this moment the commander, the doctor, +James Wall, and Johnson were assembled on the poop examining the +direction and strength of the current. The doctor wanted to know if +the current existed also in Baffin's Sea. + +"Without the least doubt," answered Shandon, "and the sailing vessels +have much trouble to stem it." + +"Besides there," added Wall, "you meet with it on the eastern coast +of America, as well as on the western coast of Greenland." + +"There," said the doctor, "that is what gives very singular reason +to the seekers of the North-West passage! That current runs about +five miles an hour, and it is a little difficult to suppose that it +springs from the bottom of a gulf." + +"It is so much the more probable, doctor," replied Shandon, "that +if this current runs from north to south we find in Behring's Straits +a contrary current which runs from south to north, and which must +be the origin of this one." + +"According to that," replied the doctor, "we must admit that America +is totally unconnected with the Polar lands, and that the waters of +the Pacific run round the coasts of America into the Atlantic. On +the other hand, the greater elevation of the waters of the Pacific +gives reason to the supposition that they fall into the European +seas." + +"But," sharply replied Shandon, "there must be facts to establish +that theory, and if there are any," added he with irony, "our +universally well-informed doctor ought to know them." + +"Well," replied the above-mentioned, with amiable satisfaction, "if +it interests you, I can tell you that whales, wounded in Davis's +Straits, are caught some time afterwards in the neighbourhood of +Tartary with the European harpoon still in their flanks." + +"And unless they have been able to double Cape Horn or the Cape of +Good Hope," replied Shandon, "they must necessarily have rounded the +septentrional coasts of America--that's what I call indisputable, +doctor." + +"However, if you were not convinced, my dear fellow," said the doctor, +smiling, "I could still produce other facts, such as drift-wood, of +which Davis's Straits are full, larch, aspen, and other tropical trees. +Now we know that the Gulf Stream hinders those woods from entering +the Straits. If, then, they come out of it they can only get in from +Behring's Straits." + +"I am convinced, doctor, and I avow that it would be difficult to +remain incredulous with you." + +"Upon my honour," said Johnson, "there's something that comes just +in time to help our discussion. I perceive in the distance a lump +of wood of certain dimensions; if the commander permits it we'll haul +it in, and ask it the name of its country." + +"That's it," said the doctor, "the example after the rule." + +Shandon gave the necessary orders; the brig was directed towards the +piece of wood signalled, and soon afterwards, not without trouble, +the crew hoisted it on deck. It was the trunk of a mahogany tree, +gnawed right into the centre by worms, but for which circumstance +it would not have floated. + +"This is glorious," said the doctor enthusiastically, "for as the +currents of the Atlantic could not carry it to Davis's Straits, and +as it has not been driven into the Polar basin by the streams of +septentrional America, seeing that this tree grew under the Equator, +it is evident that it comes in a straight line from Behring; and look +here, you see those sea-worms which have eaten it, they belong to +a hot-country species." + +"It is evident," replied Wall, "that the people who do not believe +in the famous passage are wrong." + +"Why, this circumstance alone ought to convince them," said the +doctor; "I will just trace you out the itinerary of that mahogany; +it has been floated towards the Pacific by some river of the Isthmus +of Panama or Guatemala, from thence the current has dragged it along +the American coast as far as Behring's Straits, and in spite of +everything it was obliged to enter the Polar Seas. It is neither so +old nor so soaked that we need fear to assign a recent date to its +setting out; it has had the good luck to get clear of the obstacles +in that long suite of straits which lead out of Baffin's Bay, and +quickly seized by the boreal current came by Davis's Straits to be +made prisoner by the _Forward_ to the great joy of Dr. Clawbonny, +who asks the commander's permission to keep a sample of it." + +"Do so," said Shandon, "but allow me to tell you that you will not +be the only proprietor of such a wreck. The Danish governor of the +Isle of Disko----" + +"On the coast of Greenland," continued the doctor, "possesses a +mahogany table made from a trunk fished up under the same +circumstances. I know it, but I don't envy him his table, for if it +were not for the bother, I should have enough there for a whole +bedroom." + +During the night, from Wednesday to Thursday, the wind blew with +extreme violence, and driftwood was seen more frequently. Nearing +the coast offered many dangers at an epoch in which icebergs were +so numerous; the commander caused some of the sails to be furled, +and the _Forward_ glided away under her foresail and foremast only. +The thermometer sank below freezing-point. Shandon distributed +suitable clothing to the crew, a woollen jacket and trousers, a +flannel shirt, wadmel stockings, the same as those the Norwegian +country-people wear, and a pair of perfectly waterproof sea-boots. +As to the captain, he contented himself with his natural fur, and +appeared little sensible to the change in the temperature; he had, +no doubt, gone through more than one trial of this kind, and besides, +a Dane had no right to be difficult. He was seen very little, as he +kept himself concealed in the darkest parts of the vessel. + +Towards evening the coast of Greenland peeped out through an opening +in the fog. The doctor, armed with his glass, could distinguish for +an instant a line of peaks, ridged with large blocks of ice; but the +fog closed rapidly on this vision, like the curtain of a theatre +falling in the most interesting moment of the piece. + +On the morning of the 20th of April the _Forward_ was in sight of +an iceberg a hundred and fifty feet high, stranded there from time +immemorial; the thaws had taken no effect on it, and had respected +its strange forms. Snow saw it; James Ross took an exact sketch of +it in 1829; and in 1851 the French lieutenant Bellot saw it from the +deck of the _Prince Albert_. Of course the doctor wished to keep a +memento of the celebrated mountain, and made a clever sketch of it. +It is not surprising that such masses should be stranded and adhere +to the land, for to each foot above water they have two feet below, +giving, therefore, to this one about eighty fathoms of depth. + +At last, under a temperature which at noon was only 12 degrees, under +a snowy and foggy sky, Cape Farewell was perceived. The _Forward_ +arrived on the day fixed; if it pleased the unknown captain to come +and occupy his position in such diabolical weather he would have no +cause to complain. + +"There you are, then," said the doctor to himself, "cape so celebrated +and so well named! Many have cleared it like us who were destined +never to see it again. Is it, then, an eternal adieu said to one's +European friends? You have all passed it. Frobisher, Knight, Barlow, +Vaughan, Scroggs, Barentz, Hudson, Blosseville, Franklin, Crozier, +Bellot, never to come back to your domestic hearth, and that cape +has been really for you the cape of adieus." + +It was about the year 970 that some navigators left Iceland and +discovered Greenland. Sebastian Cabot forced his way as far as +latitude 56 degrees in 1498. Gaspard and Michel Cotreal, in 1500 and +1502, went as far north as 60 degrees; and Martin Frobisher, in 1576, +arrived as far as the bay that bears his name. To John Davis belongs +the honour of having discovered the Straits in 1585; and two years +later, in a third voyage, that bold navigator and great whaler reached +the sixty-third parallel, twenty-seven degrees from the Pole. + +Barentz in 1596, Weymouth in 1602, James Hall in 1605 and 1607, Hudson, +whose name was given to that vast bay which hollows out so profoundly +the continent of America, James Poole, in 1611, advanced far into +the Strait in search of that North-West passage the discovery of which +would have considerably shortened the track of communication between +the two worlds. Baffin, in 1616, found the Straits of Lancaster in +the sea that bears his own name; he was followed, in 1619, by James +Munk, and in 1719 by Knight, Barlow, Vaughan, and Scroggs, of whom +no news has ever been heard. In 1776 Lieutenant Pickersgill, sent +out to meet Captain Cook, who tried to go up Behring's Straits, reached +the sixty-eighth degree; the following year Young, for the same +purpose, went as far north as Woman's Island. + +Afterwards came Captain James Ross, who, in 1818, rounded the coasts +of Baffin's Sea, and corrected the hydrographic errors of his +predecessors. Lastly, in 1819 and 1820, the celebrated Parry passed +through Lancaster Straits, and penetrated, in spite of unnumbered +difficulties, as far as Melville Island, and won the prize of 5,000 +pounds promised by Act of Parliament to the English sailors who would +reach the hundred and seventeenth meridian by a higher latitude than +the seventy-seventh parallel. + +In 1826 Beechey touched Chamisso Island; James Ross wintered from +1829 to 1833 in Prince Regent Straits, and amongst other important +works discovered the magnetic pole. During this time Franklin, by +an overland route, traversed the septentrional coasts of America from +the River Mackenzie to Turnagain Point. Captain Back followed in his +steps from 1823 to 1835, and these explorations were completed in +1839 by Messrs. Dease and Simpson and Dr. Rae. + +Lastly, Sir John Franklin, wishing to discover the North-West passage, +left England in 1845 on board the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_; he +penetrated into Baffin's Sea, and since his passage across Disko +Island no news had been heard of his expedition. + +That disappearance determined the numerous investigations which have +brought about the discovery of the passage, and the survey of these +Polar continents, with such indented coast lines. The most daring +English, French, and American sailors made voyages towards these +terrible countries, and, thanks to their efforts, the maps of that +country, so difficult to make, figured in the list of the Royal +Geographical Society of London. The curious history of these +countries was thus presented to the doctor's imagination as he leaned +on the rail, and followed with his eyes the long track left by the +brig. Thoughts of the bold navigators weighed upon his mind, and he +fancied he could perceive under the frozen arches of the icebergs +the pale ghosts of those who were no more. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +DAVIS'S STRAITS + + +During that day the _Forward_ cut out an easy road amongst the +half-broken ice; the wind was good, but the temperature very low; +the currents of air blowing across the ice-fields brought with them +their penetrating cold. The night required the severest attention; +the floating icebergs drew together in that narrow pass; a hundred +at once were often counted on the horizon; they broke off from the +elevated coasts under the teeth of the grinding waves and the +influence of the spring season, in order to go and melt or to be +swallowed up in the depths of the ocean. Long rafts of wood, with +which it was necessary to escape collision, kept the crew on the alert; +the crow's nest was put in its place on the mizenmast; it consisted +of a cask, in which the ice-master was partly hidden to protect him +from the cold winds while he kept watch over the sea and the icebergs +in view, and from which he signalled danger and sometimes gave orders +to the crew. The nights were short; the sun had reappeared since the +31st of January in consequence of the refraction, and seemed to get +higher and higher above the horizon. But the snow impeded the view, +and if it did not cause complete obscurity it rendered navigation +laborious. + +On the 21st of April Desolation Cape appeared in the midst of thick +mists; the crew were tired out with the constant strain on their +energies rendered necessary ever since they had got amongst the +icebergs; the sailors had not had a minute's rest; it was soon +necessary to have recourse to steam to cut a way through the heaped-up +blocks. The doctor and Johnson were talking together on the stern, +whilst Shandon was snatching a few hours' sleep in his cabin. +Clawbonny was getting information from the old sailor, whose numerous +voyages had given him an interesting and sensible education. The +doctor felt much friendship for him, and the boatswain repaid it with +interest. + +"You see, Mr. Clawbonny," Johnson used to say, "this country is not +like all others; they call it _Green_land, but there are very few +weeks in the year when it justifies its name." + +"Who knows if in the tenth century this land did not justify its name?" +added the doctor. "More than one revolution of this kind has been +produced upon our globe, and I daresay I should astonish you if I +were to tell you that according to Icelandic chronicles two thousand +villages flourished upon this continent about eight or nine hundred +years ago." + +"You would so much astonish me, Mr. Clawbonny, that I should have +some difficulty in believing you, for it is a miserable country." + +"However miserable it may be, it still offers a sufficient retreat +to its inhabitants, and even to civilised Europeans." + +"Without doubt! We met men at Disko and Uppernawik who consented to +live in such climates; but my ideas upon the matter were that they +lived there by compulsion and not by choice." + +"I daresay you are right, though men get accustomed to everything, +and the Greenlanders do not appear to me so unfortunate as the workmen +of our large towns; they may be unfortunate, but they are certainly +not unhappy. I say unhappy, but the word does not translate my thought, +for if these people have not the comforts of temperate countries, +they are formed for a rude climate, and find pleasures in it which +we are not able to conceive." + +"I suppose we must think so, as Heaven is just. Many, many voyages +have brought me upon these coasts, and my heart always shrinks at +the sight of these wretched solitudes; but they ought to have cheered +up these capes, promontories, and bays with more engaging names, for +Farewell Cape and Desolation Cape are not names made to attract +navigators." + +"I have also remarked that," replied the doctor, "but these names +have a geographical interest that we must not overlook. They describe +the adventures of those who gave them those names. Next to the names +of Davis, Baffin, Hudson, Ross, Parry, Franklin, and Bellot, if I +meet with Cape Desolation I soon find Mercy Bay; Cape Providence is +a companion to Port Anxiety; Repulsion Bay brings me back to Cape +Eden, and leaving Turnagain Point I take refuge in Refuge Bay. I have +there under my eyes an unceasing succession of perils, misfortunes, +obstacles, successes, despairs, and issues, mixed with great names +of my country, and, like a series of old-fashioned medals, that +nomenclature retraces in my mind the whole history of these seas." + +"You are quite right, Mr. Clawbonny, and I hope we shall meet with +more Success Bays than Despair Capes in our voyage." + +"I hope so too, Johnson; but, I say, is the crew come round a little +from its terrors?" + +"Yes, a little; but since we got into the Straits they have begun +to talk about the fantastic captain; more than one of them expected +to see him appear at the extremity of Greenland; but between you and +me, doctor, doesn't it astonish you a little too?" + +"It does indeed, Johnson." + +"Do you believe in the captain's existence?" + +"Of course I do." + +"But what can be his reasons for acting in that manner?" + +"If I really must tell you the whole of my thoughts, Johnson, I believe +that the captain wished to entice the crew far enough out to prevent +them being able to come back. Now if he had been on board when we +started they would all have wanted to know our destination, and he +might have been embarrassed." + +"But why so?" + +"Suppose he should wish to attempt some superhuman enterprise, and +to penetrate where others have never been able to reach, do you believe +if the crew knew it they would ever have enlisted? As it is, having +got so far, going farther becomes a necessity." + +"That's very probable, Mr. Clawbonny. I have known more than one +intrepid adventurer whose name alone was a terror, and who would never +have found any one to accompany him in his perilous expeditions----" + +"Excepting me," ventured the doctor. + +"And me, after you," answered Johnson, "and to follow you; I can +venture to affirm that our captain is amongst the number of such +adventurers. No matter, we shall soon see; I suppose the unknown will +come as captain on board from the coast of Uppernawik or Melville +Bay, and will tell us at last where it is his good pleasure to conduct +the ship." + +"I am of your opinion, Johnson, but the difficulty will be to get +as far as Melville Bay. See how the icebergs encircle us from every +point! They scarcely leave a passage for the _Forward_. Just examine +that immense plain over there." + +"The whalers call that in our language an ice-field, that is to say +a continued surface of ice the limits of which cannot be perceived." + +"And on that side, that broken field, those long pieces of ice more +or less joined at their edges?" + +"That is a pack; if it was of a circular form we should call it a +patch; and, if the form was longer, a stream." + +"And there, those floating icebergs?" + +"Those are drift-ice; if they were a little higher they would be +icebergs or hills; their contact with vessels is dangerous, and must +be carefully avoided. Here, look over there: on that ice-field there +is a protuberance produced by the pressure of the icebergs; we call +that a hummock; if that protuberance was submerged to its base we +should call it a calf. It was very necessary to give names to all +those forms in order to recognise them." + +"It is truly a marvellous spectacle!" exclaimed the doctor, +contemplating the wonders of the Boreal Seas; "there is a field for +the imagination in such pictures!" + +"Yes," answered Johnson, "ice often takes fantastic shapes, and our +men are not behindhand in explaining them according to their own +notions." + +"Isn't that assemblage of ice-blocks admirable? Doesn't it look like +a foreign town, an Eastern town, with its minarets and mosques under +the pale glare of the moon? Further on there is a long series of Gothic +vaults, reminding one of Henry the Seventh's chapel or the Houses +of Parliament." + +"They would be houses and towns very dangerous to inhabit, and we +must not sail too close to them. Some of those minarets yonder totter +on their base, and the least of them would crush a vessel like the +_Forward_." + +"And yet sailors dared to venture into these seas before they had +steam at their command! How ever could a sailing vessel be steered +amongst these moving rocks?" + +"Nevertheless, it has been accomplished, Mr. Clawbonny. When the wind +became contrary--and that has happened to me more than once--we +quietly anchored to one of those blocks, and we drifted more or less +with it and waited for a favourable moment to set sail again. I must +acknowledge that such a manner of voyaging required months, whilst +with a little good fortune we shall only want a few days." + +"It seems to me," said the doctor, "that the temperature has a tendency +to get lower." + +"That would be a pity," answered Johnson, "for a thaw is necessary +to break up these masses and drive them away into the Atlantic; besides, +they are more numerous in Davis's Straits, for the sea gets narrower +between Capes Walsingham and Holsteinborg; but on the other side of +the 67th degree we shall find the seas more navigable during the months +of May and June." + +"Yes; but first of all we must get to the other side." + +"Yes, we must get there, Mr. Clawbonny. In June and July we should +have found an open passage, like the whalers do, but our orders were +precise; we were to be here in April. I am very much mistaken if our +captain has not his reasons for getting us out here so early." + +The doctor was right in stating that the temperature was lowering; +the thermometer at noon only indicated 6 degrees, and a north-west +breeze was getting up, which, although it cleared the sky, assisted +the current in precipitating the floating masses of ice into the path +of the _Forward_. All of them did not obey the same impulsion, and +it was not uncommon to encounter some of the highest masses drifting +in an opposite direction, seized at their base by an undercurrent. + +It is easy to understand the difficulties of this kind of navigation; +the engineers had not a minute's rest; the engines were worked from +the deck by means of levers, which opened, stopped, and reversed them +according to the orders of the officers on watch. Sometimes the brig +had to hasten through an opening in the ice-fields, sometimes to +struggle against the swiftness of an iceberg which threatened to close +the only practicable issue, or, again, some block, suddenly +overthrown, compelled the brig to back quickly so as not to be crushed +to pieces. This mass of ice, carried along, broken up and amalgamated +by the northern current, crushed up the passage, and if seized by +the frost would oppose an impassable barrier to the passage of the +_Forward_. + +Birds were found in innumerable quantities on these coasts, petrels +and other sea-birds fluttered about here and there with deafening +cries, a great number of big-headed, short-necked sea-gulls were +amongst them; they spread out their long wings and braved in their +play the snow whipped by the hurricane. This animation of the winged +tribe made the landscape more lively. + +Numerous pieces of wood were floating to leeway, clashing with noise; +a few enormous, bloated-headed sharks approached the vessel, but +there was no question of chasing them, although Simpson, the harpooner, +was longing to have a hit at them. Towards evening several seals made +their appearance, nose above water, swimming between the blocks. + +On the 22nd the temperature again lowered; the _Forward_ put on all +steam to catch the favourable passes: the wind was decidedly fixed +in the north-west; all sails were furled. + +During that day, which was Sunday, the sailors had little to do. After +the reading of Divine service, which was conducted by Shandon, the +crew gave chase to sea-birds, of which they caught a great number. +They were suitably prepared according to the doctor's method, and +furnished an agreeable increase of provisions to the tables of the +officers and crew. + +At three o'clock in the afternoon the _Forward_ had attained Thin +de Sael, Sukkertop Mountain; the sea was very rough; from time to +time a vast and inopportune fog fell from the grey sky; however, at +noon an exact observation could be taken. The vessel was in 65 degrees +20 minutes latitude by 54 degrees 22 minutes longitude. It was +necessary to attain two degrees more in order to meet with freer and +more favourable navigation. + +During the three following days, the 24th, 25th, and 26th of April, +the _Forward_ had a continual struggle with the ice; the working of +the machines became very fatiguing. The steam was turned off quickly +or got up again at a moment's notice, and escaped whistling from its +valves. During the thick mist the nearing of icebergs was only known +by dull thundering produced by the avalanches; the brig was instantly +veered; it ran the risk of being crushed against the heaps of +fresh-water ice, remarkable for its crystal transparency, and as hard +as a rock. + +Richard Shandon never missed completing his provision of water by +embarking several tons of ice every day. The doctor could not accustom +himself to the optical delusions that refraction produces on these +coasts. An iceberg sometimes appeared to him like a small white lump +within reach, when it was at least at ten or twelve miles' distance. +He endeavoured to accustom his eyesight to this singular phenomenon, +so that he might be able to correct its errors rapidly. + +At last the crew were completely worn out by their labours in hauling +the vessel alongside of the ice-fields and by keeping it free from +the most menacing blocks by the aid of long perches. Nevertheless, +the _Forward_ was still held back in the impassable limits of the +Polar Circle on Friday, the 27th of April. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +GOSSIP OF THE CREW + + +However, the _Forward_ managed, by cunningly slipping into narrow +passages, to gain a few more minutes north; but instead of avoiding +the enemy, it was soon necessary to attack it. The ice-fields, several +miles in extent, were getting nearer, and as these moving heaps often +represent a pressure of more than ten millions of tons, it was +necessary to give a wide berth to their embraces. The ice-saws were +at once installed in the interior of the vessel, in such a manner +as to facilitate immediate use of them. Part of the crew +philosophically accepted their hard work, but the other complained +of it, if it did not refuse to obey. At the same time that they assisted +in the installation of the instruments, Garry, Bolton, Pen and Gripper +exchanged their opinions. + +"By Jingo!" said Bolton gaily, "I don't know why the thought strikes +me that there's a very jolly tavern in Water-street where it's +comfortable to be between a glass of gin and a bottle of porter. Can't +you imagine it, Gripper?" + +"To tell you the truth," quickly answered the questioned sailor, who +generally professed to be in a bad temper, "I don't imagine it here." + +"It's for the sake of talking, Gripper; it's evident that the snow +towns Dr. Clawbonny admires so don't contain the least public where +a poor sailor can get a half-pint of brandy." + +"That's sure enough, Bolton; and you may as well add that there's +nothing worth drinking here. It's a nice idea to deprive men of their +grog when they are in the Northern Seas." + +"But you know," said Garry, "that the doctor told us it was to prevent +us getting the scurvy. It's the only way to make us go far." + +"But I don't want to go far, Garry; it's pretty well to have come +this far without trying to go where the devil is determined we shan't." + +"Well, we shan't go, that's all," replied Pen. "I declare I've almost +forgotten the taste of gin." + +"But remember what the doctor says," replied Bolton. + +"It's all very fine for them to talk. It remains to be seen if it +isn't an excuse for being skinny with the drink." + +"Pen may be right, after all," said Gripper. + +"His nose is too red for that," answered Bolton. "Pen needn't grumble +if it loses a little of its colour in the voyage." + +"What's my nose got to do with you?" sharply replied the sailor, +attacked in the most sensitive place. "My nose doesn't need any of +your remarks; take care of your own." + +"Now, then, don't get angry, Pen; I didn't know your nose was so touchy. +I like a glass of whisky as well as anybody, especially in such a +temperature; but if I know it'll do me more harm than good, I go +without." + +"You go without," said Warren, the stoker; "but everyone don't go +without." + +"What do you mean, Warren?" asked Garry, looking fixedly at him. + +"I mean that for some reason or other there are spirits on board, +and I know they don't go without in the stern." + +"And how do you know that?" asked Garry. + +Warren did not know what to say: he talked for the sake of talking. + +"You see Warren don't know anything about it, Garry," said Bolton. + +"Well," said Pen, "we'll ask the commander for a ration of gin; we've +earned it well and we'll see what he says." + +"I wouldn't if I were you," answered Garry. + +"Why?" cried Pen and Gripper. + +"Because he'll refuse. You knew you weren't to have any when you +enlisted; you should have thought of it then." + +"Besides," replied Bolton, who took Garry's part because he liked +his character, "Richard Shandon isn't master on board; he obeys, like +us." + +"Who is master if he isn't?" + +"The captain." + +"Always that unfortunate captain!" exclaimed Pen. "Don't you see that +on these ice-banks there's no more a captain than there is a public? +It's a polite way of refusing us what we've a right to claim." + +"But if there's a captain," replied Bolton, "I'll bet two months' +pay we shall see him before long." + +"I should like to tell the captain a bit of my mind," said Pen. + +"Who's talking about the captain?" said a new-comer. It was Clifton, +the sailor, a superstitious and envious man. "Is anything new known +about the captain?" he asked. + +"No," they all answered at once. + +"Well, I believe we shall find him one fine morning installed in his +cabin, and no one will know how he got there." + +"Get along, do!" replied Bolton. "Why, Clifton, you imagine that he's +a hobgoblin--a sort of wild child of the Highlands." + +"Laugh as much as you like, Bolton, you won't change my opinion. Every +day as I pass his cabin I look through the keyhole. One of these fine +mornings I shall come and tell you what he's like." + +"Why, he'll be like everyone else," said Pen, "and if he thinks he'll +be able to do what he likes with us, he'll find himself mistaken, +that's all!" + +"Pen don't know him yet," said Bolton, "and he's beginning to quarrel +with him already." + +"Who doesn't know him?" said Clifton, looking knowing; "I don't know +that he don't!" + +"What the devil do you mean?" asked Gripper. + +"I know very well what I mean." + +"But we don't." + +"Well, Pen has quarrelled with him before." + +"With the captain?" + +"Yes, the dog-captain--it's all one." + +The sailors looked at one another, afraid to say anything. + +"Man or dog," muttered Pen, "I declare that that animal will have +his account one of these days." + +"Come, Clifton," asked Bolton seriously, "you don't mean to say that +you believe the dog is the real captain?" + +"Indeed I do," answered Clifton with conviction. "If you noticed +things like I do, you would have noticed what a queer beast it is." + +"Well, tell us what you've noticed." + +"Haven't you noticed the way he walks on the poop with such an air +of authority, looking up at the sails as if he were on watch?" + +"That's true enough," added Gripper, "and one evening I actually found +him with his paws on the paddle-wheel." + +"You don't mean it!" said Bolton. + +"And now what do you think he does but go for a walk on the ice-fields, +minding neither the bears nor the cold?" + +"That's true enough," said Bolton. + +"Do you ever see that 'ere animal, like an honest dog, seek men's +company, sneak about the kitchen, and set his eyes on Mr. Strong when's +he taking something good to the commander? Don't you hear him in the +night when he goes away two or three miles from the vessel, howling +fit to make your blood run cold, as if it weren't easy enough to feel +that sensation in such a temperature as this? Again, have you ever +seen him feed? He takes nothing from any one. His food is always +untouched and unless a secret hand feeds him on board, I may say that +he lives without eating, and if he's not unearthly, I'm a fool!" + +"Upon my word," said Bell, the carpenter, who had heard all Clifton's +reasoning, "I shouldn't be surprised if such was the case." The other +sailors were silenced. + +"Well, at any rate, where's the _Forward_ going to?" + +"I don't know anything about it," replied Bell. "Richard Shandon will +receive the rest of his instructions in due time." + +"But from whom?" + +"From whom?" + +"Yes, how?" asked Bolton, becoming pressing. + +"Now then, answer, Bell!" chimed in all the other sailors. + +"By whom? how? Why, I don't know," said the carpenter, embarrassed +in his turn. + +"Why, by the dog-captain," exclaimed Clifton. "He has written once +already; why shouldn't he again? If I only knew half of what that +'ere animal knows, I shouldn't be embarrassed at being First Lord +of the Admiralty!" + +"So then you stick to your opinion that the dog is the captain?" + +"Yes." + +"Well," said Pen in a hoarse voice, "if that 'ere animal don't want +to turn up his toes in a dog's skin, he's only got to make haste and +become a man, or I'm hanged if I don't settle him." + +"What for?" asked Garry. + +"Because I choose," replied Pen brutally; "besides, it's no business +of any one." + +"Enough talking, my boys," called out Mr. Johnson, interfering just +in time, for the conversation was getting hot. "Get on with your work, +and set up your saws quicker than that. We must clear the iceberg." + +"What! on a Friday?" replied Clifton, shrugging his shoulders. +"You'll see she won't get over the Polar circle as easily as you +think." + +The efforts of the crew were almost powerless during the whole day. +The _Forward_ could not separate the ice-fields even by going against +them full speed, and they were obliged to anchor for the night. On +Saturday the temperature lowered again under the influence of an +easterly wind. The weather cleared up, and the eye could sweep over +the white plains in the distance, which the reflection of the sun's +rays rendered dazzling. At seven in the morning the thermometer marked +eight degrees below zero. The doctor was tempted to stay quietly in +his cabin, and read the Arctic voyages over again; but, according +to his custom, he asked himself what would be the most disagreeable +thing he could do, which he settled was to go on deck and assist the +men to work in such a temperature. Faithful to the line of conduct +he had traced out for himself, he left his well-warmed cabin and came +to help in hauling the vessel. His was a pleasant face, in spite of +the green spectacles by which he preserved his eyes from the biting +of the reflected rays; in his future observations he was always +careful in making use of his snow spectacles, in order to avoid +ophthalmia, very frequent in these high latitudes. + +Towards evening the _Forward_ had made several miles further north, +thanks to the activity of the men and Shandon's skill, which made +him take advantage of every favourable circumstance; at midnight he +had got beyond the sixty-sixth parallel, and the fathom line declared +twenty-three fathoms of water; Shandon discovered that he was on the +shoal where Her Majesty's ship _Victoria_ struck, and that land was +drawing near, thirty miles to the east. But now the heaps of ice, +which up till now had been motionless, divided and began to move; +icebergs seemed coming from every point of the horizon; the brig was +entangled in a series of moving rocks, the crushing force of which +it was impossible to resist. Moving became so difficult that Garry, +the best helmsman, took the wheel; the mountains had a tendency to +close up behind the brig; it then became essential to cut through +the floating ice, and prudence as well as duty ordered them to go +ahead. Difficulties became greater from the impossibility that +Shandon found in establishing the direction of the vessel amongst +such changing points, which kept moving without offering one firm +perspective. The crew was divided into two tacks, larboard and +starboard; each one, armed with a long perch with an iron point, drove +back the two threatening blocks. Soon the _Forward_ entered into a +pass so narrow, between two high blocks, that the extremity of her +yards struck against the walls, hard as rock; by degrees she entangled +herself in the midst of a winding valley, filled up with eddies of +snow, whilst the floating ice was crashing and splitting with sinister +cracklings. But it soon became certain that there was no egress from +this gullet. An enormous block, caught in the channel, was driving +rapidly on to the _Forward_! It seemed impossible to avoid it, and +equally impossible to back out along a road already obstructed. + +Shandon and Johnson, standing on the prow, were contemplating the +position. Shandon was pointing with his right hand at the direction +the helmsman was to take, and with his left was conveying to James +Wall, posted near the engineer, his orders for the working of the +machine. + +"How will this end?" asked the doctor of Johnson. + +"As it may please God," replied the boatswain. + +The block of ice, at least a hundred feet high, was only about a cable's +length from the _Forward_, and threatened to pound her under it. + +"Cursed luck!" exclaimed Pen, swearing frightfully. + +"Silence!" exclaimed a voice which it was impossible to recognise +in the midst of the storm. + +The block seemed to be precipitating itself upon the brig; there was +a moment of undefinable anguish; the men forsook their poles and +flocked to the stern in spite of Shandon's orders. + +Suddenly a frightful sound was heard; a genuine waterspout fell upon +deck, heaved up by an enormous wave. A cry of terror rang out from +the crew whilst Garry, at the helm, held the _Forward_ in a straight +line in spite of the frightful incumbrance. When their frightened +looks were drawn towards the mountain of ice it had disappeared; the +pass was free, and further on a long channel, illuminated by the +oblique rays of the sun, allowed the brig to pursue her track. + +"Well, Mr. Clawbonny," said Johnson, "can you explain to me the cause +of that phenomenon?" + +"It is a very simple one," answered the doctor, "and happens very +often. When those floating bodies are disengaged from each other by +the thaw, they sail away separately, maintaining their balance; but +by degrees, as they near the south, where the water is relatively +warmer, their base, shaken by the collision with other icebergs, +begins to melt and weaken; it then happens that their centre of gravity +is displaced, and, naturally, they overturn. Only, if that one had +turned over two minutes later, it would have crushed our vessel to +pieces." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +NEWS + + +The Polar circle was cleared at last. On the 30th of April, at midday, +the _Forward_ passed abreast of Holsteinborg; picturesque mountains +rose up on the eastern horizon. The sea appeared almost free from +icebergs, and the few there were could easily be avoided. The wind +veered round to the south-east, and the brig, under her mizensail, +brigantine, topsails, and her topgallant sail, sailed up Baffin's +Sea. It had been a particularly calm day, and the crew were able to +take a little rest. Numerous birds were swimming and fluttering about +round the vessel; amongst others, the doctor observed some +_alca-alla_, very much like the teal, with black neck, wings and back, +and white breast; they plunged with vivacity, and their immersion +often lasted forty seconds. + +The day would not have been remarkable if the following fact, however +extraordinary it may appear, had not occurred on board. At six o'clock +in the morning Richard Shandon, re-entering his cabin after having +been relieved, found upon the table a letter with this address: + + + "To the Commander, + + "RICHARD SHANDON, + + "On board the 'FORWARD,' + + "Baffin's Sea." + + +Shandon could not believe his own eyes, and before reading such a +strange epistle he caused the doctor, James Wall and Johnson to be +called, and showed them the letter. + +"That grows very strange," said Johnson. + +"It's delightful!" thought the doctor. + +"At last," cried Shandon, "we shall know the secret." + +With a quick hand he tore the envelope and read as follows: + + +"COMMANDER,--The captain of the _Forward_ is pleased with the +coolness, skill, and courage that your men, your officers, and +yourself have shown on the late occasions, and begs you to give +evidence of his gratitude to the crew. + +"Have the goodness to take a northerly direction towards Melville +Bay, and from thence try and penetrate into Smith's Straits. + + "THE CAPTAIN OF THE _Forward_, + + "K. Z. + + "Monday, April 30th, + + "Abreast of Cape Walsingham." + + +"Is that all?" cried the doctor. + +"That's all," replied Shandon, and the letter fell from his hands. + +"Well," said Wall, "this chimerical captain doesn't even mention +coming on board, so I conclude that he never will come." + +"But how did this letter get here?" said Johnson. + +Shandon was silent. + +"Mr. Wall is right," replied the doctor, after picking up the letter +and turning it over in every direction; "the captain won't come on +board for an excellent reason----" + +"And what's that?" asked Shandon quickly. + +"Because he is here already," replied the doctor simply. + +"Already!" said Shandon. "What do you mean?" + +"How do you explain the arrival of this letter if such is not the +case?" + +Johnson nodded his head in sign of approbation. + +"It is not possible!" said Shandon energetically. "I know every man +of the crew. We should have to believe, in that case, that the captain +has been with us ever since we set sail. It is not possible, I tell +you. There isn't one of them that I haven't seen for more than two +years in Liverpool; doctor, your supposition is inadmissible." + +"Then what do you admit, Shandon?" + +"Everything but that! I admit that the captain, or one of his men, +has profited by the darkness, the fog, or anything you like, in order +to slip on board; we are not very far from land; there are Esquimaux +kayaks that pass unperceived between the icebergs; someone may have +come on board and left the letter; the fog was intense enough to favour +their design." + +"And to hinder them from seeing the brig," replied the doctor; "if +we were not able to perceive an intruder slip on board, how could +_he_ have discovered the _Forward_ in the midst of a fog?" + +"That is evident," exclaimed Johnson. + +"I come back, then," said the doctor, "to my first hypothesis. What +do you think about it, Shandon?" + +"I think what you please," replied Shandon fiercely, "with the +exception of supposing that this man is on board my vessel." + +"Perhaps," added Wall, "there may be amongst the crew a man of his +who has received instructions from him." + +"That's very likely," added the doctor. + +"But which man?" asked Shandon. "I tell you I have known all my men +a long time." + +"Anyhow," replied Johnson, "if this captain shows himself, let him +be man or devil, we'll receive him; but we have another piece of +information to draw from this letter." + +"What's that?" asked Shandon. + +"Why, that we are to direct our path not only towards Melville Bay, +but again into Smith's Straits." + +"You are right," answered the doctor. + +"Smith's Straits?" echoed Shandon mechanically. + +"It is evident," replied Johnson, "that the destination of the +_Forward_ is not to seek a North-West passage, as we shall leave to +our left the only track that leads to it--that is to say, Lancaster +Straits; that's what forebodes us difficult navigation in unknown +seas." + +"Yes, Smith's Straits," replied Shandon, "that's the route the +American Kane followed in 1853, and at the price of what dangers! +For a long time he was thought to be lost in those dreadful latitudes! +However, as we must go, go we must. But where? how far? To the Pole?" + +"And why not?" cried the doctor. + +The idea of such an insane attempt made the boatswain shrug his +shoulders. + +"After all," resumed James Wall, "to come back to the captain, if +he exists, I see nowhere on the coast of Greenland except Disko or +Uppernawik where he can be waiting for us; in a few days we shall +know what we may depend upon." + +"But," asked the doctor of Shandon, "aren't you going to make known +the contents of that letter to the crew?" + +"With the commander's permission," replied Johnson, "I should do +nothing of the kind." + +"And why so?" asked Shandon. + +"Because all that mystery tends to discourage the men: they are +already very anxious about the fate of our expedition, and if the +supernatural side of it is increased it may produce very serious +results, and in a critical moment we could not rely upon them. What +do you say about it, commander?" + +"And you, doctor--what do you think?" asked Shandon. + +"I think Johnson's reasoning is just." + +"And you, Wall?" + +"Unless there's better advice forthcoming, I shall stick to the +opinion of these gentlemen." + +Shandon reflected seriously during a few minutes, and read the letter +over again carefully. + +"Gentlemen," said he, "your opinion on this subject is certainly +excellent, but I cannot adopt it." + +"Why not, Shandon?" asked the doctor. + +"Because the instructions of this letter are formal: they command +me to give the captain's congratulations to the crew, and up till +to-day I have always blindly obeyed his orders in whatever manner +they have been transmitted to me, and I cannot----" + +"But----" said Johnson, who rightly dreaded the effect of such a +communication upon the minds of the sailors. + +"My dear Johnson," answered Shandon, "your reasons are excellent, +but read--'he begs you to give evidence of his gratitude to the crew.'" + +"Act as you think best," replied Johnson, who was besides a very strict +observer of discipline. "Are we to muster the crew on deck?" + +"Do so," replied Shandon. + +The news of a communication having been received from the captain +spread like wildfire on deck; the sailors quickly arrived at their +post, and the commander read out the contents of the mysterious letter. +The reading of it was received in a dead silence; the crew dispersed, +a prey to a thousand suppositions. Clifton had heard enough to give +himself up to all the wanderings of his superstitious imagination; +he attributed a considerable share in this incident to the dog-captain, +and when by chance he met him in his passage he never failed to salute +him. "I told you the animal could write," he used to say to the sailors. +No one said anything in answer to this observation, and even Bell, +the carpenter himself, would not have known what to answer. + +Nevertheless it was certain to all that, in default of the captain, +his spirit or his shadow watched on board; and henceforward the wisest +of the crew abstained from exchanging their opinions about him. + +On the 1st of May, at noon, they were in 68 degrees latitude and 56 +degrees 32 minutes longitude. The temperature was higher and the +thermometer marked twenty-five degrees above zero. The doctor was +amusing himself with watching the antics of a white bear and two cubs +on the brink of a pack that lengthened out the land. Accompanied by +Wall and Simpson, he tried to give chase to them by means of the canoe; +but the animal, of a rather warlike disposition, rapidly led away +its offspring, and consequently the doctor was compelled to renounce +following them up. + +Chilly Cape was doubled during the night under the influence of a +favourable wind, and soon the high mountains of Disko rose in the +horizon. Godhavn Bay, the residence of the Governor-General of the +Danish Settlements, was left to the right. Shandon did not consider +it worth while to stop, and soon outran the Esquimaux pirogues who +were endeavouring to reach his ship. + +The Island of Disko is also called Whale Island. It was from this +point that on the 12th of July, 1845, Sir John Franklin wrote to the +Admiralty for the last time. It was also on that island on the 27th +of August, 1859, that Captain McClintock set foot on his return, +bringing back, alas! proofs too complete of the loss of the expedition. +The coincidence of these two facts were noted by the doctor; that +melancholy conjunction was prolific in memories, but soon the heights +of Disko disappeared from his view. + +There were, at that time, numerous icebergs on the coasts, some of +those which the strongest thaws are unable to detach; the continual +series of ridges showed themselves under the strangest forms. + +The next day, towards three o'clock, they were bearing on to Sanderson +Hope to the north-east. Land was left on the starboard at a distance +of about fifteen miles; the mountains seemed tinged with a +red-coloured bistre. During the evening, several whales of the +finners species, which have fins on their backs, came playing about +in the midst of the ice-trails, throwing out air and water from their +blow-holes. It was during the night between the 3rd and 4th of May +that the doctor saw for the first time the sun graze the horizon +without dipping his luminous disc into it. Since the 31st of January +the days had been getting longer and longer till the sun went down +no more. To strangers not accustomed to the persistence of this +perpetual light it was a constant subject of astonishment, and even +of fatigue; it is almost impossible to understand to what extent +obscurity is requisite for the well-being of our eyes. The doctor +experienced real pain in getting accustomed to this light, rendered +still more acute by the reflection of the sun's rays upon the plains +of ice. + +On May 5th the _Forward_ headed the seventy-second parallel; two +months later they would have met with numerous whalers under these +high latitudes, but at present the straits were not sufficiently open +to allow them to penetrate into Baffin's Bay. The following day the +brig, after having headed Woman's Island, came in sight of Uppernawik, +the most northerly settlement that Denmark possesses on these coasts. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +DANGEROUS NAVIGATION + + +Shandon, Dr. Clawbonny, Johnson, Foker, and Strong, the cook, went +on shore in the small boat. The governor, his wife, and five children, +all of the Esquimaux race, came politely to meet the visitors. The +doctor knew enough Danish to enable him to establish a very agreeable +acquaintance with them; besides, Foker, who was interpreter of the +expedition, as well as ice-master, knew about twenty words of the +Greenland language, and if not ambitious, twenty words will carry +you far. The governor was born on the island, and had never left his +native country. He did the honours of the town, which is composed +of three wooden huts, for himself and the Lutheran minister, of a +school, and magazines stored with the produce of wrecks. The remainder +consists of snow-huts, the entrance to which is attained by creeping +through a hole. + +The greater part of the population came down to greet the _Forward_, +and more than one native advanced as far as the middle of the bay +in his kayak, fifteen feet long and scarcely two wide. The doctor +knew that the word Esquimaux signified raw-fish-eater, and he +likewise knew that the name was considered an insult in the country, +for which reason he did not fail to address them by the title of +Greenlanders, and nevertheless only by the look of their oily sealskin +clothing, their boots of the same material, and all their greasy +tainted appearance, it was easy to discover their accustomed food. +Like all Ichthyophagans, they were half-eaten up with leprosy; and +yet, for all that, were in no worse health. + +The Lutheran minister and his wife, with whom the doctor promised +himself a private chat, were on a journey towards Proven on the south +of Uppernawik; he was therefore reduced to getting information out +of the governor. This chief magistrate did not seem to be very learned; +a little less and he would have been an ass, a little more and he +would have known how to read. The doctor, however, questioned him +upon the commercial affairs, the customs and manners of the Esquimaux, +and learnt by signs that seals were worth about 40 pounds delivered +in Copenhagen, a bearskin forty Danish dollars, a blue foxskin four, +and a white one two or three dollars. The doctor also wished, with +an eye to completing his personal education, to visit one of the +Esquimaux huts; it is almost impossible to imagine of what a learned +man who is desirous of knowledge is capable. Happily the opening of +those hovels was too narrow, and the enthusiastic fellow was not able +to crawl in; it was very lucky for him, for there is nothing more +repulsive than that accumulation of things living and dead, seal flesh +or Esquimaux flesh, rotten fish and infectious wearing apparel, which +constitute a Greenland hovel; no window to revive the unbreathable +air, only a hole at the top of the hut, which gives free passage to +the smoke, but does not allow the stench to go out. + +Foker gave these details to the doctor, who did not curse his +corpulence the less for that. He wished to judge for himself about +these emanations, _sui generis_. + +"I am sure," said he, "one gets used to it in the long run." + +_In the long run_ depicts Dr. Clawbonny in a single phrase. During +the ethnographical studies of the worthy doctor, Shandon, according +to his instructions, was occupied in procuring means of transport +to cross the ice. He had to pay 4 pounds for a sledge and six dogs, +and even then he had great difficulty in persuading the natives to +part with them. Shandon wanted also to engage Hans Christian, the +clever dog-driver, who made one of the party of Captain McClintock's +expedition; but, unfortunately, Hans was at that time in Southern +Greenland. Then came the grand question, the topic of the day, was +there in Uppernawik a European waiting for the passage of the +_Forward_? Did the governor know if any foreigner, an Englishman +probably, had settled in those countries? To what epoch could he trace +his last relations with whale or other ships? To these questions the +governor replied that not one single foreigner had landed on that +side of the coast for more than ten months. + +Shandon asked for the names of the last whalers seen there; he knew +none of them. He was in despair. + +"You must acknowledge, doctor, that all this is quite inconceivable. +Nothing at Cape Farewell, nothing at Disko Island, nothing at +Uppernawik." + +"If when we get there you repeat 'Nothing in Melville Bay,' I shall +greet you as the only captain of the _Forward_." + +The small boat came back to the brig towards evening, bringing back +the visitors. Strong, in order to change the food a little, had +procured several dozens of eider-duck eggs, twice as big as hens' +eggs, and of greenish colour. It was not much, but the change was +refreshing to a crew fed on salted meat. The wind became favourable +the next day, but, however, Shandon did not command them to get under +sail; he still wished to stay another day, and for conscience' sake +to give any human being time to join the _Forward_. He even caused +the 16-pounder to be fired from hour to hour; it thundered out with +a great crash amidst the icebergs, but the noise only frightened the +swarms of molly-mokes and rotches. During the night several rockets +were sent up, but in vain. And thus they were obliged to set sail. + +On the 8th of May, at six o'clock in the morning, the _Forward_ under +her topsails, foresails, and topgallant, lost sight of the Uppernawik +settlement, and the hideous stakes to which were hung seal-guts and +deer-paunches. The wind was blowing from the south-east, and the +temperature went up to thirty-two degrees. The sun pierced through +the fog, and the ice was getting a little loosened under its dissolving +action. But the reflection of the white rays produced a sad effect +on the eyesight of several of the crew. Wolsten, the gunsmith, Gripper, +Clifton, and Bell were struck with snow blindness, a kind of weakness +in the eyes very frequent in spring, and which determines, amongst +the Esquimaux, numerous cases of blindness. The doctor advised those +who were so afflicted and their companions in general to cover their +faces with green gauze, and he was the first to put his own +prescription into execution. + +The dogs bought by Shandon at Uppernawik were of a rather savage nature, +but in the end they became accustomed to the ship; the captain did +not take the arrival of these new comrades too much to heart, and +he seemed to know their habits. Clifton was not the last to remark +the fact that the captain must already have been in communication +with his Greenland brethren, as on land they were always famished +and reduced by incomplete nourishment; they only thought of +recruiting themselves by the diet on board. + +On the 9th of May the _Forward_ touched within a few cables' length +the most westerly of the Baffin Isles. The doctor noticed several +rocks in the bay between the islands and the continent, those called +Crimson Cliffs; they were covered over with snow as red as carmine, +to which Dr. Kane gives a purely vegetable origin. Clawbonny wanted +to consider this phenomenon nearer, but the ice prevented them +approaching the coast; although the temperature had a tendency to +rise, it was easy enough to see that the icebergs and ice-streams +were accumulating to the north of Baffin's Sea. The land offered a +very different aspect from that of Uppernawik; immense glaciers were +outlined on the horizon against a greyish sky. On the 10th the +_Forward_ left Hingston Bay on the right, near to the seventy-fourth +degree of latitude. Several hundred miles westward the Lancaster +Channel opened out into the sea. + +But afterwards that immense extent of water disappeared under +enormous fields of ice, upon which hummocks rose up as regularly as +a crystallisation of the same substance. Shandon had the steam put +on, and up to the 11th of May the _Forward_ wound amongst the sinuous +rocks, leaving the print of a track on the sky, caused by the black +smoke from her funnels. But new obstacles were soon encountered; the +paths were getting closed up in consequence of the incessant +displacement of the floating masses; at every minute a failure of +water in front of the _Forward's_ prow became imminent, and if she +had been nipped it would have been difficult to extricate her. They +all knew it, and thought about it. + +On board this vessel, without aim or known destination, foolishly +seeking to advance towards the north, some symptoms of hesitation +were manifested amongst those men, accustomed to an existence of +danger; many, forgetting the advantages offered, regretted having +ventured so far, and already a certain demoralisation prevailed in +their minds, still more increased by Clifton's fears, and the idle +talk of two or three of the leaders, such as Pen, Gripper, Warren, +and Wolston. + +To the uneasiness of the crew were joined overwhelming fatigues, for +on the 12th of May the brig was closed in on every side; her steam +was powerless, and it was necessary to force a road through the +ice-fields. The working of the saws was very difficult in the floes, +which measured from six to seven feet in thickness. When two parallel +grooves divided the ice for the length of a hundred feet, they had +to break the interior part with hatchets or handspikes; then took +place the elongation of the anchors, fixed in a hole by means of a +thick auger; afterwards the working of the capstan began, and in this +way the vessel was hauled over. The greatest difficulty consisted +in driving the smashed pieces under the floes in order to open up +a free passage for the ship, and to thrust them away they were +compelled to use long iron-spiked poles. + +At last, what with the working of the saws, the hauling, the capstan +and poles, incessant, dangerous, and forced work, in the midst of +fogs or thick snow, the temperature relatively low, ophthalmic +suffering and moral uneasiness, all contributed to discourage the +crew, and react on the men's imagination. When sailors have an +energetic, audacious, and convinced man to do with, who knows what +he wants, where he is bound for, and what end he has in view, confidence +sustains them in spite of everything. They make one with their chief, +feeling strong in his strength, and quiet in his tranquillity; but +on the brig it was felt that the commander was not sure of himself, +that he hesitated before his unknown end and destination. In spite +of his energetic nature, his weakness showed itself in his changing +orders, incomplete manoeuvres, stormy reflections, and a thousand +details which could not escape the notice of the crew. + +Besides, Shandon was not captain of the ship, a sufficient reason +for argument about his orders; from argument to a refusal to obey +the step is easy. The discontented soon added to their number the +first engineer, who up to now had remained a slave to his duty. + +On May 16th, six days after the _Forward's_ arrival at the icebergs, +Shandon had not gained two miles northward, and the ice threatened +to freeze in the brig till the following season. This was becoming +dangerous. Towards eight in the evening Shandon and the doctor, +accompanied by Garry, went on a voyage of discovery in the midst of +the immense plains; they took care not to go too far away from the +vessel, as it was difficult to fix any landmarks in those white +solitudes, the aspects of which changed constantly. + +The refraction produced strange effects; they still astonished the +doctor; where he thought he had only one foot to leap he found it +was five or six, or the contrary; and in both cases the result was +a fall, if not dangerous, at least painful, on the frozen ice as hard +as glass. + +Shandon and his two companions went in search of a practicable passage. +Three miles from the ship they succeeded, not without trouble, in +climbing the iceberg, which was perhaps three hundred feet high. + +From this point their view extended over that desolated mass which +looked like the ruins of a gigantic town with its beaten-down obelisks, +its overthrown steeples and palaces turned upside down all in a +lump--in fact, a genuine chaos. The sun threw long oblique rays of +a light without warmth, as if heat-absorbing substances were placed +between it and that gloomy country. The sea seemed to be frozen to +the remotest limits of view. + +"How shall we get through?" exclaimed the doctor. + +"I have not the least idea," replied Shandon; "but we will get through, +even if we are obliged to employ powder to blow up those mountains, +for I certainly won't let that ice shut me up till next spring." + +"Nevertheless, such was the fate of the _Fox_, almost in these same +quarters. Never mind," continued the doctor, "we shall get through +with a little philosophy. Believe me, that is worth all the engines +in the world." + +"You must acknowledge," replied Shandon, "that the year doesn't begin +under very favourable auspices." + +"That is incontestable, and I notice that Baffin's Sea has a tendency +to return to the same state in which it was before 1817." + +"Then you think, doctor, that the present state of things has not +always existed?" + +"Yes; from time to time there are vast breakings up which scientific +men can scarcely explain; thus, up to 1817 this sea was constantly +obstructed, when suddenly an immense cataclysm took place which drove +back these icebergs into the ocean, the great part of which were +stranded on Newfoundland Bank. From that time Baffin's Bay has been +almost free, and has become the haunt of numerous whalers." + +"Then, since that epoch, voyages to the north have been easier?" + +"Incomparably so; but for the last few years it has been observed +that the bay has a tendency to be closed up again, and according to +investigations made by navigators, it may probably be so for a long +time--a still greater reason for us to go on as far as possible. Just +now we look like people who get into unknown galleries, the doors +of which are always shut behind them." + +"Do you advise me to back out?" asked Shandon, endeavouring to read +the answer in the doctor's eyes. + +"I! I have never known how to take a step backward, and should we +never return, I say 'Go ahead.' However, I should like to make known +to you that if we do anything imprudent, we know very well what we +are exposed to." + +"Well, Garry, what do you think about it?" asked Shandon of the sailor. + +"I? Commander, I should go on; I'm of the same opinion as Mr. +Clawbonny; but you do as you please; command, and we will obey." + +"They don't all speak like you, Garry," replied Shandon. "They aren't +all in an obedient humour! Suppose they were to refuse to execute +my orders?" + +"Commander," replied Garry coldly, "I have given you my advice because +you asked me for it; but you are not obliged to act upon it." + +Shandon did not reply; he attentively examined the horizon, and +descended with his two companions on to the ice-field. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE DEVIL'S THUMB + + +During the commander's absence the men had gone through divers works +in order to make the ship fit to avoid the pressure of the ice-fields. +Pen, Clifton, Gripper, Bolton, and Simpson were occupied in this +laborious work; the stoker and the two engineers were even obliged +to come to the aid of their comrades, for, from the instant they were +not wanted at the engine, they again became sailors, and, as such, +they could be employed in all kinds of work on board. But this was +not accomplished without a great deal of grumbling. + +"I'll tell you what," said Pen, "I've had enough of it, and if in +three days the breaking up isn't come, I'll swear to God that I'll +chuck up!" + +"You'll chuck up?" replied Gripper; "you'd do better to help us to +back out. Do you think we are in the humour to winter here till next +year?" + +"To tell you the truth, it would be a dreary winter," said Plover, +"for the ship is exposed from every quarter." + +"And who knows," added Brunton, "if even next spring we should find +the sea freer than it is now?" + +"We aren't talking about next spring," said Pen; "to-day's Thursday; +if next Sunday morning the road ain't clear, we'll back out south." + +"That's the ticket!" cried Clifton. + +"Are you all agreed?" said Pen. + +"Yes," answered all his comrades. + +"That's right enough," answered Warren, "for if we are obliged to +work like this, hauling the ship by the strength of our arms, my advice +is to backwater." + +"We'll see about that on Sunday," answered Wolsten. + +"As soon as I get the order," said Brunton, "I'll soon get my steam +up." + +"Or we'd manage to get it up ourselves," said Clifton. + +"If any of the officers," said Pen, "wants to have the pleasure of +wintering here, we'll let him. He can build himself a snow-hut like +the Esquimaux." + +"Nothing of the kind, Pen," replied Brunton; "we won't leave anybody. +You understand that, you others. Besides, I don't think it would be +difficult to persuade the commander; he already seems very uncertain, +and if we were quietly to propose it----" + +"I don't know that," said Plover; "Richard Shandon is a hard, +headstrong man, and we should have to sound him carefully." + +"When I think," replied Bolton, with a covetous sigh, "that in a month +we might be back in Liverpool; we could soon clear the southern +ice-line. The pass in Davis's Straits will be open in the beginning +of June, and we shall only have to let ourselves drift into the +Atlantic." + +"Besides," said the prudent Clifton, "if we bring back the commander +with us, acting under his responsibility, our pay and bounty money +will be sure; whilst if we return alone it won't be so certain." + +"That's certain!" said Plover; "that devil of a Clifton speaks like +a book. Let us try to have nothing to explain to the Admiralty; it's +much safer to leave no one behind us." + +"But if the officers refuse to follow us?" replied Pen, who wished +to push his comrades to an extremity. + +To such a question they were puzzled to reply. + +"We shall see about it when the time comes," replied Bolton; "besides, +it would be enough to win Richard Shandon over to our side. We shall +have no difficulty about that." + +"Anyhow," said Pen, swearing, "there's something I'll leave here if +I get an arm eaten in the attempt." + +"Ah! you mean the dog," said Plover. + +"Yes, the dog; and before long I'll settle his hash!" + +"The more so," replied Clifton, coming back to his favourite theme, +"that the dog is the cause of all our misfortunes." + +"He's cast an evil spell over us," said Plover. + +"It's through him we're in an iceberg," said Gripper. + +"He's the cause that we've had more ice against us than has ever been +seen at this time of year," said Wolsten. + +"He's the cause of my bad eyes," said Brunton. + +"He's cut off the gin and brandy," added Pen. + +"He's the cause of everything," said the assembly, getting excited. + +"And he's captain into the bargain!" cried Clifton. + +"Well, captain of ill-luck," said Pen, whose unreasonable fury grew +stronger at every word; "you wanted to come here, and here you'll +stay." + +"But how are we to nap him?" said Plover. + +"We've a good opportunity," replied Clifton; "the commander isn't +on deck, the lieutenant is asleep in his cabin, and the fog's thick +enough to stop Johnson seeing us." + +"But where's the dog?" cried Pen. + +"He's asleep near the coalhole," replied Clifton, "and if anybody +wants----" + +"I'll take charge of him," answered Pen furiously. + +"Look out, Pen, he's got teeth that could snap an iron bar in two." + +"If he moves I'll cut him open," cried Pen, taking his knife in one +hand. He bounced in between decks, followed by Warren, who wanted +to help him in his undertaking. They quickly came back, carrying the +animal in their arms, strongly muzzled, with his paws bound tightly +together. They had taken him by surprise whilst he slept, so that +the unfortunate dog could not escape them. + +"Hurrah for Pen!" cried Plover. + +"What do you mean to do with him now you've got him?" asked Clifton. + +"Why, drown him, and if ever he gets over it----" replied Pen, with +a fearful smile of satisfaction. + +About two hundred steps from the vessel there was a seal-hole, a kind +of circular crevice cut out by the teeth of that amphibious animal, +hollowed out from underneath, and through which the seal comes up +to breathe on to the surface of the ice. To keep this aperture from +closing up he has to be very careful because the formation of his +jaws would not enable him to bore through the hole again from the +outside, and in a moment of danger he would fall a prey to his enemies. +Pen and Warren directed their steps towards this crevice, and there, +in spite of the dog's energetic efforts, he was unmercifully +precipitated into the sea. An enormous lump of ice was then placed +over the opening, thus closing all possible issue to the poor animal, +walled up in a watery prison. + +"Good luck to you, captain," cried the brutal sailor. + +Shortly afterwards Pen and Warren returned on deck. Johnson had seen +nothing of this performance. The fog thickened round about the ship, +and snow began to fall with violence. An hour later, Richard Shandon, +the doctor, and Garry rejoined the _Forward_. Shandon had noticed +a pass in a north-eastern direction of which he was resolved to take +advantage, and gave his orders in consequence. The crew obeyed with +a certain activity, not without hinting to Shandon that it was +impossible to go further on, and that they only gave him three more +days' obedience. During a part of the night and the following day +the working of the saws and the hauling were actively kept up; the +_Forward_ gained about two miles further north. On the 18th she was +in sight of land, and at five or six cable-lengths from a peculiar +peak, called from its strange shape the Devil's Thumb. + +It was there that the _Prince Albert_ in 1851, and the _Advance_ with +Kane, in 1853, were kept prisoners by the ice for several weeks. The +odd form of the Devil's Thumb, the dreary deserts in its vicinity, +the vast circus of icebergs--some of them more than three hundred +feet high--the cracking of the ice, reproduced by the echo in so +sinister a manner, rendered the position of the _Forward_ horribly +dreary. Shandon understood the necessity of getting out of it and +going further ahead. Twenty-four hours later, according to his +estimation, he had been able to clear the fatal coast for about two +miles, but this was not enough. Shandon, overwhelmed with fear, and +the false situation in which he was placed, lost both courage and +energy; in order to obey his instructions and get further north, he +had thrown his vessel into an excessively perilous situation. The +men were worn out by the hauling; it required more than three hours +to hollow out a channel twenty feet long, through ice that was usually +from four to five feet thick. The health of the crew threatened to +break down. Shandon was astonished at the silence of his men and their +unaccustomed obedience, but he feared that it was the calm before +the storm. Who can judge, then, of his painful disappointment, +surprise, and despair when he perceived that in consequence of an +insensible movement of the ice-field the _Forward_ had, during the +night from the 18th to the 19th, lost all the advantage she had gained +with so much toil? On the Saturday morning they were once more opposite +the ever-threatening Devil's Thumb, and in a still more critical +position. The icebergs became more numerous, and drifted by in the +fog like phantoms. Shandon was in a state of complete demoralisation, +for fright had taken possession of the dauntless man and his crew. +Shandon had heard the dog's disappearance spoken about, but dared +not punish those who were guilty of it. He feared that a rebellion +might be the consequence. The weather was fearful during the whole +day; the snow rose up in thick whirlpools, wrapping up the _Forward_ +in an impenetrable cloak. Sometimes, under the action of the storm, +the fog was torn asunder, and displayed towards land, raised up like +a spectre, the Devil's Thumb. + +The _Forward_ was anchored to an immense block of ice; it was all +that could be done; there was nothing more to attempt; the obscurity +became denser, and the man at the helm could not see James Wall, who +was on duty in the bow. Shandon withdrew to his cabin, a prey to +unremitting uneasiness; the doctor was putting his voyage notes in +order; one half the crew remained on deck, the other half stayed in +the common cabin. At one moment, when the storm increased in fury, +the Devil's Thumb seemed to rise up out of all proportion in the midst +of the fog. + +"Good God!" cried Simpson, drawing back with fright. + +"What the devil's that?" said Foker, and exclamations rose up in every +direction. + +"It is going to smash us!" + +"We are lost!" + +"Mr. Wall! Mr. Wall!" + +"It's all over with us!" + +"Commander! Commander!" + +These cries were simultaneously uttered by the men on watch. Wall +fled to the quarter-deck, and Shandon, followed by the doctor, rushed +on deck to look. In the midst of the fog the Devil's Thumb seemed +to have suddenly neared the brig, and seemed to have grown in a most +fantastic manner. At its summit rose up a second cone, turned upside +down and spindled on its point; its enormous mass threatened to crush +the ship, as it was oscillating and ready to fall. It was a most fearful +sight; every one instinctively drew back, and several sailors, +leaping on to the ice, abandoned the ship. + +"Let no one move!" cried the commander in a severe voice. "Every one +to his post!" + +"How now, my friends? There's nothing to be frightened at!" said the +doctor. "There's no danger! Look, commander, look ahead, Mr. Wall; +it's only an effect of the mirage, nothing else." + +"You are quite right, Mr. Clawbonny," answered Johnson; "those fools +were frightened at a shadow." + +After the doctor had spoken most of the sailors drew near, and their +fear changed to admiration at the wonderful phenomenon, which shortly +disappeared from sight. + +"They call that a mirage?" said Clifton. "Well, you may believe me +that the devil has something to do with it." + +"That's certain!" replied Gripper. + +But when the fog cleared away it disclosed to the eyes of the commander +an immense free and unexpected passage; it seemed to run away from +the coast, and he therefore determined to seize such a favourable +hazard. Men were placed on each side of the creek, hawsers were lowered +down to them, and they began to tow the vessel in a northerly direction. +During long hours this work was actively executed in silence. Shandon +caused the steam to be got up, in order to take advantage of the +fortunate discovery of this channel. + +"This," said he to Johnson, "is a most providential hazard, and if +we can only get a few miles ahead, we shall probably get to the end +of our misfortunes." + +"Brunton! stir up the fires, and as soon as there's enough pressure +let me know. In the meantime our men will pluck up their courage--that +will be so much gained. They are in a hurry to run away from the Devil's +Thumb; we'll take advantage of their good inclinations!" + +All at once the progress of the _Forward_ was abruptly arrested. + +"What's up?" cried Shandon. "I say, Wall! have we broken our +tow-ropes?" + +"Not at all, commander," answered Wall, looking over the side. "Hallo! +Here are the men coming back again. They are climbing the ship's side +as if the devil was at their heels." + +"What the deuce can it be?" cried Shandon, rushing forward. + +"On board! On board!" cried the terrified sailors. + +Shandon looked in a northerly direction, and shuddered in spite of +himself. A strange animal, with appalling movements, whose foaming +tongue emerged from enormous jaws, was leaping about at a cable's +length from the ship. In appearance he seemed to be about twenty feet +high, with hair like bristles; he was following up the sailors, whilst +his formidable tail, ten feet long, was sweeping the snow and throwing +it up in thick whirlwinds. The sight of such a monster riveted the +most daring to the spot. + +"It's a bear!" said one. + +"It's the Gevaudan beast!" + +"It's the lion of the Apocalypse!" + +Shandon ran to his cabin for a gun he always kept loaded. The doctor +armed himself, and held himself in readiness to fire upon an animal +which, by its dimensions, recalled the antediluvian quadrupeds. He +neared the ship in immense leaps; Shandon and the doctor fired at +the same time, when, suddenly, the report of their firearms, shaking +the atmospheric stratum, produced an unexpected effect. The doctor +looked attentively, and burst out laughing. + +"It's the refraction!" he exclaimed. + +"Only the refraction!" repeated Shandon. But a fearful exclamation +from the crew interrupted them. + +"The dog!" said Clifton. + +"The dog, captain!" repeated all his comrades. + +"Himself!" cried Pen; "always that cursed brute." + +They were not mistaken--it was the dog. Having got loose from his +shackles, he had regained the surface by another crevice. At that +instant the refraction, through a phenomenon common to these +latitudes, caused him to appear under formidable dimensions, which +the shaking of the air had dispersed; but the vexatious effect was +none the less produced upon the minds of the sailors, who were very +little disposed to admit an explanation of the fact by purely physical +reasons. The adventure of the Devil's Thumb, the reappearance of the +dog under such fantastic circumstances, gave the finishing touch to +their mental faculties, and murmurs broke out on all sides. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +CAPTAIN HATTERAS + + +The _Forward_, under steam, rapidly made its way between the +ice-mountains and the icebergs. Johnson was at the wheel. Shandon, +with his snow spectacles, was examining the horizon, but his joy was +of short duration, for he soon discovered that the passage ended in +a circus of mountains. However, he preferred going on, in spite of +the difficulty, to going back. The dog followed the brig at a long +distance, running along the plain, but if he lagged too far behind +a singular whistle could be distinguished, which he immediately +obeyed. The first time this whistle was heard the sailors looked round +about them; they were alone on deck all together, and no stranger +was to be seen; and yet the whistle was again heard from time to time. +Clifton was the first alarmed. + +"Do you hear?" said he. "Just look how that animal answers when he +hears the whistle." + +"I can scarcely believe my eyes," answered Gripper. + +"It's all over!" cried Pen. "I don't go any further." + +"Pen's right!" replied Brunton; "it's tempting God!" + +"Tempting the devil!" replied Clifton. "I'd sooner lose my bounty +money than go a step further." + +"We shall never get back!" said Bolton in despair. + +The crew had arrived at the highest pitch of insubordination. + +"Not a step further!" cried Wolsten. "Are you all of the same mind?" + +"Ay! ay!" answered all the sailors. + +"Come on, then," said Bolton; "let's go and find the commander; I'll +undertake the talking." + +The sailors in a tight group swayed away towards the poop. The +_Forward_ at the time was penetrating into a vast circus, which +measured perhaps 800 feet in diameter, and with the exception of one +entrance--that by which the vessel had come--was entirely closed up. + +Shandon said that he had just imprisoned himself; but what was he +to do? How were they to retrace their steps? He felt his responsibility, +and his hand grasped the telescope. The doctor, with folded arms, +kept silent; he was contemplating the walls of ice, the medium +altitude of which was over 300 feet. A foggy dome remained suspended +above the gulf. It was at this instant that Bolton addressed his speech +to the commander. + +"Commander!" said he in a trembling voice, "we can't go any further." + +"What do you say?" replied Shandon, whose consciousness of +disregarded authority made the blood rise to the roots of his hair. + +"Commander," replied Bolton, "we say that we've done enough for that +invisible captain, and we are decided to go no further ahead." + +"You are decided?" cried Shandon. "You talk thus, Bolton? Take care!" + +"Your threats are all the same to us," brutally replied Pen; "we won't +go an inch further." + +Shandon advanced towards the mutineers; at the same time the mate +came up and said in a whisper: "Commander, if you wish to get out +of here we haven't a minute to lose; there's an iceberg drifting up +the pass, and it is very likely to cork up all issue and keep us +prisoners." + +Shandon examined the situation. + +"You will give an account of your conduct later on, you fellows," +said he. "Now heave aboard!" + +The sailors rushed to their posts, and the _Forward_ quickly veered +round; the fires were stuffed with coals; the great question was to +outrun the floating mountain. It was a struggle between the brig and +the iceberg. The former, in order to get through, was running south; +the latter was drifting north, ready to close up every passage. + +"Steam up! steam up!" cried Shandon. "Do you hear, Brunton?" + +The _Forward_ glided like a bird amidst the struggling icebergs, which +her prow sent to the right-about; the brig's hull shivered under the +action of the screw, and the manometer indicated a prodigious tension +of steam, for it whistled with a deafening noise. + +"Load the valves!" cried Shandon, and the engineer obeyed at the risk +of blowing up the ship; but his despairing efforts were in vain. The +iceberg, caught up by an undercurrent, rapidly approached the pass. +The brig was still about three cables' length from it, when the +mountain, entering like a corner-stone into the open space, strongly +adhered to its neighbours and closed up all issue. + +"We are lost!" cried Shandon, who could not retain the imprudent +words. + +"Lost!" repeated the crew. + +"Let them escape who can!" said some. + +"Lower the shore boats!" said others. + +"To the steward's room!" cried Pen and several of his band, "and if +we are to be drowned, let's drown ourselves in gin!" + +Disorder among the men was at its height. Shandon felt himself +overcome; when he wished to command, he stammered and hesitated. His +thought was unable to make way through his words. The doctor was +walking about in agitation. Johnson stoically folded his arms and +said nothing. All at once a strong, imperious, and energetic voice +was heard to pronounce these words: + +"Every man to his post and tack about!" + +Johnson started, and, hardly knowing what he did, turned the wheel +rapidly. He was just in time, for the brig, launched at full speed, +was about to crush herself against her prison walls. But while Johnson +was instinctively obeying, Shandon, Clawbonny, the crew, and all down +to the stoker Warren, who had abandoned his fires, even black Strong, +who had left his cooking, were all mustered on deck, and saw emerge +from that cabin the only man who was in possession of the key, and +that man was Garry, the sailor. + +"Sir!" cried Shandon, becoming pale. "Garry--you--by what right do +you command here?" + +"Dick," called out Garry, reproducing that whistle which had so much +surprised the crew. The dog, at the sound of his right name, jumped +with one bound on to the poop and lay quietly down at his master's +feet. The crew did not say a word. The key which the captain of the +_Forward_ alone possessed, the dog sent by him, and who came thus +to verify his identity, that commanding accent which it was impossible +to mistake--all this acted strongly on the minds of the sailors, and +was sufficient to establish Garry's authority. + +Besides, Garry was no longer recognisable; he had cut off the long +whiskers which had covered his face, which made it look more energetic +and imperious than ever; dressed in the clothes of his rank which +had been deposited in the cabin, he appeared in the insignia of +commander. + +Then immediately, with that mobility which characterised them, the +crew of the _Forward_ cried out--"Three cheers for the captain!" + +"Shandon!" said the latter to his second, "muster the crew; I am going +to inspect it!" + +Shandon obeyed and gave orders with an altered voice. The captain +advanced to meet his officers and men, saying something suitable to +each, and treating each according to his past conduct. When he had +finished the inspection, he returned on to the poop, and with a calm +voice pronounced the following words: + +"Officers and sailors, like you, I am English, and my motto is that +of Nelson, 'England expects that every man will do his duty.' As an +Englishman I am resolved, we are resolved, that no bolder men shall +go further than we have been. As an Englishman I will not allow, we +will not allow, other people to have the glory of pushing further +north themselves. If ever human foot can step upon the land of the +North Pole, it shall be the foot of an Englishman. Here is our +country's flag. I have equipped this vessel, and consecrated my +fortune to this enterprise, and, if necessary, I shall consecrate +to it my life and yours; for I am determined that these colours shall +float on the North Pole. Take courage. From this day, for every degree +we can gain northwards the sum of a thousand pounds will be awarded +to you. There are ninety, for we are now in the seventy-second. Count +them. Besides, my name is enough. It means energy and patriotism. +I am Captain Hatteras!" + +"Captain Hatteras!" exclaimed Shandon, and that name, well known to +English sailors, was whispered amongst the crew. + +"Now," continued Hatteras, "anchor the brig to the ice, put out the +fires, and each of you return to your usual work. Shandon, I wish +to hold a council with you relative to affairs on board. Join me with +the doctor, Wall, and the boatswain in my cabin. Johnson, disperse +the men." + +Hatteras, calm and haughty, quietly left the poop. In the meantime +Shandon was anchoring the brig. + +Who, then, was this Hatteras, and for what reason did his name make +such a profound impression upon the crew? John Hatteras was the only +son of a London brewer, who died in 1852 worth six millions of money. +Still young, he embraced the maritime career in spite of the splendid +fortune awaiting him. Not that he felt any vocation for commerce, +but the instinct of geographical discoveries was dear to him. He had +always dreamt of placing his foot where no mortal foot had yet soiled +the ground. + +At the age of twenty he was already in possession of the vigorous +constitution of a thin and sanguine man; an energetic face, with lines +geometrically traced; a high and perpendicular forehead; cold but +handsome eyes; thin lips, which set off a mouth from which words rarely +issued; a middle stature; solidly-jointed limbs, put in motion by +iron muscles; the whole forming a man endowed with a temperament fit +for anything. When you saw him you felt he was daring; when you heard +him you knew he was coldly determined; his was a character that never +drew back, ready to stake the lives of others as well as his own. +It was well to think twice before following him in his expeditions. + +John Hatteras was proud of being an Englishman. A Frenchman once said +to him, with what he thought was refined politeness and amiability: + +"If I were not a Frenchman I should like to be an Englishman." + +"And if I were not an Englishman," answered Hatteras, "I should like +to be an Englishman." + +That answer revealed the character of the man. It was a great grief +to him that Englishmen had not the monopoly of geographical +discoveries, and were, in fact, rather behind other nations in that +field. + +Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of America, was a Genoese; Vasco +da Gama, a Portuguese, discovered India; another Portuguese, +Fernando de Andrada, China; and a third, Magellan, the Terra del Fuego. +Canada was discovered by Jacques Cartier, a Frenchman; Labrador, +Brazil, the Cape of Good Hope, the Azores, Madeira, Newfoundland, +Guinea, Congo, Mexico, Cape Blanco, Greenland, Iceland, the South +Seas, California, Japan, Cambodia, Peru, Kamtchatka, the Philippines, +Spitzbergen, Cape Horn, Behring's Straits, Tasmania, New Zealand, +New Brittany, New Holland, Louisiana, Jean Mayen Island, were +discovered by Icelanders, Scandinavians, French, Russians, +Portuguese, Danes, Spaniards, Genoese, and Dutch, but not one by an +Englishman. Captain Hatteras could not reconcile himself to the fact +that Englishmen were excluded from the glorious list of navigators +who made the great discoveries of the 15th and 16th centuries. + +Hatteras consoled himself a little when he turned to more modern times. +Then Englishmen had the best of it with Sturt, Burke, Wills, King, +and Grey in Australia; with Palliser in America; with Cyril Graham, +Wadington, and Cummingham in India; with Burton, Speke, Grant, and +Livingstone in Africa. + +But for a man like Hatteras this was not enough; from his point of +view these bold travellers were _improvers_ rather than _inventors_; +and he was determined to do something better, and he would have +invented a country if he could, only to have the honour of discovering +it. Now he had noticed that, although Englishmen did not form a +majority amongst ancient discoverers, and that he had to go back to +Cook in 1774 to obtain New Caledonia and the Sandwich Isles, where +the unfortunate captain perished in 1778, yet there existed, +nevertheless, a corner of the globe where they seemed to have united +all their efforts. This corner was precisely the boreal lands and +seas of North America. The list of Polar discoveries may be thus +written: + +Nova Zembla, discovered by Willoughby, in 1553; Weigatz Island, by +Barrough, in 1556; the West Coast of Greenland, by Davis, in 1585; +Davis's Straits, by Davis, in 1587; Spitzbergen, by Willoughby, in +1596; Hudson's Bay, by Hudson, in 1610; Baffin's Bay, by Baffin, in +1616. + +In more modern times, Hearne, Mackenzie, John Ross, Parry, Franklin, +Richardson, Beechey, James Ross, Back, Dease, Simpson, Rae, +Inglefield, Belcher, Austin, Kellett, Moore, McClure, Kennedy, and +McClintock have continually searched those unknown lands. + +The limits of the northern coasts of America had been fixed, and the +North-West passage almost discovered, but this was not enough; there +was something better still to be done, and John Hatteras had twice +attempted it by equipping two ships at his own expense. He wanted +to reach the North Pole, and thus crown the series of English +discoveries by one of the most illustrious attempts. To attain the +Pole was the aim of his life. + +After a few successful cruises in the Southern seas, Hatteras +endeavoured for the first time, in 1846, to go north by Baffin's Sea; +but he could not get beyond the seventy-fourth degree of latitude; +he was then commanding the sloop _Halifax_. His crew suffered +atrocious torments, and John Hatteras pushed his adventurous +rashness so far, that, afterwards, sailors were little tempted to +re-commence similar expeditions under such a chief. + +However, in 1850 Hatteras succeeded in enrolling on the schooner +_Farewell_ about twenty determined men, tempted principally by the +high prize offered for their audacity. It was upon that occasion that +Dr. Clawbonny entered into correspondence with John Hatteras, whom +he did not know, requesting to join the expedition, but happily for +the doctor the post was already filled up. The _Farewell_, following +the track taken in 1817 by the _Neptune_ from Aberdeen, got up to +the north of Spitzbergen as far as the seventy-sixth degree of +latitude. There the expedition was compelled to winter. But the +sufferings of the crew from the intense cold were so great that not +a single man saw England again, with the exception of Hatteras himself, +who was brought back to his own country by a Danish whaler after a +walk of more than two hundred miles across the ice. + +The sensation produced by the return of this one man was immense. +Who in future would dare to follow Hatteras in his mad attempts? +However, he did not despair of beginning again. His father, the brewer, +died, and he became possessor of a nabob's fortune. Soon after a +geographical fact bitterly stirred up John Hatteras. A brig, the +_Advance_, manned by seventeen men, equipped by a merchant named +Grinnell, under the command of Dr. Kane, and sent in search of Sir +John Franklin, advanced in 1853 through Baffin's Sea and Smith's +Strait, beyond the eighty-second degree of boreal latitude, much +nearer the Pole than any of his predecessors. Now, this vessel was +American, Grinnell was American, and Kane was American. The +Englishman's disdain for the Yankee will be easily understood; in +the heart of Hatteras it changed to hatred; he was resolved to outdo +his audacious competitor and reach the Pole itself. + +For two years he had been living incognito in Liverpool, passing +himself off as a sailor; he recognised in Richard Shandon the man +he wanted; he sent him an offer by an anonymous letter, and one to +Dr. Clawbonny at the same time. The _Forward_ was built, armed, and +equipped. Hatteras took great care to conceal his name, for had it +been known he would not have found a single man to accompany him. +He was determined not to take the command of the brig except in a +moment of danger, and when his crew had gone too far to draw back. +He had in reserve, as we have seen, such offers of money to make to +the men that not one of them would refuse to follow him to the other +end of the world; and, in fact, it was right to the other end of the +world that he meant to go. Circumstances had become critical, and +John Hatteras had made himself known. His dog, the faithful Dick, +the companion of his voyages, was the first to recognise him. Luckily +for the brave and unfortunately for the timid, it was well and duly +established that John Hatteras was the captain of the _Forward_. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE PROJECTS OF HATTERAS + + +The appearance of this bold personage was appreciated in different +ways by the crew; part of them completely rallied round him, either +from love of money or daring; others submitted because they could +not help themselves, reserving their right to protest later on; +besides, resistance to such a man seemed, for the present, difficult. +Each man went back to his post. The 20th of May fell on a Sunday, +and was consequently a day of rest for the crew. A council was held +by the captain, composed of the officers, Shandon, Wall, Johnson, +and the doctor. + +"Gentlemen," said the captain in that voice at the same time soft +and imperious which characterised him, "you are aware that I intend +to go as far as the Pole. I wish to know your opinion about this +enterprise. Shandon, what do you think about it?" + +"It is not for me to think, captain," coldly replied Shandon; "I have +only to obey." + +Hatteras was not surprised at the answer. + +"Richard Shandon," continued he, not less coldly, "I beg you will +say what you think about our chance of success." + +"Very well, captain," answered Shandon, "facts are there, and answer +for me; attempts of the same kind up till now have always failed; +I hope we shall be more fortunate." + +"We shall be. What do you think, gentlemen?" + +"As far as I am concerned," replied the doctor, "I consider your plan +practicable, as it is certain that some day navigators will attain +the boreal Pole. I don't see why the honour should not fall to our +lot." + +"There are many things in our favour," answered Hatteras; "our +measures are taken in consequence, and we shall profit by the +experience of those who have gone before us. And thereupon, Shandon, +accept my thanks for the care you have taken in fitting out this ship; +there are a few evil-disposed fellows amongst the crew that I shall +have to bring to reason, but on the whole I have only praises to give +you." + +Shandon bowed coldly. His position on the _Forward_, which he thought +to command, was a false one. Hatteras understood this, and did not +insist further. + +"As to you, gentlemen," he continued, turning to Wall and Johnson, +"I could not have secured officers more distinguished for courage +and experience." + +"Well, captain, I'm your man," answered Johnson, "and although your +enterprise seems to me rather daring, you may rely upon me till the +end." + +"And on me too," said James Wall. + +"As to you, doctor, I know what you are worth." + +"You know more than I do, then," quickly replied the doctor. + +"Now, gentlemen," continued Hatteras, "it is well you should learn +upon what undeniable facts my pretension to arrive at the Pole is +founded. In 1817 the _Neptune_ got up to the north of Spitzbergen, +as far as the eighty-second degree. In 1826 the celebrated Parry, +after his third voyage to the Polar Seas, started also from +Spitzbergen Point, and by the aid of sledge-boats went a hundred and +fifty miles northward. In 1852 Captain Inglefield penetrated into +Smith's Inlet as far as seventy-eight degrees thirty-five minutes +latitude. All these vessels were English, and Englishmen, our +countrymen, commanded them." Here Hatteras paused. "I ought to add," +he continued, with a constrained look, and as though the words were +unable to leave his lips--"I must add that, in 1854, Kane, the American, +commanding the brig _Advance_, went still higher, and that his +lieutenant, Morton, going across the ice-fields, hoisted the United +States standard on the other side of the eighty-second degree. This +said, I shall not return to the subject. Now what remains to be known +is this, that the captains of the _Neptune_, the _Enterprise_, the +_Isabel_, and the _Advance_ ascertained that proceeding from the +highest latitudes there existed a Polar basin entirely free from ice." + +"Free from ice!" exclaimed Shandon, interrupting the captain, "that +is impossible!" + +"You will notice, Shandon," quietly replied Hatteras, whose eye shone +for an instant, "that I quote names and facts as a proof. I may even +add that during Captain Parry's station on the border of Wellington +Channel, in 1851, his lieutenant, Stewart, also found himself in the +presence of open sea, and this peculiarity was confirmed during Sir +Edward Beecher's wintering in 1853, in Northumberland Bay, in 76 +degrees 52 minutes N. latitude, and 99 degrees 20 minutes longitude. +The reports are incontestable, and it would be most unjust not to +admit them." + +"However, captain," continued Shandon, "those reports are so +contradictory." + +"You are mistaken, Shandon," cried Dr. Clawbonny. "These reports do +not contradict any scientific assertion, the captain will allow me +to tell you." + +"Go on, doctor," answered Hatteras. + +"Well, listen, Shandon; it evidently follows from geographical facts, +and from the study of isotherm lines, that the coldest point of the +globe is not at the Pole itself; like the magnetic point, it deviates +several degrees from the Pole. The calculations of Brewster, Bergham, +and several other natural philosophers show us that in our hemisphere +there are two cold Poles; one is situated in Asia at 79 degrees 30 +minutes N. latitude, and by 120 degrees E. longitude, and the other +in America at 78 degrees N. latitude, and 97 degrees W. longitude. +It is with the latter that we have to do, and you see, Shandon, we +have met with it at more than twelve degrees below the Pole. Well, +why should not the Polar Sea be as equally disengaged from ice as +the sixty-sixth parallel is in summer--that is to say, the south of +Baffin's Bay?" + +"That's what I call well pleaded," replied Johnson. "Mr. Clawbonny +speaks upon these matters like a professional man." + +"It appears very probable," chimed in James Wall. + +"All guess-work," answered Shandon obstinately. + +"Well, Shandon," said Hatteras, "let us take into consideration +either case; either the sea is free from ice or it is not so, and +neither of these suppositions can hinder us from attaining the Pole. +If the sea is free the _Forward_ will take us there without trouble; +if it is frozen we will attempt the adventure upon our sledges. This, +you will allow, is not impracticable. When once our brig has attained +the eighty-third degree we shall only have six hundred miles to +traverse before reaching the Pole." + +"And what are six hundred miles?" quickly answered the doctor, "when +it is known that a Cossack, Alexis Markoff, went over the ice sea +along the northern coast of the Russian Empire, in sledges drawn by +dogs, for the space of eight hundred miles in twenty-four days?" + +"Do you hear that, Shandon?" said Hatteras; "can't Englishmen do as +much as a Cossack?" + +"Of course they can," cried the impetuous doctor. + +"Of course," added the boatswain. + +"Well, Shandon?" said the captain. + +"I can only repeat what I said before, captain," said Shandon--"I +will obey." + +"Very good. And now," continued Hatteras, "let us consider our present +situation. We are caught by the ice, and it seems to me impossible, +for this year at least, to get into Smith's Strait. Well, here, then, +this is what I propose." + +Hatteras laid open upon the table one of the excellent maps published +in 1859 by the order of the Admiralty. + +"Be kind enough to follow me. If Smith's Strait is closed up from +us, Lancaster Strait, on the west coast of Baffin's Sea, is not. I +think we ought to ascend that strait as far as Barrow Strait, and +from there sail to Beechey Island; the same track has been gone over +a hundred times by sailing vessels; consequently with a screw we can +do it easily. Once at Beechey Island we will go north as far as possible, +by Wellington Channel, up to the outlet of the creek which joins +Wellington's and Queen's Channels, at the very point where the open +sea was perceived. It is now only the 20th of May; in a month, if +circumstances favour us, we shall have attained that point, and from +there we'll drive forward towards the Pole. What do you think about +it, gentlemen?" + +"It is evidently the only track to follow," replied Johnson. + +"Very well, we will take it from to-morrow. I shall let them rest +to-day as it is Sunday. Shandon, you will take care that religious +service be attended to; it has a beneficial effect on the minds of +men, and a sailor above all needs to place confidence in the Almighty." + +"It shall be attended to, captain," answered Shandon, who went out +with the lieutenant and the boatswain. + +"Doctor!" said Hatteras, pointing towards Shandon, "there's a man +whose pride is wounded; I can no longer rely upon him." + +Early the following day the captain caused the pirogue to be lowered +in order to reconnoitre the icebergs in the vicinity, the breadth +of which did not exceed 200 yards. He remarked that through a slow +pressure of the ice the basin threatened to become narrower. It became +urgent, therefore, to make an aperture to prevent the ship being +crushed in a vice of the mountains. By the means employed by John +Hatteras, it is easy to observe that he was an energetic man. + +He first had steps cut out in the walls of ice, and by their means +climbed to the summit of an iceberg. From that point he saw that it +was easy for him to cut out a road towards the south-west. By his +orders a blasting furnace was hollowed nearly in the heart of the +mountain. This work, rapidly put into execution, was terminated by +noon on Monday. Hatteras could not rely on his eight or ten pound +blasting cylinders, which would have had no effect on such masses +as those. They were only sufficient to shatter ice-fields. He +therefore had a thousand pounds of powder placed in the blasting +furnace, of which the diffusive direction was carefully calculated. +This mine was provided with a long wick, bound in gutta-percha, the +end of which was outside. The gallery conducting to the mine was filled +up with snow and lumps of ice, which the cold of the following night +made as hard as granite. The temperature, under the influence of an +easterly wind, came down to twelve degrees. + +At seven the next morning the _Forward_ was held under steam, ready +to profit by the smallest issue. Johnson was charged with setting +fire to the wick, which, according to calculation, would burn for +half an hour before setting fire to the mine. Johnson had, therefore, +plenty of time to regain the brig; ten minutes after having executed +Hatteras's order he was again at his post. The crew remained on deck, +for the weather was dry and bright; it had left off snowing. + +Hatteras was on the poop, chronometer in hand, counting the minutes; +Shandon and the doctor were with him. At eight thirty-five a dull +explosion was heard, much less loud than any one would have supposed. +The outline of the mountains was changed all at once as if by an +earthquake; thick white smoke rose up to a considerable height in +the sky, leaving long crevices in the iceberg, the top part of which +fell in pieces all round the _Forward_. But the path was not yet free; +large blocks of ice remained suspended above the pass on the adjacent +mountains, and there was every reason to fear that they would fall +and close up the passage. Hatteras took in the situation at one glance. + +"Wolsten!" cried he. + +The gunsmith hastened up. + +"Yes, captain?" cried he. + +"Load the gun in the bow with a triple charge," said Hatteras, "and +wad it as hard as possible." + +"Are we going to attack the mountain with cannon-balls?" asked the +doctor. + +"No," answered Hatteras, "that would be useless. No bullet, Wolsten, +but a triple charge of powder. Look sharp!" + +A few minutes after the gun was loaded. + +"What does he mean to do without a bullet?" muttered Shandon between +his teeth. + +"We shall soon see," answered the doctor. + +"Ready, captain!" called out Wolsten. + +"All right!" replied Hatteras. + +"Brunton!" he called out to the engineer, "a few turns ahead." + +Brunton opened the sliders, and the screw being put in movement, the +_Forward_ neared the mined mountain. + +"Aim at the pass!" cried the captain to the gunsmith. The latter obeyed, +and when the brig was only half a cable's length from it, Hatteras +called out: + +"Fire!" + +A formidable report followed his order, and the blocks, shaken by +the atmospheric commotion, were suddenly precipitated into the sea; +the disturbance amongst the strata of the air had been sufficient +to accomplish this. + +"All steam on, Brunton! Straight for the pass, Johnson!" + +The latter was at the helm; the brig, driven along by her screw, which +turned in the foaming waves, dashed into the middle of the then opened +pass; it was time, for scarcely had the _Forward_ cleared the opening +than her prison closed up again behind her. It was a thrilling moment, +and on board there was only one stout and undisturbed heart--that +of the captain. The crew, astonished at the manoeuvre, cried out: + +"Hurrah for the captain!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF FRANKLIN + + +On Wednesday, the 23rd of May, the _Forward_ had again taken up her +adventurous navigation, cleverly tacking amongst the packs and +icebergs. Thanks to steam, that obedient force which so many of our +Polar sea navigators have had to do without, she appeared to be playing +in the midst of the moving rocks. She seemed to recognise the hand +of an experienced master, and like a horse under an able rider, she +obeyed the thought of her captain. The temperature rose. At six +o'clock in the morning the thermometer marked twenty-six degrees, +at six in the evening twenty-nine degrees, and at midnight twenty-five +degrees; the wind was lightly blowing from the south-east. + +On Thursday, towards three in the morning, the _Forward_ was in sight +of Possession Bay, on the coast of America. At the entrance to +Lancaster Strait, shortly after, the crew caught a glimpse of Burney +Cape. A few Esquimaux pulled off towards the vessel, but Hatteras +did not take the trouble to wait for them. The Byam-Martin peaks, +which overlook Cape Liverpool, were sighted to the left, and soon +disappeared in the evening mists, which also prevented any +observation being taken from Cape Hay. This cape is so low that it +gets confounded with the ice on the coast, a circumstance which often +renders the hydrographic determination of the Polar seas extremely +difficult. + +Puffins, ducks, and white sea-gulls showed up in very great numbers. +The _Forward_ was then in latitude 74 degrees 1 minute, and in +longitude 77 degrees 15 minutes. The snowy hoods of the two mountains, +Catherine and Elizabeth, rose up above the clouds. + +On Friday, at six o'clock, Cape Warender was passed on the right side +of the strait, and on the left Admiralty Inlet, a bay that has been +little explored by navigators, who are generally in a hurry to sail +away west. The sea became rather rough, and the waves often swept +the deck of the brig, throwing up pieces of ice. The land on the north +coast, with its high table lands almost level, and which reverberated +the sun's rays, offered a very curious appearance. + +Hatteras wanted to run along the north coast, in order to reach Beechey +Island and the entrance to Wellington Channel sooner; but continual +icebergs compelled him, to his great annoyance, to follow the southern +passes. That was why, on the 26th of May, the _Forward_ was abreast +of Cape York in a thick fog interspersed with snow; a very high +mountain, almost perpendicular, caused it to be recognised. The +weather cleared up a little, and the sun, towards noon, appeared for +an instant, allowing a tolerably good observation to be taken; 74 +degrees 4 minutes latitude and 84 degrees 23 minutes longitude. The +_Forward_ was then at the extremity of Lancaster Strait. + +Hatteras pointed out to the doctor on his map the route already taken, +and the one he meant to follow. The position of the brig at the time +was very interesting. + +"I should like to have been further north," said he, "but no one can +do the impossible; see, this is our exact situation." + +And the captain pricked his map at a short distance from Cape York. + +"We are in the centre of this four-road way, open to every wind, fenced +by the outlets of Lancaster Strait, Barrow Strait, Wellington Channel, +and Regent's Passage; it is a point that all navigators in these seas +have been obliged to come to." + +"Well," replied the doctor, "it must have puzzled them greatly; four +cross-roads with no sign-posts to tell them which to take. How did +Parry, Ross, and Franklin manage?" + +"They did not manage at all, they were managed; they had no choice, +I can assure you; sometimes Barrow Strait was closed to one of them, +and the next year another found it open; sometimes the vessel was +irresistibly drawn towards Regent's Passage, so that we have ended +by becoming acquainted with these inextricable seas." + +"What a singular country!" said the doctor, examining the map. "It +is all in pieces, and they seem to have no logical connection. It +seems as if the land in the vicinity of the North Pole had been cut +up like this on purpose to make access to it more difficult, whilst +that in the other hemisphere quietly terminates in tapered-out points +like those of Cape Horn, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Indian +Peninsula. Is it the greater rapidity of the equator which has thus +modified matters, whilst the land at the extremities, yet fluid from +the creation, has not been able to get condensed or agglomerated +together, for want of a sufficiently rapid rotation?" + +"That must be the case, for everything on earth is logical, and +'nothing is that errs from law,' and God often allows men to discover +His laws; make use of His permission, doctor." + +"Unfortunately, I shall not be able to take much advantage of it," +said the doctor, "but the wind here is something dreadful," added +he, muffling himself up as well as he could. + +"Yes, we are quite exposed to the north wind, and it is turning us +out of our road." + +"Anyhow it ought to drive the ice down south, and level a clear road." + +"It ought to do so, doctor, but the wind does not always do what it +ought. Look, that ice-bank seems impenetrable. Never mind, we will +try to reach Griffith Island, sail round Cornwallis Island, and get +into Queen's Channel without going by Wellington Channel. +Nevertheless I positively desire to touch at Beechey Island in order +to renew my coal provision." + +"What do you mean?" asked the astonished doctor. + +"I mean that, according to orders from the Admiralty, large provisions +have been deposited on that island in order to provide for future +expeditions, and although Captain McClintock took some in 1859, I +assure you that there will be some left for us." + +"By-the-bye," said the doctor, "these parts have been explored for +the last fifteen years, and since the day when the proof of the loss +of Franklin was acquired, the Admiralty has always kept five or six +cruisers in these seas. If I am not mistaken, Griffith Island, which +I see there on the map, almost in the middle of the cross-roads, has +become a general meeting-place for navigators." + +"It is so, doctor; and Franklin's unfortunate expedition resulted +in making known these distant countries to us." + +"That is true, captain, for since 1845 expeditions have been very +numerous. It was not until 1848 that we began to be uneasy about the +disappearance of the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_, Franklin's two +vessels. It was then that we saw the admiral's old friend, Dr. +Richardson, at the age of seventy, go to Canada, and ascend Coppermine +River as far as the Polar Sea; and James Ross, commanding the +_Enterprise_ and _Investigation_, set out from Uppernawik in 1848 +and arrived at Cape York, where we now are. Every day he threw a tub +containing papers into the sea, for the purpose of making known his +whereabouts. During the mists he caused the cannon to be fired, and +had sky-rockets sent up at night along with Bengal lights, and kept +under sail continually. He wintered in Port Leopold from 1848 to 1849, +where he took possession of a great number of white foxes, and caused +brass collars, upon which was engraved the indication of the +whereabouts of ships and the store depots, to be riveted on their +necks. Afterwards they were dispersed in all directions; in the +following spring he began to search the coasts of North Somerset on +sledges in the midst of dangers and privations from which almost all +his men fell ill or lame. He built up cairns in which he inclosed +brass cylinders with the necessary memoranda for rallying the lost +expedition. While he was away his lieutenant McClure explored the +northern coasts of Barrow Strait, but without result. James Ross had +under his orders two officers who, later on, were destined to become +celebrities--McClure, who cleared the North-West passage, and +McClintock, who discovered the remains of Sir John Franklin." + +"Yes; they are now two good and brave English captains. You know the +history of these seas well, doctor, and you will benefit us by telling +us about it. There is always something to be gained by hearing about +such daring attempts." + +"Well, to finish all I know about James Ross: he tried to reach +Melville Island by a more westerly direction, but he nearly lost his +two vessels, for he was caught by the ice and driven back into Baffin's +Sea." + +"Driven back?" repeated Hatteras, contracting his brows; "forced +back in spite of himself?" + +"Yes, and without having discovered anything," continued the doctor; +"and ever since that year, 1850, English vessels have never ceased +to plough these seas, and a reward of twenty thousand pounds was +offered to any one who might find the crews of the _Erebus_ and +_Terror_. Captains Kellett and Moore had already, in 1848, attempted +to get through Behring's Strait. In 1850 and 1851 Captain Austin +wintered in Cornwallis Island; Captain Parry, on board the +_Assistance_ and the _Resolute_, explored Wellington Channel; John +Ross, the venerable hero of the magnetic pole, set out again with +his yacht, the _Felix_, in search of his friend; the brig _Prince +Albert_ went on a first cruise at the expense of Lady Franklin; and, +lastly, two American ships, sent out by Grinnell with Captain Haven, +were drifted out of Wellington Channel and thrown back into Lancaster +Strait. It was during this year that McClintock, who was then Austin's +lieutenant, pushed on as far as Melville Island and Cape Dundas, the +extreme points attained by Parry in 1819; it was then that he found +traces of Franklin's wintering on Beechey Island in 1845." + +"Yes," answered Hatteras, "three of his sailors had been buried +there--three men more fortunate than the others!" + +The doctor nodded in approval of Hatteras's remark, and continued: + +"During 1851 and 1852 the _Prince Albert_ went on a second voyage +under the French lieutenant, Bellot; he wintered at Batty Bay, in +Prince Regent Strait, explored the south-west of Somerset, and +reconnoitred the coast as far as Cape Walker. During that time the +_Enterprise_ and the _Investigator_ returned to England and passed +under the command of Collinson and McClure for the purpose of +rejoining Kellett and Moore in Behring's Straits; whilst Collinson +came back to winter at Hong-Kong, McClure made the best of his way +onward, and after being obliged to winter three times--from 1850 to +'51; from 1851 to '52; and from 1852 to '53--he discovered the +North-West passage without learning anything of Franklin's fate. +During 1852 and '53 a new expedition composed of three sailing vessels, +the _Resolute_, the _Assistance_, the _North Star_, and two steamers, +the _Pioneer_ and _Intrepid_, set sail under the command of Sir Edward +Belcher, with Captain Kellett under him; Sir Edward visited +Wellington Channel, wintered in Northumberland Bay, and went over +the coast, whilst Kellett, pushing on to Bridport in Melville Island, +explored, without success, that part of the boreal land. It was at +this time that news was spread in England that two ships, abandoned +in the midst of icebergs, had been descried near the coast of New +Scotland. Lady Franklin immediately had prepared the little screw +_Isabelle_, and Captain Inglefield, after having steamed up Baffin's +Bay as far as Victoria Point on the eightieth parallel, came back +to Beechey Island no more successful than his predecessors. At the +beginning of 1855, Grinnell, an American, fitted up a fresh expedition, +and Captain Kane tried to penetrate to the Pole----" + +"But he didn't do it," cried Hatteras violently; "and what he didn't +do we will, with God's help!" + +"I know, captain," answered the doctor, "and I mention it because +this expedition is of necessity connected with the search for Franklin. +But it had no result. I was almost forgetting to tell you that the +Admiralty, considering Beechey Island as the general rendezvous of +expeditions, charged Captain Inglefield, who then commanded the +steamer _Phoenix_, to transport provisions there in 1853; Inglefield +set out with Lieutenant Bellot, and lost the brave officer who for +the second time had devoted his services to England; we can have more +precise details upon this catastrophe, as our boatswain, Johnson, +was witness to the misfortune." + +"Lieutenant Bellot was a brave Frenchman," said Hatteras, "and his +memory is honoured in England." + +"By that time," continued the doctor, "Belcher's fleet began to come +back little by little; not all of it, for Sir Edward had been obliged +to abandon the _Assistance_ in 1854, as McClure had done with the +_Investigator_ in 1853. In the meantime, Dr. Rae, in a letter dated +the 29th of July, 1854, and addressed from Repulse Bay, which he had +succeeded in reaching through America, sent word that the Esquimaux +of King William's Land were in possession of different objects taken +from the wrecks of the _Erebus_ and _Terror_; there was then not the +least doubt about the fate of the expedition; the _Phoenix_, the +_North Star_, and Collinson's vessel then came back to England, +leaving the Arctic Seas completely abandoned by English ships. But +if the Government seemed to have lost all hope it was not so with +Lady Franklin, and with the remnants of her fortune she fitted out +the _Fox_, commanded by McClintock, who set sail in 1857, and wintered +in the quarters where you made your apparition; he reached Beechey +Island on the 11th of August, 1858, wintered a second time in Bellot's +Strait, began his search again in February, 1859, and on the 6th of +May found the document which cleared away all doubt about the fate +of the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_, and returned to England at the end +of the year. That is all that has happened for fifteen years in these +fateful countries, and since the return of the _Fox_ not a single +vessel has returned to attempt success in the midst of these dangerous +seas." + +"Well," replied Hatteras, "we will attempt it." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE "FORWARD" DRIVEN BACK SOUTH + + +The weather cleared up towards evening, and land was clearly +distinguished between Cape Sepping and Cape Clarence, which runs east, +then south, and is joined to the coast on the west by a rather low +neck of land. The sea at the entrance to Regent Strait was free from +ice, with the exception of an impenetrable ice-bank, a little further +than Port Leopold, which threatened to stop the _Forward_ in her +north-westerly course. Hatteras was greatly vexed, but he did not +show it; he was obliged to have recourse to petards in order to force +an entrance to Port Leopold; he reached it on Sunday, the 27th of +May; the brig was solidly anchored to the enormous icebergs, which +were as upright, hard, and solid as rocks. + +The captain, followed by the doctor, Johnson, and his dog Dick, +immediately leaped upon the ice, and soon reached land. Dick leaped +with joy, for since he had recognised the captain he had become more +sociable, keeping his grudge against certain men of the crew for whom +his master had no more friendship than he. The port was not then +blocked up with ice that the east winds generally heaped up there; +the earth, intersected with peaks, offered at their summits graceful +undulations of snow. The house and lantern erected by James Ross were +still in a tolerable state of preservation; but the provisions seemed +to have been ransacked by foxes and bears, the recent traces of which +were easily distinguished. Men, too, had had something to do with +the devastation, for a few remains of Esquimaux huts remained upon +the shores of the Bay. The six graves inclosing the remains of the +six sailors of the _Enterprise_ and the _Investigator_ were +recognisable by a slight swelling of the ground; they had been +respected both by men and animals. In placing his foot for the first +time on boreal land, the doctor experienced much emotion. It is +impossible to imagine the feelings with which the heart is assailed +at the sight of the remains of houses, tents, huts, and magazines +that Nature so marvellously preserves in those cold countries. + +"There is that residence," he said to his companions, "which James +Ross himself called the Camp of Refuge; if Franklin's expedition had +reached this spot, it would have been saved. There is the engine which +was abandoned here, and the stove at which the crew of the _Prince +Albert_ warmed themselves in 1851. Things have remained just as they +were, and any one would think that Captain Kennedy had only left +yesterday. Here is the long boat which sheltered him and his for a +few days, for this Kennedy, separated from his ship, was in reality +saved by Lieutenant Bellot, who braved the October temperature in +order to go to his assistance." + +"I knew that brave and worthy officer," said Johnson. + +Whilst the doctor was examining with all an antiquarian's enthusiasm +the vestiges of previous winterings, Hatteras was occupied in piling +together the various provisions and articles of fuel, which were only +to be found in very small quantities. The following day was employed +in transporting them on board. The doctor, without going too far from +the ship, surveyed the country, and took sketches of the most +remarkable points of view. The temperature rose by degrees, and the +heaped-up snow began to melt. The doctor made an almost complete +collection of northern birds, such as gulls, divers, eider-down ducks, +which are very much like common ducks, with white breasts and backs, +blue bellies, the top of the head blue, and the remainder of the +plumage white, shaded with green; several of them had already their +breasts stripped of that beautiful down with which the male and female +line their nests. The doctor also perceived large seals taking breath +on the surface of the ice, but could not shoot one. In his excursions +he discovered the high water mark, a stone upon which the following +signs are engraved: + + (E. I.) + 1849, + +and which indicate the passage of the _Enterprise_ and +_Investigator_; he pushed forward as far as Cape Clarence to the spot +where John and James Ross, in 1833, waited with so much impatience +for the breaking up of the ice. The land was strewn with skulls and +bones of animals, and traces of Esquimaux habitations could be still +distinguished. + +The doctor wanted to raise up a cairn on Port Leopold, and deposit +in it a note indicating the passage of the _Forward_, and the aim +of the expedition. But Hatteras would not hear of it; he did not want +to leave traces behind of which a competitor might take advantage. +In spite of his good motives the doctor was forced to yield to the +captain's will. Shandon blamed the captain's obstinacy, which +prevented any ships following the trace of the _Forward_ in case of +accident. Hatteras would not give way. His lading was finished on +Monday night, and he attempted once more to gain the north by breaking +open the ice-bank; but after dangerous efforts he was forced to resign +himself, and to go down Regent's Channel again; he would not stop +at Port Leopold, which, open to-day, might be closed again to-morrow +by an unexpected displacement of ice-fields, a very frequent +phenomenon in these seas, and which navigators ought particularly +to take into consideration. + +If Hatteras did not allow his uneasiness to be outwardly perceived, +it did not prevent him feeling it inwardly. His desire was to push +northward, whilst, on the contrary, he found himself constrained to +put back southward. Where should he get to in that case? Should he +be obliged to put back to Victoria Harbour, in Boothia Gulf, where +Sir John Ross wintered in 1833? Would he find Bellot Strait open at +that epoch, and could he ascend Peel Strait by rounding North +Somerset? Or, again, should he, like his predecessors, find himself +captured during several winters, and be compelled to exhaust his +strength and provisions? These fears were fermenting in his brain; +he must decide one way or other. He heaved about, and struck out south. +The width of Prince Regent's Channel is about the same from Port +Leopold to Adelaide Bay. The _Forward_, more favoured than the ships +which had preceded her, and of which the greater number had required +more than a month to descend the channel, even in a more favourable +season, made her way rapidly amongst the icebergs; it is true that +other ships, with the exception of the _Fox_, had no steam at their +disposal, and had to endure the caprices of an uncertain and often +foul wind. + +In general the crew showed little wish to push on with the enterprising +Hatteras; the men were only too glad to perceive that the vessel was +taking a southerly direction. Hatteras would have liked to go on +regardless of consequences. + +The _Forward_ rushed along under the pressure of her engines, the +smoke from which twisted round the shining points of the icebergs; +the weather was constantly changing from dry cold to snowy fogs. The +brig, which drew little water, sailed along the west coast; Hatteras +did not wish to miss the entrance to Bellot Strait, as the only outlet +to the Gulf of Boothia on the south was the strait, only partially +known to the _Fury_ and the _Hecla_; if he missed the Bellot Strait, +he might be shut up without possibility of egress. + +In the evening the _Forward_ was in sight of Elwin Bay, known by its +high perpendicular rocks; on the Tuesday morning Batty Bay was sighted, +where the _Prince Albert_ anchored for its long wintering on the 10th +of September, 1851. The doctor swept the whole coast with his +telescope. It was from this point that the expeditions radiated that +established the geographical configuration of North Somerset. The +weather was clear, and the profound ravines by which the bay is +surrounded could be clearly distinguished. + +The doctor and Johnson were perhaps the only beings on board who took +any interest in these deserted countries. Hatteras was always intent +upon his maps, and said little; his taciturnity increased as the brig +got more and more south; he often mounted the poop, and there with +folded arms, and eyes lost in vacancy, he stood for hours. His orders, +when he gave any, were curt and rough. Shandon kept a cold silence, +and kept himself so much aloof by degrees that at last he had no +relations with Hatteras except those exacted by the service; James +Wall remained devoted to Shandon, and regulated his conduct +accordingly. The remainder of the crew waited for something to turn +up, ready to take any advantage in their own interest. There was no +longer that unity of thought and communion of ideas on board which +are so necessary for the accomplishment of anything great, and this +Hatteras knew to his sorrow. + +During the day two whales were perceived rushing towards the south; +a white bear was also seen, and was shot at without any apparent +success. The captain knew the value of an hour under the circumstances, +and would not allow the animal to be chased. + +On Wednesday morning the extremity of Regent's Channel was passed; +the angle on the west coast was followed by a deep curve in the land. +By consulting his map the doctor recognised the point of Somerset +House, or Fury Point. + +"There," said he to his habitual companion--"there is the very spot +where the first English ship, sent into these seas in 1815, was lost, +during the third of Parry's voyages to the Pole; the _Fury_ was so +damaged by the ice on her second wintering, that her crew were obliged +to desert her and return to England on board her companion ship the +_Hecla_." + +"That shows the advantage of having a second ship," answered Johnson. +"It is a precaution that Polar navigators ought not to neglect, but +Captain Hatteras wasn't the sort of man to trouble himself with +another ship." + +"Do you think he is imprudent, Johnson?" asked the doctor. + +"I? I think nothing, Mr. Clawbonny. Do you see those stakes over there +with some rotten tent-rags still hanging to them?" + +"Yes; that's where Parry disembarked his provisions from his ship, +and, if I remember rightly, the roof of his tent was a topsail." + +"Everything must be greatly changed since 1825!" + +"Not so much as any one might think. John Ross owed the health and +safety of his crew to that fragile habitation in 1829. When the _Prince +Albert_ sent an expedition there in 1851, it was still existing; +Captain Kennedy had it repaired, nine years ago now. It would be +interesting to visit it, but Hatteras isn't in the humour to stop!" + +"I daresay he is right, Mr. Clawbonny; if time is money in England, +here it is life, and a day's or even an hour's delay might make all +the difference." + +During the day of Thursday, the 1st of June, the _Forward_ cut across +Creswell Bay; from Fury Point the coast rose towards the north in +perpendicular rocks three hundred feet high; it began to get lower +towards the south; some snow summits looked like neatly-cut tables, +whilst others were shaped like pyramids, and had other strange forms. + +The weather grew milder during that day, but was not so clear; land +was lost to sight, and the thermometer went up to thirty-two degrees; +seafowl fluttered about, the flocks of wild ducks were seen flying +north; the crew could divest themselves of some of their garments, +and the influence of the Arctic summer began to be felt. Towards +evening the _Forward_ doubled Cape Garry at a quarter of a mile from +the shore, where the soundings gave from ten to twelve fathoms; from +thence she kept near the coast as far as Brentford Bay. It was under +this latitude that Bellot Strait was to be met with; a strait the +existence of which Sir John Ross did not even guess at during his +expedition in 1828; his maps indicated an uninterrupted coast-line, +whose irregularities he noted with the utmost care; the entrance to +the strait must therefore have been blocked up by ice at the time. +It was really discovered by Kennedy in April, 1852, and he gave it +the name of his lieutenant, Bellot, as "a just tribute," he said, +"to the important services rendered to our expedition by the French +officer." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE MAGNETIC POLE + + +Hatteras felt his anxiety increase as he neared the strait; the fate +of his voyage depended upon it; up till now he had done more than +his predecessors, the most fortunate of whom, McClintock, had taken +fifteen months to reach this part of the Polar Seas; but it was little +or nothing if he did not succeed in clearing Bellot Strait; he could +not retrace his steps, and would be blocked up till the following +year. + +He trusted the care of examining the coast to no one but himself; +he mounted the crow's nest and passed several hours there during the +morning of Saturday. The crew perfectly understood the ship's +position; profound silence reigned on board; the engine slackened +steam, and the _Forward_ kept as near land as possible; the coast +bristled with icebergs, which the warmest summers do not melt; an +experienced eye alone could distinguish an opening between them. +Hatteras compared his maps with the land. As the sun showed himself +for an instant towards noon, he caused Shandon and Wall to take a +pretty exact observation, which was shouted to him. All the crew +suffered the tortures of anxiety for half the day, but towards two +o'clock these words were shouted from the top of the mizenmast: + +"Veer to the west, all steam on." + +The brig instantly obeyed; her prow was directed towards the point +indicated; the sea foamed under the screws, and the _Forward_, with +all speed on, entered between two ice-streams. The road was found, +Hatteras descended upon deck, and the ice-master took his place. + +"Well, captain," said the doctor, "we are in the famous strait at +last." + +"Yes," answered Hatteras, lowering his voice; "but getting in isn't +everything; we must get out too," and so saying he regained his cabin. + +"He's right," said the doctor; "we are here in a sort of mousetrap, +with scarcely enough space for working the brig, and if we are forced +to winter in the strait!... Well, we shan't be the first that have +had to do it, and they got over it, and so shall we." + +The doctor was not mistaken. It was in that very place, in a little +sheltered harbour called Kennedy Harbour by McClintock himself, that +the _Fox_ wintered in 1858. The high granite chain and the steep cliffs +of the two banks were clearly discernible. + +Bellot Strait is seventeen miles long and a mile wide, and about six +or seven fathoms deep. It lies between mountains whose height is +estimated at 1,600 feet. It separates North Somerset from Boothia +Land. + +It is easy to understand that there is not much elbow-room for vessels +in such a strait. The _Forward_ advanced slowly, but it did advance; +tempests are frequent in the strait, and the brig did not escape them; +by Hatteras's order all sails were furled; but, notwithstanding all +precautions, the brig was much knocked about; the waves dashed over +her, and her smoke fled towards the east with astonishing rapidity; +her course was not certain amongst the moving ice; the barometer fell; +it was difficult to stop on deck, and most of the men stayed below +to avoid useless suffering. + +Hatteras, Johnson, and Shandon remained on the poop in spite of the +gales of snow and rain; as usual the doctor had asked himself what +would be the most disagreeable thing he could do, and answered himself +by going on deck at once; it was impossible to hear and difficult +to see one another, so that he kept his reflections to himself. +Hatteras tried to see through the fog; he calculated that they would +be at the mouth of the strait at six o'clock, but when the time came +all issue seemed closed up; he was obliged to wait and anchor the +brig to an iceberg; but he stopped under pressure all night. + +The weather was frightful. The _Forward_ threatened to break her +chains at every instant; it was feared that the iceberg to which they +were anchored, torn away at its base under the violent west wind, +would float away with the brig. The officers were constantly on the +look-out and under extreme apprehension; along with the snow there +fell a perfect hail of ice torn off from the surface of the icebergs +by the strength of the wind; it was like a shower of arrows bristling +in the atmosphere. The temperature rose singularly during this +terrible night; the thermometer marked fifty-seven degrees, and the +doctor, to his great astonishment, thought he saw flashes of lightning +in the south, followed by the roar of far-off thunder that seemed +to corroborate the testimony of the whaler Scoresby, who observed +a similar phenomenon above the sixty-fifth parallel. Captain Parry +was also witness to a similar meteorological wonder in 1821. + +Towards five o'clock in the morning the weather changed with +astonishing rapidity; the temperature went down to freezing point, +the wind turned north, and became calmer. The western opening to the +strait was in sight, but entirely obstructed. Hatteras looked eagerly +at the coast, asking himself if the passage really existed. However, +the brig got under way, and glided slowly amongst the ice-streams, +whilst the icebergs pressed noisily against her planks, the packs +at that epoch were still from six to seven feet thick; they were +obliged carefully to avoid their pressure, for if the brig had +resisted them she would have run the risk of being lifted up and turned +over on her side. At noon, for the first time, they could admire a +magnificent solar phenomenon, a halo with two parhelia; the doctor +observed it, and took its exact dimensions; the exterior bow was only +visible over an extent of thirty degrees on each side of its horizontal +diameter; the two images of the sun were remarkably clear; the colours +of the luminous bows proceeded from inside to outside, and were red, +yellow, green, and very light blue--in short, white light without +any assignable exterior limit. The doctor remembered the ingenious +theory of Thomas Young about these meteors; this natural philosopher +supposed that certain clouds composed of prisms of ice are suspended +in the atmosphere; the rays of the sun that fall on the prisms are +decomposed at angles of sixty and ninety degrees. Halos cannot, +therefore, exist in a calm atmosphere. The doctor thought this theory +very probable. Sailors accustomed to the boreal seas generally +consider this phenomenon as the precursor of abundant snow. If their +observation was just, the position of the _Forward_ became very +difficult. Hatteras, therefore, resolved to go on fast; during the +remainder of the day and following night he did not take a minute's +rest, sweeping the horizon with his telescope, taking advantage of +the least opening, and losing no occasion of getting out of the strait. + +But in the morning he was obliged to stop before the insuperable +ice-bank. The doctor joined him on the poop. Hatteras went with him +apart where they could talk without fear of being overheard. + +"We are in for it," began Hatteras; "it is impossible to go any +further." + +"Is there no means of getting out?" asked the doctor. + +"None. All the powder in the _Forward_ would not make us gain half +a mile!" + +"What shall we do, then?" said the doctor. + +"I don't know. This cursed year has been unfavourable from the +beginning." + +"Well," answered the doctor, "if we must winter here, we must. One +place is as good as another." + +"But," said Hatteras, lowering his voice, "we must not winter here, +especially in the month of June. Wintering is full of physical and +moral danger. The crew would be unmanageable during a long inaction +in the midst of real suffering. I thought I should be able to stop +much nearer the Pole than this!" + +"Luck would have it so, or Baffin's Bay wouldn't have been closed." + +"It was open enough for that American!" cried Hatteras in a rage. + +"Come, Hatteras," said the doctor, interrupting him on purpose, +"to-day is only the 5th of June; don't despair; a passage may suddenly +open up before us; you know that the ice has a tendency to break up +into several blocks, even in the calmest weather, as if a force of +repulsion acted upon the different parts of it; we may find the sea +free at any minute." + +"If that minute comes we shall take advantage of it. It is quite +possible that, once out of Bellot Strait, we shall be able to go north +by Peel Strait or McClintock Channel, and then----" + +"Captain," said James Wall, who had come up while Hatteras was +speaking, "the ice nearly carries off our rudder." + +"Well," answered Hatteras, "we must risk it. We must be ready day +and night. You must do all you can to protect it, Mr. Wall, but I +can't have it removed." + +"But----" added Wall. + +"That is my business," said Hatteras severely, and Wall went back +to his post. + +"I would give five years of my life," said Hatteras, in a rage, "to +be up north. I know no more dangerous passage. To add to the difficulty, +the compass is no guide at this distance from the magnetic pole: the +needle is constantly shifting its direction." + +"I acknowledge," answered the doctor, "that navigation is difficult, +but we knew what we had to expect when we began our enterprise, and +we ought not to be surprised at it." + +"Ah, doctor, my crew is no longer what it was; the officers are +spoiling the men. I could make them do what I want by offering them +a pecuniary reward, but I am not seconded by my officers, but they +shall pay dearly for it!" + +"You are exaggerating, Hatteras." + +"No, I am not. Do you think the crew is sorry for the obstacles that +I meet with? On the contrary, they hope they will make me abandon +my projects. They do not complain now, and they won't as long as the +_Forward_ is making for the south. The fools! They think they are +getting nearer England! But once let me go north and you'll see how +they'll change! I swear, though, that no living being will make me +deviate from my line of conduct. Only let me find a passage, that's +all!" + +One of the captain's wishes was fulfilled soon enough. There was a +sudden change during the evening; under some influence of the wind, +the current, or the temperature, the ice-fields were separated; the +_Forward_ went along boldly, breaking up the ice with her steel prow; +she sailed along all night, and the next morning about six cleared +Bellot Strait. But that was all; the northern passage was completely +obstructed--to the great disgust of Hatteras. However, he had +sufficient strength of character to hide his disappointment, and as +if the only passage open was the one he preferred, he let the _Forward_ +sail down Franklin Strait again; not being able to get up Peel Strait, +he resolved to go round Prince of Wales's Land to get into McClintock +Channel. But he felt he could not deceive Shandon and Wall as to the +extent of his disappointment. The day of the 6th of June was +uneventful; the sky was full of snow, and the prognostics of the halo +were fulfilled. + +During thirty-six hours the _Forward_ followed the windings of +Boothia Land, unable to approach Prince of Wales's Land; the captain +counted upon getting supplies at Beechey Island; he arrived on the +Thursday at the extremity of Franklin Strait, where he again found +the road to the north blocked up. It was enough to make him despair; +he could not even retrace his steps; the icebergs pushed him onwards, +and he saw the passages close up behind him as if there never had +existed open sea where he had passed an hour before. The _Forward_ +was, therefore, not only prevented from going northwards, but could +not stop still an instant for fear of being caught, and she fled before +the ice as a ship flies before a storm. + +On Friday, the 8th of June, they arrived near the shore of Boothia, +at the entrance to James Ross Strait, which they were obliged to avoid, +as its only issue is on the west, near the American coasts. + +Observations taken at noon from this point gave 70 degrees 5 minutes +17 seconds latitude, and 96 degrees 46 minutes 45 seconds longitude; +when the doctor heard that he consulted his map, and saw they were +at the magnetic pole, at the very place where James Ross, the nephew +of Sir John, had fixed it. The land was low near the coast, and at +about a mile's distance became slightly elevated, sixty feet only. +The _Forward's_ boiler wanted cleaning, and the captain caused the +brig to be anchored to an ice-field, and allowed the doctor and the +boatswain to land. He himself cared for nothing but his pet project, +and stayed in his cabin, consulting his map of the Pole. + +The doctor and his companion easily succeeded in reaching land; the +doctor took a compass to make experiments with. He wished to try if +James Ross's conclusions hold good. He easily discovered the +limestone heap raised by Ross; he ran to it; an opening allowed him +to see, in the interior, the tin case in which James Ross had placed +the official report of his discoveries. No living being seemed to +have visited this desolate coast for the last thirty years. In this +spot a loadstone needle, suspended as delicately as possible, +immediately moved into an almost vertical position under the magnetic +influence; if the centre of attraction was not immediately under the +needle, it could only be at a trifling distance. The doctor made the +experiment carefully, and found that the imperfect instruments of +James Ross had given his vertical needle an inclination of 89 degrees +59 minutes, making the real magnetic point at a minute's distance +from the spot, but that his own at a little distance gave him an +inclination of 90 degrees. + +"Here is the exact spot of the world's magnetic pole," said the doctor, +rapping the earth. + +"Then," said the boatswain, "there's no loadstone mountain, after +all." + +"Of course not; that mountain was only a credulous hypothesis. As +you see, there isn't the least mountain capable of attracting ships, +of attracting their iron anchor after anchor and nail after nail, +and you see it respects your shoes as much as any other land on the +globe." + +"Then how do you explain----" + +"Nothing is explained, Johnson; we don't know enough for that yet. +But it is certain, exact, mathematical, that the magnetic pole is +in this very spot!" + +"Ah, Mr. Clawbonny! how happy the captain would be to say as much +of the boreal pole!" + +"He will some day, Johnson, you will see." + +"I hope he will," answered the boatswain. + +He and the doctor elevated a cairn on the exact spot where the +experiment had been made, and returned on board at five o'clock in +the evening. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE FATE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN + + +The _Forward_ succeeded in cutting straight across James Ross Strait, +but not without difficulty; the crew were obliged to work the saws +and use petards, and they were worn out with fatigue. Happily the +temperature was bearable, and thirty degrees higher than that +experienced by James Ross at the same epoch. The thermometer marked +thirty-four degrees. + +On Saturday they doubled Cape Felix at the northern extremity of King +William's Land, one of the middle-sized isles of the northern seas. +The crew there experienced a strong and painful sensation, and many +a sad look was turned towards the island as they sailed by the coast. +This island had been the theatre of the most terrible tragedy of modern +times. Some miles to the west the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_ had been +lost for ever. The sailors knew about the attempts made to find Admiral +Franklin and the results, but they were ignorant of the affecting +details of the catastrophe. While the doctor was following the +progress of the ship on his map, several of them, Bell, Bolton, and +Simpson, approached and entered into conversation with him. Their +comrades, animated by curiosity, soon followed them; while the brig +flew along with extreme rapidity, and the coast with its bays, capes, +and promontories passed before their eyes like a gigantic panorama. + +Hatteras was marching up and down the poop with quick steps. The doctor, +on the deck, looked round, and saw himself surrounded by almost the +whole crew. He saw how powerful a recital would be in such a situation, +and he continued the conversation begun with Johnson as follows:-- + +"You know how Franklin began, my friends; he was a cabin-boy like +Cook and Nelson; after having employed his youth in great maritime +expeditions, he resolved in 1845 to launch out in search of the +North-West passage; he commanded the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_, two +vessels, already famous, that had just made an Antarctic campaign +under James Ross, in 1840. The _Erebus_, equipped by Franklin, carried +a crew of seventy men, officers and sailors, with Fitz-James as +captain; Gore and Le Vesconte, lieutenants; Des Voeux, Sargent, and +Couch, boatswains; and Stanley as surgeon. The _Terror_ had +sixty-eight men, Captain Crozier; Lieutenants Little, Hodgson, and +Irving; Horesby and Thomas were the boatswains, and Peddie the surgeon. +In the names on the map of the capes, straits, points, and channels, +you may read those of these unfortunate men, not one of whom was +destined ever again to see his native land. There were a hundred and +thirty-eight men in all! We know that Franklin's last letters were +addressed from Disko Island, and were dated July 12th, 1845. 'I hope,' +he said, 'to get under way to-night for Lancaster Strait.' What +happened after his departure from Disko Bay? The captains of two +whalers, the _Prince of Wales_ and the _Enterprise_, perceived the +two ships in Melville Bay for the last time, and after that day nothing +was heard of them. However, we can follow Franklin in his westerly +course: he passed through Lancaster and Barrow Straits, and arrived +at Beechey Island, where he passed the winter of 1845 and '46." + +"But how do you know all this?" asked Bell, the carpenter. + +"By three tombs which Austin discovered on that island in 1850. Three +of Franklin's sailors were buried there, and by a document which was +found by Lieutenant Hobson, of the _Fox_, which bears the date of +April 25th, 1848, we know that after their wintering the _Erebus_ +and the _Terror_ went up Wellington Strait as far as the +seventy-seventh parallel; but instead of continuing their route +northwards, which was, probably, not practicable, they returned +south." + +"And that was their ruin!" said a grave voice. "Safety lay to the +north." + +Every one turned round. Hatteras, leaning on the rail of the poop, +had just uttered that terrible observation. + +"There is not a doubt," continued the doctor, "that Franklin's +intention was to get back to the American coast; but tempests stopped +him, and on the 12th September, 1846, the two ships were seized by +the ice, at a few miles from here, to the north-west of Cape Felix; +they were dragged along N.N.W. to Victoria Point over there," said +the doctor, pointing to a part of the sea. "Now," he continued, "the +ships were not abandoned till the 22nd of April, 1848. What happened +during these nineteen months? What did the poor unfortunate men do? +They, doubtless, explored the surrounding land, attempting any +chance of safety, for the admiral was an energetic man, and if he +did not succeed----" + +"Very likely his crew betrayed him," added Hatteras. + +The sailors dared not raise their eyes; these words pricked their +conscience. + +"To end my tale, the fatal document informs us also that John Franklin +succumbed to fatigue on the 11th of June, 1847. Honour to his memory!" +said the doctor, taking off his hat. His audience imitated him in +silence. + +"What became of the poor fellows for the next ten months after they +had lost their chief? They remained on board their vessels, and only +resolved to abandon them in April, 1848; a hundred and five men out +of a hundred and thirty-eight were still living; thirty-three were +dead! Then Captain Crozier and Captain Fitz-James raised a cairn on +Victory Point, and there deposited their last document. See, my +friends, we are passing the point now! You can still see the remains +of the cairn placed on the extreme point, reached by John Ross in +1831. There is Jane Franklin Cape. There is Franklin Point. There +is Le Vesconte Point. There is Erebus Bay, where the boat made out +of the _debris_ of one of the vessels was found on a sledge. Silver +spoons, provisions in abundance, chocolate, tea, and religious books +were found there too. The hundred and five survivors, under Captain +Crozier, started for Great Fish River. Where did they get to? Did +they succeed in reaching Hudson's Bay? Did any survive? What became +of them after this last departure?" + +"I will tell you what became of them," said John Hatteras in a firm +voice. "Yes, they did try to reach Hudson's Bay, and they split up +into several parties! Yes, they did make for the south! A letter from +Dr. Rae in 1854 contained the information that in 1850 the Esquimaux +had met on King William's Land a detachment of forty men travelling +on the ice, and dragging a boat, thin, emaciated, worn out by fatigue +and suffering! Later on they discovered thirty corpses on the +continent and five on a neighbouring island, some half-buried, some +left without burial, some under a boat turned upside down, others +under the remains of a tent; here an officer with his telescope on +his shoulder and a loaded gun at his side, further on a boiler with +the remnants of a horrible meal! When the Admiralty received these +tidings it begged the Hudson's Bay Company to send its most +experienced agents to the scene. They descended Back River to its +mouth. They visited the islands of Montreal, Maconochie, and Ogle +Point. But they discovered nothing. All the poor wretches had died +from misery, suffering, and hunger, whilst trying to prolong their +existence by the dreadful resource of cannibalism. That is what became +of them on the southern route. Well! Do you still wish to march in +their footsteps?" + +His trembling voice, his passionate gestures and beaming face, +produced an indescribable effect. The crew, excited by its emotion +before this fatal land, cried out with one voice: "To the north! To +the north!" + +"Yes, to the north! Safety and glory lie to the north. Heaven is for +us! The wind is changing; the pass is free!" + +So saying, Hatteras gave orders to turn the vessel; the sailors went +to work with alacrity; the ice streams got clear little by little; +the _Forward_, with all steam on, made for McClintock Channel. +Hatteras was right when he counted upon a more open sea; he followed +up the supposed route taken by Franklin, sailing along the western +coast of Prince of Wales's Land, then pretty well known, whilst the +opposite shore is still unknown. It was evident that the breaking +up of the ice had taken place in the eastern locks, for this strait +appeared entirely free; the _Forward_ made up for lost time; she fled +along so quickly that she passed Osborne Bay on the 14th of June, +and the extreme points attained by the expeditions of 1851. Icebergs +were still numerous, but the sea did not threaten to quit the keel +of the _Forward_. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE NORTHERN ROUTE + + +The crew seemed to have returned to its habits of discipline and +obedience. There was little fatiguing work to do, and they had a good +deal of leisure. The temperature kept above freezing point, and it +seemed as if the thaw had removed the great obstacles to navigation. + +Dick, now sociable and familiar, had made great friends with Dr. +Clawbonny. But as in most friendships one friend has to give way to +the other, it must be acknowledged it was not the dog. Dick did what +he liked with the doctor, who obeyed him as if he were the dog. He +was amiable with most of the sailors and officers on board, only by +instinct, doubtless, he shunned Shandon's society; he also kept up +a grudge against Pen and Foker; he vented his hatred of them by +growling at their approach. But they dare not now attack the captain's +dog--his "familiar," as Clifton called him. On the whole the crew +had plucked up courage again and worked well. + +"It seems to me," said James Wall one day to Richard Shandon, "that +our men took the captain's speech seriously; they no longer seem to +be doubtful of success." + +"The more fools they!" answered Shandon. "If they reflected, if they +examined the situation, they would see that we are going out of one +imprudence into another." + +"But," continued Wall, "the sea is open now, and we are getting back +into well-known tracks; aren't you exaggerating a bit, Shandon?" + +"No, I am not exaggerating; the dislike I feel to Hatteras is not +blinding me. Have you seen the coal-holes lately?" + +"No," answered Wall. + +"Well, then, go and examine them: you will see how much there's left. +He ought to have navigated under sail, and have kept the engine for +currents and contrary winds; he ought only to have used his coal where +he was obliged; who can tell where we shall be kept, and for how many +years? But Hatteras only thinks about getting north. Whether the wind +is contrary or not, he goes along at full steam, and if things go +on as they are doing now, we shall soon be in a pretty pickle." + +"If what you say is true, it is very serious." + +"Yes, it is, because of the wintering. What shall we do without coal +in a country where even the thermometer freezes?" + +"But, if I am not mistaken, the captain counts upon renewing his stock +of coal at Beechey Island. It appears there is a large provision +there." + +"And suppose we can't reach Beechey Island, what will become of us +then?" + +"You are right, Shandon; Hatteras seems to me very imprudent; but +why don't you expostulate with him on the subject?" + +"No," said Shandon, with ill-concealed bitterness, "I won't say a +word. It is nothing to do with me now. I shall wait to see what turns +up; I shall obey orders, and not give my opinion where it isn't +wanted." + +"Allow me to tell you that you are in the wrong, Shandon; you have +as much interest in setting yourself against the captain's imprudence +as we have." + +"He wouldn't listen to me if I were to speak; do you think he would?" + +Wall dared not answer in the affirmative, and he added-- + +"But perhaps he would listen to the crew." + +"The crew!" answered Shandon, shrugging his shoulders; "you don't +know the crew. The men know they are nearing the 72nd parallel, and +that they will earn a thousand pounds for every degree above that." + +"The captain knew what he was doing when he offered them that." + +"Of course he did, and for the present he can do what he likes with +them." + +"What do you mean?" + +"I mean that while they have nothing to do, and there is an open sea, +they will go on right enough; but wait till difficulty and danger +come, and you will see how much they'll think about the money!" + +"Then you don't think Hatteras will succeed?" + +"No, he will not; to succeed in such an enterprise there must be a +good understanding between him and his officers, and that does not +exist. Hatteras is a madman; all his past career proves it. Well, +we shall see; perhaps circumstances will force them to give the +command to a less adventurous captain." + +"Still," said Wall, shaking his head, "he will always have on his +side----" + +"Dr. Clawbonny, a man who only cares for science, and Johnson, a sailor +who only cares to obey, and perhaps two more men like Bell, the +carpenter; four at the most, and we are eighteen on board! No, Wall, +Hatteras has not got the confidence of his men, and he knows it, so +he bribes them; he profited cleverly by the Franklin affair, but that +won't last, I tell you, and if he doesn't reach Beechey Island he's +a lost man!" + +"Suppose the crew should take it into its head----" + +"Don't tell the crew what I think," answered Shandon quickly; "the +men will soon see for themselves. Besides, just now we must go north. +Who knows if Hatteras won't find that way will bring us back sooner? +At the end of McClintock Channel lies Melville Bay, and from thence +go the straits that lead to Baffin's Bay. Hatteras must take care! +The way to the east is easier than the road to the north!" + +Hatteras was not mistaken in his opinion that Shandon would betray +him if he could. Besides, Shandon was right in attributing the +contentment of the men to the hope of gain. Clifton had counted exactly +how much each man would have. Without reckoning the captain and the +doctor, who would not expect a share in the bounty-money, there +remained sixteen men to divide it amongst. If ever they succeeded +in reaching the Pole, each man would have 1,125 pounds--that is to +say, a fortune. It would cost the captain 18,000 pounds, but he could +afford it. The thoughts of the money inflamed the minds of the crew, +and they were now as anxious to go north as before they had been eager +to turn south. The _Forward_ during the day of June 16th passed Cape +Aworth. Mount Rawlinson raised its white peaks towards the sky; the +snow and fog made it appear colossal, as they exaggerated its +distance; the temperature still kept some degrees above freezing +point; improvised cascades and cataracts showed themselves on the +sides of the mountains, and avalanches roared down with the noise +of artillery discharges. The glaciers, spread out in long white sheets, +projected an immense reverberation into space. Boreal nature, in its +struggle with the frost, presented a splendid spectacle. The brig +went very near the coast; on some sheltered rocks rare heaths were +to be seen, the pink flowers lifting their heads timidly out of the +snows, and some meagre lichens of a reddish colour and the shoots +of a dwarf willow. + +At last, on the 19th of June, at the famous seventy-third parallel, +they doubled Cape Minto, which forms one of the extremities of Ommaney +Bay; the brig entered Melville Bay, surnamed by Bolton Money Bay; +the merry sailors joked about the name, and made Dr. Clawbonny laugh +heartily. Notwithstanding a strong breeze from the northeast, the +_Forward_ made considerable progress, and on the 23rd of June she +passed the 74th degree of latitude. She was in the midst of Melville +Bay, one of the most considerable seas in these regions. This sea +was crossed for the first time by Captain Parry in his great expedition +of 1819, and it was then that his crew earned the prize of 5,000 pounds +promised by Act of Parliament. Clifton remarked that there were two +degrees from the 72nd to the 74th; that already placed 125 pounds +to his credit. But they told him that a fortune was not worth much +there, and that it was of no use being rich if he could not drink +his riches, and he had better wait till he could roll under a Liverpool +table before he rejoiced and rubbed his hands. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A WHALE IN SIGHT + + +Melville Bay, though easily navigable, was not free from ice; +ice-fields lay as far as the utmost limits of the horizon; a few +icebergs appeared here and there, but they were immovable, as if +anchored in the midst of the frozen fields. The _Forward_, with all +steam on, followed the wide passes where it was easy to work her. +The wind changed frequently from one point of the compass to another. +The variability of the wind in the Arctic Seas is a remarkable fact; +sometimes a dead calm is followed in a few minutes by a violent tempest, +as the _Forward_ found to her cost on the 23rd of June in the midst +of the immense bay. The more constant winds blow from off the ice-bank +on to the open sea, and are intensely cold. On that day the thermometer +fell several degrees; the wind veered round to the south, and violent +gusts, sweeping over the ice-fields, brought a thick snow along with +them. Hatteras immediately caused the sails that helped the screw +to be furled, but not quickly enough to prevent his little foresail +being carried away in the twinkling of an eye. Hatteras worked his +ship with the greatest composure, and did not leave the deck during +the tempest; he was obliged to fly before the weather and to turn +westward. The wind raised up enormous waves, in the midst of which +blocks of ice balanced themselves; these blocks were of all sizes +and shapes, and had been struck off the surrounding ice-fields; the +brig was tossed about like a child's plaything, and morsels of the +packs were thrown over her hull; at one instant she was lying +perpendicularly along the side of a liquid mountain; her steel prow +concentrated the light, and shone like a melting metal bar; at another +she was down an abyss, plunging her head into whirlwinds of snow, +whilst her screws, out of the water, turned in space with a sinister +noise, striking the air with their paddles. Rain mixed with the snow +and fell in torrents. + +The doctor could not miss such an occasion of getting wet to the skin; +he remained on deck, a prey to that emotional admiration which a +scientific man must necessarily feel during such a spectacle. His +nearest neighbour could not have heard him speak, so he said nothing +and watched; but whilst watching he was witness to an odd phenomenon, +peculiar to hyperborean regions. The tempest was confined to a +restricted area, and only extended for about three or four miles; +the wind that passes over ice-fields loses much of its strength and +cannot carry its violence far out; the doctor perceived from time +to time, through an opening in the tempest, a calm sky and a quiet +sea beyond some ice-fields. The _Forward_ would therefore only have +to take advantage of some channels left by the ice to find a peaceful +navigation again, but she ran the risk of being thrown on to one of +the moving banks which followed the movement of the swell. However, +in a few hours Hatteras succeeded in getting his ship into a calm +sea, whilst the violence of the hurricane spent itself at a few cables' +length from the _Forward_. Melville Bay no longer presented the same +aspect; under the influence of the winds and the waves a great number +of icebergs, detached from the coast, floated northward, running +against one another in every direction. There were several hundreds +of them, but the bay is very wide, and the brig easily avoided them. +The spectacle of these floating masses was magnificent; they seemed +to be having a grand race for it on the open sea. The doctor was getting +quite excited with watching them, when the harpooner, Simpson, came +up and made him look at the changing tints in the sea; they varied +from a deep blue to olive green; long stripes stretched north and +south in such decided lines that the eye could follow each shade out +of sight. Sometimes a transparent sheet of water would follow a +perfectly opaque sheet. + +"Well, Mr. Clawbonny, what do you think of that?" said Simpson. + +"I am of the same opinion as the whaler Scoresby on the nature of +the different coloured waters; blue water has no animalculae, and +green water is full of them. Scoresby has made several experiments +on this subject, and I think he is right." + +"Well, sir, I know something else about the colours in the sea, and +if I were a whaler I should be precious glad to see them." + +"But I don't see any whales," answered the doctor. + +"You won't be long before you do, though, I can tell you. A whaler +is lucky when he meets with those green stripes under this latitude." + +"Why?" asked the doctor, who always liked to get information from +anybody who understood what they were talking about. + +"Because whales are always found in great quantities in green water." + +"What's the reason of that?" + +"Because they find plenty of food in them." + +"Are you sure of that?" + +"I've seen it a hundred times, at least, in Baffin Sea; why shouldn't +it be the same in Melville Bay? Besides, look there, Mr. Clawbonny," +added Simpson, leaning over the barricading. + +"Why any one would think it was the wake of a ship!" + +"It is an oily substance that the whale leaves behind. The animal +can't be far off!" + +The atmosphere was impregnated with a strong oily odour, and the +doctor attentively watched the surface of the water. The prediction +of the harpooner was soon accomplished. Foker called out from the +masthead-- + +"A whale alee!" + +All looks turned to the direction indicated. A small spout was +perceived coming up out of the sea about a mile from the brig. + +"There she spouts!" cried Simpson, who knew what that meant. + +"She has disappeared!" answered the doctor. + +"Oh, we could find her again easily enough if necessary!" said Simpson, +with an accent of regret. To his great astonishment, and although +no one dared ask for it, Hatteras gave orders to man the whaler. +Johnson went aft to the stern, while Simpson, harpoon in hand, stood +in the bow. They could not prevent the doctor joining the expedition. +The sea was pretty calm. The whaler soon got off, and in ten minutes +was a mile from the brig. The whale had taken in another provision +of air, and had plunged again; but she soon returned to the surface +and spouted out that mixture of gas and mucus that escapes from her +air-holes. + +"There! There!" said Simpson, pointing to a spot about eight hundred +yards from the boat. It was soon alongside the animal, and as they +had seen her from the brig too, she came nearer, keeping little steam +on. The enormous cetacean disappeared and reappeared as the waves +rose and fell, showing its black back like a rock in open sea. Whales +do not swim quickly unless they are pursued, and this one only rocked +itself in the waves. The boat silently approached along the green +water; its opacity prevented the animal seeing the enemy. It is always +an agitating spectacle when a fragile boat attacks one of these +monsters; this one was about 130 feet long, and it is not rare, between +the 72nd and the 80th degree, to meet with whales more than 180 feet +long. Ancient writers have described animals more than 700 feet long, +but they drew upon their imagination for their facts. The boat soon +neared the whale; on a sign from Simpson the men rested on their oars, +and brandishing his harpoon, the experienced sailor threw it with +all his strength; it went deep into the thick covering of fat. The +wounded whale struck the sea with its tail and plunged. The four oars +were immediately raised perpendicularly; the cord fastened to the +harpoon, and attached to the bow, rolled rapidly out and dragged the +boat along, steered cleverly by Johnson. + +The whale got away from the brig and made for the moving icebergs; +she kept on for more than half-an-hour; they were obliged to wet the +cord fastened to the harpoon to prevent it catching fire by rubbing +against the boat. When the whale seemed to be going along a little +more slowly, the cord was pulled in little by little and rolled up; +the whale soon reappeared on the surface of the sea, which she beat +with her formidable tail: veritable waterspouts fell in a violent +rain on to the boat. It was getting nearer. Simpson had seized a long +lance, and was preparing to give close battle to the animal, when +all at once the whale glided into a pass between two mountainous +icebergs. The pursuit then became really dangerous. + +"The devil!" said Johnson. + +"Go ahead," cried Simpson; "we've got her!" + +"But we can't follow her into the icebergs!" said Johnson, steering +steadily. + +"Yes we can!" cried Simpson. + +"No, no!" cried some of the sailors. + +"Yes, yes!" said others. + +During the discussion the whale had got between two floating mountains +which the swell was bringing close together. The boat was being +dragged into this dangerous part when Johnson rushed to the fore, +an axe in his hand, and cut the cord. He was just in time; the two +mountains came together with a tremendous crash, crushing the +unfortunate animal. + +"The whale's lost!" cried Simpson. + +"But we are saved!" answered Johnson. + +"Well," said the doctor, who had not moved, "that was worth seeing!" + +The crushing force of these ice-mountains is enormous. The whale was +victim to an accident that often happens in these seas. Scoresby +relates that in the course of a single summer thirty whales perished +in the same way in Baffin's Sea; he saw a three-master flattened in +a minute between two immense walls of ice. Other vessels were split +through, as if with a lance, by pointed icicles a hundred feet long, +meeting through the planks. A few minutes afterwards the boat hailed +the brig, and was soon in its accustomed place on deck. + +"It is a lesson for those who are imprudent enough to adventure into +the channels amongst the ice!" said Shandon in a loud voice. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +BEECHEY ISLAND + + +On the 25th of June the _Forward_ arrived in sight of Cape Dundas +at the north-western extremity of Prince of Wales's Land. There the +difficulty of navigating amongst the ice grew greater. The sea is +narrower there, and the line made by Crozier, Young, Day, Lowther, +and Garret Islands, like a chain of forts before a roadstead, forced +the ice-streams to accumulate in this strait. The brig took from the +25th to the 30th of June to make as much way as she would have done +in one day under any other circumstances; she stopped, retraced her +steps, waiting for a favourable occasion so as not to miss Beechey +Island, using a great deal of coal, as the fires were only moderated +when she had to halt, but were never put out, so that she might be +under pressure day and night. Hatteras knew the extent of his coal +provision as well as Shandon, but as he was certain of getting his +provision renewed at Beechey Island he would not lose a minute for +the sake of economy; he had been much delayed by his forced march +southward, and although he had taken the precaution of leaving England +before the month of April, he did not find himself more advanced than +preceding expeditions had been at the same epoch. On the 30th they +sighted Cape Walker at the north-eastern extremity of Prince of +Wales's Land; it was the extreme point that Kennedy and Bellot +perceived on the 3rd of May, 1852, after an excursion across the whole +of North Somerset. Before that, in 1851, Captain Ommaney, of the +Austin expedition, had the good luck to revictual his detachments +there. This cape is very high, and remarkable for its reddish-brown +colour; from there, when the weather is clear, the view stretches +as far as the entrance to Wellington Channel. Towards evening they +saw Cape Bellot, separated from Cape Walker by McLeon Bay. Cape Bellot +was so named in the presence of the young French officer, for whom +the English expedition gave three cheers. At this spot the coast is +made of yellowish limestone, presenting a very rugged outline; it +is defended by enormous icebergs which the north winds pile up there +in a most imposing way. It was soon lost to sight by the _Forward_ +as she opened a passage amongst the ice to get to Beechey Island +through Barrow Strait. Hatteras resolved to go straight on, and, so +as not to be drifted further than the island, scarcely quitted his +post during the following days; he often went to the masthead to look +out for the most advantageous channels. All that pluck, skill, and +genius could do he did while they were crossing the strait. Fortune +did not favour him, for the sea is generally more open at this epoch. +But at last, by dint of sparing neither his steam, his crew, nor +himself, he attained his end. + +On the 3rd of July, at 11 o'clock in the morning, the ice-master +signalled land to the north. After taking an observation Hatteras +recognised Beechey Island, that general meeting-place of Arctic +navigators. Almost all ships that adventure in these seas stop there. +Franklin wintered there for the first time before getting into +Wellington Strait, and Creswell, with Lieutenant McClure, after +having cleared 170 miles on the ice, rejoined the _Phoenix_ and +returned to England. The last ship which anchored at Beechey Island +before the _Forward_ was the _Fox_; McClintock revictualled there +the 11th of August, 1858, and repaired the habitations and magazines; +only two years had elapsed since then, and Hatteras knew all these +details. The boatswain's heart beat with emotion at the sight of this +island; when he had visited it he was quartermaster on board the +_Phoenix_; Hatteras questioned him about the coast line, the +facilities for anchoring, how far they could go inland, &c.; the +weather was magnificent, and the temperature kept at 57 degrees. + +"Well, Johnson," said the captain, "do you know where you are?" + +"Yes, sir, that is Beechey Island; only you must let us get further +north--the coast is more easy of access." + +"But where are the habitations and the magazines?" said Hatteras. + +"Oh, you can't see them till you land; they are sheltered behind those +little hills you see yonder." + +"And is that where you transported a considerable quantity of +provisions?" + +"Yes, sir; the Admiralty sent us here in 1853, under the command of +Captain Inglefield, with the steamer _Phoenix_ and a transport ship, +the _Breadalbane_, loaded with provisions; we brought enough with +us to revictual a whole expedition." + +"But the commander of the _Fox_ took a lot of them in 1858," said +Hatteras. + +"That doesn't matter, sir; there'll be plenty left for you; the cold +preserves them wonderfully, and we shall find them as fresh and in +as good a state of preservation as the first day." + +"What I want is coal," said Hatteras; "I have enough provisions for +several years." + +"We left more than a thousand tons there, so you can make your mind +easy." + +"Are we getting near?" said Hatteras, who, telescope in hand, was +watching the coast. + +"You see that point?" continued Johnson. "When we have doubled it +we shall be very near where we drop anchor. It was from that place +that we started for England with Lieutenant Creswell and the twelve +invalids from the _Investigator_. We were fortunate enough to bring +back McClure's lieutenant, but the officer Bellot, who accompanied +us on board the _Phoenix_, never saw his country again! It is a painful +thing to think about. But, captain, I think we ought to drop anchor +here." + +"Very well," answered Hatteras, and he gave his orders in consequence. +The _Forward_ was in a little bay naturally sheltered on the north, +east, and south, and at about a cable's length from the coast. + +"Mr. Wall," said Hatteras, "have the long boat got ready to transport +the coal on board. I shall land in the pirogue with the doctor and +the boatswain. Will you accompany us, Mr. Shandon?" + +"As you please," answered Shandon. + +A few minutes later the doctor, armed as a sportsman and a _savant_, +took his place in the pirogue along with his companions; in ten minutes +they landed on a low and rocky coast. + +"Lead the way, Johnson," said Hatteras. "You know it, I suppose?" + +"Perfectly, sir; only there's a monument here that I did not expect +to find!" + +"That!" cried the doctor; "I know what it is; let us go up to it; +the stone itself will tell us." + +The four men advanced, and the doctor said, after taking off his hat-- + +"This, my friends, is a monument in memory of Franklin and his +companions." + +Lady Franklin had, in 1855, confided a black marble tablet to Doctor +Kane, and in 1858 she gave a second to McClintock to be raised on +Beechey Island. McClintock accomplished this duty religiously, and +placed the stone near a funeral monument erected to the memory of +Bellot by Sir John Barrow. + +The tablet bore the following inscription: + + + "TO THE MEMORY OF + FRANKLIN, CROZIER, FITZ-JAMES, + AND ALL THEIR VALIANT BRETHREN + OFFICERS AND FAITHFUL COMPANIONS +who suffered for the cause of science and for their country's glory. + +"This stone is erected near the place where they passed their first +Arctic winter, and from whence they departed to conquer obstacles +or to die. + +"It perpetuates the regret of their countrymen and friends who admire +them, and the anguish, conquered by Faith, of her who lost in the +chief of the expedition the most devoted and most affectionate of +husbands. + +"It is thus that He led them to the supreme haven where all men take +their rest. + + "1855." + + +This stone, on a forlorn coast of these far-off regions, appealed +mournfully to the heart; the doctor, in presence of these touching +regrets, felt his eyes fill with tears. At the very same place which +Franklin and his companions passed full of energy and hope, there +only remained a block of marble in remembrance! And notwithstanding +this sombre warning of destiny, the _Forward_ was going to follow +in the track of the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_. Hatteras was the first +to rouse himself from the perilous contemplation, and quickly climbed +a rather steep hill, almost entirely bare of snow. + +"Captain," said Johnson, following him, "we shall see the magazines +from here." + +Shandon and the doctor joined them on the summit. But from there the +eye contemplated the vast plains, on which there remained no vestige +of a habitation. + +"That is singular!" cried the boatswain. + +"Well, and where are the magazines?" said Hatteras quickly. + +"I don't know--I don't see----" stammered Johnson. + +"You have mistaken the way," said the doctor. + +"It seemed to me that this was the very place," continued Johnson. + +"Well," said Hatteras, impatiently "where are we to go now?" + +"We had better go down, for I may be mistaken. I may have forgotten +the exact locality in seven years!" + +"Especially when the country is so uniformly monotonous!" added the +doctor. + +"And yet----" murmured Johnson. + +Shandon had not spoken a word. After walking for a few minutes, Johnson +stopped. + +"But no," he cried, "I am not mistaken!" + +"Well?" said Hatteras, looking round him. + +"Do you see that swell of the ground?" asked the boatswain, pointing +to a sort of mound with three distinct swells on it. + +"What do you conclude from that?" asked the doctor. + +"Those are the three graves of Franklin's sailors. I am sure now that +I am not mistaken; the habitations ought to be about a hundred feet +from here, and if they are not, they----" + +He dared not finish his sentence; Hatteras had rushed forward, a prey +to violent despair. There, where the wished-for stores on which he +had counted ought to have been, there ruin, pillage and destruction +had been before him. Who had done it? Animals would only have attacked +the provisions, and there did not remain a single rag from the tent, +a piece of wood or iron, and, more terrible still, not a fragment +of coal! It was evident that the Esquimaux had learnt the value of +these objects from their frequent relations with Europeans; since +the departure of the _Fox_ they had fetched everything away, and had +not left a trace even of their passage. A slight coating of snow +covered the ground. Hatteras was confounded. The doctor looked and +shook his head. Shandon still said nothing, but an attentive observer +would have noticed his lips curl with a cruel smile. At this moment +the men sent by Lieutenant Wall came up; they soon saw the state of +affairs. Shandon advanced towards the captain, and said: + +"Mr. Hatteras, we need not despair; happily we are near the entrance +to Barrow Strait, which will take us back to Baffin's Sea!" + +"Mr. Shandon," answered Hatteras, "happily we are near the entrance +to Wellington Strait, and that will take us north!" + +"But how shall we get along, captain?" + +"With the sails, sir. We have two months' firing left, and that is +enough for our wintering." + +"But allow me to tell you----" added Shandon. + +"I will allow you to follow me on board my ship, sir," answered +Hatteras, and turning his back on his second, he returned to the brig +and shut himself up in his cabin. For the next two days the wind was +contrary, and the captain did not show up on deck. The doctor profited +by the forced sojourn to go over Beechey Island; he gathered some +plants, which the temperature, relatively high, allowed to grow here +and there on the rocks that the snow had left, some heaths, a few +lichens, a sort of yellow ranunculus, a sort of plant something like +sorrel, with wider leaves and more veins, and some pretty vigorous +saxifrages. He found the fauna of this country much richer than the +flora; he perceived long flocks of geese and cranes going northward, +partridges, eider ducks of a bluish black, sandpipers, a sort of +wading bird of the scolopax class, northern divers, plungers with +very long bodies, numerous ptarmites, a sort of bird very good to +eat, dovekies with black bodies, wings spotted with white, feet and +beak red as coral; noisy bands of kittywakes and fat loons with white +breasts, represented the ornithology of the island. The doctor was +fortunate enough to kill a few grey hares, which had not yet put on +their white winter fur, and a blue fox which Dick ran down skilfully. +Some bears, evidently accustomed to dread the presence of men, would +not allow themselves to be got at, and the seals were extremely timid, +doubtless for the same reason as their enemies the bears. The class +of articulated animals was represented by a single mosquito, which +the doctor caught to his great delight, though not till it had stung +him. As a conchologist he was less favoured, and only found a sort +of mussel and some bivalve shells. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE DEATH OF BELLOT + + +The temperature during the days of the 3rd and 4th of July kept up +to 57 degrees; this was the highest thermometric point observed during +the campaign. But on Thursday, the 5th, the wind turned to the +south-east, and was accompanied by violent snow-storms. The +thermometer fell during the preceding night to 23 degrees. Hatteras +took no notice of the murmurs of the crew, and gave orders to get +under way. For the last thirteen days, from Cape Dundas, the _Forward_ +had not been able to gain one more degree north, so the party +represented by Clifton was no longer satisfied, but wished like +Hatteras to get into Wellington Channel, and worked away with a will. +The brig had some difficulty in getting under sail; but Hatteras +having set his mizensail, his topsails, and his gallantsails during +the night, advanced boldly in the midst of fields of ice which the +current was drifting south. The crew were tired out with this winding +navigation, which kept them constantly at work at the sails. +Wellington Channel is not very wide; it is bounded by North Devon +on the east and Cornwallis Island on the west; this island was long +believed to be a peninsula. It was Sir John Franklin who first sailed +round it in 1846, starting west, and coming back to the same point +to the north of the channel. The exploration of Wellington Channel +was made in 1851 by Captain Penny in the whalers _Lady Franklin_ and +_Sophia_; one of his lieutenants, Stewart, reached Cape Beecher in +latitude 76 degrees 20 minutes, and discovered the open sea--that +open sea which was Hatteras's dream! + +"What Stewart found I shall find," said he to the doctor; "then I +shall be able to set sail to the Pole." + +"But aren't you afraid that your crew----" + +"My crew!" said Hatteras severely. Then in a low tone--"Poor fellows!" +murmured he, to the great astonishment of the doctor. It was the first +expression of feeling he had heard the captain deliver. + +"No," he repeated with energy, "they must follow me! They shall follow +me!" + +However, although the _Forward_ had nothing to fear from the collision +of the ice-streams, which were still pretty far apart, they made very +little progress northward, for contrary winds often forced them to +stop. They passed Capes Spencer and Innis slowly, and on Tuesday, +the 10th, cleared 75 degrees to the great delight of Clifton. The +_Forward_ was then at the very place where the American ships, the +_Rescue_ and the _Advance_, encountered such terrible dangers. +Doctor Kane formed part of this expedition; towards the end of +September, 1850, these ships got caught in an ice-bank, and were +forcibly driven into Lancaster Strait. It was Shandon who related +this catastrophe to James Wall before some of the brig's crew. + +"The _Advance_ and the _Rescue_," he said to them, "were so knocked +about by the ice, that they were obliged to leave off fires on board; +but that did not prevent the temperature sinking 18 degrees below +zero. During the whole winter the unfortunate crews were kept +prisoners in the ice-bank, ready to abandon their ships at any moment; +for three weeks they did not even change their clothes. They floated +along in that dreadful situation for more than a thousand miles, when +at last they were thrown into the middle of Baffin's Sea." + +The effect of this speech upon a crew already badly disposed can be +well imagined. During this conversation Johnson was talking to the +doctor about an event that had taken place in those very quarters; +he asked the doctor to tell him when the brig was in latitude 75 degrees +30 minutes, and when they passed it he cried: + +"Yes, it was just there!" in saying which tears filled his eyes. + +"You mean that Lieutenant Bellot died there?" said the doctor. + +"Yes, Mr. Clawbonny. He was as good and brave a fellow as ever lived! +It was upon this very North Devon coast! It was to be, I suppose, +but if Captain Pullen had returned on board sooner it would not have +happened." + +"What do you mean, Johnson?" + +"Listen to me, Mr. Clawbonny, and you will see on what a slight thread +existence often hangs. You know that Lieutenant Bellot went his first +campaign in search of Franklin in 1850?" + +"Yes, on the _Prince Albert_." + +"Well, when he got back to France he obtained permission to embark +on board the _Phoenix_ under Captain Inglefield; I was a sailor on +board. We came with the _Breadalbane_ to transport provisions to +Beechey Island!" + +"Those provisions we, unfortunately, did not find. Well?" + +"We reached Beechey Island in the beginning of August; on the 10th +Captain Inglefield left the _Phoenix_ to rejoin Captain Pullen, who +had been separated from his ship, the _North Star_, for a month. When +he came back he thought of sending his Admiralty despatches to Sir +Edward Belcher, who was wintering in Wellington Channel. A little +while after the departure of our captain, Captain Pullen got back +to his ship. Why did he not arrive before the departure of Captain +Inglefield? Lieutenant Bellot, fearing that our captain would be long +away, and knowing that the Admiralty despatches ought to be sent at +once, offered to take them himself. He left the command of the two +ships to Captain Pullen, and set out on the 12th of August with a +sledge and an indiarubber boat. He took the boatswain of the _North +Star_ (Harvey) with him, and three sailors, Madden, David Hook, and +me. We supposed that Sir Edward Belcher was to be found in the +neighbourhood of Beecher Cape, to the north of the channel; we made +for it with our sledge along the eastern coast. The first day we +encamped about three miles from Cape Innis; the next day we stopped +on a block of ice about three miles from Cape Bowden. As land lay +at about three miles' distance, Lieutenant Bellot resolved to go and +encamp there during the night, which was as light as the day; he tried +to get to it in his indiarubber canoe; he was twice repulsed by a +violent breeze from the south-east; Harvey and Madden attempted the +passage in their turn, and were more fortunate; they took a cord with +them, and established a communication between the coast and the +sledge; three objects were transported by means of the cord, but at +the fourth attempt we felt our block of ice move; Mr. Bellot called +out to his companions to drop the cord, and we were dragged to a great +distance from the coast. The wind blew from the south-east, and it +was snowing; but we were not in much danger, and the lieutenant might +have come back as we did." + +Here Johnson stopped an instant to take a glance at the fatal coast, +and continued: + +"After our companions were lost to sight we tried to shelter ourselves +under the tent of our sledge, but in vain; then, with our knives, +we began to cut out a house in the ice. Mr. Bellot helped us for half +an hour, and talked to us about the danger of our situation. I told +him I was not afraid. 'By God's help,' he answered, 'we shall not +lose a hair of our heads.' I asked him what o'clock it was, and he +answered, 'About a quarter-past six.' It was a quarter-past six in +the morning of Thursday, August 18th. Then Mr. Bellot tied up his +books, and said he would go and see how the ice floated; he had only +been gone four minutes when I went round the block of ice to look +for him; I saw his stick on the opposite side of a crevice, about +five fathoms wide, where the ice was broken, but I could not see him +anywhere. I called out, but no one answered. The wind was blowing +great guns. I looked all round the block of ice, but found no trace +of the poor lieutenant." + +"What do you think had become of him?" said the doctor, much moved. + +"I think that when Mr. Bellot got out of shelter the wind blew him +into the crevice, and, as his greatcoat was buttoned up he could not +swim. Oh! Mr. Clawbonny, I never was more grieved in my life! I could +not believe it! He was a victim to duty, for it was in order to obey +Captain Pullen's instructions that he tried to get to land. He was +a good fellow, everybody liked him; even the Esquimaux, when they +learnt his fate from Captain Inglefield on his return from Pound Bay, +cried while they wept, as I am doing now, 'Poor Bellot! poor Bellot!'" + +"But you and your companion, Johnson," said the doctor, "how did you +manage to reach land?" + +"Oh! we stayed twenty-four hours more on the block of ice, without +food or firing; but at last we met with an ice-field; we jumped on +to it, and with the help of an oar we fastened ourselves to an iceberg +that we could guide like a raft, and we got to land, but without our +brave officer." + +By the time Johnson had finished his story the _Forward_ had passed +the fatal coast, and Johnson lost sight of the place of the painful +catastrophe. The next day they left Griffin Bay to the starboard, +and, two days after, Capes Grinnell and Helpmann; at last, on the +14th of July, they doubled Osborn Point, and on the 15th the brig +anchored in Baring Bay, at the extremity of the channel. Navigation +had not been very difficult; Hatteras met with a sea almost as free +as that of which Belcher profited to go and winter with the _Pioneer_ +and the _Assistance_ as far north as 77 degrees. It was in 1852 and +1853, during his first wintering, for he passed the winter of 1853 +to 1854 in Baring Bay, where the _Forward_ was now at anchor. He +suffered so much that he was obliged to leave the _Assistance_ in +the midst of the ice. Shandon told all these details to the already +discontented sailors. Did Hatteras know how he was betrayed by his +first officer? It is impossible to say; if he did, he said nothing +about it. + +At the top of Baring Bay there is a narrow channel which puts +Wellington and Queen's Channel into communication with each other. +There the rafts of ice lie closely packed. Hatteras tried, in vain, +to clear the passes to the north of Hamilton Island; the wind was +contrary; five precious days were lost in useless efforts. The +temperature still lowered, and, on the 19th of July, fell to 26 +degrees; it got higher the following day; but this foretaste of winter +made Hatteras afraid of waiting any longer. The wind seemed to be +going to keep in the west, and to stop the progress of the ship. However, +he was in a hurry to gain the point where Stewart had met with the +open sea. On the 19th he resolved to get into the Channel at any price; +the wind blew right on the brig, which might, with her screw, have +stood against it, had not Hatteras been obliged to economise his fuel; +on the other hand, the Channel was too wide to allow the men to haul +the brig along. Hatteras, not considering the men's fatigue, resolved +to have recourse to means often employed by whalers under similar +circumstances. The men took it in turns to row, so as to push the +brig on against the wind. The _Forward_ advanced slowly up the Channel. +The men were worn out and murmured loudly. They went on in that manner +till the 23rd of July, when they reached Baring Island in Queen's +Channel. The wind was still against them. The doctor thought the +health of the men much shaken, and perceived the first symptoms of +scurvy amongst them; he did all he could to prevent the spread of +the wretched malady, and distributed lime-juice to the men. + +Hatteras saw that he could no longer count upon his crew; reasoning +and kindness were ineffectual, so he resolved to employ severity for +the future; he suspected Shandon and Wall, though they dare not speak +out openly. Hatteras had the doctor, Johnson, Bell, and Simpson for +him; they were devoted to him body and soul; amongst the undecided +were Foker, Bolton, Wolsten the gunsmith, and Brunton the first +engineer; and they might turn against the captain at any moment; as +to Pen, Gripper, Clifton, and Warren, they were in open revolt; they +wished to persuade their comrades to force the captain to return to +England. Hatteras soon saw that he could not continue to work his +ship with such a crew. He remained twenty-four hours at Baring Island +without taking a step forward. The weather grew cooler still, for +winter begins to be felt in July in these high latitudes. On the 24th +the thermometer fell to 22 degrees. Young ice formed during the night, +and if snow fell it would soon be thick enough to bear the weight +of a man. The sea began already to have that dirty colour which +precedes the formation of the first crystals. Hatteras could not +mistake these alarming symptoms; if the channels got blocked up, he +should be obliged to winter there at a great distance from the point +he had undertaken the voyage in order to reach, without having caught +a glimpse of that open sea which his predecessors made out was so +near. He resolved, then, to gain several degrees further north, at +whatever cost; seeing that he could not employ oars without the rowers +were willing, nor sail in a contrary wind, he gave orders to put steam +on again. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +BEGINNING OF REVOLT + + +At this unexpected command, the surprise was great on board the +_Forward_. + +"Light the fires!" exclaimed some. + +"What with?" asked others. + +"When we've only two months' coal in the hold!" said Pen. + +"What shall we warm ourselves with in the winter?" asked Clifton. + +"We shall be obliged to burn the brig down to her water-line," answered +Gripper. + +"And stuff the stove with the masts," added Warren. Shandon looked +at Wall. The stupefied engineers hesitated to go down to the +machine-room. + +"Did you hear me?" cried the captain in an irritated tone. + +Brunton made for the hatchway, but before going down he stopped. + +"Don't go, Brunton!" called out a voice. + +"Who spoke?" cried Hatteras. + +"I did," said Pen, advancing towards the captain. + +"And what did you say?" asked Hatteras. + +"I say," answered Pen with an oath--"I say, we've had enough of it, +and we won't go any further. You shan't kill us with hunger and work +in the winter, and they shan't light the fires!" + +"Mr. Shandon," answered Hatteras calmly, "have that man put in irons!" + +"But, captain," replied Shandon, "what the man says----" + +"If you repeat what the man says," answered Hatteras, "I'll have you +shut up in your cabin and guarded! Seize that man! Do you hear?" +Johnson, Bell, and Simpson advanced towards the sailor, who was in +a terrible passion. + +"The first who touches me----" he said, brandishing a handspike. +Hatteras approached him. + +"Pen," said he tranquilly, "if you move, I shall blow out your brains!" +So speaking, he cocked a pistol and aimed it at the sailor. A murmur +was heard. + +"Not a word, men," said Hatteras, "or that man falls dead!" Johnson +and Bell disarmed Pen, who no longer made any resistance, and placed +him in the hold. + +"Go, Brunton," said Hatteras. The engineer, followed by Plover and +Warren, went down to his post. Hatteras returned to the poop. + +"That Pen is a wretched fellow!" said the doctor. + +"No man has ever been nearer death!" answered the captain, simply. + +The steam was soon got up, the anchors were weighed, and the _Forward_ +veered away east, cutting the young ice with her steel prow. Between +Baring Island and Beecher Point there are a considerable quantity +of islands in the midst of ice-fields; the streams crowd together +in the little channels which cut up this part of the sea; they had +a tendency to agglomerate under the relatively low temperature; +hummocks were formed here and there, and these masses, already more +compact, denser, and closer together, would soon form an impenetrable +mass. The _Forward_ made its way with great difficulty amidst the +snowstorms. However, with the mobility that characterises the +climate of these regions, the sun appeared from time to time, the +temperature went up several degrees, obstacles melted as if by magic, +and a fine sheet of water lay where icebergs bristled all the passes. +The horizon glowed with those magnificent orange shades which rest +the eye, tired with the eternal white of the snow. + +On the 26th of July the _Forward_ passed Dundas Island, and veered +afterwards more to the north; but there Hatteras found himself +opposite an ice-bank eight or nine feet high, formed of little +icebergs detached from the coast; he was obliged to turn west. The +uninterrupted cracking of the ice, added to the noise of the steamer, +was like sighs or groans. At last the brig found a channel, and +advanced painfully along it; often an enormous iceberg hindered her +course for hours; the fog hindered the pilot's look-out; as long as +he can see for a mile in front of him, he can easily avoid obstacles; +but in the midst of the fog it was often impossible to see a cable's +length, and the swell was very strong. Sometimes the clouds looked +smooth and white as though they were reflections of the ice-banks; +but there were entire days when the yellow rays of the sun could not +pierce the tenacious fog. Birds were still very numerous, and their +cries were deafening; seals, lying idle on the floating ice, raised +their heads, very little frightened, and moved their long necks as +the brig passed. Pieces from the ship's sheathing were often rubbed +off in her contact with the ice. At last, after six days of slow +navigation, Point Beecher was sighted to the north on the 1st of August. +Hatteras passed the last few hours at his masthead; the open sea that +Stewart had perceived on May 30th, 1851, about latitude 76 degrees +20 minutes, could not be far off; but as far as the eye could reach, +Hatteras saw no indication of it. He came down without saying a word. + +"Do you believe in an open sea?" asked Shandon of the lieutenant. + +"I am beginning not to," answered Wall. + +"Wasn't I right to say the pretended discovery was purely imagination? +But they would not believe me, and even you were against me, Wall." + +"We shall believe in you for the future, Shandon." + +"Yes," said he, "when it's too late," and so saying he went back to +his cabin, where he had stopped almost ever since his dispute with +the captain. The wind veered round south towards evening; Hatteras +ordered the brig to be put under sail and the fires to be put out; +the crew had to work very hard for the next few days; they were more +than a week getting to Barrow Point. The _Forward_ had only made thirty +miles in ten days. There the wind turned north again, and the screw +was set to work. Hatteras still hoped to find an open sea beyond the +77th parallel, as Sir Edward Belcher had done. Ought he to treat these +accounts as apocryphal? or had the winter come upon him earlier? On +the 15th of August Mount Percy raised its peak, covered with eternal +snow, through the mist. The next day the sun set for the first time, +ending thus the long series of days with twenty-four hours in them. +The men had ended by getting accustomed to the continual daylight, +but it had never made any difference to the animals; the Greenland +dogs went to their rest at their accustomed hour, and Dick slept as +regularly every evening as though darkness had covered the sky. Still, +during the nights which followed the 15th of August, darkness was +never profound; although the sun set, he still gave sufficient light +by refraction. On the 19th of August, after a pretty good observation, +they sighted Cape Franklin on the east coast and Cape Lady Franklin +on the west coast; the gratitude of the English people had given these +names to the two opposite points--probably the last reached by +Franklin: the name of the devoted wife, opposite to that of her husband, +is a touching emblem of the sympathy which always united them. + +The doctor, by following Johnson's advice, accustomed himself to +support the low temperature; he almost always stayed on deck braving +the cold, the wind, and the snow. He got rather thinner, but his +constitution did not suffer. Besides, he expected to be much worse +off, and joyfully prepared for the approaching winter. + +"Look at those birds," he said to Johnson one day; "they are emigrating +south in flocks! They are shrieking out their good-byes!" + +"Yes, Mr. Clawbonny, some instinct tells them they must go, and they +set out." + +"There's more than one amongst us who would like to imitate them, +I think." + +"They are cowards, Mr. Clawbonny; those animals have no provisions +as we have, and are obliged to seek their food where it is to be found. +But sailors, with a good ship under their feet, ought to go to the +world's end." + +"You hope that Hatteras will succeed, then?" + +"He certainly will, Mr. Clawbonny." + +"I am of the same opinion as you, Johnson, and if he only wanted one +faithful companion----" + +"He'll have two!" + +"Yes, Johnson," answered the doctor, shaking hands with the brave +sailor. + +Prince Albert Land, which the _Forward_ was then coasting, bears also +the name of Grinnell Land, and though Hatteras, from his hatred to +the Yankees, would never call it by its American name, it is the one +it generally goes by. It owes its double appellation to the following +circumstances: At the same time that Penny, an Englishman, gave it +the name of Prince Albert, Lieutenant Haven, commander of the _Rescue_, +called it Grinnell Land in honour of the American merchant who had +fitted out the expedition from New York at his own expense. Whilst +the brig was coasting it, she experienced a series of unheard-of +difficulties, navigating sometimes under sail, sometimes by steam. +On the 18th of August they sighted Britannia Mountain, scarcely +visible through the mist, and the _Forward_ weighed anchor the next +day in Northumberland Bay. She was hemmed in on all sides. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +ATTACKED BY ICEBERGS + + +Hatteras, after seeing to the anchoring of his ship, re-entered his +cabin and examined his map attentively. He found himself in latitude +76 degrees 57 minutes and longitude 99 degrees 20 minutes--that is +to say, at only three minutes from the 77th parallel. It was at this +very spot that Sir Edward Belcher passed his first winter with the +_Pioneer_ and the _Assistance_. It was thence that he organised his +sledge and boat excursions. He discovered Table Isle, North Cornwall, +Victoria Archipelago, and Belcher Channel. He reached the 78th +parallel, and saw that the coast was depressed on the south-east. +It seemed to go down to Jones's Strait, the entrance to which lies +in Baffin's Bay. But to the north-west, on the contrary, says his +report, an open sea lay as far as the eye could reach. + +Hatteras considered attentively the white part of the map, which +represented the Polar basin free from ice. + +"After such testimony as that of Stewart, Penny, and Belcher, I can't +have a doubt about it," he said to himself. "They saw it with their +own eyes. But if the winter has already frozen it! But no; they made +their discoveries at intervals of several years. It exists, and I +shall find it! I shall see it." + +Hatteras went on to the poop. An intense fog enveloped the _Forward_; +the masthead could scarcely be distinguished from the deck. However, +Hatteras called down the ice-master from his crow's nest, and took +his place. He wished to profit by the shortest clear interval to +examine the north-western horizon. Shandon did not let the occasion +slip for saying to the lieutenant: + +"Well, Wall, where is the open sea?" + +"You were right, Shandon, and we have only six weeks' coal in the +hold." + +"Perhaps the doctor will find us some scientific fuel to warm us in +the place of coal," answered Shandon. "I have heard say you can turn +fire to ice; perhaps he'll turn ice to fire." And he entered his cabin, +shrugging his shoulders. The next day was the 20th of August, and +the fog cleared away for several minutes. They saw Hatteras look +eagerly at the horizon, and then come down without speaking; but it +was easy to see that his hopes had again been crushed. The _Forward_ +weighed anchor, and took up her uncertain march northward. As the +_Forward_ began to be weather-worn, the masts were unreeved, for they +could no longer rely on the variable wind, and the sails were nearly +useless in the winding channels. Large white marks appeared here and +there on the sea like oil spots; they presaged an approaching frost; +as soon as the breeze dropped the sea began to freeze immediately; +but as soon as the wind got up again, the young ice was broken up +and dispersed. Towards evening the thermometer went down to 17 +degrees. + +When the brig came to a closed-up pass she acted as a battering ram, +and ran at full steam against the obstacle, which she sunk. Sometimes +they thought she was stopped for good; but an unexpected movement +of the streams opened her a new passage, and she took advantage of +it boldly. When the brig stopped, the steam which escaped from the +safety-pipes was condensed by the cold air and fell in snow on to +the deck. Another impediment came in the way; the ice-blocks sometimes +got entangled in the paddles, and they were so hard that all the +strength of the machine was not sufficient to break them; it was then +necessary to back the engine and send men to clear the screws with +their handspikes. All this delayed the brig; it lasted thirteen days. +The _Forward_ dragged herself painfully along Penny Strait; the crew +grumbled, but obeyed: the men saw now that it was impossible to go +back. Keeping north was less dangerous than retreating south. They +were obliged to think about wintering. The sailors talked together +about their present position, and one day they mentioned it to Richard +Shandon, who, they knew, was on their side. The second officer forgot +his duty as an officer, and allowed them to discuss the authority +of the captain before him. + +"You say, then, Mr. Shandon, that we can't go back now?" said Gripper. + +"No, it's too late now," answered Shandon. + +"Then we must think about wintering," said another sailor. + +"It's the only thing we can do. They wouldn't believe me." + +"Another time," said Pen, who had been released, "we shall believe +you." + +"But as I am not the master----" replied Shandon. + +"Who says you mayn't be?" answered Pen. "John Hatteras may go as far +as he likes, but we aren't obliged to follow him." + +"You all know what became of the crew that did follow him in his first +cruise to Baffin's Sea?" said Gripper. + +"And the cruise of the _Farewell_ under him that got lost in the +Spitzbergen seas!" said Clifton. + +"He was the only man that came back," continued Gripper. + +"He and his dog," answered Clifton. + +"We won't die for his pleasure," added Pen. + +"Nor lose the bounty we've been at so much trouble to earn," cried +Clifton. "When we've passed the 78th degree--and we aren't far off +it, I know--that will make just the 375 pounds each." + +"But," answered Gripper, "shan't we lose it if we go back without +the captain?" + +"Not if we prove that we were obliged to," answered Clifton. + +"But it's the captain----" + +"You never mind, Gripper," answered Pen; "we'll have a captain and +a good one--that Mr. Shandon knows. When one commander goes mad, folks +have done with him, and they take another; don't they, Mr. Shandon?" + +Shandon answered evasively that they could reckon upon him, but that +they must wait to see what turned up. Difficulties were getting thick +round Hatteras, but he was as firm, calm, energetic, and confident +as ever. After all, he had done in five months what other navigators +had taken two or three years to do! He should be obliged to winter +now, but there was nothing to frighten brave sailors in that. Sir +John Ross and McClure had passed three successive winters in the +Arctic regions. What they had done he could do too! + +"If I had only been able to get up Smith Strait at the north of Baffin's +Sea, I should be at the Pole by now!" he said to the doctor regretfully. + +"Never mind, captain!" answered the doctor, "we shall get at it by +the 99th meridian instead of by the 75th; if all roads lead to Rome, +it's more certain still that all meridians lead to the Pole." + +On the 31st of August the thermometer marked 13 degrees. The end of +the navigable season was approaching; the _Forward_ left Exmouth +Island to the starboard, and three days after passed Table Island +in the middle of Belcher Channel. At an earlier period it would perhaps +have been possible to regain Baffin's Sea by this channel, but it +was not to be dreamt of then; this arm of the sea was entirely +barricaded by ice; ice-fields extended as far as the eye could reach, +and would do so for eight months longer. Happily they could still +gain a few minutes further north on the condition of breaking up the +ice with huge clubs and petards. Now the temperature was so low, any +wind, even a contrary one, was welcome, for in a calm the sea froze +in a single night. The _Forward_ could not winter in her present +situation, exposed to winds, icebergs, and the drift from the channel; +a shelter was the first thing to find; Hatteras hoped to gain the +coast of New Cornwall, and to find above Albert Point a bay of refuge +sufficiently sheltered. He therefore pursued his course northward +with perseverance. But on the 8th an impenetrable ice-bank lay in +front of him, and the temperature was at 10 degrees. Hatteras did +all he could to force a passage, continually risking his ship and +getting out of danger by force of skill. He could be accused of +imprudence, want of reflection, folly, blindness, but he was a good +sailor, and one of the best! The situation of the _Forward_ became +really dangerous; the sea closed up behind her, and in a few hours +the ice got so hard that the men could run along it and tow the ship +in all security. + +Hatteras found he could not get round the obstacle, so he resolved +to attack it in front; he used his strongest blasting cylinders of +eight to ten pounds of powder; they began by making a hole in the +thick of the ice, and filled it with snow, taking care to place the +cylinder in a horizontal position, so that a greater portion of the +ice might be submitted to the explosion; lastly, they lighted the +wick, which was protected by a gutta-percha tube. They worked at the +blasting, as they could not saw, for the saws stuck immediately in +the ice. Hatteras hoped to pass the next day. But during the night +a violent wind raged, and the sea rose under her crust of ice as if +shaken by some submarine commotion, and the terrified voice of the +pilot was heard crying: + +"Look out aft!" + +Hatteras turned to the direction indicated, and what he saw by the +dim twilight was frightful. A high iceberg, driven back north, was +rushing on to the ship with the rapidity of an avalanche. + +"All hands on deck!" cried the captain. + +The rolling mountain was hardly half a mile off; the blocks of ice +were driven about like so many huge grains of sand; the tempest raged +with fury. + +"There, Mr. Clawbonny," said Johnson to the doctor, "we are in +something like danger now." + +"Yes," answered the doctor tranquilly, "it looks frightful enough." + +"It's an assault we shall have to repulse," replied the boatswain. + +"It looks like a troop of antediluvian animals, those that were +supposed to inhabit the Pole. They are trying which shall get here +first!" + +"Well," added Johnson, "I hope we shan't get one of their spikes into +us!" + +"It's a siege--let's run to the ramparts!" + +And they made haste aft, where the crew, armed with poles, bars of +iron, and handspikes, were getting ready to repulse the formidable +enemy. The avalanche came nearer, and got bigger by the addition of +the blocks of ice which it caught in its passage; Hatteras gave orders +to fire the cannon in the bow to break the threatening line. But it +arrived and rushed on to the brig; a great crackling noise was heard, +and as it struck on the brig's starboard a part of her barricading +was broken. Hatteras gave his men orders to keep steady and prepare +for the ice. It came along in blocks; some of them weighing several +hundredweight came over the ship's side; the smaller ones, thrown +up as high as the topsails, fell in little spikes, breaking the shrouds +and cutting the rigging. The ship was boarded by these innumerable +enemies, which in a block would have crushed a hundred ships like +the _Forward_. Some of the sailors were badly wounded whilst trying +to keep off the ice, and Bolton had his left shoulder torn open. The +noise was deafening. Dick barked with rage at this new kind of enemy. +The obscurity of the night came to add to the horror of the situation, +but did not hide the threatening blocks, their white surface reflected +the last gleams of light. Hatteras's orders were heard in the midst +of the crew's strange struggle with the icebergs. The ship giving +way to the tremendous pressure, bent to the larboard, and the +extremity of her mainyard leaned like a buttress against the iceberg +and threatened to break her mast. + +Hatteras saw the danger; it was a terrible moment; the brig threatened +to turn completely over, and the masting might be carried away. An +enormous block, as big as the steamer itself, came up alongside her +hull; it rose higher and higher on the waves; it was already above +the poop; it fell over the _Forward_. All was lost; it was now upright, +higher than the gallant yards, and it shook on its foundation. A cry +of terror escaped the crew. Everyone fled to starboard. But at this +moment the steamer was lifted completely up, and for a little while +she seemed to be suspended in the air, and fell again on to the +ice-blocks; then she rolled over till her planks cracked again. After +a minute, which appeared a century, she found herself again in her +natural element, having been turned over the ice-bank that blocked +her passage by the rising of the sea. + +"She's cleared the ice-bank!" shouted Johnson, who had rushed to the +fore of the brig. + +"Thank God!" answered Hatteras. + +The brig was now in the midst of a pond of ice, which hemmed her in +on every side, and though her keel was in the water, she could not +move; she was immovable, but the ice-field moved for her. + +"We are drifting, captain!" cried Johnson. + +"We must drift," answered Hatteras; "we can't help ourselves." + +When daylight came, it was seen that the brig was drifting rapidly +northward, along with a submarine current. The floating mass carried +the _Forward_ along with it. In case of accident, when the brig might +be thrown on her side, or crushed by the pressure of the ice, Hatteras +had a quantity of provisions brought up on deck, along with materials +for encamping, the clothes and blankets of the crew. Taking example +from Captain McClure under similar circumstances, he caused the brig +to be surrounded by a belt of hammocks, filled with air, so as to +shield her from the thick of the damage; the ice soon accumulated +under a temperature of 7 degrees, and the ship was surrounded by a +wall of ice, above which her masts only were to be seen. They navigated +thus for seven days; Point Albert, the western extremity of New +Cornwall, was sighted on the 10th of September, but soon disappeared; +from thence the ice-field drifted east. Where would it take them to? +Where should they stop? Who could tell? The crew waited, and the men +folded their arms. At last, on the 15th of September, about three +o'clock in the afternoon, the ice-field, stopped, probably, by +collision with another field, gave a violent shake to the brig, and +stood still. Hatteras found himself out of sight of land in latitude +78 degrees 15 minutes and longitude 95 degrees 35 minutes in the midst +of the unknown sea, where geographers have placed the Frozen Pole. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +PREPARATIONS FOR WINTERING + + +The southern hemisphere is colder in parallel latitudes than the +northern hemisphere; but the temperature of the new continent is still +15 degrees below that of the other parts of the world; and in America +the countries known under the name of the Frozen Pole are the most +formidable. The average temperature of the year is 2 degrees below +zero. Scientific men, and Dr. Clawbonny amongst them, explain the +fact in the following way. According to them, the prevailing winds +of the northern regions of America blow from the south-west; they +come from the Pacific Ocean with an equal and bearable temperature; +but in order to reach the Arctic Seas they have to cross the immense +American territory, covered with snow, they get cold by contact with +it, and then cover the hyperborean regions with their frigid violence. +Hatteras found himself at the Frozen Pole beyond the countries seen +by his predecessors; he, therefore, expected a terrible winter on +a ship lost in the midst of the ice with a crew nearly in revolt. +He resolved to face these dangers with his accustomed energy. He began +by taking, with the help of Johnson's experience, all the measures +necessary for wintering. According to his calculations he had been +dragged two hundred and fifty miles beyond New Cornwall, the last +country discovered; he was clasped in an ice-field as securely as +in a bed of granite, and no power on earth could extricate him. + +There no longer existed a drop of water in the vast seas over which +the Arctic winter reigned. Ice-fields extended as far as the eye could +reach, bristling with icebergs, and the _Forward_ was sheltered by +three of the highest on three points of the compass; the south-east +wind alone could reach her. If instead of icebergs there had been +rocks, verdure instead of snow, and the sea in its liquid state again, +the brig would have been safely anchored in a pretty bay sheltered +from the worst winds. But in such a latitude it was a miserable state +of things. They were obliged to fasten the brig by means of her anchors, +notwithstanding her immovability; they were obliged to prepare for +the submarine currents and the breaking up of the ice. When Johnson +heard where they were, he took the greatest precautions in getting +everything ready for wintering. + +"It's the captain's usual luck," said he to the doctor; "we've got +nipped in the most disagreeable point of the whole glove! Never mind; +we'll get out of it!" + +As to the doctor, he was delighted at the situation. He would not +have changed it for any other! A winter at the Frozen Pole seemed +to him desirable. The crew were set to work at the sails, which were +not taken down, and put into the hold, as the first people who wintered +in these regions had thought prudent; they were folded up in their +cases, and the ice soon made them an impervious envelope. The crow's +nest, too, remained in its place, serving as a nautical observatory; +the rigging alone was taken away. It became necessary to cut away +the part of the field that surrounded the brig, which began to suffer +from the pressure. It was a long and painful work. In a few days the +keel was cleared, and on examination was found to have suffered little, +thanks to the solidity of its construction, only its copper plating +was almost all torn off. When the ship was once liberated she rose +at least nine inches; the crew then bevelled the ice in the shape +of the keel, and the field formed again under the brig, and offered +sufficient opposition to pressure from without. The doctor helped +in all this work; he used the ice-knife skilfully; he incited the +sailors by his happy disposition. He instructed himself and others, +and was delighted to find the ice under the ship. + +"It's a very good precaution!" said he. + +"We couldn't do without it, Mr. Clawbonny," said Johnson. "Now we +can raise a snow-wall as high as the gunwale, and if we like we can +make it ten feet thick, for we've plenty of materials." + +"That's an excellent idea," answered the doctor. "Snow is a bad +conductor of heat; it reflects it instead of absorbing it, and the +heat of the interior does not escape." + +"That's true," said Johnson. "We shall raise a fortification against +the cold, and against animals too, if they take it into their heads +to pay us a visit; when the work is done it will answer, I can tell +you. We shall make two flights of steps in the snow, one from the +ship and the other from outside; when once we've cut out the steps +we shall pour water over them, and it will make them as hard as rock. +We shall have a royal staircase." + +"It's a good thing that cold makes ice and snow, and so gives us the +means of protecting ourselves against it. I don't know what we should +do if it did not." + +A roofing of tarred cloth was spread over the deck and descended to +the sides of the brig. It was thus sheltered from all outside +impression, and made a capital promenade; it was covered with two +feet and a-half of snow, which was beaten down till it became very +hard, and above that they put a layer of sand, completely macadamising +it. + +"With a few trees I should imagine myself in Hyde Park," said the +doctor, "or in one of the hanging gardens of Babylon." + +They made a hole at a short distance from the brig; it was round, +like a well; they broke the ice every morning. This well was useful +in case of fire or for the frequent baths ordered to keep the crew +in health. In order to spare their fuel, they drew the water from +a greater depth by means of an apparatus invented by a Frenchman, +Francois Arago. Generally, when a ship is wintering, all the objects +which encumber her are placed in magazines on the coast, but it was +impossible to do this in the midst of an ice-field. Every precaution +was taken against cold and damp; men have been known to resist the +cold and succumb to damp; therefore both had to be guarded against. +The _Forward_ had been built expressly for these regions, and the +common room was wisely arranged. They had made war on the corners, +where damp takes refuge at first. If it had been quite circular it +would have done better, but warmed by a vast stove and well ventilated, +it was very comfortable; the walls were lined with buckskins and not +with woollen materials, for wool condenses the vapours and +impregnates the atmosphere with damp. The partitions were taken down +in the poop, and the officers had a large comfortable room, warmed +by a stove. Both this room and that of the crew had a sort of antechamber, +which prevented all direct communication with the exterior, and +prevented the heat going out; it also made the crew pass more gradually +from one temperature to another. They left their snow-covered +garments in these antechambers, and scraped their feet on scrapers +put there on purpose to prevent any unhealthy element getting in. + +Canvas hose let in the air necessary to make the stoves draw; other +hose served for escape-pipes for the steam. Two condensers were fixed +in the two rooms; they gathered the vapour instead of letting it escape, +and were emptied twice a week; sometimes they contained several +bushels of ice. By means of the air-pipes the fires could be easily +regulated, and it was found that very little fuel was necessary to +keep up a temperature of 50 degrees in the rooms. But Hatteras saw +with grief that he had only enough coal left for two months' firing. +A drying-room was prepared for the garments that were obliged to be +washed, as they could not be hung in the air or they would have been +frozen and spoiled. The delicate parts of the machine were taken to +pieces carefully, and the room where they were placed was closed up +hermetically. The rules for life on board were drawn up by Hatteras +and hung up in the common room. The men got up at six in the morning, +and their hammocks were exposed to the air three times a week; the +floors of the two rooms were rubbed with warm sand every morning; +boiling tea was served out at every meal, and the food varied as much +as possible, according to the different days of the week; it consisted +of bread, flour, beef suet and raisins for puddings, sugar, cocoa, +tea, rice, lemon-juice, preserved meat, salted beef and pork, pickled +cabbage and other vegetables; the kitchen was outside the common rooms, +and the men were thus deprived of its heat, but cooking is a constant +source of evaporation and humidity. + +The health of men depends a great deal on the food they eat; under +these high latitudes it is of great importance to consume as much +animal food as possible. The doctor presided at the drawing up of +the bill of fare. + +"We must take example from the Esquimaux," said he; "they have +received their lessons from nature, and are our teachers here; +although Arabians and Africans can live on a few dates and a handful +of rice, it is very different here, where we must eat a great deal +and often. The Esquimaux absorb as much as ten and fifteen pounds +of oil in a day. If you do not like oil, you must have recourse to +things rich in sugar and fat. In a word, you want carbon in the stove +inside you as much as the stove there wants coal." + +Every man was forced to take a bath in the half-frozen water condensed +from the fire. The doctor set the example; he did it at first as we +do all disagreeable things that we feel obliged to do, but he soon +began to take extreme pleasure in it. When the men had to go out either +to hunt or work they had to take great care not to get frost-bitten; +and if by accident it happened, they made haste to rub the part +attacked with snow to bring back the circulation of the blood. Besides +being carefully clothed in wool from head to foot, the men wore hoods +of buckskin and sealskin trousers, through which it is impossible +for the wind to penetrate. All these preparations took about three +weeks, and the 10th of October came round without anything remarkable +happening. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +AN OLD FOX + + +That day the thermometer went down to 3 degrees below zero. The weather +was pretty calm, and the cold without breeze was bearable. Hatteras +profited by the clearness of the atmosphere to reconnoitre the +surrounding plains; he climbed one of the highest icebergs to the +north, and could see nothing, as far as his telescope would let him, +but ice-fields and icebergs. No land anywhere, but the image of chaos +in its saddest aspect. He came back on board trying to calculate the +probable duration of his captivity. The hunters, and amongst them +the doctor, James Wall, Simpson, Johnson, and Bell, did not fail to +supply the ship with fresh meat. Birds had disappeared; they were +gone to less rigorous southern climates. The ptarmigans, a sort of +partridge, alone stay the winter in these latitudes; they are easily +killed, and their great number promised an abundant supply of game. +There were plenty of hares, foxes, wolves, ermine, and bears; there +were enough for any sportsman, English, French, or Norwegian; but +they were difficult to get at, and difficult to distinguish on the +white plains from the whiteness of their fur; when the intense cold +comes their fur changes colour, and white is their winter colour. +The doctor found that this change of fur is not caused by the change +of temperature, for it takes place in the month of October, and is +simply a precaution of Providence to guard them from the rigour of +a boreal winter. + +Seals were abundant in all their varieties, and were particularly +sought after by the hunters for the sake, not only of their skins, +but their fat, which is very warming; besides which, the liver of +these animals makes excellent fuel: hundreds of them were to be seen, +and two or three miles to the north of the brig the ice was literally +perforated all over with the holes these enormous amphibians make; +only they smelt the hunters from afar, and many were wounded that +escaped by plunging under the ice. However, on the 19th, Simpson +managed to catch one at about a hundred yards from the ship; he had +taken the precaution to block up its hole of refuge so that it was +at the mercy of the hunters. It took several bullets to kill the animal, +which measured nine feet in length; its bulldog head, the sixteen +teeth in its jaws, its large pectoral fins in the shape of pinions, +and its little tail, furnished with another pair of fins, made it +a good specimen of the family of dog-hound fish. The doctor, wishing +to preserve the head for his natural history collection, and its skin +for his future use, had them prepared by a rapid and inexpensive +process. He plunged the body of the animal into the hole in the ice, +and thousands of little prawns soon ate off all the flesh; in half +a day the work was accomplished, and the most skilful of the honourable +corporation of Liverpool tanners could not have succeeded better. + +As soon as the sun had passed the autumnal equinox--that is to say, +on the 23rd of September--winter may be said to begin in the Arctic +regions. The sun disappears entirely on the 23rd of October, lighting +up with its oblique rays the summits of the frozen mountains. The +doctor wished him a traveller's farewell; he was not going to see +him again till February. But obscurity is not complete during this +long absence of the sun; the moon comes each month to take its place +as well as she can; starlight is very bright, and there is besides +frequent aurora borealis, and a refraction peculiar to the snowy +horizons; besides, the sun at the very moment of his greatest austral +declination, the 21st of December, is still only 13 degrees from the +Polar horizon, so that there is twilight for a few hours; only fogs, +mists, and snowstorms often plunge these regions into complete +obscurity. However, at this epoch the weather was pretty favourable; +the partridges and the hares were the only animals that had a right +to complain, for the sportsmen did not give them a moment's peace; +they set several fox-traps, but the suspicious animals did not let +themselves be caught so easily; they would often come and eat the +snare by scratching out the snow from under the trap; the doctor wished +them at the devil, as he could not get them himself. On the 25th of +October the thermometer marked more than 4 degrees below zero. A +violent tempest set in; the air was thick with snow, which prevented +a ray of light reaching the _Forward_. During several hours they were +very uneasy about Bell and Simpson, who had gone too far whilst +hunting; they did not reach the ship till the next day, after having +lain for a whole day in their buckskins, whilst the tempest swept +the air about them, and buried them under five feet of snow. They +were nearly frozen, and the doctor had some trouble to restore their +circulation. + +The tempest lasted a week without interruption. It was impossible +to stir out. In a single day the temperature varied fifteen and twenty +degrees. During their forced idleness each one lived to himself; some +slept, others smoked, or talked in whispers, stopping when they saw +the doctor or Johnson approach; there was no moral union between the +men; they only met for evening prayers, and on Sunday for Divine +service. Clifton had counted that once the 78th parallel cleared, +his share in the bounty would amount to 375 pounds; he thought that +enough, and his ambition did not go beyond. The others were of the +same opinion, and only thought of enjoying the fortune acquired at +such a price. Hatteras was hardly ever seen. He neither took part +in the hunting nor other excursions. He felt no interest in the +meteorological phenomena which excited the doctor's admiration. He +lived for one idea; it was comprehended in three words--the North +Pole. He was constantly looking forward to the moment when the +_Forward_, once more free, would begin her adventurous voyage again. + +In short, it was a melancholy life; the brig, made for movement, seemed +quite out of place as a stationary dwelling; her original form could +not be distinguished amidst the ice and snow that covered her, and +she was anything but a lively spectacle. During these unoccupied hours +the doctor put his travelling notes in order--the notes from which +this history is taken; he was never idle, and the evenness of his +humour remained the same, only he was very glad to see the tempest +clearing off so as to allow him to set off hunting once more. On the +3rd of November, at six in the morning, with a temperature at 5 degrees +below zero, he started, accompanied by Johnson and Bell; the plains +of ice were level; the snow, which covered the ground thickly, +solidified by the frost, made the ground good for walking; a dry and +keen cold lightened the atmosphere; the moon shone in all her +splendour, and threw an astonishing light on all the asperities of +the field; their footsteps left marks on the snow, and the moon lighted +up their edges, so that they looked like a luminous track behind the +hunters whose shadows fell on the ice with astonishing outlines. + +The doctor had taken his friend Dick with him; he preferred him to +the Greenland dogs to run down the game for a good reason; the latter +do not seem to have the scent of their brethren of more temperate +climates. Dick ran on and often pointed out the track of a bear, but +in spite of his skill the hunters had not even killed a hare after +two hours' walking. + +"Do you think the game has gone south too?" asked the doctor, halting +at the foot of a hummock. + +"It looks like it, Mr. Clawbonny," answered the carpenter. + +"I don't think so," answered Johnson; "hares, foxes, and bears are +accustomed to the climate; I believe the late tempest is the cause +of their disappearance; but with the south winds they'll soon come +back. Ah! if you said reindeers or musk-oxen it would be a different +thing." + +"But it appears those, too, are found in troops in Melville Island," +replied the doctor; "that is much further south, I grant you; when +Parry wintered there he always had as much game as he wanted." + +"We are not so well off," said Bell; "if we could only get plenty +of bear's flesh I should not complain." + +"Bears are very difficult to get at," answered the doctor; "it seems +to me they want civilising." + +"Bell talks about the bear's flesh, but we want its fat more than +its flesh or its skin," said Johnson. + +"You are right, Johnson; you are always thinking about the fuel." + +"How can I help thinking about it? I know if we are ever so careful +of it we've only enough left for three weeks." + +"Yes," replied the doctor, "that is our greatest danger, for we are +only at the beginning of November, and February is the coldest month +of the year in the Frozen Zone; however, if we can't get bear's grease +we can rely on that of the seals." + +"Not for long, Mr. Clawbonny," answered Johnson. "They'll soon desert +us too; either through cold or fright, they'll soon leave off coming +on to the surface of the ice." + +"Then we must get at the bears," said the doctor; "they are the most +useful animals in these countries: they furnish food, clothes, light, +and fuel. Do you hear, Dick?" continued he, caressing his friend; +"we must have a bear, so look out." + +Dick, who was smelling the ice as the doctor spoke, started off all +at once, quick as an arrow. He barked loudly, and, notwithstanding +his distance, the sportsmen heard him distinctly. The extreme +distance to which sound is carried in these low temperatures is +astonishing; it is only equalled by the brilliancy of the +constellations in the boreal sky. + +The sportsmen, guided by Dick's barking, rushed on his traces; they +had to run about a mile, and arrived quite out of breath, for the +lungs are rapidly suffocated in such an atmosphere. Dick was pointing +at about fifty paces from an enormous mass at the top of a mound of +ice. + +"We've got him," said the doctor, taking aim. + +"And a fine one," added Bell, imitating the doctor. + +"It's a queer bear," said Johnson, waiting to fire after his two +companions. + +Dick barked furiously. Bell advanced to within twenty feet and fired, +but the animal did not seem to be touched. Johnson advanced in his +turn, and after taking a careful aim, pulled the trigger. + +"What," cried the doctor, "not touched yet? Why, it's that cursed +refraction. The bear is at least a thousand paces off." + +The three sportsmen ran rapidly towards the animal, whom the firing +had not disturbed; he seemed to be enormous, and without calculating +the dangers of the attack, they began to rejoice in their conquest. +Arrived within reasonable distance they fired again; the bear, +mortally wounded, gave a great jump and fell at the foot of the mound. +Dick threw himself upon it. + +"That bear wasn't difficult to kill," said the doctor. + +"Only three shots," added Bell in a tone of disdain, "and he's down." + +"It's very singular," said Johnson. + +"Unless we arrived at the very moment when it was dying of old age," +said the doctor, laughing. + +So speaking, the sportsmen reached the foot of the mound, and, to +their great stupefaction, they found Dick with his fangs in the body +of a white fox. + +"Well, I never!" cried Bell. + +"We kill a bear and a fox falls," added the doctor. + +Johnson did not know what to say. + +"Why!" said the doctor, with a roar of laughter, "it's the refraction +again!" + +"What do you mean, Mr. Clawbonny?" asked the carpenter. + +"Why, it deceived us about the size as it did about the distance. +It made us see a bear in a fox's skin." + +"Well," answered Johnson, "now we've got him, we'll eat him." + +Johnson was going to lift the fox on to his shoulders, when he cried +like Bell--"Well, I never!" + +"What is it?" asked the doctor. + +"Look, Mr. Clawbonny--look what the animal's got on its neck; it's +a collar, sure enough." + +"A collar?" echoed the doctor, leaning over the animal. A half +worn-out collar encircled the fox's neck, and the doctor thought he +saw something engraved on it; he took it off and examined it. + +"That bear is more than twelve years old, my friends," said the doctor; +"it's one of James Ross's foxes, and the collar has been round its +neck ever since 1848." + +"Is it possible?" cried Bell. + +"There isn't a doubt about it, and I'm sorry we've shot the poor animal. +During his wintering James Ross took a lot of white foxes in his traps, +and had brass collars put round their necks on which were engraved +the whereabouts of his ships, the _Enterprise_ and the _Investigator_, +and the store magazines. He hoped one of them might fall into the +hands of some of the men belonging to Franklin's expedition. The poor +animal might have saved the lives of the ship's crews, and it has +fallen under our balls." + +"Well, we won't eat him," said Johnson, "especially as he's twelve +years old. Anyway, we'll keep his skin for curiosity sake." So saying +he lifted the animal on his shoulders, and they made their way to +the ship, guided by the stars; still their expedition was not quite +fruitless: they bagged several brace of ptarmigans. An hour before +they reached the _Forward_, a phenomenon occurred which excited the +astonishment of the doctor; it was a very rain of shooting stars; +they could be counted by thousands, like rockets in a display of +fireworks. They paled the light of the moon, and the admirable +spectacle lasted several hours. A like meteor was observed at +Greenland by the Moravian brothers in 1799. The doctor passed the +whole night watching it, till it ceased, at seven in the morning, +amidst the profound silence of the atmosphere. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE LAST LUMP OF COAL + + +It seemed certain that no bears were to be had; several seals were +killed during the days of the 4th, 5th, and 6th of November; then +the wind changed, and the thermometer went up several degrees; but +the snow-drifts began again with great violence. It became impossible +to leave the vessel, and the greatest precaution was needed to keep +out the damp. At the end of the week there were several bushels of +ice in the condensers. The weather changed again on the 15th of +November, and the thermometer, under the influence of certain +atmospherical conditions, went down to 24 degrees below zero. It was +the lowest temperature observed up till then. This cold would have +been bearable in a quiet atmosphere, but there was a strong wind which +seemed to fill the atmosphere with sharp blades. The doctor was vexed +at being kept prisoner, for the ground was covered with snow, made +hard by the wind, and was easy to walk upon; he wanted to attempt +some long excursion. + +It is very difficult to work when it is so cold, because of the +shortness of breath it causes. A man can only do a quarter of his +accustomed work; iron implements become impossible to touch; if one +is taken up without precaution, it causes a pain as bad as a burn, +and pieces of skin are left on it. The crew, confined to the ship, +were obliged to walk for two hours on the covered deck, where they +were allowed to smoke, which was not allowed in the common room. There, +directly the fire got low, the ice invaded the walls and the joins +in the flooring; every bolt, nail, or metal plate became immediately +covered with a layer of ice. The doctor was amazed at the instantaneity +of the phenomenon. The breath of the men condensed in the air, and +passing quickly from a fluid to a solid state, fell round them in +snow. At a few feet only from the stoves the cold was intense, and +the men stood near the fire in a compact group. The doctor advised +them to accustom their skin to the temperature, which would certainly +get worse, and he himself set the example; but most of them were too +idle or too benumbed to follow his advice, and preferred remaining +in the unhealthy heat. However, according to the doctor, there was +no danger in the abrupt changes of temperature in going from the warm +room into the cold. It is only dangerous for people in perspiration; +but the doctor's lessons were thrown away on the greater part of the +crew. + +As to Hatteras, he did not seem to feel the influence of the +temperature. He walked silently about at his ordinary pace. Had the +cold no empire over his strong constitution, or did he possess in +a supreme degree the natural heat he wished his sailors to have? Was +he so armed in his one idea as to be insensible to exterior +impressions? His men were profoundly astonished at seeing him facing +the 24 degrees below zero; he left the ship for hours, and came back +without his face betraying the slightest mark of cold. + +"He is a strange man," said the doctor to Johnson; "he even astonishes +me. He is one of the most powerful natures I have ever studied in +my life." + +"The fact is," answered Johnson, "that he comes and goes in the open +air without clothing himself more warmly than in the month of June." + +"Oh! the question of clothes is not of much consequence," replied +the doctor; "it is of no use clothing people who do not produce heat +naturally. It is the same as if we tried to warm a piece of ice by +wrapping it up in a blanket! Hatteras does not want that; he is +constituted so, and I should not be surprised if being by his side +were as good as being beside a stove." + +Johnson had the job of clearing the water-hole the next day, and +remarked that the ice was more than ten feet thick. The doctor could +observe magnificent aurora borealis almost every night; from four +till eight p.m. the sky became slightly coloured in the north; then +this colouring took the regular form of a pale yellow border, whose +extremities seemed to buttress on to the ice-field. Little by little +the brilliant zone rose in the sky, following the magnetic meridian, +and appeared striated with blackish bands; jets of some luminous +matter, augmenting and diminishing, shot out lengthways; the meteor, +arrived at its zenith, was often composed of several bows, bathed +in floods of red, yellow, or green light. It was a dazzling spectacle. +Soon the different curves all joined in one point, and formed boreal +crowns of a heavenly richness. At last the bows joined, the splendid +aurora faded, the intense rays melted into pale, vague, undetermined +shades, and the marvellous phenomenon, feeble, and almost +extinguished, fainted insensibly into the dark southern clouds. +Nothing can equal the wonders of such a spectacle under the high +latitudes less than eight degrees from the Pole; the aurora borealis +perceived in temperate regions gives no idea of them--not even a +feeble one; it seems as if Providence wished to reserve its most +astonishing marvels for these climates. + +During the duration of the moon several images of her are seen in +the sky, increasing her brilliancy; often simple lunar halos surround +her, and she shines from the centre of her luminous circle with a +splendid intensity. + +On the 26th of November there was a high tide, and the water escaped +with violence from the water-hole; the thick layer of ice was shaken +by the rising of the sea, and sinister crackings announced the +submarine struggle; happily the ship kept firm in her bed, and her +chains only were disturbed. Hatteras had had them fastened in +anticipation of the event. The following days were still colder; there +was a penetrating fog, and the wind scattered the piled-up snow; it +became difficult to see whether the whirlwinds began in the air or +on the ice-fields; confusion reigned. + +The crew were occupied in different works on board, the principal +of which consisted in preparing the grease and oil produced by the +seals; they had become blocks of ice, which had to be broken with +axes into little bits, and ten barrels were thus preserved. + +All sorts of vessels were useless, and the liquid they contained would +only have broken them when the temperature changed. On the 28th the +thermometer went down to 32 degrees below zero; there was only coal +enough left for ten days, and everyone looked forward to its +disappearance with dread. Hatteras had the poop stove put out for +economy's sake, and from that time Shandon, the doctor, and he stayed +in the common room. Hatteras was thus brought into closer contact +with the men, who threw ferocious and stupefied looks at him. He heard +their reproaches, their recriminations, and even their threats, and +he could not punish them. But he seemed to be deaf to everything. +He did not claim the place nearest the fire, but stopped in a corner, +his arms folded, never speaking. + +In spite of the doctor's recommendations, Pen and his friends refused +to take the least exercise; they passed whole days leaning against +the stove or lying under the blankets of their hammocks. Their health +soon began to suffer; they could not bear up against the fatal +influence of the climate, and the terrible scurvy made its appearance +on board. The doctor had, however, begun, some time ago, to distribute +limejuice and lime pastilles every morning; but these preservatives, +generally so efficacious, had very little effect on the malady, which +soon presented the most horrible symptoms. The sight of the poor +fellows, whose nerves and muscles contracted with pain, was pitiable. +Their legs swelled in an extraordinary fashion, and were covered with +large blackish blue spots; their bloody gums and ulcerated lips only +gave passage to inarticulate sounds; the vitiated blood no longer +went to the extremities. + +Clifton was the first attacked; then Gripper, Brunton, and Strong +took to their hammocks. Those that the malady still spared could not +lose sight of their sufferings; they were obliged to stay there, and +it was soon transformed into a hospital, for out of eighteen sailors +of the _Forward_, thirteen were attacked in a few days. Pen seemed +destined to escape contagion; his vigorous nature preserved him from +it. Shandon felt the first symptoms, but they did not go further, +and exercise kept the two in pretty good health. + +The doctor nursed the invalids with the greatest care, and it made +him miserable to see the sufferings he could not alleviate. He did +all he could to keep his companions in good spirits; he talked to +them, read to them, and told them tales, which his astonishing memory +made it easy for him to do. He was often interrupted by the complaints +and groans of the invalids, and he stopped his talk to become once +more the attentive and devoted doctor. His health kept up well; he +did not get thinner, and he used to say that it was a good thing for +him that he was dressed like a seal or a whale, who, thanks to its +thick layer of fat, easily supports the Arctic atmosphere. Hatteras +felt nothing, either physically or morally. Even the sufferings of +his crew did not seem to touch him. Perhaps it was because he would +not let his face betray his emotions; but an attentive observer would +have remarked that a man's heart beat beneath the iron envelope. The +doctor analysed him, studied him, but did not succeed in classifying +so strange an organisation, a temperament so supernatural. The +thermometer lowered again; the walk on deck was deserted; the +Esquimaux dogs alone frequented it, howling lamentably. + +There was always one man on guard near the stove to keep up the fire; +it was important not to let it go out. As soon as the fire got lower, +the cold glided into the room; ice covered the walls, and the humidity, +rapidly condensed, fell in snow on the unfortunate inhabitants of +the brig. It was in the midst of these unutterable tortures that the +8th of December was reached. That morning the doctor went as usual +to consult the exterior thermometer. He found the mercury completely +frozen. + +"Forty-four degrees below zero!" he cried with terror. And that day +they threw the last lump of coal into the stove. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +CHRISTMAS + + +There was then a movement of despair. The thought of death, and death +from cold, appeared in all its horror; the last piece of coal burnt +away as quickly as the rest, and the temperature of the room lowered +sensibly. But Johnson went to fetch some lumps of the new fuel which +the marine animals had furnished him with, and he stuffed it into +the stove; he added some oakum, impregnated with frozen oil, and soon +obtained enough heat. The smell of the grease was abominable, but +how could they get rid of it? They were obliged to get used to it. +Johnson agreed that his expedient left much to wish for, and would +have no success in a Liverpool house. + +"However," added he, "the smell may have one good result." + +"What's that?" asked the carpenter. + +"It will attract the bears; they are very fond of the stink." + +"And what do we want with bears?" added Bell. + +"You know, Bell, we can't depend on the seals; they've disappeared +for a good while to come; if the bears don't come to be turned into +fuel too, I don't know what will become of us." + +"There would be only one thing left; but I don't see how----" + +"The captain would never consent; but perhaps we shall be obliged." + +Johnson shook his head sadly, and fell into a silent reverie, which +Bell did not interrupt. He knew that their stock of grease would not +last more than a week with the strictest economy. + +The boatswain was not mistaken. Several bears, attracted by the fetid +exhalations, were signalled to the windward; the healthy men gave +chase to them, but they are extraordinarily quick, and did not allow +themselves to be approached, and the most skilful shots could not +touch them. The ship's crew was seriously menaced with death from +cold; it was impossible to resist such a temperature more than +forty-eight hours, and every one feared the end of the fuel. The +dreaded moment arrived at three o'clock p.m. on the 20th of December. +The fire went out; the sailors looked at each other with haggard eyes. +Hatteras remained immovable in his corner. The doctor as usual marched +up and down in agitation; he was at his wits' end. The temperature +of the room fell suddenly to 7 degrees below zero. But if the doctor +did not know what to do, some of the others did. Shandon, calm and +resolute, and Pen with anger in his eyes, and two or three of their +comrades, who could still walk, went up to Hatteras. + +"Captain!" said Shandon. + +Hatteras, absorbed in thought, did not hear him. + +"Captain!" repeated Shandon, touching his hand. + +Hatteras drew himself up. + +"What is it?" he said. + +"Our fire is out!" + +"What then?" answered Hatteras. + +"If you mean to kill us with cold, you had better say so," said Shandon +ironically. + +"I mean," said Hatteras gravely, "to require every man to do his duty +to the end." + +"There's something higher than duty, captain--there's the right to +one's own preservation. I repeat that the fire is out, and if it is +not relighted, not one of us will be alive in two days." + +"I have no fuel," answered Hatteras, with a hollow voice. + +"Very well," cried Pen violently, "if you have no fuel, we must take +it where we can!" + +Hatteras grew pale with anger. + +"Where?" said he. + +"On board," answered the sailor insolently. + +"On board!" echoed the captain, his fists closed, his eyes sparkling. + +He had seized an axe, and he now raised it over Pen's head. + +"Wretch!" he cried. + +The doctor rushed between the captain and Pen; the axe fell to the +ground, its sharp edge sinking into the flooring. Johnson, Bell, and +Simpson were grouped round Hatteras, and appeared determined to give +him their support. But lamentable and plaintive voices came from the +beds. + +"Some fire! Give us some fire!" cried the poor fellows. + +Hatteras made an effort, and said calmly: + +"If we destroy the brig, how shall we get back to England?" + +"We might burn some of the rigging and the gunwale, sir," said Johnson. + +"Besides, we should still have the boats left," answered Shandon; +"and we could build a smaller vessel with the remains of the old one!" + +"Never!" answered Hatteras. + +"But----" began several sailors, raising their voices. + +"We have a great quantity of spirits of wine," answered Hatteras; +"burn that to the last drop." + +"Ah, we didn't think of that!" said Johnson, with affected +cheerfulness, and by the help of large wicks steeped in spirits he +succeeded in raising the temperature a few degrees. + +During the days that followed this melancholy scene the wind went +round to the south, and the thermometer went up. Some of the men could +leave the vessel during the least damp part of the day; but ophthalmia +and scurvy kept the greater number on board; besides, neither fishing +nor hunting was practicable. But it was only a short respite from +the dreadful cold, and on the 25th, after an unexpected change in +the wind, the mercury again froze; they were then obliged to have +recourse to the spirits of wine thermometer, which never freezes. +The doctor found, to his horror, that it marked 66 degrees below zero; +men had never been able to support such a temperature. The ice spread +itself in long tarnished mirrors on the floor; a thick fog invaded +the common room; the damp fell in thick snow; they could no longer +see one another; the extremities became blue as the heat of the body +left them; a circle of iron seemed to be clasping their heads, and +made them nearly delirious. A still more fearful symptom was that +their tongues could no longer articulate a word. + +From the day they had threatened to burn his ship, Hatteras paced +the deck for hours. He was guarding his treasures; the wood of the +ship was his own flesh, and whoever cut a piece off cut off one of +his limbs. He was armed, and mounted guard, insensible to the cold, +the snow, and the ice, which stiffened his garments and enveloped +him in granite armour. His faithful Dick accompanied him, and seemed +to understand why he was there. + +However, on Christmas Day he went down to the common room. The doctor, +taking advantage of what energy he had left, went straight to him, +and said-- + +"Hatteras, we shall all die if we get no fuel." + +"Never!" said Hatteras, knowing what was coming. + +"We must," said the doctor gently. + +"Never!" repeated Hatteras with more emphasis still. "I will never +consent! They can disobey me if they like!" + +Johnson and Bell took advantage of the half-permission, and rushed +on deck. Hatteras heard the wood crack under the axe. He wept. What +a Christmas Day for Englishmen was that on board the _Forward_! The +thought of the great difference between their position and that of +the happy English families who rejoiced in their roast beef, plum +pudding, and mince pies added another pang to the miseries of the +unfortunate crew. However, the fire put a little hope and confidence +into the men; the boiling of coffee and tea did them good, and the +next week passed less miserably, ending the dreadful year 1860; its +early winter had defeated all Hatteras's plans. + +On the 1st of January, 1861, the doctor made a discovery. It was not +quite so cold, and he had resumed his interrupted studies; he was +reading Sir Edward Belcher's account of his expedition to the Polar +Seas; all at once a passage struck him; he read it again and again. +It was where Sir Edward Belcher relates that after reaching the +extremity of Queen's Channel he had discovered important traces of +the passage and residence of men. "They were," said he, "very superior +habitations to those which might be attributed to the wandering +Esquimaux. The walls had foundations, the floors of the interior had +been covered with a thick layer of fine gravel, and were paved. +Reindeer, seal, and walrus bones were seen in great quantities. _We +found some coal._" At the last words the doctor was struck with an +idea; he carried the book to Hatteras and showed him the passage. + +"They could not have found coal on this deserted coast," said +Hatteras; "it is not possible!" + +"Why should we doubt what Belcher says? He would not have recorded +such a fact unless he had been certain and had seen it with his own +eyes." + +"And what then, doctor?" + +"We aren't a hundred miles from the coast where Belcher saw the coal, +and what is a hundred miles' excursion? Nothing. Longer ones than +that have often been made across the ice." + +"We will go," said Hatteras. + +Johnson was immediately told of their resolution, of which he strongly +approved; he told his companions about it: some were glad, others +indifferent. + +"Coal on these coasts!" said Wall, stretched on his bed of pain. + +"Let them go," answered Shandon mysteriously. + +But before Hatteras began his preparations for the journey, he wished +to be exactly certain of the _Forward's_ position. He was obliged +to be mathematically accurate as to her whereabouts, because of +finding her again. His task was very difficult; he went upon deck +and took at different moments several lunar distances and the meridian +heights of the principal stars. These observations were hard to make, +for the glass and mirrors of the instrument were covered with ice +from Hatteras's breath; he burnt his eyelashes more than once by +touching the brass of the glasses. However, he obtained exact bases +for his calculations, and came down to make them in the room. When +his work was over, he raised his head in astonishment, took his map, +pricked it, and looked at the doctor. + +"What is it?" asked the latter. + +"In what latitude were we at the beginning of our wintering?" + +"We were in latitude 78 degrees 15 minutes, by longitude 95 degrees +35 minutes; exactly at the Frozen Pole." + +"Well," said Hatteras, in a low tone, "our ice-field has been +drifting! We are two degrees farther north and farther west, and three +hundred miles at least from your store of coal!" + +"And those poor fellows don't know," said the doctor. + +"Hush!" said Hatteras, putting his finger on his lips. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE + + +Hatteras would not inform his crew of their situation, for if they +had known that they had been dragged farther north they would very +likely have given themselves up to the madness of despair. The captain +had hidden his own emotions at his discovery. It was his first happy +moment during the long months passed in struggling with the elements. +He was a hundred and fifty miles farther north, scarcely eight degrees +from the Pole! But he hid his delight so profoundly that even the +doctor did not suspect it; he wondered at seeing an unwonted +brilliancy in the captain's eyes; but that was all, and he never once +thought of the reason. + +The _Forward_, by getting nearer the Pole, had got farther away from +the coal repository observed by Sir Edward Belcher; instead of one +hundred, it lay at two hundred and fifty miles farther south. However, +after a short discussion about it between Hatteras and Clawbonny, +the journey was persisted in. If Belcher had written the truth--and +there was no reason for doubting his veracity--they should find things +exactly in the same state as he had left them, for no new expedition +had gone to these extreme continents since 1853. There were few or +no Esquimaux to be met with in that latitude. They could not be +disappointed on the coast of New Cornwall as they had been on Beechey +Island. The low temperature preserves the objects abandoned to its +influence for any length of time. All probabilities were therefore +in favour of this excursion across the ice. It was calculated that +the expedition would take, at the most, forty days, and Johnson's +preparations were made in consequence. + +The sledge was his first care; it was in the Greenland style, +thirty-five inches wide and twenty-four feet long. The Esquimaux +often make them more than fifty feet long. This one was made of long +planks, bent up front and back, and kept bent like a bow by two thick +cords; the form thus given to it gave it increased resistance to +shocks; it ran easily on the ice, but when the snow was soft on the +ground it was put upon a frame; to make it glide more easily it was +rubbed, Esquimaux fashion, with sulphur and snow. Six dogs drew it; +notwithstanding their leanness these animals did not appear to suffer +from the cold; their buckskin harness was in good condition, and they +could draw a weight of two thousand pounds without fatigue. The +materials for encampment consisted of a tent, should the construction +of a snow-house be impossible, a large piece of mackintosh to spread +over the snow, to prevent it melting in contact with the human body, +and lastly, several blankets and buffalo-skins. They took the halkett +boat too. + +The provisions consisted of five cases of pemmican, weighing about +four hundred and fifty pounds; they counted one pound of pemmican +for each man and each dog; there were seven dogs including Dick, and +four men. They also took twelve gallons of spirits of wine--that is +to say, about one hundred fifty pounds weight--a sufficient quantity +of tea and biscuit, a portable kitchen with plenty of wicks, oakum, +powder, ammunition, and two double-barrelled guns. They also used +Captain Parry's invention of indiarubber belts, in which the warmth +of the body and the movement of walking keeps coffee, tea, and water +in a liquid state. Johnson was very careful about the snow-shoes; +they are a sort of wooden patten, fastened on with leather straps; +when the ground was quite hard and frozen they could be replaced by +buckskin moccasins; each traveller had two pairs of both. + +These preparations were important, for any detail omitted might +occasion the loss of an expedition; they took four whole days. Each +day at noon Hatteras took care to set the position of his ship; they +had ceased to drift; he was obliged to be certain in order to get +back. He next set about choosing the men he should take with him; +some of them were not fit either to take or leave, but the captain +decided to take none but sure companions, as the common safety +depended upon the success of the excursion. Shandon was, therefore, +excluded, which he did not seem to regret. James Wall was ill in bed. +The state of the sick got no worse, however, and as the only thing +to do for them was to rub them with lime-juice, and give them doses +of it, the doctor was not obliged to stop, and he made one of the +travellers. Johnson very much wished to accompany the captain in his +perilous enterprise, but Hatteras took him aside, and said, in an +affectionate tone: + +"Johnson, I have confidence in you alone. You are the only officer +in whose hands I can leave my ship. I must know that you are there +to overlook Shandon and the others. They are kept prisoners here by +the winter, but I believe them capable of anything. You will be +furnished with my formal instructions, which, in case of need, will +give you the command. You will take my place entirely. Our absence +will last four or five weeks at the most. I shall not be anxious, +knowing you are where I cannot be. You must have wood, Johnson, I +know, but, as far as possible, spare my poor ship. Do you understand +me, Johnson?" + +"Yes, sir," answered the old sailor, "I'll stop if you wish." + +"Thank you," said Hatteras, shaking his boatswain's hand; "and if +we don't come back, wait for the next breaking-up time, and try to +push forward towards the Pole. But if the others won't go, don't mind +us, and take the _Forward_ back to England." + +"Are those your last commands, captain?" + +"Yes, my express commands," answered Hatteras. + +"Very well, sir, they shall be carried out," said Johnson simply. + +The doctor regretted his friend, but he thought Hatteras had acted +wisely in leaving him. Their other two travelling companions were +Bell the carpenter and Simpson. The former was in good health, brave +and devoted, and was the right man to render service during the +encampments on the snow; Simpson was not so sure, but he accepted +a share in the expedition, and his hunting and fishing capabilities +might be of the greatest use. The expedition consisted, therefore, +of four men, Hatteras, Clawbonny, Bell, and Simpson, and seven dogs. +The provisions had been calculated in consequence. During the first +days of January the temperature kept at an average of 33 degrees below +zero. Hatteras was very anxious for the weather to change; he often +consulted the barometer, but it is of little use in such high latitudes. +A clear sky in these regions does not always bring cold, and the snow +does not make the temperature rise; the barometer is uncertain; it +goes down with the north and east winds; low, it brought fine weather; +high, snow or rain. Its indications could not, therefore, be relied +upon. + +At last, on January 5th, the mercury rose to 18 degrees below zero, +and Hatteras resolved to start the next day; he could not bear to +see his ship burnt piece by piece before his eyes; all the poop had +gone into the stove. On the 6th, then, in the midst of whirlwinds +of snow, the order for departure was given. The doctor gave his last +orders about the sick; Bell and Simpson shook hands silently with +their companions. Hatteras wished to say his good-byes aloud, but +he saw himself surrounded by evil looks and thought he saw Shandon +smile ironically. He was silent, and perhaps hesitated for an instant +about leaving the _Forward_, but it was too late to turn back; the +loaded sledge, with the dogs harnessed to it, awaited him on the +ice-field. Bell started the first; the others followed. + +Johnson accompanied the travellers for a quarter of a mile, then +Hatteras begged him to return on board, and the old sailor went back +after making a long farewell gesture. At that moment Hatteras turned +a last look towards the brig, and saw the extremity of her masts +disappear in the dark clouds of the sky. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +ACROSS THE ICE + + +The little troop descended towards the south-east. Simpson drove the +sledge. Dick helped him with zeal, and did not seem astonished at +the new occupation of his companions. Hatteras and the doctor walked +behind, whilst Bell went on in front, sounding the ice with his +iron-tipped stick. The rising of the thermometer indicated +approaching snow; it soon fell in thick flakes, and made the journey +difficult for the travellers; it made them deviate from the straight +line, and obliged them to walk slower; but, on an average, they made +three miles an hour. The surface of the ice was unequal, and the sledge +was often in danger of being overturned, but by great care it was +kept upright. + +Hatteras and his companions were clothed in skins more useful than +elegant. Their heads and faces were covered with hoods, their mouths, +eyes, and noses alone coming into contact with the air. If they had +not been exposed the breath would have frozen their coverings, and +they would have been obliged to take them off with the help of an +axe--an awkward way of undressing. The interminable plain kept on +with fatiguing monotony; icebergs of uniform aspect and hummocks +whose irregularity ended by seeming always the same; blocks cast in +the same mould, and icebergs between which tortuous valleys wound. +The travellers spoke little, and marched on, compass in hand. It is +painful to open one's mouth in such an atmosphere; sharp icicles form +immediately between one's lips, and the breath is not warm enough +to melt them. Bell's steps were marked in the soft ground, and they +followed them attentively, certain of being able to go where he had +been before. + +Numerous traces of bears and foxes crossed their path, but not an +animal was seen that day. It would have been dangerous and useless +to hunt them, as the sledge was sufficiently freighted. Generally +in this sort of excursion travellers leave provision-stores along +their route; they place them in hiding-places of snow, out of reach +of animals; unload during the journey, and take up the provisions +on their return. But Hatteras could not venture to do this on moveable +ice-fields, and the uncertainty of the route made the return the same +way exceedingly problematic. At noon Hatteras caused his little troop +to halt under shelter of an ice-wall. Their breakfast consisted of +pemmican and boiling tea; the latter beverage comforted the cold +wayfarers. They set out again after an hour's rest. The first day +they walked about twenty miles, and in the evening both men and dogs +were exhausted. However, notwithstanding their fatigue, they were +obliged to construct a snow-house in which to pass the night. It took +about an hour and a half to build. Bell showed himself very skilful. +The ice-blocks were cut out and placed above one another in the form +of a dome; a large block at the top made the vault. Snow served for +mortar and filled up the chinks. It soon hardened and made a single +block of the entire structure. It was reached by a narrow opening, +through which the doctor squeezed himself painfully, and the others +followed him. The supper was rapidly prepared with spirits of wine. +The interior temperature of the snow-house was bearable, as the wind +which raged outside could not penetrate. When their repast, which +was always the same, was over, they began to think of sleep. A +mackintosh was spread over the floor and kept them from the damp. +Their stockings and shoes were dried by the portable grate, and then +three of the travellers wrapped themselves up in their blankets, +leaving the fourth to keep watch; he watched over the common safety, +and prevented the opening getting blocked up, for if it did they would +be buried alive. + +Dick shared the snow-house; the other dogs remained outside, and after +their supper they squatted down in the snow, which made them a blanket. +The men were tired out with their day's walk, and soon slept. The +doctor took his turn on guard at three o'clock in the morning. There +was a tempest during the night, the gusts of which thickened the walls +of the snow-house. The next day, at six o'clock, they set out again +on their monotonous march. The temperature lowered several degrees, +and hardened the ground so that walking was easier. They often met +with mounds or cairns something like the Esquimaux hiding-places. +The doctor had one demolished, and found nothing but a block of ice. + +"What did you expect, Clawbonny?" said Hatteras. "Are we not the first +men who have set foot here?" + +"It's very likely we are, but who knows?" answered the doctor. + +"I do not want to lose my time in useless search," continued the +captain; "I want to be quick back to my ship, even if we don't find +the fuel." + +"I believe we are certain of doing that," said the doctor. + +"I often wish I had not left the _Forward_," said Hatteras; "a +captain's place is on board." + +"Johnson is there." + +"Yes; but--well, we must make haste, that's all." + +The procession marched along rapidly; Simpson excited the dogs by +calling to them; in consequence of a phosphorescent phenomenon they +seemed to be running on a ground in flames, and the sledges seemed +to raise a dust of sparks. The doctor went on in front to examine +the state of the snow, but all at once he disappeared. Bell, who was +nearest to him, ran up. + +"Well, Mr. Clawbonny," he called out in anxiety, "where are you?" + +"Doctor!" called the captain. + +"Here, in a hole," answered a reassuring voice; "throw me a cord, +and I shall soon be on the surface of the globe again." + +They threw a cord to the doctor, who was at the bottom of a hole about +ten feet deep; he fastened it round his waist, and his companions +hauled him up with difficulty. + +"Are you hurt?" asked Hatteras. + +"Not a bit," answered the doctor, shaking his kind face, all covered +with snow. + +"But how did you tumble down there?" + +"Oh, it was the refraction's fault," he answered laughing. "I thought +I was stepping across about a foot's distance, and I fell into a hole +ten feet deep! I never shall get used to it. It will teach us to sound +every step before we advance. Ears hear and eyes see all topsy-turvy +in this enchanted spot." + +"Can you go on?" asked the captain. + +"Oh, yes; the little fall has done me more good than harm." + +In the evening the travellers had marched twenty-five miles; they +were worn out, but it did not prevent the doctor climbing up an iceberg +while the snow-house was being built. The full moon shone with +extraordinary brilliancy in the clearest sky; the stars were +singularly bright; from the top of the iceberg the view stretched +over an immense plain, bristling with icebergs; they were of all sizes +and shapes, and made the field look like a vast cemetery, in which +twenty generations slept the sleep of death. Notwithstanding the cold, +the doctor remained a long time in contemplation of the spectacle, +and his companions had much trouble to get him away; but they were +obliged to think of rest; the snow-hut was ready; the four companions +burrowed into it like moles, and soon slept the sleep of the just. + +The next day and the following ones passed without any particular +incident; the journey was easy or difficult according to the weather; +when it was cold and clear they wore their moccasins and advanced +rapidly, when damp and penetrating, their snow-shoes, and made little +way. They reached thus the 15th of January; the moon was in her last +quarter, and was only visible for a short time; the sun, though still +hidden below the horizon, gave six hours of a sort of twilight, not +sufficient to see the way by; they were obliged to stake it out +according to the direction given by the compass. Bell led the way; +Hatteras marched in a straight line behind him; then Simpson and the +doctor, taking it in turns, so as only to see Hatteras, and keep in +a straight line. But notwithstanding all their precautions, they +deviated sometimes thirty or forty degrees; they were then obliged +to stake it out again. On Sunday, the 15th of January, Hatteras +considered he had made a hundred miles to the south; the morning was +consecrated to the mending of different articles of clothing and +encampment; divine service was not forgotten. They set out again at +noon; the temperature was cold, the thermometer marked only 32 degrees +below zero in a very clear atmosphere. + +All at once, without warning of any kind, a vapour rose from the ground +in a complete state of congelation, reaching a height of about ninety +feet, and remaining stationary; they could not see a foot before them; +it clung to their clothing, and bristled it with ice. Our travellers, +surprised by the frost-rime, had all the same idea--that of getting +near one another. They called out, "Bell!" "Simpson!" "This way, +doctor!" "Where are you, captain?" But no answers were heard; the +vapour did not conduct sound. They all fired as a sign of rallying. +But if the sound of the voice appeared too weak, the detonation of +the firearms was too strong, for it was echoed in all directions, +and produced a confused rumble without appreciable direction. Each +acted then according to his instincts. Hatteras stopped, folded his +arms, and waited. Simpson contented himself with stopping his sledge. +Bell retraced his steps, feeling the traces with his hands. The doctor +ran hither and thither, bumping against the icebergs, falling down, +getting up, and losing himself more and more. At the end of five +minutes he said: + +"I can't go on like this! What a queer climate! It changes too suddenly, +and the icicles are cutting my face. Captain! I say, captain!" + +But he obtained no answer; he discharged his gun, and notwithstanding +his thick gloves, burnt his hand with the trigger. During this +operation he thought he saw a confused mass moving at a few steps +from him. + +"At last!" said he. "Hatteras! Bell! Simpson! Is it you? Answer, do!" + +A hollow growl was the only answer. + +"Whatever is that?" thought the doctor. The mass approached, and its +outline was more distinctly seen. "Why, it's a bear!" thought the +terrified doctor. It was a bear, lost too in the frost-rime, passing +within a few steps of the men of whose existence it was ignorant. +The doctor saw its enormous paws beating the air, and did not like +the situation. He jumped back and the mass disappeared like a phantom. +The doctor felt the ground rising under his feet; climbing on +all-fours he got to the top of a block, then another, feeling the +end with his stick. "It's an iceberg!" he said to himself: "if I get +to the top I shall be saved." So saying he climbed to a height of +about eighty feet; his head was higher than the frozen fog, of which +he could clearly see the top. As he looked round he saw the heads +of his three companions emerging from the dense fluid. + +"Hatteras!" + +"Doctor!" + +"Bell!" + +"Simpson!" + +The four names were all shouted at the same time; the sky, lightened +by a magnificent halo, threw pale rays which coloured the frost-rime +like clouds, and the summits of the icebergs seemed to emerge from +liquid silver. The travellers found themselves circumscribed by a +circle less than a hundred feet in diameter. Thanks to the purity +of the upper layers of air, they could hear each other distinctly, +and could talk from the top of their icebergs. After the first shots +they had all thought the best thing they could do was to climb. + +"The sledge!" cried the captain. + +"It's eighty feet below us," answered Simpson. + +"In what condition?" + +"In good condition." + +"What about the bear?" asked the doctor. + +"What bear?" asked Bell. + +"The bear that nearly broke my head," answered the doctor. + +"If there is a bear we must go down," said Hatteras. + +"If we do we shall get lost again," said the doctor. + +"And our dogs?" said Hatteras. + +At this moment Dick's bark was heard through the fog. + +"That's Dick," said Hatteras; "there's something up; I shall go down." + +Growls and barks were heard in a fearful chorus. In the fog it sounded +like an immense humming in a wadded room. Some struggle was evidently +going on. + +"Dick! Dick!" cried the captain, re-entering the frost-rime. + +"Wait a minute, Hatteras; I believe the fog is clearing off," called +out the doctor. So it was, but lowering like the waters of a pond +that is being emptied; it seemed to enter the ground from whence it +sprang; the shining summits of the icebergs grew above it; others, +submerged till then, came out like new islands; by an optical illusion +the travellers seemed to be mounting with their icebergs above the +fog. Soon the top of the sledge appeared, then the dogs, then about +thirty other animals, then enormous moving masses, and Dick jumping +about in and out of the fog. + +"Foxes!" cried Bell. + +"Bears!" shouted the doctor. "Five!" + +"Our dogs! Our provisions!" cried Simpson. A band of foxes and bears +had attacked the sledge, and were making havoc with the provisions. +The instinct of pillage made them agree; the dogs barked furiously, +but the herd took no notice, and the scene of destruction was +lamentable. + +"Fire!" cried the captain, discharging his gun. His companions +imitated him. Upon hearing the quadruple detonation the bears raised +their heads, and with a comical growl gave the signal for departure; +they went faster than a horse could gallop, and, followed by the herd +of foxes, soon disappeared amongst the northern icebergs. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE CAIRN + + +The frost-rime had lasted about three-quarters of an hour; quite long +enough for the bears and foxes to make away with a considerable +quantity of provisions which they attacked all the more greedily, +arriving, as they did, when the animals were perishing with hunger +from the long winter. They had torn open the covering of the sledge +with their enormous paws; the cases of pemmican were open, and +half-empty; the biscuit-bags pillaged, the provisions of tea spilt +over the snow, a barrel of spirits of wine broken up, and its precious +contents run out; the camping materials lying all about. The wild +animals had done their work. + +"The devils have done for us!" said Bell. + +"What shall we do now?" said Simpson. + +"Let us first see how much we've lost," said the doctor; "we can talk +after." + +Hatteras said nothing, but began picking up the scattered objects. +They picked up all the pemmican and biscuit that was still eatable. +The loss of so much spirits of wine was deplorable, as without it +it was impossible to get any hot drinks--no tea nor coffee. + +The doctor made an inventory of the provisions that were left, and +found that the animals had eaten two hundred pounds of pemmican and +a hundred and fifty pounds of biscuit; if the travellers continued +their journey they would be obliged to put themselves on half-rations. +They deliberated about what was to be done under the circumstances. +Should they return to the brig and begin their expedition again? But +how could they resolve to lose the hundred and fifty miles already +cleared? and coming back without the fuel, how would they be received +by the crew? and which of them would begin the excursion again? It +was evident that the best thing to do was to go on, even at the price +of the worst privations. The doctor, Hatteras, and Bell were for going +on, but Simpson wanted to go back; his health had severely suffered +from the fatigues of the journey, and he grew visibly weaker; but +at last, seeing he was alone in his opinion, he took his place at +the head of the sledge, and the little caravan continued its route. +During the three following days, from the 15th to the 17th of January, +the monotonous incidents of the journey took place again. They went +on more slowly; the travellers were soon tired; their legs ached with +fatigue, and the dogs drew with difficulty. Their insufficient food +told upon them. The weather changed with its usual quickness, going +suddenly from intense cold to damp and penetrating fogs. + +On the 18th of January the aspect of the ice-field changed all at +once. A great number of peaks, like pyramids, ending in a sharp point +at a great elevation, showed themselves on the horizon. The soil in +certain places was seen through the layer of snow; it seemed to consist +of schist and quartz, with some appearance of calcareous rock. At +last the travellers had reached _terra firma_, and, according to their +estimation, the continent must be New Cornwall. The doctor was +delighted to tread on solid ground once more; the travellers had only +a hundred more miles to go before reaching Belcher Cape; but the +trouble of walking increased on this rocky soil, full of inequalities, +crevices, and precipices; they were obliged to plunge into the +interior of the land and climb the high cliffs on the coast, across +narrow gorges, in which the snow was piled up to a height of thirty +or forty feet. The travellers soon had cause to regret the levels +they had left, on which the sledge rolled so easily. Now they were +obliged to drag it with all their strength. The dogs were worn out, +and had to be helped; the men harnessed themselves along with them, +and wore themselves out too. They were often obliged to unload the +provisions in order to get over a steep hill, whose frozen surface +gave no hold. Some passages ten feet long took hours to clear. During +the first day they only made about five miles on that land, so well +named Cornwall. The next day the sledge attained the upper part of +the cliffs; the travellers were too exhausted to construct their +snow-house, and were obliged to pass the night under the tent, +enveloped in their buffalo-skins, and drying their stockings by +placing them on their chests. The consequences of such a state of +things may be readily imagined; during the night the thermometer went +down to 44 degrees below zero, and the mercury froze. + +The health of Simpson became alarming; an obstinate cold, violent +rheumatism, and intolerable pain forced him to lie down on the sledge, +which he could no longer guide. Bell took his place; he was not well, +but was obliged not to give in. The doctor also felt the influence +of his terrible winter excursion, but he did not utter a complaint; +he marched on in front, leaning on his stick; he lighted the way; +he helped in everything. Hatteras, impassive, impenetrable, +insensible, in as good health as the first day, with his iron +constitution, followed the sledge in silence. On the 20th of January +the weather was so bad that the least effort caused immediate +prostration; but the difficulties of the ground became so great that +Hatteras and Bell harnessed themselves along with the dogs; the front +of the sledge was broken by an unexpected shock, and they were forced +to stop and mend it. Such delays occurred several times a day. The +travellers were journeying along a deep ravine up to their waists +in snow, and perspiring, notwithstanding the violent cold. No one +spoke. All at once Bell looked at the doctor in alarm, picked up a +handful of snow, and began to rub his companion's face with all his +might. + +"What the deuce, Bell?" said the doctor, struggling. + +But Bell went on rubbing. + +"Are you mad? You've filled my eyes, nose, and mouth with snow. What +is it?" + +"Why," answered Bell, "if you've got a nose left, you owe it to me." + +"A nose?" said the doctor, putting his hand to his face. + +"Yes, Mr. Clawbonny, you were quite frostbitten; your nose was quite +white when I looked at you, and without my bit of rubbing you would +be minus nose." + +"Thanks, Bell," said the doctor; "I'll do the same for you in case +of need." + +"I hope you will, Mr. Clawbonny, and I only wish we had nothing worse +to look forward to!" + +"You mean Simpson! Poor fellow, he is suffering dreadfully!" + +"Do you fear for him?" asked Hatteras quickly. + +"Yes, captain," answered the doctor. + +"What do you fear?" + +"A violent attack of scurvy. His legs swell already, and his gums +are attacked; the poor fellow is lying under his blankets on the sledge, +and every shock increases his pain. I pity him, but I can't do anything +for him!" + +"Poor Simpson!" said Bell. + +"Perhaps we had better stop a day or two," said the doctor. + +"Stop!" cried Hatteras, "when the lives of eighteen men depend upon +our return! You know we have only enough provisions left for twenty +days." + +Neither the doctor nor Bell could answer that, and the sledge went +on its way. In the evening they stopped at the foot of an ice-hill, +out of which Bell soon cut a cavern; the travellers took refuge in +it, and the doctor passed the night in nursing Simpson; he was a prey +to the scurvy, and constant groans issued from his terrified lips. + +"Ah, Mr. Clawbonny, I shall never get over it. I wish I was dead +already." + +"Take courage, my poor fellow!" answered the doctor, with pity in +his tone, and he answered Simpson's complaints by incessant attention. +Though half-dead with fatigue, he employed a part of the night in +making the sick man a soothing draught, and rubbed him with lime-juice. +Unfortunately it had little effect, and did not prevent the terrible +malady spreading. The next day they were obliged to lift the poor +fellow on to the sledge, although he begged and prayed them to leave +him to die in peace, and begin their painful march again. + +The freezing mists wet the three men to the skin; the snow and sleet +beat in their faces; they did the work of beasts of burden, and had +not even sufficient food. Dick ran hither and thither, discovering +by instinct the best route to follow. During the morning of the 23rd +of January, when it was nearly dark, for the new moon had not yet +made her appearance, Dick ran on first; he was lost to sight for +several hours. Hatteras became anxious, as there were many bear-marks +on the ground; he was considering what had better be done, when a +loud barking was heard in front. The little procession moved on +quicker, and soon came upon the faithful animal in the depth of a +ravine. Dick was set as if he had been petrified in front of a sort +of cairn, made of limestone, and covered with a cement of ice. + +"This time," said the doctor, disengaging himself from the traces, +"it's really a cairn; we can't be mistaken." + +"What does it matter to us?" said Hatteras. + +"Why, if it is a cairn, it may inclose something that would be useful +to us--some provisions perhaps." + +"As if Europeans had ever been here!" said Hatteras, shrugging his +shoulders. + +"But if not Europeans, it may be that the Esquimaux have hidden some +product of their hunting here. They are accustomed to doing it, I +think." + +"Well, look if you like, Clawbonny, but I don't think it is worth +your while." + +Clawbonny and Bell, armed with their pickaxes made for the cairn. +Dick kept on barking furiously. The cairn was soon demolished, and +the doctor took out a damp paper. Hatteras took the document and read: + +"Altam..., _Porpoise_, Dec... 13th, 1860, +12.. degrees long... 8.. degrees 35 minutes lat..." + +"The _Porpoise_!" said the doctor. + +"I don't know any ship of that name frequenting these seas," said +Hatteras. + +"It is evident," continued the doctor, "that some sailors, or perhaps +some shipwrecked fellows, have passed here within the last two +months." + +"That's certain," said Bell. + +"What shall we do?" asked the doctor. + +"Continue our route," said Hatteras coldly. "I don't know anything +about the _Porpoise_, but I do know that the _Forward_ is waiting +for our return." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE DEATH OF SIMPSON + + +The travellers went on their weary way, each thinking of the discovery +they had just made. Hatteras frowned with uneasiness. + +"What can the _Porpoise_ be?" he asked himself. "Is it a ship? and +if so, what was it doing so near the Pole?" + +At this thought he shivered, but not from the cold. The doctor and +Bell only thought of the result their discovery might have for others +or for themselves. But the difficulties and obstacles in their way +soon made them oblivious to everything but their own preservation. + +Simpson's condition grew worse; the doctor saw that death was near. +He could do nothing, and was suffering cruelly on his own account +from a painful ophthalmia which might bring on blindness if neglected. +The twilight gave them enough light to hurt the eyes when reflected +by the snow; it was difficult to guard against the reflection, for +the spectacle-glasses got covered with a layer of opaque ice which +obstructed the view, and when so much care was necessary for the +dangers of the route, it was important to see clearly; however, the +doctor and Bell took it in turns to cover their eyes or to guide the +sledge. The soil was volcanic, and by its inequalities made it very +difficult to draw the sledge, the frame of which was getting worn +out. Another difficulty was the effect of the uniform brilliancy of +the snow; the ground seemed to fall beneath the feet of the travellers, +and they experienced the same sensation as that of the rolling of +a ship; they could not get accustomed to it, and it made them sleepy, +and they often walked on half in a dream. Then some unexpected shock, +fall, or obstacle would wake them up from their inertia, which +afterwards took possession of them again. + +On the 25th of January they began to descend, and their dangers +increased. The least slip might send them down a precipice, and there +they would have been infallibly lost. Towards evening an extremely +violent tempest swept the snow-clad summits; they were obliged to +lie down on the ground, and the temperature was so low that they were +in danger of being frozen to death. Bell, with the help of Hatteras, +built a snow-house, in which the poor fellows took shelter; there +they partook of a little pemmican and warm tea; there were only a +few gallons of spirits of wine left, and they were obliged to use +them to quench their thirst, as they could not take snow in its natural +state; it must be melted. In temperate countries, where the +temperature scarcely falls below freezing point, it is not injurious; +but above the Polar circle it gets so cold that it cannot be touched +more than a red-hot iron; there is such a difference of temperature +that its absorption produces suffocation. The Esquimaux would rather +suffer the greatest torments than slake their thirst with snow. + +The doctor took his turn to watch at three o'clock in the morning, +when the tempest was at its height; he was leaning in a corner of +the snow-house, when a lamentable groan from Simpson drew his +attention; he rose to go to him, and struck his head against the roof; +without thinking of the accident he began to rub Simpson's swollen +limbs; after about a quarter of an hour he got up again, and bumped +his head again, although he was kneeling then. + +"That's very queer," he said to himself. + +He lifted his hand above his head, and felt that the roof was lowering. + +"Good God!" he cried; "Hatteras! Bell!" + +His cries awoke his companions, who got up quickly, and bumped +themselves too; the darkness was thick. + +"The roof is falling in!" cried the doctor. + +They all rushed out, dragging Simpson with them; they had no sooner +left their dangerous retreat, than it fell in with a great noise. +The poor fellows were obliged to take refuge under the tent covering, +which was soon covered with a thick layer of snow, which, as a bad +conductor, prevented the travellers being frozen alive. The tempest +continued all through the night. When Bell harnessed the dogs the +next morning he found that some of them had begun to eat their leather +harness, and that two of them were very ill, and could not go much +further. However, the caravan set out again; there only remained sixty +miles to go. On the 26th, Bell, who went on in front, called out +suddenly to his companions. They ran up to him, and he pointed to +a gun leaning against an iceberg. + +"A gun!" cried the doctor. + +Hatteras took it; it was loaded and in good condition. + +"The men from the _Porpoise_ can't be far off," said the doctor. + +Hatteras remarked that the gun was of American manufacture, and his +hands crisped the frozen barrel. He gave orders to continue the march, +and they kept on down the mountain slope. Simpson seemed deprived +of all feeling; he had no longer the strength to complain. The tempest +kept on, and the sledge proceeded more and more slowly; they scarcely +made a few miles in twenty-four hours, and in spite of the strictest +economy, the provisions rapidly diminished; but as long as they had +enough for the return journey, Hatteras kept on. + +On the 27th they found a sextant half-buried in the snow, then a +leather bottle; the latter contained brandy, or rather a lump of ice, +with a ball of snow in the middle, which represented the spirit; it +could not be used. It was evident that they were following in the +steps of some poor shipwrecked fellows who, like them, had taken the +only practicable route. The doctor looked carefully round for other +cairns, but in vain. Sad thoughts came into his mind; he could not +help thinking that it would be a good thing not to meet with their +predecessors; what could he and his companions do for them? They +wanted help themselves; their clothes were in rags, and they had not +enough to eat. If their predecessors were numerous they would all +die of hunger. Hatteras seemed to wish to avoid them, and could he +be blamed? But these men might be their fellow-countrymen, and, +however slight might be the chance of saving them, ought they not +to try it? He asked Bell what he thought about it, but the poor fellow's +heart was hardened by his own suffering, and he did not answer. +Clawbonny dared not question Hatteras, so he left it to Providence. + +In the evening of the 27th, Simpson appeared to be at the last +extremity; his limbs were already stiff and frozen; his difficult +breathing formed a sort of mist round his head, and convulsive +movements announced that his last hour was come. The expression of +his face was terrible, desperate, and he threw looks of powerless +anger towards the captain. He accused him silently, and Hatteras +avoided him and became more taciturn and wrapped up in himself than +ever. The following night was frightful; the tempest redoubled in +violence; the tent was thrown down three times, and the snowdrifts +buried the poor fellows, blinded them, froze them, and wounded them +with the sharp icicles struck off the surrounding icebergs. The dogs +howled lamentably. Simpson lay exposed to the cruel atmosphere. Bell +succeeded in getting up the tent again, which, though it did not +protect them from the cold, kept out the snow. But a more violent +gust blew it down a fourth time, and dragged it along in its fury. + +"Oh, we can't bear it any longer!" cried Bell. + +"Courage, man, courage!" answered the doctor, clinging to him in order +to prevent themselves rolling down a ravine. Simpson's death-rattle +was heard. All at once, with a last effort, he raised himself up and +shook his fist at Hatteras, who was looking at him fixedly, then gave +a fearful cry, and fell back dead in the midst of his unfinished +threat. + +"He is dead!" cried the doctor. + +"Dead!" repeated Bell. + +Hatteras advanced towards the corpse, but was driven back by a gust +of wind. + +Poor Simpson was the first victim to the murderous climate, the first +to pay with his life the unreasonable obstinacy of the captain. The +dead man had called Hatteras an assassin, but he did not bend beneath +the accusation. A single tear escaped from his eyes and froze on his +pale cheek. The doctor and Bell looked at him with a sort of terror. +Leaning on his stick, he looked like the genius of the North, upright +in the midst of the whirlwind, and frightful in his immobility. + +He remained standing thus till the first dawn of twilight, bold, +tenacious, indomitable, and seemed to defy the tempest that roared +round him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE RETURN + + +The wind went down about six in the morning, and turning suddenly +north cleared the clouds from the sky; the thermometer marked 33 +degrees below zero. The first rays of the sun reached the horizon +which they would gild a few days later. Hatteras came up to his two +dejected companions, and said to them, in a low, sad voice: + +"We are still more than sixty miles from the spot indicated by Sir +Edward Belcher. We have just enough provisions to allow us to get +back to the brig. If we go on any further we shall meet with certain +death, and that will do good to no one. We had better retrace our +steps." + +"That is a sensible resolution, Hatteras," answered the doctor; "I +would have followed you as far as you led us, but our health gets +daily weaker; we can scarcely put one foot before the other; we ought +to go back." + +"Is that your opinion too, Bell?" asked Hatteras. + +"Yes, captain," answered the carpenter. + +"Very well," said Hatteras; "we will take two days' rest. We want +it. The sledge wants mending. I think we had better build ourselves +a snow-house, and try to regain a little strength." + +After this was settled, our three men set to work with vigour. Bell +took the necessary precautions to assure the solidity of the +construction, and they soon had a good shelter at the bottom of the +ravine where the last halt had taken place. It had cost Hatteras a +great effort to interrupt his journey. All their trouble and pain +lost! A useless excursion, which one man had paid for with his life. +What would become of the crew now that all hope of coal was over? +What would Shandon think? Notwithstanding all these painful thoughts, +he felt it impossible to go on any further. They began their +preparations for the return journey at once. The sledge was mended; +it had now only two hundred pounds weight to carry. They mended their +clothes, worn-out, torn, soaked with snow, and hardened by the frost; +new moccasins and snow-shoes replaced those that were worn out. This +work took the whole day of the 29th and the morning of the 30th; the +three travellers rested and comforted themselves as well as they +could. + +During the thirty-six hours passed in the snow-house and on the +icebergs of the ravine, the doctor had noticed that Dick's conduct +was very strange; he crept smelling about a sort of rising in the +ground made by several layers of ice; he kept wagging his tail with +impatience, and trying to draw the attention of his master to the +spot. The doctor thought that the dog's uneasiness might be caused +by the presence of Simpson's body, which he and his companions had +not yet had time to bury. He resolved to put it off no longer, +especially as they intended starting early the next morning. Bell +and the doctor took their pickaxes and directed their steps towards +the lowest part of the ravine; the mound indicated by Dick seemed +to be a good spot to place the corpse in; they were obliged to bury +it deep to keep it from the bears. They began by removing the layer +of soft snow, and then attacked the ice. At the third blow of his +pickaxe the doctor broke some hard obstacle; he took out the pieces +and saw that it was a glass bottle; Bell discovered a small +biscuit-sack with a few crumbs at the bottom. + +"Whatever does this mean?" said the doctor. + +"I can't think," answered Bell, suspending his work. + +They called Hatteras, who came immediately. Dick barked loudly, and +began scratching at the ice. + +"Perhaps we have found a provision-store," said the doctor. + +"It is possible," said Bell. + +"Go on," said Hatteras. + +Some remains of food were drawn out, and a case a quarter full of +pemmican. + +"If it is a hiding-place," said Hatteras, "the bears have been before +us. See, the provisions are not intact." + +"I am afraid so," answered the doctor; "for----" + +He was interrupted by a cry from Bell, who had come upon a man's leg, +stiffened and frozen. + +"A corpse," cried the doctor. + +"It is a tomb," answered Hatteras. + +When the corpse was disinterred it turned out to be that of a sailor, +about thirty years old, perfectly preserved. He wore the clothes of +an Arctic navigator. The doctor could not tell how long he had been +dead. But after this corpse, Bell discovered a second, that of a man +of fifty, bearing the mark of the suffering that had killed him on +his face. + +"These are not buried bodies," cried the doctor, "the poor fellows +were surprised by death just as we find them." + +"You are right, Mr. Clawbonny," answered Bell. + +"Go on! go on!" said Hatteras. + +Bell obeyed tremblingly; for who knew how many human bodies the mound +contained? + +"These men have been the victims of the same accident that almost +happened to us," said the doctor. "Their snow-house tumbled in. Let +us see if any one of them is still alive." + +The place was soon cleared, and Bell dug out a third body, that of +a man of forty, who had not the cadaverous look of the others. The +doctor examined him and thought he recognised some symptoms of +existence. + +"He is alive!" he cried. + +Bell and he carried the body into the snow-house whilst Hatteras, +unmoved, contemplated their late habitation. The doctor stripped the +resuscitated man and found no trace of a wound on him. He and Bell +rubbed him vigorously with oakum steeped in spirits of wine, and they +saw signs of returning consciousness; but the unfortunate man was +in a state of complete prostration, and could not speak a word. His +tongue stuck to his palate as if frozen. The doctor searched his +pockets, but they were empty. He left Bell to continue the friction, +and rejoined Hatteras. The captain had been down into the depths of +the snow-house, and had searched about carefully. He came up holding +a half-burnt fragment of a letter. These words were on it: + + ... tamont + ... orpoise + ... w York. + +"Altamont!" cried the doctor, of the ship _Porpoise_, of New York." + +"An American," said Hatteras. + +"I'll save him," said the doctor, "and then we shall know all about +it." + +He went back to Altamont whilst Hatteras remained pensive. Thanks +to his attentions, the doctor succeeded in recalling the unfortunate +man to life, but not to feeling; he neither saw, heard, nor spoke, +but he lived. The next day Hatteras said to the doctor: + +"We must start at once." + +"Yes. The sledge is not loaded; we'll put the poor fellow on it and +take him to the brig." + +"Very well; but we must bury these bodies first." + +The two unknown sailors were placed under the ruins of the snow-house +again, and Simpson's corpse took Altamont's place. The three +travellers buried their companion, and at seven o'clock in the morning +they set out again. Two of the Greenland dogs were dead, and Dick +offered himself in their place. He pulled with energy. + +During the next twenty days the travellers experienced the same +incidents as before. But as it was in the month of February they did +not meet with the same difficulty from the ice. It was horribly cold, +but there was not much wind. The sun reappeared for the first time +on the 31st of January, and every day he stopped longer above the +horizon. Bell and the doctor were almost blinded and half-lame; the +carpenter was obliged to walk upon crutches. Altamont still lived, +but he was in a state of complete insensibility. The doctor took great +care of him, although he wanted attention himself; he was getting +ill with fatigue. Hatteras thought of nothing but his ship. What state +should he find it in? + +On the 24th of February he stopped all of a sudden. A red light appeared +about 300 paces in front, and a column of black smoke went up to the +sky. + +"Look at that smoke! my ship is burning," said he with a beating heart. + +"We are three miles off yet," said Bell; "it can't be the _Forward_." + +"Yes it is," said the doctor; "the mirage makes it seem nearer." + +The three men, leaving the sledge to the care of Dick, ran on, and +in an hour's time were in sight of the ship. She was burning in the +midst of the ice, which melted around her. A hundred steps farther +a man met them, wringing his hands before the _Forward_ in flames. +It was Johnson. Hatteras ran to him. + +"My ship! My ship!" cried he. + +"Is that you, captain? Oh, don't come any nearer," said Johnson. + +"What is it?" said Hatteras. + +"The wretches left forty-eight hours ago, after setting fire to the +ship." + +"Curse them!" cried Hatteras. + +A loud explosion was then heard; the ground trembled; the icebergs +fell upon the ice-field; a column of smoke went up into the clouds, +and the _Forward_ blew up. The doctor and Bell reached Hatteras, who +out of the depths of despair cried: + +"The cowards have fled! The strong will succeed! Johnson and Bell, +you are courageous. Doctor, you have science. I have faith. To the +North Pole! To the North Pole!" + +His companions heard these energetic words, and they did them good; +but it was a terrible situation for these four men, alone, under the +80th degree of latitude, in the midst of the Polar Regions! + + +END OF PART I OF THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HATTERAS + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The English at the North Pole, by Jules Verne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ENGLISH AT THE NORTH POLE *** + +***** This file should be named 22759.txt or 22759.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/7/5/22759/ + +Produced by Ron Swanson + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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