Tea. It was important that there should be no lack of these valuable
anti-scorbutics.
The sheds were filled with wood up to the very roof. Winter might come
as soon as it liked now, and freeze the mercury in the cistern of the
thermometer, there was no fear that they would again be reduced to burn
their furniture as they had the year before. Mac-Nab and his men had
become wise by experience, and the chips left from the boat-building
added considerably to their stock of fuel.
About this time a few animals were taken which had already assumed their
winter furs, such as martens, polecats, blue foxes, and ermines. Marbre
and Sabine had obtained leave from the Lieutenant to set some traps
outside the enceinte. He did not like to refuse them this permission,
lest they should become discontented, as he had really no reason to
assign for putting a stop to the collecting of furs, although he knew
full well that the destination of these harmless creatures could do
nobody any good. Their flesh was, however, useful for feeding the dogs,
and enabled them to economise the reindeer venison.
All was now prepared for the winter, and the soldiers worked with an
energy which they would certainly not have shown if they had been told
the secret of their situation.
During the next few days the bearings were taken with the greatest care,
but no change was noticeable in the situation of Victoria Island;
and Hobson, finding that it was motionless, began to have fresh hope.
Although there were as yet no symptoms of winter in inorganic nature,
the temperature maintaining a mean height of 49° Fahrenheit, some swans
flying to the south in search of a warmer climate was a good omen. Other
birds capable of a long-sustained flight over vast tracts of the ocean
began to desert the island. They knew full well that the continent of
America and of Asia, with their less severe climates and their plentiful
resources of every kind, were not far off, and that their wings were
strong enough to carry them there. A good many of these birds were
caught; and by Mrs Barnett’s advice the Lieutenant tied round their
necks a stiff cloth ticket, on which was inscribed the position of the
wandering island, and the names of its inhabitants. The birds were then
set free, and their captors watched them wing their way to the south
with envious eyes.
Of course none were in the secret of the sending forth of these
messengers, except Mrs Barnett, Madge, Kalumah, Hobson, and Long.
The poor quadrupeds were unable to seek their usual winter refuges in
the south. Under ordinary circumstances the reindeer, Polar hares, and
even the wolves would have left early in September for the shores of the
Great Bear and Slave Lakes, a good many degrees farther south; but now
the sea was an insurmountable barrier, and they, too, would have to wait
until the winter should render it passable. Led by instinct they had
doubtless tried to leave the island, but, turned back by the water, the
instinct of self-preservation had brought them to the neighbourhood
of Fort Hope, to be near the men who were once their hunters and
most formidable enemies, but were now, like themselves, rendered
comparatively inoffensive by their imprisonment.
The observations of the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th September, revealed
no alteration in the position of Victoria Island. The large eddy between
the two currents kept it stationary. Another fifteen days, another three
weeks of this state of things, and Hobson felt that they might be saved.
But they were not yet out of danger, and many terrible, almost
supernatural, trials still awaited the inhabitants of Fort Hope.
On the 10th of September observations showed a displacement of Victoria
Island. Only a slight displacement, but in a northerly direction.
Hobson was in dismay; the island was finally in the grasp of the
Kamtchatka Current, and was drifting towards the unknown latitudes
where the large icebergs come into being; it was on its way to the vast
solitudes of the Arctic Ocean, interdicted to the human race, from which
there is no return.
Hobson did not hide this new danger from those who were in the secret of
the situation. Mrs Barnett, Madge, Kalumah, and Sergeant Long received
this fresh blow with courage and resignation.
“Perhaps,” said Mrs Barnett, “the island may stop even yet.
Perhaps it will move slowly. Let us hope on ... and wait! The winter is
not far off, and we are going to meet it. In any case God’s will be
done!” “My friends,” said Hobson earnestly, “do you not think I
ought now to tell our comrades. You see in what a terrible position
we are and all that may await us! Is it not taking too great a
responsibility to keep them in ignorance of the peril they are in?”
“I should wait a little longer,” replied Mrs Barnett without
hesitation; “I would not give them all over to despair until the last
chance is gone.”
“That is my opinion also,” said Long.
Hobson had thought the same, and was glad to find that his companions
agreed with him in the matter.
On the 11th and 12th September, the motion towards the north was more
noticeable. Victoria Island was drifting at a rate of from twelve to
thirteen miles a day, so that each day took them the same distance
farther from the land and nearer to the north. They were, in short,
following the decided course made by the Kamtchatka Current, and would
quickly pass that seventieth degree which once cut across the extremity
of Cape Bathurst, and beyond which no land of any kind was to be met
with in this part of the Arctic Ocean.
Every day Hobson looked out their position on the map, and saw only too
clearly to what awful solitudes the wandering island was drifting.
The only hope left consisted, as Mrs Barnett had said, in the fact that
they were going to meet the winter. In thus drifting towards the north
they would soon encounter those ice-cold waters, which would consolidate
and strengthen the foundations of the island. But if the danger of
being swallowed up by the waves was decreased, would not the unfortunate
colonists have an immense distance to traverse to get back from these
remote northern regions? Had the boat been finished, Lieutenant Hobson
would not have hesitated to embark the whole party in it, but in spite
of the zealous efforts of the carpenter it was not nearly ready, and
indeed it taxed Mac-Nab’s powers to the uttermost to construct a
vessel on which to trust the lives of twenty persons in such a dangerous
sea
By the 16th September Victoria Island was between seventy-three and
eighty miles north of the spot where its course had been arrested for
a few days between the Behring and Kamtchatka Cur rents There were now,
however, many signs of the approach of winter Snow fell frequently
and in large flakes The column of mercury fell gradually The mean
temperature was still 44° Fahrenheit during the day, but at night it
fell to 32°. The sun described an extremely lengthened curve above
the horizon, not rising more than a few degrees even at noon, and
disappearing for eleven hours out of every twenty four.
At last, on the night of the 16th September, the first signs of ice
appeared upon the sea in the shape of small isolated crystals like
snow, which stained the clear surface of the water As was noticed by the
famous explorer Scoresby, these crystals immediately calmed the waves,
like the oil which sailors pour upon the sea to produce a momentary
cessation of its agitation These crystals showed a tendency to weld
themselves together, but they were broken and separated by the motion of
the water as soon as they had combined to any extent.
Hobson watched the appearance of the “young ice” with extreme
attention. He knew that twenty four hours would suffice to make the
ice-crust two or three inches thick, strong enough in fact to bear the
weight of a man He therefore expected that Victoria Island would shortly
be arrested in its course to the north.
But the day ended the work of the night, and if the speed of the island
slackened during the darkness in consequence of the obstacles in its
path, they were removed in the next twelve hours, and the island was
carried rapidly along again by the powerful current.
The distance from the northern regions became daily less, and nothing
could be done to lessen the evil.
At the autumnal equinox on the 21st of September, the day and night were
of equal length, and from that date the night gradually became longer
and longer. The winter was coming at last, but it did not set in rapidly
or with any rigour Victoria Island was now nearly a degree farther north
than the seventieth parallel, and on this 21st September, a rotating
motion was for the first time noticed, a motion estimated by Hobson at
about a quarter of the circumference.
Imagine the anxiety of the unfortunate Lieutenant. The secret he had so
long carefully kept was now about to be betrayed by nature to the least
clear sighted. Of course the rotation altered the cardinal points of the
island. Cape Bathurst no longer pointed to the north, but to the east.
The sun, moon, and stars rose and set on a different horizon, and it was
impossible that men like Mac-Nab, Rae, Marbre and others, accustomed to
note the signs of the heavens, could fail to be struck by the change,
and understand its meaning.
To Hobson’s great satisfaction, however, the brave soldiers appeared
to notice nothing, the displacement with regard to the cardinal points
was not, it was true, very considerable, and it was often too foggy for
the rising and setting of the heavenly bodies to be accurately observed.
Unfortunately the rotation appeared to be accompanied by an increase of
speed. From that date Victoria Island drifted at the rate of a mile an
hour. It advanced farther and farther north, farther and farther away
from all land. Hobson did not even yet despair, for it was not in his
nature to do so, but he felt confused and astray, and longed for the
winter with all his heart.
At last the temperature began to fall still lower. Snow fell plentifully
on the 23d and 24th September, and increased the thickness of the
coating of ice on the sea. Gradually the vast ice-field was formed on
every side, the island in its advance continually broke it up, but each
day it became firmer and better able to resist. The sea succumbed to
the petrifying hand of winter, and became frozen as far as the eye could
reach, and on September 27th, when the bearings were taken, it was
found that Victoria Island had not moved since the day before. It was
imprisoned in a vast ice-field, it was motionless in longitude 177°
22’, and latitude 77° 57’--more than six hundred miles from any
continent.
CHAPTER XI A COMMUNICATION FROM LIEUTENANT HOBSON. Such was the
situation. To use Sergeant Long’s expression, the island had “cast
anchor,” and was as stationary as when the isthmus connected it with
the mainland. But six hundred miles now separated it from inhabited
countries, six hundred miles which would have to be traversed in sledges
across the solidified surface of the sea, amongst the icebergs which the
cold would build up, in the bitterest months of the Arctic winter.
It would be a fearful undertaking, but hesitation was impossible. The
winter, for which Lieutenant Hobson had so ardently longed, had come at
last, and arrested the fatal march of the island to the north. It would
throw a bridge six hundred miles long from their desolate home to the
continents on the south, and the new chances of safety must not be
neglected, every effort must be made to restore the colonists, so long
lost in the hyperborean regions, to their friends.
As Hobson explained to his companions, it would be madness to linger
till the spring should again thaw the ice, which would be to abandon
themselves once more to the capricious Behring currents. They must wait
until the sea was quite firmly frozen over, which at the most would be
in another three or four weeks. Meanwhile the Lieutenant proposed making
frequent excursions on the ice-field encircling the island, in order to
ascertain its thickness, its suitability for the passage of sledges, and
the best route to take across it so as to reach the shores of Asia or
America.
“Of course,” observed Hobson to Mrs Barnett and Sergeant Long, “we
would all rather make for Russian America than Asia, if a choice is open
to us.”
“Kalumah will be very useful to us,” said Mrs Barnett, “for as a
native she will be thoroughly acquainted with the whole of Alaska.”
“Yes, indeed,” replied Hobson, “her arrival was most fortunate for
us. Thanks to her, we shall be easily able to get to the settlement of
Fort Michael on Norton Sound, perhaps even to New Archangel, a good deal
farther south, where we can pass the rest of the winter.”
“Poor Fort Hope!” exclaimed Mrs Barnett, “it goes to my heart to
think of abandoning it on this island. It has been built at the cost of
so much trouble and fatigue, everything about it has been so admirably
arranged by you, Lieutenant! I feel as if my heart would break when we
leave it finally.”
“You will not suffer more than I shall, madam,” replied Hobson,
“and perhaps not so much. It is the chief work of my life; I have
devoted all my powers to the foundation of Fort Hope, so unfortunately
named, and I shall never cease to regret having to leave it. And what
will the Company say which confided this task to me, for after all I am`
but its humble agent.”
“It will say,” cried Mrs Barnett with enthusiasm, “it will say
that you have done your duty, that you are not responsible for the
caprices of nature, which is ever more powerful than man. It will
understand that you could not foresee what has happened, for it was
beyond the penetration of the most far-sighted man, and it will know
that it owes the preservation of the whole party to your prudence and
moral courage.”
“Thank you, madam,” replied the Lieutenant, pressing Mrs Barnett’s
hand, “thank you for your warm-hearted words. But I have had some
experience of men, and I know that success is always admired and failure
condemned. But the will of Heaven be done!”
Sergeant Long, anxious to turn the Lieutenant from his melancholy
thoughts, now began to talk about the preparations for the approaching
departure, and asked if it was not time to tell his comrades the truth.
“Let us wait a little longer,” replied Hobson. “We have saved the
poor fellows much anxiety and worry already, let us keep silent until
the day is fixed for the start, and then we will reveal the whole
truth.”
This point being decided, the ordinary occupations of the factory went
on for a few weeks longer.
How different was the situation of the colonists a year ago, when they
were all looking forward to the future in happy unconsciousness!
A year ago the first symptoms of the cold season were appearing, even
as they were now. The “young ice” was gradually forming along the
coast. The lagoon, its waters being quieter than those of the sea, was
the first to freeze over. The temperature remained about one or two
degrees above freezing point in the day, and fell to three or four
degrees below in the night. Hobson again made his men assume their
winter garments, the linen vests and furs before described. The
condensers were again set up inside the house, the air vessel and
air-pumps were cleaned, the traps were set round the palisades on
different parts of Cape Bathurst, and Marbre and Sabine got plenty of
game, and finally the last touches were given to the inner rooms of the
principal house.
Although Fort Hope was now about two degrees farther north than at the
same time the year before, there was no sensible difference in the state
of the temperature. The fact is, the distance between the seventieth and
seventy-second parallels is not great enough to affect the mean height
of the thermometer, on the contrary, it really seemed to be less cold
than at the beginning of the winter before. Perhaps, however, that was
because the colonists were now, to a certain extent, acclimatised.
Certainly the winter did not set in so abruptly as last time. The
weather was very damp, and the atmosphere was always charged with
vapour, which fell now as rain now as snow. In Lieutenant Hobson’s
opinion, at least, it was not nearly cold enough.
The sea froze all round the island, it is true, but not in a regular or
continuous sheet of ice. Large blackish patches here and there showed
that the icicles were not thoroughly cemented together. Loud resonant
noises were constantly heard, produced by the breaking of the ice
field when the rain melted the imperfectly welded edges of the blocks
composing it. There was no rapid accumulation of lump upon lump such as
is generally seen in intense cold. Icebergs and hummocks were few and
scattered, and no ice-wall as yet shut in the horizon.
“This season would have been just the thing for the explorers of
the North West Passage, or the seekers of the North Pole,” repeated
Sergeant Long again and again, “but it is most unfavourable for us,
and very much against our ever getting back to our own land!”
This went on throughout October, and Hobson announced that the mean
temperature was no lower than 32° Fahrenheit, and it is well known that
several days of cold, 7° or 8° below zero, are required for the sea to
freeze hard.
Had proof been needed that the ice-field was impassable, a fact noticed
by Mrs Barnett and Hobson would have sufficed.
The animals imprisoned in the island, the furred animals, reindeer,
wolves, &c., would have left the island had it been possible to cross
the sea, but they continued to gather in large numbers round the
factory, and to seek the vicinity of man. The wolves came actually
within musket-range of the enceinte to devour the martens and Polar
hares, which were their only food. The famished reindeer having neither
moss nor herbs on which to browse, roved about Cape Bathurst in herds.
A solitary bear, no doubt the one to which Mrs Barnett and Kalumah felt
they owed a debt of gratitude, often passed to and fro amongst the trees
of the woods, on the banks of the lagoon, and the presence of all these
animals, especially of the ruminants, which require an exclusively
vegetable diet, proved that flight was impossible.
We have said that the thermometer remained at freezing point, and Hobson
found on consulting his journal that at the same time the year before,
it had already marked 20° Fahrenheit below zero, proving how unequally
cold is distributed in the capricious Polar regions.
The colonists therefore did not suffer much, and were not confined to
the house at all. It was, however, very damp indeed, rain mixed with
snow fell constantly, and the falling of the barometer proved that the
atmosphere was charged with vapour.
Throughout October the Lieutenant and Long made many excursions to
ascertain the state of the ice-field in the offing; one day they went to
Cape Michael, another to the edge of the former Walruses’ Bay, anxious
to see if it would be possible to cross to the continent of America or
Asia, or if the start would have to be put off.
But the surface of the ice-field was covered with puddles of water,
and in some parts riddled with holes, which would certainly have been
impassable for sledges. It seemed as if it would be scarcely safe for a
single traveller to venture across the half-liquid, half-solid masses.
It was easy to see that the cold had been neither severe nor equally
maintained, for the ice consisted of an accumulation of sharp points,
crystals, prisms, polyhedrons, and figures of every variety, like
an aggregation of stalactites. It was more like a glacier than a
“field,” and even if it had been practicable, walking on it would
have been very tiring.
Hobson and Long managed with great difficulty to scramble over a mile or
two towards the south, but at the expense of a vast amount of time, so
that they were compelled to admit that they must wait some time yet, and
they returned to Fort Hope disappointed and disheartened.
The first days of November came, and the temperature fell a little, but
only a very few degrees, which was not nearly enough. Victoria Island
was wrapped in damp fogs, and the lamps had to be lit during the day. It
was necessary, however, to economise the oil as much as possible, as the
supply was running short. No fresh stores had been brought by Captain
Craventy’s promised convoy, and there were no more walruses to be
hunted. Should the dark winter be prolonged, the colonists would be
compelled to have recourse to the fat of animals, perhaps even to the
resin of the firs, to get a little light. The days were already very
short, and the pale disc of the sun, yielding no warmth, and deprived of
all its brightness, only appeared above the horizon for a few hours at
a time. Yes, winter had come with its mists, its rain, and its snow, but
without the long desired cold.
On the 11th November something of a fête was held at Fort Hope. Mrs
Joliffe served up a few extras at dinner, for it was the anniversary of
the birth of little Michael Mac-Nab. He was now a year old, and was the
delight of everybody. He had large blue eyes and fair curly hair, like
his father, the head carpenter, who was very proud of the resemblance.
At dessert the baby was solemnly weighed. It was worth something to
see him struggling in the scales, and to hear his astonished cries! He
actually weighed thirty-four pounds! The announcement of this wonderful
weight was greeted with loud cheers, and Mrs Mac-Nab was congratulated
by everybody on her fine boy. Why Corporal Joliffe felt that he ought
to share the compliments it is difficult to imagine, unless it was as
a kind of foster-father or nurse to the baby. He had carried the child
about, dandled and rocked him so often, that he felt he had something to
do with his specific weight!
The next day, November 12th, the sun did not appear above the horizon.
The long Polar night was beginning nine days sooner than it had done
the year before, in consequence of the difference in the latitude of
Victoria Island then and now.
The disappearance of the sun did not, however, produce any change in the
state of the atmosphere. The temperature was as changeable as ever. The
thermometer fell one day and rose the next. Rain and snow succeeded each
other. The wind was soft, and did not settle in any quarter, but often
veered round to every point of the compass in the course of a single
day. The constant damp was very unhealthy, and likely to lead to
scorbutic affections amongst the colonists, but fortunately, although
the lime juice and lime lozenges were running short, and no fresh stock
had been obtained, the scurvy-grass and sorrel had yielded a very good
crop, and, by the advice of Lieutenant Hobson, a portion of them was
eaten daily.
Every effort must, however, be made to get away from Fort Hope. Under
the circumstances, three months would scarcely be long enough for them
all to get to the nearest continent. It was impossible to risk being
overtaken by the thaw on the ice-field, and therefore if they started at
all it must be at the end of November.
The journey would have been difficult enough, even if the ice had been
rendered solid everywhere by a severe winter, and in this uncertain
weather it was a most serious matter.
On the 13th November, Hobson, Mrs Barnett, and the Sergeant met to
decide on the day of departure. The Sergeant was of opinion that they
ought to leave the island as soon as possible.
“For,” he said, “we must make allowance for all the possible
delays during a march of six hundred miles. We ought to reach the
continent before March, or we may be surprised by the thaw, and then we
shall be in a worse predicament than we are on our island.”
“But,” said Mrs Barnett, “is the sea firm enough for us to cross
it?”
“I think it is,” said Long, “and the ice gets thicker every
day. The barometer, too, is gradually rising, and by the time our
preparations are completed, which will be in about another week, I
think, I hope that the really cold weather will have set in.”
“The winter has begun very badly,” said Hobson, “in fact
everything seems to combine against us. Strange seasons have often
been experienced on these seas, I have heard of whalers being able to
navigate in places where, even in the summer at another time they would
not have had an inch of water beneath their keels. In my opinion there
is not a day to be lost, and I cannot sufficiently regret that the
ordinary temperature of these regions does not assist us.”
“It will later,” said Mrs Barnett, “and we must be ready to take
advantage of every chance in our favour. When do you propose starting,
Lieutenant?”
“At the end of November at the latest,” replied Hobson, “but if
in a week hence our preparations are finished, and the route appears
practicable, we will start then.”
“Very well,” said Long, “we will get ready without losing an
instant.”
“Then,” said Mrs Barnett, “you will now tell our companions of the
situation in which they are placed?”
“Yes, madam, the moment to speak and the time for action have alike
arrived.”
“And when do you propose enlightening them?”
“At once. Sergeant Long,” he added, turning to his subordinate, who
at once drew himself up in a military attitude, “call all your men
together in the large room to receive a communication.”
Sergeant Long touched his cap, and turning on his heel left the room
without a word.
For some minutes Mrs Barnett and Hobson were left alone, but neither of
them spoke.
The Sergeant quickly returned, and told Hobson that his orders were
executed.
The Lieutenant and the lady at once went into the large room. All
the members of the colony, men and women, were assembled in the dimly
lighted room.
Hobson came forward, and standing in the centre of the group said very
gravely--
“My friends, until to-day I have felt it my duty, in order to spare
you useless anxiety, to conceal from you the situation of our fort. An
earthquake separated us from the continent. Cape Bathurst has broken
away from the mainland. Our peninsula is but an island of ice, a
wandering island”--
At this moment Marbre stepped forward, and said quietly.
“We knew it, sir!”
CHAPTER XII. A CHANCE TO BE TRIED. The brave fellows knew it then! And
that they might not add to the cares of their chief, they had pretended
to know nothing, and had worked away at the preparations for the winter
with the same zeal as the year before.
Tears of emotion stood in Hobson’s eyes, and he made no attempt to
conceal them, but seizing Marbre’s outstretched hand, he pressed it in
his own.
Yes, the soldiers all knew it, for Marbre had guessed it long ago. The
filling of the reindeer trap with salt water, the non-arrival of
the detachment from Fort Reliance, the observations of latitude and
longitude taken every day, which would have been useless on firm ground,
the precautions observed by Hobson to prevent any one seeing him take
the bearings, the fact of the animals remaining on the island after
winter had set in, and the change in the position of the cardinal points
during the last few days, which they had noticed at once, had all been
tokens easily interpreted by the inhabitants of Fort Hope. The arrival
of Kalumah had puzzled them, but they had concluded that she had been
thrown upon the island in the storm, and they were right, as we are
aware.
Marbre, upon whom the truth had first dawned, confided his suspicions
to Mac-Nab the carpenter and Rae the blacksmith. All three faced the
situation calmly enough, and agreed that they ought to tell their
comrades and wives, but decided to let the Lieutenant think they knew
nothing, and to obey him without question as before.
“You are indeed brave fellows, my friends,” exclaimed Mrs Barnett,
who was much touched by this delicate feeling, “you are true
soldiers!”
“Our Lieutenant may depend upon us,” said Mac-Nab, “he has done
his duty, and we will do ours.”
“I know you will, dear comrades,” said Hobson, “and if only Heaven
will help and not forsake us, we will help ourselves.”
The Lieutenant then related all that had happened since the time when
the earthquake broke the isthmus, and converted the districts round Cape
Bathurst into an island. He told how, when the sea became free from ice
in the spring, the new island had been drifted more than two hundred
miles away from the coast by an unknown current, how the hurricane had
driven it back within sight of land, how it had again been carried away
in the night of the 31st August, and, lastly, how Kalumah had bravely
risked her life to come to the aid of her European friends. Then he
enumerated the changes the island had undergone, explaining how the
warmer waters had worn it away, and his fear that it might be carried
to the Pacific, or seized by the Kamtchatka Current, concluding his
narrative by stating that the wandering island had finally stopped on
the 27th of last September.
The chart of the Arctic seas was then brought, and Hobson pointed out
the position occupied by the island--six hundred miles from all land.
He ended by saying that the situation was extremely dangerous, that
the island would inevitably be crushed when the ice broke up, and that,
before having recourse to the boat--which could not be used until the
next summer--they must try to get back to the American continent by
crossing the ice-field.
“We shall have six hundred miles to go in the cold and darkness of the
Polar night. It will be hard work, my friends, but you know as well as I
do that there can be no shrinking from the task.”
“When you give the signal to start, Lieutenant, we will follow you,”
said Mac-Nab.
All being of one mind, the preparations for departure were from that
date rapidly pushed forward. The men bravely faced the fact that they
would have six hundred miles to travel under very trying circumstances.
Sergeant Long superintended the works, whilst Hobson, the two hunters,
and Mrs Barnett, often went to test the firmness of the ice-field.
Kalumah frequently accompanied them, and her remarks, founded on
experience, might possibly be of great use to the Lieutenant. Unless
they were prevented they were to start on the 20th November, and there
was not a moment to lose.
As Hobson had foreseen, the wind having risen, the temperature fell
slightly, and the column of mercury marked 24° Fahrenheit.
Snow, which soon became hardened, replaced the rain of the preceding
days. A few more days of such cold and sledges could be used. The little
bay hollowed out of the cliffs of Cape Michael was partly filled with
ice and snow; but it must not be forgotten that its calmer waters
froze more quickly than those of the open sea, which were not yet in a
satisfactory condition.
The wind continued to blow almost incessantly, and with considerable
violence, but the motion of waves interfered with the regular formation
and consolidation of the ice. Large pools of water occurred here and
there between the pieces of ice, and it was impossible to attempt to
cross it.
“The weather is certainly getting colder,” observed Mrs Barnett
to Lieutenant Hobson, as they were exploring the south of the island
together on the 10th November, “the temperature is becoming lower and
lower, and these liquid spaces will soon freeze over.”
“I think you are right, madam,” replied Hobson, “but the way in
which they will freeze over will not be very favourable to our plans.
The pieces of ice are small, and their jagged edges will stick up all
over the surface, making it very rough, so that if our sledges get over
it at all, it will only be with very great difficulty.”
“But,” resumed Mrs Barnett, “if I am not mistaken, a heavy fall of
snow, lasting a few days or even a few hours, would suffice to level the
entire surface!”
“Yes, yes,” replied Hobson, “but if snow should fall, it will be
because the temperature has risen; and if it rises, the ice-field will
break up again, so that either contingency will be against us!”
“It really would be a strange freak of fortune if we should experience
a temperate instead of an Arctic winter in the midst of the Polar
Sea!” observed Mrs Barnett.
“It has happened before, madam, it has happened before. Let me remind
you of the great severity of last cold season; now it has been noticed
that two long bitter winters seldom succeed each other, and the whalers
of the northern seas know it well. A bitter winter when we should have
been glad of a mild one, and a mild one when we so sorely need the
reverse. It must be owned, we have been strangely unfortunate thus
far! And when I think of six hundred miles to cross with women and a
child!”...
And Hobson pointed to the vast white plain, with strange irregular
markings like guipure work, stretching away into the infinite
“I know you will, dear comrades,” said Hobson, “and if only Heaven
will help and not forsake us, we will help ourselves.”
The Lieutenant then related all that had happened since the time when
the earthquake broke the isthmus, and converted the districts round Cape
Bathurst into an island. He told how, when the sea became free from ice
in the spring, the new island had been drifted more than two hundred
miles away from the coast by an unknown current, how the hurricane had
driven it luck within sight of land, how it had again been carried away
in the night of the 31st August, and, lastly, how Kalumah had bravely
risked her life to come to the aid of her European friends. Then he
enumerated the changes the island had undergone, explaining how the
warmer waters had worn it away, and his fear that it might be carried
to the Pacific, or seized by the Kamtchatka Current, concluding his
narrative by stating that the wandering island had finally stopped on
the 27th of last September.
The chart of the Arctic seas was then brought, and Hobson pointed out
the position occupied by the island--six hundred miles from all land.
He ended by saying that the situation was extremely dangerous, that
the island would inevitably be crushed when the ice broke up, and that,
before having recourse to the boat--which could not be used until the
next summer--they must try to get back to the American continent by
crossing the ice-field.
“We shall have six hundred miles to go in the cold and darkness of the
Polar night. It will be hard work, my friends but you know as well as I
do that there can be no shirking from the task” “When you give the
signal to start, Lieutenant, we will follow you,” said Mac-Nab.
All being of one mind, the preparations for departure were from that
date rapidly pushed forward. The men bravely faced the fact that they
would have six hundred miles to travel under very trying circumstances.
Sergeant Long superintended the works, whilst Hobson, the two hunters,
and Mrs Barnett, often went to test the firmness of the ice-field
Kalumah frequently accompanied them, and her remarks, founded on
experience, might possibly be of great use to the Lieutenant. Unless
they were prevented they were to start on the 20th November, and there
was not a moment to lose.
As Hobson had foreseen, the wind having risen, the temperature fell
slightly, and the column of mercury marked 24° Fahrenheit.
Snow, which soon became hardened, replaced the rain of the preceding
days. A few more days of such cold and sledges could be used The little
bay hollowed out of the cliffs of Cape Michael was partly filled with
ice and snow, but it must not be forgotten that its calmer waters
froze more quickly than those of the open sea, which were not yet in a
satisfactory condition.
The wind continued to blow almost incessantly, and with considerable
violence, but the motion of waves interfered with the regular formation
and consolidation of the ice. Large pools of water occurred here and
there between the pieces of ice, and it was impossible to attempt to
cross it.
“The weather is certainly getting colder,” observed Mrs Barnett
to Lieutenant Hobson, as they were exploring the south of the island
together on the 10th November, “the temperature is becoming lower and
lower, and these liquid spaces will soon freeze over.”
“I think you are right, madam,” replied Hobson, “but the way in
which they will freeze over will not be very favourable to our plans.
The pieces of ice are small, and their jagged edges will stick up all
over the surface, making it very rough, so that if our sledges get over
it at all, it will only be with very great difficulty.”
“But,” resumed Mrs Barnett, “if I am not mistaken, a heavy fall of
snow, lasting a few days or even a few hours, would suffice to level the
entire surface!”
“Yes, yes,” replied Hobson, “but if snow should fall, it will be
because the temperature has risen; and if it rises, the ice-field will
break up again, so that either contingency will be against us!”
“It really would be a strange freak of fortune if we should experience
a temperate instead of an Arctic winter in the midst of the Polar
Sea!” observed Mrs Barnett.
“It has happened before, madam, it has happened before. Let me remind
you of the great severity of last cold season; now it has been noticed
that two long bitter winters seldom succeed each other, and the whalers
of the northern seas know it well. A bitter winter when we should have
been glad of a mild one, and a mild one when we so sorely need the
reverse. It must be owned, we have been strangely unfortunate thus
far! And when I think of six hundred miles to cross with women and a
child!”...
And Hobson pointed to the vast white plain, with strange irregular
markings like guipure work, stretching away into the infinite distance.
Sad and desolate enough it looked, the imperfectly frozen surface
cracking every now and then with an ominous sound. A pale moon, its
light half quenched in the damp mists, rose but a few degrees above the
gloomy horizon and shot a few faint beams upon the melancholy scene.
The half-darkness and the refraction combined doubled the size of every
object. Icebergs of moderate height assumed gigantic proportions, and
were in some cases distorted into the forms of fabulous monsters. Birds
passed overhead with loud flapping of wings, and in consequence of this
optical illusion the smallest of them appeared as large as a condor or
a vulture. In the midst of the icebergs yawned apparently huge black
tunnels, into which the boldest man would scarcely dare to venture, and
now and then sudden convulsions took place, as the icebergs, worn away
at the base, heeled over with a crash, the sonorous echoes taking up
the sounds and carrying them along. The rapid changes resembled the
transformation scenes of fairyland, and terrible indeed must all those
phenomena have appeared to the luckless colonists who were about to
venture across the ice-field!
In spite of her moral and physical courage Mrs Barnett could not control
an involuntary shudder. Soul and body alike shrunk from the awful
prospect, and she was tempted to shut her eyes and stop her ears that
she might see and hear no more. When the moon was for a moment veiled
behind a heavy cloud, the gloom of the Polar landscape became still more
awe-inspiring, and before her mind’s eye rose a vision of the caravan
of men and women struggling across these vast solitudes in the midst of
hurricanes, snow-storms, avalanches, and in the thick darkness of the
Arctic night!
Mrs Barnett, however, forced herself to look; she wished to accustom
her eyes to these scenes, and to teach herself not to shrink from facing
their terrors. But as she gazed a cry suddenly burst from her lips, and
seizing Hobson’s hand, she pointed to a huge object, of ill-defined
dimensions, moving about in the uncertain light, scarcely a hundred
paces from where they stood.
It was a white monster of immense size, more than a hundred feet high.
It was pacing slowly along over the broken ice, bounding from one piece
to another, and beating the air with its huge feet, between which it
could have held ten large dogs at least. It, too, seemed to be seeking
a practicable path across the ice--it, too, seemed anxious to fly from
the doomed island. The ice gave way beneath its weight, and it had often
considerable difficulty in regaining its feet.
The monster made its way thus for about a quarter of a mile across the
ice, and then, its farther progress being barred, it turned round and
advanced towards the spot where Mrs Barnett and the Lieutenant stood.
Hobson seized the gun which was slung over his shoulder and presented
it at the animal, but almost immediately lowering the weapon, he said to
Mrs Barnett--
“A bear, madam, only a bear, the size of which has been greatly
magnified by refraction.”
It was, in fact, a Polar bear, and Mrs Barnett drew a long breath of
relief as she understood the optical illusion of which she had been the
victim. Then an idea struck her.
“It is my bear!” she exclaimed, “the bear with the devotion of a
Newfoundland dog! Probably the only one still on the island. But what is
he doing here?”
“He is trying to get away,” replied Hobson, shaking his head. “He
is trying to escape from this doomed island, and he cannot do so! He is
proving to us that we cannot pass where he has had to turn back!”
Hobson was right, the imprisoned animal had tried to leave the island
and to get to the continent, and having failed it was returning to the
coast. Shaking its head and growling, it passed some twenty paces from
the two watchers, and, either not seeing them or disdaining to take
any notice of them, it walked heavily on towards Cape Michael, and soon
disappeared behind the rising ground.
Lieutenant Hobson and Mrs Barnett returned sadly and silently to the
fort.
The preparations for departure went on as rapidly, however, as if it
were possible to leave the island. Nothing was neglected to promote the
success of the undertaking, every possible danger had to be foreseen,
and not only had the ordinary difficulties and dangers of a journey
across the ice to be allowed for, but also the sudden changes of weather
peculiar to the Polar regions, which so obstinately resist every attempt
to explore them.
The teams of dogs required special attention. They were allowed to run
about near the fort, that they might regain the activity of which too
long a rest had, to some extent, deprived them, and they were soon in a
condition to make a long march.
The sledges were carefully examined and repaired. The rough surface
of the ice-field would give them many violent shocks, and they were
therefore thoroughly overhauled by Mac-Nab and his men, the inner
framework and the curved fronts being carefully repaired and
strengthened.
Two large waggon sledges were built, one for the transport of
provisions, the other for the peltries. These were to be drawn by
the tamed reindeer, which had been well trained for the service. The
peltries or furs were articles of luxury with which it was not perhaps
quite prudent to burden the travellers, but Hobson was anxious to
consider the interests of the Company as much as possible, although he
was resolved to abandon them, en route, if they harassed or impeded his
march. No fresh risk was run of injury of the furs, for of course they
would have been lost if left at the factory.
It was of course quite another matter with the provisions, of which a
good and plentiful supply was absolutely necessary. It was of no use to
count on the product of the chase this time. As soon as the passage of
the ice-field became practicable, all the edible game would get on
ahead and reach the mainland before the caravan. One waggon sledge was
therefore packed with salt meat, corned beef, hare patès, dried fish,
biscuits--the stock of which was unfortunately getting low--and an
ample reserve of sorrel, scurvy-grass, rum, spirits of wine, for making
warm drinks, &c. &c. Hobson would have been glad to take some fuel
with him, as he would not meet with a tree, a shrub, or a bit of moss
throughout the march of six hundred miles, nor could he hope for pieces
of wreck or timber cast up by the sea, but he did not dare to overload
his sledges with wood. Fortunately there was no lack of warm comfortable
garments, and in case of need they could draw upon the reserve of
peltries in the waggon.
Thomas Black, who since his misfortune had altogether retired from
the world, shunning his companions, taking part in none of the
consultations, and remaining shut up in his own room, reappeared as soon
as the day of departure was definitely fixed. But even then he
attended to nothing but the sledge which was to carry his person,
his instruments, and his registers. Always very silent, it was now
impossible to get a word out of him. He had forgotten everything, even
that he was a scientific man, and since he had been deceived about the
eclipse, since the solution of the problem of the red prominences of
the moon had escaped him, he had taken no notice of any of the peculiar
phenomena of the high latitudes, such as the Aurora Borealis, halos,
parhelia, &c.
During the last few days every one worked so hard that all was ready for
the start on the morning of the 18th November.
But, alas! the ice-field was still impassable. Although the thermometer
had fallen slightly, the cold had not been severe enough to freeze the
surface of the sea, with any uniformity, and the snow which fell was
fine and intermittent. Hobson, Marbre, and Sabine went along the coast
every day from Cape Michael to what was once the corner of the old
Walruses’ Bay. They even ventured out about a mile and a half upon
the ice-field, but were compelled to admit that it was broken by
rents, crevasses, and fissures in every direction. Not only would it be
impossible for sledges to cross it, it was dangerous for unencumbered
pedestrians. Hobson and his two men underwent the greatest fatigue in
these short excursions, and more than once they ran a risk of being
unable to get back to Victoria Island across the ever-changing,
ever-moving blocks of ice.
Really all nature seemed to be in league against the luckless colonists.
On the 18th and 19th November, the thermometer rose, whilst the
barometer fell. Fatal results were to be feared from this change in
the state of the atmosphere. Whilst the cold decreased the sky became
covered with clouds, which presently resolved themselves into heavy rain
instead of the sadly-needed snow, the column of mercury standing at 34°
Fahrenheit. These showers of comparatively warm water melted the snow
and ice in many places, and the result can easily be imagined. It
really seemed as if a thaw were setting in, and there were symptoms of a
general breaking up of the ice-field. In spite of the dreadful weather,
however, Hobson went to the south of the island every day, and every day
returned more disheartened than before.
On the 20th, a tempest resembling in violence that of the month before,
broke upon the gloomy Arctic solitudes, compelling the colonists to give
up going out, and to remain shut up in Fort Hope for two days.
CHAPTER XIII. ACROSS THE ICE-FIELD. At last, on the 22d of November, the
weather moderated. In a few hours the storm suddenly ceased. The wind
veered round to the north, and the thermometer fell several degrees. A
few birds capable of a long-sustained flight took wing and disappeared.
There really seemed to be a likelihood that the temperature was at last
going to become what it ought to be at this time of the year in such an
elevated latitude. The colonists might well regret that it was not now
what it had been during the last cold season, when the column of mercury
fell to 72° Fahrenheit below zero.
Hobson determined no longer to delay leaving Victoria Island, and on the
morning of the 22d the whole of the little colony was ready to leave the
island, which was now firmly welded to the ice-field, and by its means
connected with the American continent, six hundred miles away.
At half-past eleven A.M., Hobson gave the signal of departure. The sky
was grey but clear, and lighted up from the horizon to the zenith by a
magnificent Aurora Borealis. The dogs were harnessed to the sledges,
and three couple of reindeer to the waggon sledges. Silently they
wended their way towards Cape Michael, where they would quit the island,
properly so called, for the ice-field.
The caravan at first skirted along the wooded hill on the east of Lake
Barnett, but as they were rounding the coiner all paused to look round
for the last time at Cape Bathurst, which they were leaving never to
return. A few snow-encrusted rafters stood out in the light of the
Aurora Borealis, a few white lines marked the boundaries of the enceinte
of the factory, a--white mass here and there, a few blue wreaths of
smoke from the expiring fire never to be rekindled; this was all that
could be seen of Fort Hope, now useless and deserted, but erected at the
cost of so much labour and so much anxiety.
“Farewell, farewell, to our poor Arctic home!” exclaimed Mrs.
Barnett, waving her hand for the last time; and all sadly and silently
resumed their journey.
At one o’clock the detachment arrived at Cape Michael, after having
rounded the gulf which the cold had imperfectly frozen over. Thus far
the difficulties of the journey had not been very great, for the ground
of the island was smooth compared to the ice-field, which was strewn
with icebergs, hummocks, and packs, between which, practicable passes
had to be found at the cost of an immense amount of fatigue.
Towards the evening of the same day the party had advanced several miles
on the ice-field, and a halt for the night was ordered; the encampment
was to be formed by hollowing out snow-houses in the Esquimaux style.
The work was quickly accomplished with the ice-chisels, and at eight
o’clock, after a salt meat supper, every one had crept into the holes,
which are much warmer than anybody would imagine.
Before retiring, however, Mrs. Barnett asked the Lieutenant how far he
thought they had come.
“Not more than ten miles, I think,” replied Hobson.
“Ten from six hundred!” exclaimed Mrs Barnett. “At this rate, it
will take us three months to get to the American continent!”
“Perhaps more, madam,” replied Hobson, “for we shall not be able
to get on faster than this. We are not travelling as we were last year
over the frozen plains between Fort Reliance and Cape Bathurst; but on a
distorted ice-field crushed by the pressure of the icebergs across which
there is no easy route. I expect to meet with almost insurmountable
difficulties on the way; may we be able to conquer them! It is not of
so much importance, however, to march quickly as to preserve our health,
and I shall indeed think myself fortunate if all my comrades answer to
their names in the roll-call on our arrival at Fort Reliance. Heaven
grant we may have all landed at some point, no matter where, of the
American continent in three months’ time; if so, we shall never be
able to return thanks enough.”
The night passed without incident; but during the long vigil which he
kept, Hobson fancied he noticed certain ill-omened tremblings on the
spot he had chosen for his encampment, and could not but fear that the
vast ice-field was insufficiently cemented, and that there would be
numerous rents in the surface which would greatly impede his progress,
and render communication with firm ground very uncertain. Moreover,
before he started, he had observed that none of the animals had left
the vicinity of the fort, and they would certainly have sought a warmer
climate had not their instinct warned them of obstacles in their way.
Yet the Lieutenant felt that he had only done his duty in making this
attempt to restore his little colony to an inhabited land, before the
setting in of the thaw, and whether he succeeded or had to turn back he
would have no reason to reproach himself.
The next day, November 23d, the detachment could not even advance ten
miles towards the east, so great were the difficulties met with. The
ice-field was fearfully distorted, and here and there many layers of ice
were piled one upon another, doubtless driven along by the irresistible
force of the ice-wall into the vast funnel of the Arctic Ocean. Hence
a confusion of masses of ice, which looked as if they had been suddenly
dropped by a hand incapable of holding them, and strewn about in every
direction.
It was clear that a caravan of sledges, drawn by dogs and reindeer,
could not possibly get over these blocks; and it was equally clear that
a path could not be cut through them with the hatchet or ice-chisel.
Some of the icebergs assumed extraordinary forms, and there were groups
which looked like towns falling into ruins. Some towered three or four
hundred feet above the level of the ice-field, and were capped with
tottering masses of debris, which the slightest shake or shock or gust
of wind would bring down in avalanches.
The greatest precautions were, therefore, necessary in rounding these
ice-mountains, and orders were given not to speak above a whisper, and
not to excite the dogs by cracking the whips in these dangerous passes.
But an immense amount of time was lost in looking for practicable
passages, and the travellers were worn out with fatigue, often going
ten miles round before they could advance one in the required direction
towards the east. The only comfort was that the ground still remained
firm beneath their feet.
On the 24th November, however, fresh obstacles arose, which Hobson
really feared, with considerable reason, would be insurmountable.
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