After getting over one wall of ice which rose some twenty miles from
Victoria Island, the party found themselves on a much less undulating
ice-field, the different portions of which had evidently not been
subjected to any great pressure. It was clear that in consequence of the
direction of the currents the influence of the masses of permanent ice
in the north had not here been felt, and Hobson and his comrades soon
found that this ice-field was intersected with wide and deep crevasses
not yet frozen over. The temperature here was comparatively warm, and
the thermometer maintained a mean height of more than 34° Fahrenheit.
Salt water, as is well known, does not freeze so readily as fresh, but
requires several degrees of cold below freezing point before it becomes
solidified, and the sea was therefore still liquid. All the icebergs
and floes here had come from latitudes farther north, and, if we may so
express it, lived upon the cold they had brought with them. The whole
of the southern portion of the Arctic Ocean was most imperfectly frozen,
and a warm rain was falling, which hastened the dissolution of what ice
there was.
On the 24th November the advance of the travellers was absolutely
arrested by a crevasse full of rough water strewn with small icicles--a
crevasse not more than a hundred feet wide, it is true, but probably
many miles long.
For two whole hours the party skirted along the western edge of this
gap, in the hope of coming to the end of it and getting to the other
side, so as to resume their march to the east, but it was all in vain,
they were obliged to give it up and encamp on the wrong side.
Hobson and Long, however, proceeded for another quarter of a mile along
the interminable crevasse, mentally cursing the mildness of the winter
which had brought them into such a strait.
“We must pass somehow,” said Long, “for we can’t stay where we
are.”
“Yes, yes,” replied the Lieutenant, “and we shall pass it, either
by going up to the north, or down to the south, it must end somewhere.
But after we have got round this we shall come to others, and so it will
go on perhaps for hundred of miles, as long as this uncertain and most
unfortunate weather continues!”
“Well, Lieutenant, we must ascertain the truth once for all before we
resume our journey,” said the Sergeant.
“We must indeed, Sergeant,” replied Hobson firmly, “or we shall
run a risk of not having crossed half the distance between us and
America after travelling five or six hundred miles out of our way.
Yes, before going farther, I must make quite sure of the state of the
ice-field, and that is what I am about to do.”
And without another word Hobson stripped himself, plunged into the
half-frozen water, and being a powerful swimmer a few strokes soon
brought him to the other side of the crevasse, when he disappeared
amongst the icebergs.
A few hours later the Lieutenant reached the encampment, to which Long
had already returned, in an exhausted condition. He took Mrs Barnett and
the Sergeant aside, and told them that the ice-field was impracticable,
adding--
“Perhaps one man on foot without a sledge or any encumbrances might
get across, but for a caravan it is impossible. The crevasses increase
towards the east, and a boat would really be of more use than a sledge
if we wish to reach the American coast”
“Well,” said Long, “if one man could cross, ought not one of us to
attempt it, and go and seek assistance for the rest.”
“I thought of trying it myself,” replied Hobson.
“You, Lieutenant!”
“You, sir!” cried Mrs Barnett and Long in one breath.
These two exclamations showed Hobson how unexpected and inopportune his
proposal appeared. How could he, the chief of the expedition, think of
deserting those confided to him, even although it was in their
interests and at great risk to himself. It was quite impossible, and the
Lieutenant did not insist upon it.
“Yes,” he said, “I understand how it appears to you, my friends,
and I will not abandon you. It would, indeed, be quite useless for any
one to attempt the passage; he would not succeed, he would fall by the
way, and find a watery grave when the thaw sets in. And even suppose he
reached New Archangel, how could he come to our rescue? Would he charter
a vessel to seek for us? Suppose he did, it could not start until after
the thaw. And who can tell where the currents will then have taken
Victoria Island, either yet farther north or to the Behring Sea!
“Yes, Lieutenant, you are right,” replied Long; “let us remain
together, and if we are to be saved in a boat, there is Mac-Nab’s on
Victoria Island, and for it at least we shall not have to wait!”
Mrs Barnett had listened without saying a word, but she understood that
the ice-field being impassible. they had now nothing to depend on but
the carpenter’s boat, and that they would have to wait bravely for the
thaw.
“What are you going to do, then?” she inquired at last.
“Return to Victoria Island.”
“Let us return then, and God be with us!”
The rest of the travellers had now gathered round the Lieutenant, and he
laid his plans before them.
At first all were disposed to rebel, the poor creatures had been
counting on getting back to their homes, and felt absolutely crushed at
the disappointment, but they soon recovered their dejection and declared
themselves ready to obey.
Hobson then told them the results of the examination he had just made.
They learnt that the obstacles in their way on the east were so numerous
that it would be absolutely impossible to pass with the sledges and
their contents, and as the journey would last several months, the
provisions, &c., could not be dispensed with.
“We are now,” added the Lieutenant, “cut off from all
communication with the mainland, and by going farther towards the east
we run a risk, after enduring great fatigues, of finding it impossible
to get back to the island, now our only refuge. If the thaw should
overtake us on the ice-field, we are lost. I have not disguised nor have
I exaggerated the truth, and I know, my friends, that I am speaking to
men who have found that I am not a man to turn back from difficulties.
But I repeat, the task we have set ourselves is impossible!”
The men trusted their chief implicitly. They knew his courage and
energy, and felt as they listened to his words that it was indeed
impossible to cross the ice. It was decided to start on the return
journey to Fort Hope the next day, and it was accomplished under most
distressing circumstances. The weather was dreadful, squalls swept down
upon the ice-field, and rain fell in torrents. The difficulty of finding
the way in the darkness through the labyrinth of icebergs can well be
imagined!
It took no less than four days and four nights to get back to the
island. Several teams of dogs with their sledges fell into the
crevasses, but thanks to Hobson’s skill, prudence, and devotion, he
lost not one of his party. But what terrible dangers and fatigues they
had to go through, and how awful was the prospect of another winter on
the wandering island to the unfortunate colonists!
CHAPTER XIV. THE WINTER MONTHS. The party did not arrive at Fort Hope
until the 28th, after a most arduous journey. They had now nothing to
depend on but the boat, and that they could not use until the sea was
open, which would not be for six months.
Preparations for another winter were therefore made. The sledges were
unloaded, the provisions put back in the pantry, and the clothes, arms,
furs, &c., in the magazines. The dogs returned to their dog-house, and
the reindeer to their stable.
Great was the despair of Thomas Black at this return to seclusion. The
poor astronomer carried his instruments, his books, and his MSS. back to
his room, and more angry than ever with “the evil fate which pursued
him,” he held himself aloof from everything which went on in the
factory.
All were again settled at their usual winter avocations the day after
their arrival, and the monotonous winter life once more commenced.
Needlework, mending the clothes, taking care of the furs, some of which
might yet be saved, the observation of the weather, the examination
of the ice-field, and reading aloud, were the daily occupations. Mrs
Barnett was, as before, the leader in everything, and her influence was
everywhere felt. If, as sometimes happened, now that all were uneasy
about the future, a slight disagreement occurred between any of the
soldiers, a few words from Mrs Barnett soon set matters straight, for
she had acquired wonderful power over the little world in which she
moved, and she always used it for the good of the community.
Kalumah had become a great favourite with everybody, for she was always
pleasant and obliging. Mrs Barnett had undertaken her education, and
she got on quickly, for she was both intelligent and eager to learn. She
improved her English speaking, and also taught her to read and write
in that language. There were, however, twelve masters for Kalumah, all
eager to assist in this branch of her education, as the soldiers had
all been taught reading, writing, and arithmetic either in England or in
English colonies.
The building of the boat proceeded rapidly, and it was to be planked and
decked before the end of the month. Mac-Nab and some of his men worked
hard in the darkness outside, with no light but the flames of burning
resin, whilst others were busy making the rigging in the magazines of
the factory. Although the season was now far advanced, the weather still
remained very undecided. The cold was sometimes intense, but owing to
the prevalence of west winds it never lasted long.
Thus passed the whole of December, rain and intermittent falls of snow
succeeded each other, the temperature meanwhile varying from 26° to
34° Fahrenheit. The consumption of fuel was moderate, although there
was no need to economise it, the reserves being considerable. It was
otherwise with the oil, upon which they depended for light, for the
stock was getting so low that the Lieutenant could at last only allow
the lamps to be lit for a few hours every day. He tried using reindeer
fat for lighting the house, but the smell of it was so unbearable that
every one preferred being in the dark. All work had of course to be
given up for the time, and very tedious did the long dark hours appear.
Some Auroræ Borealis and two or three lunar halos appeared at full
moon, and Thomas Black might now have minutely observed all these
phenomenon, and have made precise calculations on their intensity, their
coloration, connection with the electric state of the atmosphere, and
their influence upon the magnetic needle, &c. But the astronomer did not
even leave his room. His spirit was completely crushed.
On the 30th December the light of the moon revealed a long circular line
of icebergs shutting in the horizon on the north and east of Victoria
Island. This was the ice-wall, the frozen masses of which were piled up
to a height of some three or four hundred feet. Two-thirds of the island
were hemmed in by this mighty barrier, and it seemed probable that the
blockade would become yet more complete.
The sky was clear for the first week of January. The new year, 1861,
opened with very cold weather, and the column of mercury fell to 8°
Fahrenheit. It was the lowest temperature that had yet been experienced
in this singular winter, although it was anything but low for such a
high latitude.
The Lieutenant felt it his duty once more to take the latitude and
longitude of the island by means of stellar observations, and found that
its position had not changed at all.
About this time, in spite of all their economy, the oil seemed likely to
fail altogether. The sun would not appear above the horizon before early
in February, so that there was a month to wait, during which there was a
danger of the colonists having to remain in complete darkness. Thanks
to the young Esquimaux, however, a fresh supply of oil for the lamps was
obtained.
On the 3rd January Kalumah walked to Cape Bathurst to examine the state
of the ice. All along the south of the island the ice-field was very
compact, the icicles of which it was composed were more firmly welded
together, there were no liquid spaces between them, and the surface of
the floe, though rough, was perfectly firm everywhere. This was no doubt
caused by the pressure of the chain of icebergs on the horizon, which
drove the ice towards the north, and squeezed it against the island.
Although she saw no crevasses or rents, the young native noticed
many circular holes neatly cut in the ice, the use of which she knew
perfectly well. They were the holes kept open by seals imprisoned
beneath the solid crust of ice, and by which they came to the surface to
breathe and look for mosses under the snow on the coast.
Kalumah knew that in the winter bears will crouch patiently near these
holes, and watching for the moment when the seal comes out of the water,
they rush upon it, hug it to death in their paws, and carry it off. She
knew, too, that the Esquimaux, not less patient than the bears, also
watch for the appearance of these animals, and throwing a running noose
over their heads when they push them up, drag them to the surface.
What bears and Esquimaux could do might certainly also be done by
skilful hunters, and Kalumah hastened back to the fort to tell the
Lieutenant of what she had seen, feeling sure that where these holes
were seals were not far off.
Hobson sent for the hunters, and the young native described to them
the way in which the Esquimaux capture these animals in the winter, and
begged them to try.
She had not finished speaking before Sabine had a strong rope with a
running noose ready in his hand and accompanied by Hobson, Mrs Barnett,
Kalumah, and two or three soldiers, the hunters hurried to Cape
Bathurst, and whilst the women remained on the beach, the men made their
way to the holes pointed out by Kalumah. Each one was provided with a
rope, and stationed himself at a different hole.
A long time of waiting ensued--no sign of the seals, but at last the
water in the hole Marbre had chosen began to bubble, and a head with
long tusks appeared. It was that of a walrus. Marbre flung his running
noose skilfully over its neck and pulled it tightly. His comrades rushed
to his assistance, and with some difficulty the huge beast was dragged
upon the ice, and despatched with hatchets.
It was a great success, and the colonists were delighted with this novel
fishing. Other walruses were taken in the same way, and furnished plenty
of oil, which, though not strictly of the right sort, did very well for
the lamps, and there was no longer any lack of light in any of the rooms
of Fort Hope.
The cold was even now not very severe, and had the colonists been on the
American mainland they could only have rejoiced in the mildness of the
winter. They were sheltered by the chain of icebergs from the north
and west winds, and the month of January passed on with the thermometer
never many degrees below freezing point, so that the sea round Victoria
Island was never frozen hard. Fissures of more or less extent broke the
regularity of the surface in the offing, as was proved by the continued
presence of the ruminants and furred animals near the factory, all of
which had become strangely tame, forming in fact part of the menagerie
of the colony.
According to Hobson’s orders, all these creatures were unmolested.
It would have been useless to kill them, and a reindeer was only
occasionally slaughtered to obtain a fresh supply of venison. Some of
the furred animals even ventured into the enceinte, and they were not
driven away. The martens and foxes were in all the splendour of their
winter clothing, and under ordinary circumstances would have been of
immense value. These rodents found plenty of moss under the snow, thanks
to the mildness of the season, and did not therefore live upon the
reserves of the factory.
It was with some apprehensions for the future that the end of the
winter was awaited, but Mrs Barnett did all in her power to brighten the
monotonous existence of her companions in exile.
Only one incident occurred in the month of January, and that one was
distressing enough. On the 7th, Michael Mac-Nab was taken ill--severe
headache, great thirst and alternations of shivering and fever, soon
reduced the poor little fellow to a sad state. His mother and father,
and indeed all his friends, were in very great trouble. No one knew what
to do, as it was impossible to say what his illness was, but Madge, who
retained her senses about her, advised cooling drinks and poultices.
Kalumah was indefatigable, remaining day and night by her favourite’s
bedside, and refusing to take any rest.
About the third day there was no longer any doubt as to the nature of
the malady. A rash came out all over the child’s body, and it was
evident that he had malignant scarlatina, which would certainly produce
internal inflammation.
Children of a year old are rarely attacked with this terrible disease,
but cases do occasionally occur. The medicine-chest of the factory was
necessarily insufficiently stocked, but Madge, who had nursed several
patients through scarlet lever, remembered that tincture of belladonna
was recommended, and administered one or two drops to the little invalid
every day. The greatest care was taken lest he should catch cold; he
was at once removed to his parents’ room, and the rash soon came out
freely. Tiny red points appeared on his tongue, his lips, and even on
the globes of his eyes. Two days later his skin assumed a violet hue,
then it became white and fell off in scales.
It was now that double care was required to combat the great internal
inflammation, which proved the severity of the attack, Nothing was
neglected, the boy was, in fact, admirably nursed, and on the 20th
January, twelve days after he was taken ill, he was pronounced out of
danger.
Great was the joy in the factory. The baby was the child of the fort,
of the regiment! He was born in the terrible northern latitudes, in the
colony itself, he had been named Michael Hope, and he had come to be
regarded as a kind of talisman in the dangers and difficulties around,
and all felt sure that God would not take him from them.
Poor Kalumah would certainly not have survived him had he died, but
he gradually recovered, and fresh hope seemed to come back when he was
restored to the little circle.
The 23d of January was now reached, after all these distressing
alternations of hope and fear. The situation of Victoria Island had
not changed in the least, and it was still wrapped in the gloom of the
apparently interminable Polar night. Snow fell abundantly for some days,
and was piled up on the ground to the height of two feet.
On the 27th a somewhat alarming visit was received at the fort. The
soldiers Belcher and Pond, when on guard in front of the enceinte in
the morning, saw a huge bear quietly advancing towards the fort. They
hurried into the large room, and told Mrs Barnett of the approach of the
formidable carnivorous beast.
“Perhaps it is only our bear again,” observed Mrs Barnett to Hobson,
and accompanied by him, and followed by the Sergeant, Sabine, and some
soldiers provided with guns,--he fearlessly walked to the postern.
The bear was now about two hundred paces off, and was walking along
without hesitation, as if he had some settled plan in view.
“I know him!” cried Mrs Barnett, “it is your bear, Kalumah, your
preserver!”
“Oh, don’t kill my bear!” exclaimed the young Esquimaux.
“He shall not be killed,” said the Lieutenant, “don’t injure
him, my good fellows,” he added to the men, “he will probably return
as he came.”
“But suppose he intends coming into the enceinte?” said Long, who
had his doubts as to the friendly propensities of Polar bears.
“Let him come, Sergeant,” said Mrs Barnett, “he is a prisoner like
ourselves, and you know prisoners”--
“Don’t eat each other,” added Hobson. “True, but only when they
belong to the same species For your sake, however, we will spare this
fellow-sufferer, and only defend ourselves if he attack us. I think,
however, it will be as prudent to go back to the House. We must not put
too strong a temptation in the way of our carnivorous friend!”
This was certainly good advice, and all returned to the large room, the
windows were closed, but not the shutters.
Through the panes the movements of the visitor were watched. The bear,
finding the postern unfastened, quietly pushed open the door, looked
in, carefully examined the premises, and finally entered the enceinte.
Having reached the centre, he examined the buildings around him, went
towards the reindeer stable and dog-house, listened for a moment to the
howlings of the dogs and the uneasy noises made by the reindeer, then
continued his walk round the palisade, and at last came and leant his
great head against one of the windows of the large room.
To own the truth everybody started back, several of the soldiers seized
their guns, and Sergeant Long began to fear he had let the joke go too
far.
But Kalumah came forward, and looked through the thin partition with her
sweet eyes. The bear seemed to recognise her, at least so she thought,
and doubtless satisfied with his inspection, he gave a hearty growl, and
turning away left the enceinte, as Hobson had prophesied, as he entered
it.
This was the bear’s first and last visit to the fort, and on his
departure everything went on as quietly as before.
The little boy’s recovery progressed favourably, and at the end of the
month he was as rosy and as bright as ever.
At noon on the 3rd of February, the northern horizon was touched with
a faint glimmer of light which did not fade away for an hour, and the
yellow disc of the sun appeared for an instant for the first time since
the commencement of the long Polar night.
CHAPTER XV. THE LAST EXPLORING EXPEDITION. From this date, February
3rd, the sun rose each day higher above the horizon, the nights were,
however, still very long, and, as is often the case in February, the
cold increased, the thermometer marking only 1º Fahrenheit, the lowest
temperature experienced throughout this extraordinary winter.
“When does the thaw commence in these northern seas?” inquired Mrs
Barnett of the Lieutenant.
“In ordinary seasons,” replied Hobson, “the ice does not break up
until early in May; but the winter has been so mild that unless a very
hard frost should now set in, the thaw may commence at the beginning of
April. At least that is my opinion.” “We shall still have two months
to wait then?”
“Yes, two months, for it would not be prudent to launch our boat too
soon amongst the floating ice; and I think our best plan will be to wait
until our island has reached the narrowest part of Behring Strait, which
is not more than two hundred miles wide.”
“What do you mean?” exclaimed Mrs Barnett, considerably surprised
at the Lieutenant’s reply. “Have you forgotten that it was the
Kamtchatka Current which brought us where we now are, and which may
seize us again when the thaw sets in and carry us yet farther north?”
“I do not think it will, madam; indeed I feel quite sure that that
will not happen. The thaw always takes place in from north to south, and
although the Kamtchatka Current runs the other way, the ice always goes
down the Behring Current. Other reasons there are for my opinion which
I cannot now enumerate. But the icebergs invariably drift towards the
Pacific, and are there melted by its warmer waters. Ask Kalumah if I am
not right. She knows these latitudes well, and will tell you that the
thaw always proceeds from the north to the south.”
Kalumah when questioned confirmed all that the Lieutenant had said, so
that it appeared probable that the island would be drifted to the south
like a huge ice-floe, that is to say, to the narrowest part of Behring
Strait, which is much frequented in the summer by the fishermen of New
Archangel, who are the most experienced mariners of those waters.
Making allowance for all delays they might then hope to set foot on the
continent before May, and although the cold had not been very intense
there was every reason to believe that the foundations of Victoria
Island had been thickened and strengthened by a fresh accumulation of
ice at the base, and that it would hold together for several months to
come.
There was then nothing for the colonists to do but to wait
patiently,--still to wait!
The convalescence of little Michael continued to progress favourably. On
the 20th of February he went out for the first time, forty days after
he was taken ill. By this we mean that he went from his bedroom into the
large room, where he was petted and made much of. His mother, acting by
Madge’s advice, put off weaning him for some little time, and he soon
got back his strength. The soldiers had made many little toys for him
during his illness, and he was now as happy as any child in the wide
world.
The last week of February was very wet, rain and snow falling
alternately. A strong wind blew from the north-west, and the temperature
was low enough for large quantities of snow to fall; the gale, however,
increased in violence, and on the side of Cape Bathurst and the chain
of icebergs the noise of the tempest was deafening. The huge ice-masses
were flung against each other, and fell with a roar like that of
thunder. The ice on the north was compressed and piled up on the
shores of the island. There really seemed to be a danger that the cape
itself-which was but a kind of iceberg capped with earth and sand-would
be flung down.
Some large pieces of ice, in spite of their weight, were driven to the
very foot of the palisaded enceinte; but fortunately for the factory
the cape retained its position; had it given way all the buildings must
inevitably have been crushed beneath it.
It will be easily understood that the position of Victoria Island, at
the opening of a narrow strait about which the ice accumulated in large
quantities, was extremely perilous, for it might at any time be swept by
a horizontal avalanche, or crushed beneath the huge blocks of ice driven
inland from the offing, and so become engulfed before the thaw. This
was a new danger to be added to all the others already threatening the
little band. Mrs Barnett, seeing the awful power of the pressure in the
offing, and the violence with which the moving masses of ice crushed
upon each other, realised the full magnitude of the peril they would
all be in when the thaw commenced. She often mentioned her fears to the
Lieutenant, and he shook his head like a man who had no reply to make.
Early in March the squall ceased, and the full extent of the
transformation of the ice-field was revealed. It seemed as if by a kind
of glissade the chain of icebergs had drawn nearer to the island. In
some parts it was not two miles distant, and it advanced like a glacier
on the move, with the difference that the latter has a descending
and the ice-wall a horizontal motion. Between the lofty chain of
ice-mountains the ice-field was fearfully distorted: strewn with
hummocks, broken obelisks, shattered blocks, overturned pyramids, it
resembled a tempest-tossed sea or a ruined town, in which not a building
or a monument had remained standing, and above it all the mighty
icebergs reared their snowy crests, standing out against the sky with
their pointed peaks, their rugged cones, and solid buttresses, forming a
fitting frame for the weird fantastic landscape at their feet.
At this date the little vessel was quite finished. This boat was rather
heavy in shape, as might have been expected, but she did credit to
Mac-Nab, and shaped as she was like a barge at the bows, she ought the
better to withstand the shocks of the floating ice. She might have
been taken for one of those Dutch boats which venture upon the northern
waters. Her rig, which was completed, consisted, like that of a cutter,
of a mainsail and a jib carried on a single mast. The tent canvass of
the factory had been made use of for sailcloth.
This boat would carry the whole colony, and if, as the Lieutenant hoped,
the island were drifted to Behring Strait, the vessel would easily make
her way to land, even from the widest part of the passage. There was
then nothing to be done but wait for the thaw.
Hobson now decided to make a long excursion to the south to ascertain
the state of the ice-field, to see whether there were any signs of its
breaking up, to examine the chain of icebergs by which it was hemmed in,
to make sure, in short, whether it would really be useless to attempt to
cross to the American continent. Many incidents might occur, many fresh
dangers might arise before the thaw, and it would therefore be but
prudent to make a reconnaissance on the ice-field.
The expedition was organised and the start fixed for March 7th. Hobson,
Mrs Barnett, Kalumah, Marbre, and Sabine were to go, and, if the route
should be practicable, they would try and find a passage across the
chain of icebergs. In any case, however, they were not to be absent for
more than forty-eight hours.
A good stock of provisions was prepared, and, well provided for every
contingency, the little party left Fort Hope on the morning of the 7th
March aid turned towards Cape Michael.
The thermometer then marked 32° Fahrenheit. The atmosphere was misty,
but the weather was perfectly calm. The sun was now above the horizon
for seven or eight hours a day, and its oblique rays afforded plenty of
light.
At nine o’clock, after a short halt, the party descended the slope of
Cape Michael and made their way across the ice-fields in a southeasterly
direction. On this side the ice wall rose not three miles from the cape.
The march was of course very slow. Every minute a crevasse had to be
turned, or a hummock too high to be climbed. It was evident that a
sledge could not have got over the rough distorted surface, which
consisted of an accumulation of blocks of ice of every shape and size,
some of which really seemed to retain their equilibrium by a miracle.
Others had been but recently overturned, as could be seen from the
clearly cut fractures and sharp corners. Not a sign was to be seen of
any living creature, no footprints told of the passage of man or beast,
and the very birds had deserted these awful solitudes.
Mrs Barnett was astonished at the scene before her, and asked the
Lieutenant how they could possibly have crossed the ice-fields if they
had started in December, and he replied by reminding her that it
was then in a very different condition; the enormous pressure of the
advancing icebergs had not then commenced, the surface of the sea
was comparatively even, and the only danger was from its insufficient
solidification. The irregularities which now barred their passage did
not exist early in the winter.
They managed, however, to advance towards the mighty ice-wall, Kalumah
generally leading the way. Like a chamois on the Alpine rocks, the
young girl firmly treaded the ice-masses with a swiftness of foot and an
absence of hesitation which was really marvellous. She knew by instinct
the best way through the labyrinth of icebergs, and was an unerring
guide to her companions.
About noon the base of the ice-wall was reached, but it had taken three
hours to get over three miles.
The icy barrier presented a truly imposing appearance, rising as it did
more than four hundred feet above the ice-field. The various strata of
which it was formed were clearly defined, and the glistening surface was
tinged with many a delicately-shaded hue. Jasper-like ribbons of green
and blue alternated with streaks and dashes of all the colours of the
rainbow, strewn with enamelled arabesques, sparkling crystals, and
delicate ice-flowers. No cliff, however strangely distorted, could give
any idea of this marvellous half opaque, half transparent ice-wall,
and no description could do justice to the wonderful effects of
chiara-oscuro produced upon it.
It would not do, however, to approach too near to these beetling cliffs,
the solidity of which was very doubtful. Internal fractures and rents
were already commencing, the work of destruction and decomposition
was proceeding rapidly, aided by the imprisoned air-bubbles; and the
fragility of the huge structure, built up by the cold, was manifest to
every eye. It could not survive the Arctic winter, it was doomed to melt
beneath the sunbeams, and it contained material enough to feed large
rivers.
Lieutenant Hobson had warned his companions of the danger of the
avalanches which constantly fall from the summits of the icebergs, and
they did not therefore go far along their base. That this prudence was
necessary was proved by the falling of a huge block, at two o’clock,
at the entrance to a kind of valley which they were about to cross. It
must have weighed more than a hundred tons, and it was dashed upon the
ice-field with a fearful crash, bursting like a bomb-shell. Fortunately
no one was hurt by the splinters.
From two to five o’clock the explorers followed a narrow winding path
leading down amongst the icebergs; they were anxious to know if it led
right through them, but could not at once ascertain. In this valley, as
it might be called, they were able to examine the internal structure of
the icy barrier. The blocks of which it was built up were here arranged
with greater symmetry than outside. In some places trunks of trees were
seen embedded in the ice, all, however, of Tropical not Polar species,
which had evidently been brought to Arctic regions by the Gulf Stream,
and would be taken back to the ocean when the thaw should have converted
into water the ice which now held them in its chill embrace.
At five o’clock it became too dark to go any further. The travellers
had not gone more than about two miles in the valley, but it was
so sinuous, that it was impossible to estimate exactly the distance
traversed.
The signal to halt was given by the Lieutenant, and Marbre and Sabine
quickly dug out a grotto in the ice with their chisels, into which the
whole party crept, and after a good supper all were soon asleep.
Every one was up at eight o’clock the next morning, and Hobson decided
to follow the valley for another mile, in the hope of finding out
whether it went right through the ice-wall. The direction of the pass,
judging from the position of the sun, had now changed from north to
south east, and as early as eleven o’clock the party came out on the
opposite side of the chain of icebergs. The passage was therefore proved
to run completely through the barrier.
The aspect of the ice-field on the eastern side was exactly similar
to that on the west. The same confusion of ice-masses, the same
accumulation of hummocks and icebergs, as far as the eye could reach,
with occasional alternations of smooth surfaces of small extent,
intersected by numerous crevasses, the edges of which were already
melting fast. The same complete solitude, the same desertion, not a
bird, not an animal to be seen.
Mrs Barnett climbed to the top of the hummock, and there remained for an
hour, gazing upon the sad and desolate Polar landscape before her. Her
thoughts involuntarily flew back to the miserable attempt to escape that
had been made five months before. Once more she saw the men and women of
the hapless caravan encamped in the darkness of these frozen solitudes,
or struggling against insurmountable difficulties to reach the mainland.
At last the Lieutenant broke in upon her reverie, and said--
“Madam, it is more than twenty-four hours since we left the fort. We
now know the thickness of the ice-wall, and as we promised not to be
away longer than forty-eight hours, I think it is time to retrace our
steps.”
Mrs Barnett saw the justice of the Lieutenant’s remark. They had
ascertained that the barrier of ice was of moderate thickness, that it
would melt away quickly enough to allow of the passage of Mac-Nab’s
boat after the thaw, and it would therefore be well to hasten back lest
a snow-storm or change in the weather of any kind should render return
through the winding valley difficult.
The party breakfasted and set out on the return journey about one
o’clock P.M.
The night was passed as before in an ice-cavern, and the route resumed
at eight o’clock the next morning, March 9th.
The travellers now turned their backs upon the sun, as they were making
for the west, but the weather was fine, and the orb of day, already high
in the heavens, flung some of its rays across the valley and lit up the
glittering ice-walls on either side.
Mrs Barnett and Kalumah were a little behind the rest of the party
chatting together, and looking about them as they wound through the
narrow passages pointed out by Marbre and Sabine. They expected to get
out of the valley quickly, and be back at the fort before sunset, as
they had only two or three miles of the island to cross after leaving
the ice. This would be a few hours after the time fixed, but not long
enough to cause any serious anxiety to their friends at home.
They made their calculation without allowing for an incident which no
human perspicacity could possibly have foreseen.
It was about ten o’clock when Marbre and Sabine, who were some twenty
paces in advance of the rest, suddenly stopped and appeared to be
debating some point. When the others came up, Sabine was holding out
his compass to Marbre, who was staring at it with an expression of the
utmost astonishment.
“What an extraordinary thing!” he exclaimed, and added, turning to
the Lieutenant--
“Will you tell me, sir, the position of the island with regard to the
ice-wall, is it on the east or west?”
“On the west,” replied Hobson, not a little surprised at the
question, “you know that well enough, Marbre”
“I know it well enough! I know it well enough!” repeated Marbre,
shaking his head, “and if it is on the west, we are going wrong, and
away from the inland!”
“What, away from the island!” exclaimed the Lieutenant, struck with
the hunter’s air of conviction.
“We are indeed, sir,” said Marbre; “look at the compass; my name
is not Marbre if it does not show that we are walking towards the east
not the west!”
“Impossible!” exclaimed Mrs Barnett.
“Look, madam,” said Sabine.
It was true. The needle pointed in exactly the opposite direction to
that expected. Hobson looked thoughtful and said nothing.
“We must have made a mistake when we left the ice cavern this
morning,” observed Sabine, “we ought to have turned to the left
instead of to the right.”
“No, no,” said Mrs Barnett, “I am sure we did not make a
mistake!”
“But”--said Marbre.
“But,” interrupted Mrs Barnett, “look at the sun. Does it no
longer rise in the east? Now as we turned our backs on it this morning,
and it is still behind us, we must be walking towards the west, so
that when we get out of the valley on the western side of the chain of
icebergs, we must come to the island we left there.”
Marbre, struck dumb by this irrefutable argument, crossed his arms and
said no more.
“Then if so,” said Sabine, “the sun and the compass are in
complete contradiction of each other?”
“At this moment they are,” said Hobson, “and the reason is simple
enough; in these high northern latitudes, and in latitudes in the
neighbourhood of the magnetic pole, the compasses are sometimes
disturbed, and the deviation of their needles is so great as entirely to
mislead travellers.”
“All right then,” said Marbre, “we have only to go on keeping our
backs to the sun.”
“Certainly,” replied Lieutenant Hobson, “there can be no
hesitation which to choose, the sun or our compass, nothing disturbs the
sun.”
The march was resumed, the sun was still behind them, and there was
really no objection to be made to Hobson’s theory, founded, as it was,
upon the position then occupied by the radiant orb of day.
The little troop marched on, but they did not get out of the valley as
soon as they expected. Hobson had counted on leaving the ice-wall before
noon, and it was past two when they reached the opening of the narrow
pass.
Strange as was this delay, it had not made any one uneasy, and the
astonishment of all can readily be imagined when, on stepping on to the
ice field, at the base of the chain of icebergs, no sign was to be seen
of Victoria Island, which ought to have been opposite to them.
Yes!--The island, which on this side had been such a conspicuous
object, owing to the height of Cape Michael crowned with trees, had
disappeared. In its place stretched a vast ice-field lit up by the
sunbeams.
All looked around them, and then at each other in amazement.
“The island ought to be there!” cried Sabine.
“But it is not there,” said Marbre. “Oh, sir--Lieutenant--where
is it? what has become of it?”
But Hobson had not a word to say in reply, and Mrs Barnett was equally
dumfounded.
Kalumah now approached Lieutenant Hobson, and touching his arm, she
said--
“We went wrong in the valley, we went up it instead of down it, we
shall only get back to where we were yesterday by crossing the chain of
icebergs. Come, come!”
Hobson and the others mechanically followed Kalumah, and trusting in
the young native’s sagacity, retraced their steps. Appearances were,
however, certainly against her, for they were now walking towards the
sun in an easterly direction.
Kalumah did not explain her motives, but muttered as she went along--
“Let us make haste!”
All were quite exhausted, and could scarcely get along, when they found
themselves on the other side of the ice-wall, after a walk of three
hours. The night had now fallen, and it was too dark to see if the
island was there, but they were not long left in doubt.
At about a hundred paces off, burning torches were moving about, whilst
reports of guns and shouts were heard.
The explorers replied, and were soon joined by Sergeant Long and others,
amongst them Thomas Black, whose anxiety as to the fate of his friends
had at last roused him from his torpor. The poor fellows left on the
island had been in a terrible state of uneasiness, thinking that Hobson
and his party had lost their way. They were right, but what was it that
had made them think so?
Twenty-four hours before, the immense ice-field and the island had
turned half round, and in consequence of this displacement they were no
longer on the west, but on the east of the ice-wall!
CHAPTER XVI THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE Two hours later all had returned to
Fort Hope, and the next day the sun for the first time shone upon that
part of the coast which was formerly on the west of the island. Kalumah,
to whom this phenomenon was familiar, had been right, and if the sun had
not been the guilty party neither had the compass!
The position of Victoria Island with regard to the cardinal points was
again completely changed. Since it had broken loose from the mainland
the island--and not only the island, but the vast ice field in which it
was enclosed--had turned half round. This displacement proved that the
ice-field was not connected with the continent, and that the thaw would
soon set in.
“Well, Lieutenant,” said Mrs. Barnett, “this change of front is
certainly in our favour. Cape Bathurst and Fort Hope are now turned
towards the north-east, in other words towards the point nearest to the
continent, and the ice-wall, through which our boat could only have made
its way by a difficult and dangerous passage, is no longer between
us and America. And so all is for the best, is it not?” added Mrs.
Barnett with a smile.
“Indeed it is,” replied Hobson, who fully realised all that was
involved in this change of the position of Victoria Island.
No incident occurred between the 10th and 21st March, but there were
indications of the approaching change of season. The temperature varied
from 43° to 50° Fahrenheit, and it appeared likely that the breaking
up of the ice would commence suddenly. Fresh crevasses opened, and the
unfrozen water flooded the surface of the ice. As the whalers poetically
express it, the “wounds of the ice-field bled copiously,” and the
opening of these “wounds” was accompanied by a sound like the roar
of artillery. A warm rain fell for several hours, and accelerated the
dissolution of the solid coating of the ocean.
The birds, ptarmigans, puffins, ducks, &c., which had deserted the
island in the beginning of the winter, now returned in large numbers.
Marbre and Sabine killed a few of them, and on some were found the
tickets tied round their necks by the Lieutenant several months before.
Flocks of white trumpeter swans also reappeared, and filled the air with
their loud clarion tones; whilst the quadrupeds, rodents, and carnivora
alike continued to frequent the vicinity of the fort like tame domestic
animals.
Whenever the state of the sky permitted, which was almost every day,
Hobson took the altitude of the sun. Sometimes Mrs Barnett, who had
become quite expert in handling the sextant, assisted him, or took the
observation in his stead. It was now most important to note the very
slightest changes in the latitude and longitude of the island. It was
still doubtful to which current it would be subject after the thaw, and
the question whether it would be drifted north or south was the chief
subject of the discussions between the Lieutenant and Mrs Barnett.
The brave lady had always given proof of an energy superior to that of
most of her sex, and now she was to be seen every day braving fatigue,
and venturing on to the half decomposed, or “pancake” ice, in all
weathers, through snow or rain, and on her return to the factory ready
to cheer and help everybody, and to superintend all that was going on.
We must add that her efforts were ably seconded by the faithful Madge.
Mrs Barnett had compelled herself to look the future firmly in the face,
and although she could not fail to fear for the safety of all, and
sad presentiments haunted her, she never allowed herself to betray any
uneasiness. Her courage and confidence never seemed to waver, she was
as ever the kind encouraging friend of each and all, and none could have
dreamt of the conflict of spirit going on beneath her quiet exterior
demeanour. Lieutenant Hobson’s admiration of her character was
unbounded, and he had also entire confidence in Kalumah, often trusting
to her natural instinct as implicitly as a hunter to that of his dog.
The young Esquimaux was, in fact, very intelligent, and familiar from
babyhood with the phenomena of the Polar regions. On board a whaler she
might have advantageously replaced many an ice-master or pilot whose
business it is to guide a boat amongst the ice.
Every day Kalumah went to examine the state of the ice-field.
The nature of the noise produced by the breaking of the icebergs in the
distance was enough to tell her how far the decomposition had advanced.
No foot was surer than hers upon the ice, no one could spring more
lightly forwards than she when her instinct told her that the smooth
surface was rotten underneath, and she would scud across an ice-field
riddled with fissures without a moment’s hesitation.
From the 20th to the 30th March, the thaw made rapid progress. Rain
fell abundantly and accelerated the dissolution of the ice. It was to be
hoped that the ice-field would soon open right across, and that in about
fifteen days Hobson would be able to steer his boat into the open sea.
He was determined to lose no time, as he did not know but that the
Kamtchatka Current might sweep the island to the north before it could
come under the influence of the Behring Current.
“But,” Kalumah repeated again and again, “there is no fear of
that, the breaking up of the ice does not proceed upwards but downwards.
The danger is there!” she added, pointing to the south in the
direction of the vast Pacific Ocean.
The young girl’s confidence on this point reassured Hobson, for he had
no reason now to dread the falling to pieces of the island in the warm
waters of the Pacific. He meant everybody to be on board the boat before
that could happen, and they would not have far to go to get to one
or the other continent, as the strait is in reality a kind of funnel
through which the waters flow between Cape East on the Asiatic side and
Cape Prince of Wales on the American.
This will explain the eager attention with which the slightest change
in the position of the island was noticed. The bearings were taken every
day, and everything was prepared for an approaching and perhaps sudden
and hurried embarkation.
Of course all the ordinary avocations of the factory were now
discontinued. There was no hunting or setting of traps. The magazines
were already piled up with furs, most of which would be lost. The
hunters and trappers had literally nothing to do; but Mac-Nab and
his men, having finished their boat, employed their leisure time in
strengthening the principal house of the fort, which would probably be
subjected to considerable pressure from the accumulation of ice on
the coast during the further progress of the thaw, unless indeed Cape
Bathurst should prove a sufficient protection. Strong struts were fixed
against the outside walls, vertical props were placed inside the rooms
to afford additional support to the beams of the ceiling, and the roof
was strengthened so that it could bear a considerable weight. These
various works were completed early in April, and their utility, or
rather their vital importance, was very soon manifested.
Each day brought fresh symptoms of returning spring, which seemed likely
to set in early after this strangely mild Polar winter. A few tender
shoots appeared upon the trees, and the newly-thawed sap swelled the
bark of beeches, willows, and arbutus. Tiny mosses tinged with pale
green the slopes under the direct influence of the sunbeams; but they
were not likely to spread much, as the greedy rodents collected about
the fort pounced upon and devoured them almost before they were above
the ground.
Great were the sufferings of Corporal Joliffe at this time. We know that
he had undertaken to protect the plot of ground cultivated by his wife.
Under ordinary circumstances he would merely have had to drive away
feathered pilferers, such as guillemots or puffins, from his sorrel and
scurvy grass. A scarecrow would have been enough to get rid of them,
still more the Corporal in person. But now all the rodents and ruminants
of the Arctic fauna combined to lay siege to his territory; reindeer,
Polar hares, musk-rats, shrews, martens, &c., braved all the threatening
gestures of the Corporal, and the poor man was in despair, for whilst he
was defending one end of his field the enemy was preying upon the other.
It would certainly have been wiser to let the poor creatures enjoy
unmolested the crops which could be of no use to the colonists, as the
fort was to be so soon abandoned, and Mrs Barnett tried to persuade the
angry Corporal to do so, when he came to her twenty times a day with the
same wearisome tale, but he would not listen to her:
“To lose the fruit of all our trouble!” he repeated; “to leave an
establishment which was prospering so well! To give up the plants Mrs
Joliffe and I sowed so carefully!... O madam, sometimes I feel disposed
to let you all go, and stay here with my wife! I am sure the Company
would give up all claim on the island to us”--
Mrs Barnett could not help laughing at this absurd speech, and sent the
Corporal to his little wife, who had long ago resigned herself to the
loss of her sorrel, scurvy grass, and other medicinal herbs.
We must here remark, that the health of all the colonists remained good,
they had at least escaped illness; the baby, too, was now quite well
again, and throve admirably in the mild weather of the early spring.
The thaw continued to proceed rapidly from the 2nd to the 5th April. The
weather was warm but cloudy, and rain fell frequently in large drops.
The wind blew from the south west, and was laden with the heated dust
of the continent. Unfortunately the sky was so hazy, that it was quite
impossible to take observations, neither sun, moon, nor stars could be
seen through the heavy mists, and this was the more provoking, as it
was of the greatest importance to note the slightest movements of the
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