enough of these ravenous beasts prowling about the shores of the Arctic
Ocean.
“There is certainly no denying,” said Corporal Joliffe, “that
bear’s flesh is very good eating when once it’s in the larder; but
there is something very problematical about it beforehand, and it’s
always just possible that the hunters themselves may meet the fate they
intended for the bears!”
This was true enough. It was no use counting upon the bears to provision
their fort. Fortunately traces were presently found of herds of a far
more useful animal, the flesh of which is the principal food of the
Indians and Esquimaux. We allude to the reindeer; and Corporal Joliffe
announced with the greatest satisfaction that there were plenty of these
ruminants on this coast. The ground was covered with the lichen to which
they are so partial, and which they cleverly dig out from under the
snow.
There could be no mistake as to the footprints left by the reindeer, as,
like the camel, they have a small nail-like hoof with a convex surface.
Large herds, sometimes numbering several thousand animals, are seen
running wild in certain parts of America. Being easily domesticated,
they are employed to draw sledges; and they also supply the factories
with excellent milk, more nourishing than that of cows. Their dead
bodies are not less useful. Their thick skin provides clothes, their
hair makes very good thread, and their flesh is palatable; so that they
are really the most valuable animals to be found in these latitudes,
and Hobson, being assured of their presence, was relieved from half his
anxiety.
As he advanced he had also reason to be satisfied with regard to the
fur-bearing animals. By the little streams rose many beaver lodges
and musk-rat tunnels. Badgers, lynxes, ermines, wolverenes, sables,
polecats, &c., frequented these districts, hitherto undisturbed by
hunters. They had thus far come to no trace of the presence of man, and
the animals had chosen their refuge well. Footprints were also found of
the fine blue and silver foxes, which are becoming more and more rare,
and the fur of which is worth its weight in gold. Sabine and Mac-Nab
might many a time have shot a very valuable animal on this excursion,
but the Lieutenant had wisely forbidden all hunting of the kind. He did
not wish to alarm the animals before the approaching season-that is to
say, before the winter months, when their furs become thicker and
more beautiful. It was also desirable not to overload the sledges. The
hunters saw the force of his reasoning; but for all that, their fingers
itched when they came within shot-range of a sable or some valuable fox.
Their Lieutenant’s orders were, however, not to be disobeyed.
Polar bears and birds were, therefore, all that the hunters had to
practise upon in this second stage of their journey. The former,
however, not yet rendered bold by hunger, soon scampered off, and no
serious struggle with them ensued.
The poor birds suffered for the enforced immunity of the quadrupeds.
White-headed eagles, huge birds with a harsh screeching cry; fishing
hawks, which build their nests in dead trees and migrate to the Arctic
regions in the summer; snow buntings with pure white plumage, wild
geese, which afford the best food of all the Anseres tribe; ducks with
red heads and black breasts; ash-coloured crows, a kind of mocking jay
of extreme ugliness; eider ducks; scoters or black divers, &c. &c.,
whose mingled cries awake the echoes of the Arctic regions, fell victims
by hundreds to the unerring aim of Marbre and Sabine. These birds haunt
the high latitudes by millions, and it would be impossible to form an
accurate estimate of their number on the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
Their flesh formed a very pleasant addition to the daily rations of
biscuit and corned beef, and we can understand that the hunters laid up
a good stock of them in the fifteen days during which they were debarred
from attacking more valuable game.
There would then be no lack of animal food; the magazines of the Company
would be well stocked with game, and its offices filled with furs
and traders; but something more was wanted to insure success to the
undertaking. Would it be possible to obtain a sufficient supply of
fuel to contend with the rigour of an Arctic winter at so elevated a
latitude?
Most fortunately the coast, was well wooded; the hills which sloped down
towards the sea were crowned with green trees, amongst which the pine
predominated. Some of the woods might even be called forests, and would
constitute an admirable reserve of timber for the fort. Here and there
Hobson noticed isolated groups of willows, poplars, dwarf birch-trees,
and numerous thickets of arbutus. At this time of the warm season
all these trees were covered with verdure, and were an unexpected and
refreshing sight to eyes so long accustomed to the rugged, barren polar
landscape. The ground at the foot of the hills was carpeted with a short
herbage devoured with avidity by the reindeer, and forming their only
sustenance in winter. On the whole, then, the Lieutenant had reason to
congratulate himself on having chosen the north-west of the American
continent for the foundation of a new settlement.
We have said that these territories, so rich in animals, were apparently
deserted by men. The travellers saw neither Esquimaux, who prefer the
districts round Hudson’s Bay, nor Indians, who seldom venture so far
beyond the Arctic Circle. And indeed in these remote latitudes hunters
may be overtaken by storms, or be suddenly surprised by winter, and cut
off from all communication with their fellow-creatures. We can easily
imagine that Lieutenant Hobson was by no means sorry not to meet any
rival explorers. What he wanted was an unoccupied country, a deserted
land, suitable as a refuge for the fur-bearing animals; and in this
matter he had the full sympathy of Mrs Barnett, who, as the guest of the
Company, naturally took a great interest in the success of its schemes.
Fancy, then, the disappointment of the Lieutenant, when on the morning
of the 20th June he came to an encampment but recently abandoned.
It was situated at the end of a narrow creek called Darnley Bay, of
which Cape Parry is the westernmost point. There at the foot of a little
hill were the stakes which had served to mark the limits of the camp,
and heaps of cinders, the extinct embers of the fires.
The whole party met at this encampment, and all understood how great a
disappointment it involved for Lieutenant Hobson.
“What a pity!” he exclaimed. “I would rather have met a whole
family of polar bears!”
“But I daresay the men who encamped here are already far off,” said
Mrs Barnett; “very likely they have returned to their usual hunting
grounds.”
“That is as it may be,” replied the Lieutenant. “If these be the
traces of Esquimaux, they are more likely to have gone on than to have
turned back; and if they be those of Indians, they are probably, like
ourselves, seeking a new hunting district; and in either case it will be
very unfortunate for us.”
“But,” said Mrs Barnett, “cannot we find out to what race the
travellers do belong? Can’t we ascertain if they be Esquimaux or
Indians from the south? I should think tribes of such a different
origin, and of such dissimilar customs, would not encamp in the same
manner.”
Mrs Barnett was right; they might possibly solve the mystery after a
thorough examination of the ground.
Jaspar Hobson and others set to work, carefully examining every trace,
every object left behind, every mark on the ground; but in vain, there
was nothing to guide them to a decided opinion. The bones of some
animals scattered about told them nothing, and the Lieutenant, much
annoyed, was about to abandon the useless search, when he heard an
exclamation from Mrs Joliffe, who had wandered a little way to the left.
All hurried towards the young Canadian, who remained fixed to the spot,
looking attentively at the ground before her.
As her companions came up she said--
“You are looking for traces, Lieutenant; well, here are some.”
And Mrs Joliffe pointed to a good many footprints clearly visible in the
firm clay.
These might reveal something; for the feet of the Indians and Esquimaux,
as well as their boots, are totally different from each other.
But what chiefly struck Lieutenant Hobson was the strange arrangement
of these impressions. They were evidently made by a human foot, a shod
foot; but, strange to say, the ball alone appeared to have touched the
ground! The marks were very numerous, close together, often crossing one
another, but confined to a very small circle.
Jaspar Hobson called the attention of the rest of the party to this
singular circumstance.
“These were not made by a person walking,” he said.
“Nor by a person jumping,” added Mrs Barnett; “for there is no
mark of a heel.”
“No,” said Mrs Joliffe; “these footprints were left by a
dancer.”
She was right, as further examination proved. They were the marks left
by a dancer, and a dancer engaged in some light and graceful exercise,
for they were neither clumsy nor deep.
But who could the light-hearted individual be who had been impelled to
dance in this sprightly fashion some degrees above the Arctic Circle?
“It was certainly not an Esquimaux,” said the Lieutenant.
“Nor an Indian,” cried Corporal Joliffe.
“No, it was a Frenchman,” said Sergeant Long quietly.
And all agreed that none but a Frenchman could have been capable of
dancing on such a spot.
CHAPTER XII. THE MIDNIGHT SUN. Sergeant Long’s assertion must appear
to have been founded on insufficient evidence. That there had been
dancing no one could deny, but that the dancer was a Frenchman, however
probable, could not be considered proved.
However, the Lieutenant shared the opinion of his subordinate, which did
not appear too positive to any of the party, who all agreed in feeling
sure that some travellers, with at least one compatriot of Vestris
amongst them, had recently encamped on this spot.
Of course Lieutenant Hobson was by no means pleased at this he was
afraid of having been preceded by rivals in the north-western districts
of English America; and secret as the Company had kept its scheme, it
had doubtless been divulged in the commercial centres of Canada and the
United States.
The Lieutenant resumed his interrupted march; but he was full of care
and anxiety, although he would not now have dreamed of retracing his
steps.
“Frenchmen are then sometimes met with in these high latitudes?” was
Mrs Barnett’s natural question after this incident.
“Yes, madam,” replied the Lieutenant; “or if not exactly
Frenchmen, the descendants of the masters of Canada when it belonged to
France, which comes to much the same thing. These men are in fact our
most formidable rivals.”
“But I thought,” resumed Mrs Barnett, “that after the absorption
by the Hudson’s Bay Company of the old North-West Company, that it had
no longer any rivals on the American continent.”
“Although there is no longer any important association for trading in
furs except our own, there are a good many perfectly independent private
companies, mostly American, which have retained French agents or their
descendants in their employ.”
“Are these agents then held in such high esteem?” asked Mrs Barnett.
“Yes, madam, and with good reason. During the ninety-four years of
French supremacy in Canada, French agents always proved themselves
superior to ours. We must be just even to our rivals.”
“Especially to our rivals,” added Mrs Barnett.
“Yes, especially. . . At that time French hunters, starting from
Montreal, their headquarters, pressed on to the north with greater
hardihood than any others. They lived for years with the Indian
tribes, sometimes intermarrying with them. The natives called them the
‘Canadian travellers,’ and were on the most intimate terms with
them. They were bold, clever fellows, expert at navigating streams,
light-hearted and merry, adapting themselves to circumstances with the
easy flexibility of their race, and always ready to sing or dance.”
“And do you suppose that hunting is the only object of the party whose
traces we have just discovered?”
“I don’t think any other hypotheses at all likely,” replied
Hobson. “They are sure to be seeking new hunting grounds. But as
we cannot possibly stop them, we must make haste to begin our own
operations, and compete boldly with all rivals.”
Lieutenant Hobson was now prepared for the competition he could not
prevent, and he urged on the march of his party as much as possible,
hoping that his rivals might not follow him beyond the seventieth
parallel.
The expedition now descended towards the south for some twenty miles, in
order the more easily to pass round Franklin Bay. The country was still
covered with verdure, and the quadrupeds and birds already enumerated
were as plentiful as ever; so that they could reasonably hope that
the whole of the north-western coasts of the American continent were
populated in the same manner.
The ocean which bathed these shores stretched away as far as the eye
could reach Recent atlases give no land beyond the north American
coast-line, and it is only the icebergs which impede the free navigation
of the open sea from Behring Strait to the Pole itself.
On the 4th July the travellers skirted round another deep bay called
Washburn Bay, and reached the furthest point of a little lake, until
then imperfectly known, covering but a small extent of territory,
scarcely two square miles-in fact it was rather a lagoon, or large pond
of sweet water, than a lake.
The sledges went on easily and rapidly, and the appearance of the
country was most encouraging to the explorers. It seemed that the
extremity of Cape Bathurst would be a most favourable site for the new
fort, as with this lagoon behind them, and the sea open for four or five
months in the warm season, and giving access to the great highway of
Behring Strait, before them, it would be easy for the exiles to lay in
fresh provisions and to export their commodities.
On the 5th June, about three o’clock in the afternoon, the party at
last halted at the extremity of Cape Bathurst. It remained to ascertain
the exact position of this cape, which the maps place above the
seventieth parallel. It was, however, impossible to rely upon the marine
surveys of the coast, as they had never yet been made with exactitude.
Jaspar Hobson decided to wait and ascertain the latitude and longitude.
“What prevents us from settling here?” asked Corporal Joliffe.
“You will own, Lieutenant, that it is a very inviting spot.”
“It will seem more inviting still if you get double pay here, my
worthy Corporal,” replied Hobson.
“No doubt,” said Joliffe; “and the orders of the Company must be
obeyed.”
“Then wait patiently till to-morrow,” added Hobson; “and if we
find that Cape Bathurst is really beyond 70° north latitude, we will
pitch our tent here.”
The site was indeed admirably suited for the foundation of a new
settlement. The wooded heights surrounding the lagoon would supply
plenty of pine, birch, and other woods for the construction of the
fort, and for stocking, it with’ fuel. The Lieutenant and some of his
companions went to the very edge of the cape, and found that towards the
west the coast-line formed a lengthened curve, beyond which icebergs
of a considerable height shut out the view. The water of the lagoon,
instead of being brackish as they expected from its close vicinity to
the sea, was perfectly sweet; but had it not been so, drinkable water
would not have failed the little colony, as a fresh and limpid stream
ran a few yards to the south-east of Cape Bathurst, and emptied itself
into the Arctic Ocean through a narrow inlet, which, protected by a
singular accumulation of sand and earth instead of by rocks, would have
afforded a refuge to several vessels from the winds of the offing, and
might be turned to account for the anchorage of the ships which it
was hoped would come to the new settlement from Behring Strait. Out of
compliment to the lady of the party, and much to her delight, Lieutenant
Hobson named the stream Paulina river, and the little harbour Port
Barnett.
By building the fort a little behind the actual cape, the principal
house and the magazines would be quite sheltered from the coldest
winds. The elevation of the cape would help to protect them from the
snow-drifts, which sometimes completely bury large buildings beneath
their heavy avalanches in a few hours. There was plenty of room between
the foot of the promontory and the bank of the lagoon for all the
constructions necessary to a fort. It could even be surrounded by
palisades, which would break the shock of the icebergs; and the cape
itself might be surrounded with a fortified redoubt, if the vicinity of
rivals should render such a purely defensive erection necessary; and the
Lieutenant, although with no idea of commencing anything of the kind
as yet, naturally rejoiced at having met with an easily defensible
position.
The weather remained fine, and it was quite warm enough. There was not a
cloud upon the sky; but, of course, the clear blue air of temperate
and torrid zones could not be expected here, and the atmosphere was
generally charged with a light mist. What would Cape Bathurst be like in
the long winter night of four months when the ice-mountains became fixed
and rigid, and the hoarse north wind swept down upon the icebergs in
all its fury? None of the party gave a thought to that time now; for
the weather was beautiful, the verdant landscape smiled, and the waves
sparkled in the sunbeams, whilst the temperature remained warm and
pleasant.
A provisional camp, the sledges forming its only material, was arranged
for the night on the banks of the lagoon; and towards evening Mrs
Barnett, the Lieutenant, Sergeant Long, and even Thomas Black, explored
the surrounding district in order to ascertain its resources. It
appeared to be in every respect suitable; and Hobson was eager for the
next day, that he might determine the exact situations, and find out if
it fulfilled the conditions imposed by the Company.
“Well, Lieutenant,” said the astronomer when the examination was
over, “this is really a charming spot, such as I should not have
imagined could have existed beyond the Arctic Circle.”
“Ah, Mr Black!” cried Hobson, “the finest countries in the world
are to be found here, and I am impatient to ascertain our latitude and
longitude.”
“Especially the latitude,” said the astronomer, whose eclipse was
never out of his thoughts; “and I expect your brave companions are as
eager as yourself. Double pay beyond the seventieth parallel!”
“But, Mr Black,” said Mrs Barnett, “do you not yourself take
an interest a purely scientific interest, in getting beyond that
parallel?”
“Of course, madam, of course I am anxious to get beyond it, but not
so terribly eager. According to our calculations, however, made with
absolute accuracy, the solar eclipse which I am ordered to watch will
only be total to an observer placed beyond the seventieth degree, and
on this account I share the Lieutenant’s impatience to determine the
position of Cape Bathurst.”
“But I understand, Mr Black,” said Mrs Barnett, “that this solar
eclipse will not take place until the 18th July 1860?”
“Yes, madam, on the 18th July 1860.”
“And it is now only the 15th June 1859! So that the phenomenon will
not be visible for more than a year!”
“I am quite aware of it, Mrs Barnett,” replied the astronomer;
“but if I had not started till next year I should have run a risk of
being too late.”
“You would, Mr Black,” said Hobson, “and you did well to start a
year beforehand. You are now quite sure not to miss your eclipse. I
own that our journey from Fort Reliance has been accomplished under
exceptionally favourable circumstances. We have had little fatigue and
few delays. To tell you the truth, I did not expect to get to this part
of the coast until the middle of August; and if the eclipse had been
expected this year, instead of next; you really might have been too
late. Moreover, we do not yet know if we are beyond the seventieth
parallel.”
“I do not in the least regret the journey I have taken in your
company, Lieutenant, and I shall patiently wait until next year for my
eclipse. The fair Phœbe, I fancy, is a sufficiently grand lady to be
waited for.”
The next day, July 6th, a little after noon, Hobson and the astronomer
made their preparations for taking the exact bearings of Cape Bathurst.
The sun shone clearly enough for them to take the outlines exactly. At
this season of the year, too, it had reached its maximum height above
the horizon; and consequently its culmination, on its transit across the
meridian, would facilitate the work of the two observers.
Already the night before, and the same morning, by raking different
altitudes, and by means of a calculation of right ascensions, the
Lieutenant and the astronomer had ascertained the longitude with great
accuracy. But it was about the latitude that Hobson was most anxious;
for what would the meridian of Cape Bathurst matter to him should it not
be situated beyond the seventieth parallel?
Noon approached. The men of the expedition gathered round the observers
with their sextants ready in their hands. The brave fellows awaited
the result of the observation with an impatience which will be readily
understood. It was now to be decided whether they had come to the end
of their journey, or whether they must search still further for a spot
fulfilling the conditions imposed by the Company.
Probably no good result would have followed upon further explorations,
According to the maps of North America-imperfect, it is true-the western
coast beyond Cape Bathurst sloped down below the seventieth parallel,
not again rising above it until it entered Russian America, where
the English had as yet no right to settle; so that Hobson had shown
considerable judgment in directing his course to Cape Bathurst after
a thorough examination of the maps of these northern regions. This
promontory is, in fact, the only one which juts out beyond the
seventieth parallel along the whole of the North American continent,
properly so called-that is to say, in English America. It remained to be
proved that it really occupied the position assigned to it in maps.
At this moment the sun was approaching the culminating-point of its
course, and the two observers pointed the telescopes of their sextants
upon it. By means of inclined mirrors attached to the instruments, the
sun ought apparently to go back to the horizon itself; and the moment
when it seemed to touch it with the lower side of its disc would be
precisely that at which it would occupy the highest point of the
diurnal arc, and consequently the exact moment when it would pass
the meridian-in other words, it would be noon at the place where the
observation was taken.
All watched in anxious silence.
“Noon!” cried Jaspar Hobson and the astronomer at once.
The telescopes were immediately lowered. The Lieutenant and Thomas
Black read on the graduated limbs the value of the angles they had just
obtained, and at once proceeded to note down their observations.
A few minutes afterwards, Lieutenant Hobson rose and said, addressing
his companions
“My friends, from this date, July 6th, I promise you double pay in the
name of the Hudson’s Bay Company!”
“Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah for the Company!” shouted the worthy
companions of the Lieutenant with one voice.
Cape Bathurst and its immediate neighbourhood were in very truth above
the seventieth degree of north latitude.
We give the result of these simultaneous observations, which agreed to a
second.
Longitude, 127° 36’ 12” west of the meridian of Greenwich.
Latitude, 70° 44’ 37” north.
And that very evening these hardy pioneers, encamped so far from the
inhabited world, watched the mighty luminary of day touch the edges of
the western horizon without dipping beneath it.
For the first time they saw the shining of the midnight sun.
CHAPTER XIII. FORT HOPE. The site of the new fort was now finally
determined on. It would be impossible to find a better situation than on
the level ground behind Cape Bathurst, on the eastern bank of the lagoon
Hobson determined to commence the construction of the principal house at
once. Meanwhile all must accommodate themselves as best they could; and
the sledges were ingeniously utilised to form a provisional encampment.
His men being very skilful, the Lieutenant hoped to have the principal
house ready in a month. It was to be large enough to accommodate for a
time the nineteen persons of the party. Later, and before the excessive
cold set in, if there should be time, the barracks for the soldiers and
the magazines for the furs and skins were to be built. There was not
much chance of getting it all done before the end of September; and
after that date, the winter, with its first bitter frosts and long
nights, would arrest all further progress.
Of the ten soldiers chosen by Captain Craventy, two-Marbre and
Sabine-were skilful hunters; the other eight handled the hatchet with as
much address as the musket. Like sailors, they could turn their hands
to anything, and were now to be treated more like workmen than soldiers,
for they were to build a fort which there was as yet no enemy to attack.
Petersen, Belcher, Rae, Garry, Pond, Hope, and Kellet formed a body of
clever, zealous carpenters, under the able superintendence of Mac-Nab,
a Scotchman from Stirling, who had had considerable experience in the
building both of houses and boats. The men were well provided with
tools-hatchets, centre-bits, adzes, planes, hand-saws, mallets, hammers,
chisels, &c. &c. Rae was most skilful at blacksmith’s work, and with
the aid of a little portable forge he was able to make all the pins,
tenons, bolts, nails, screws, nuts, &e., required in carpentry. They had
no mason in the party; but none was wanted, as all the buildings of the
factories in the north are of wood. Fortunately there were plenty of
trees about Cape Bathurst, although as Hobson had already remarked
to Mrs Barnett, there was not a rock, a stone, not even a flint or a
pebble, to be seen. The shore was strewn with innumerable quantities of
bivalve shells broken by the surf, and with seaweed or zoophytes, mostly
sea-urchins and asteriadæ; but the soil consisted entirely of earth and
sand, without a morsel of silica or broken granite; and the cape itself
was but an accumulation of soft earth, the particles of which were
scarcely held together by the vegetation with which it was clothed.
In the afternoon of the same day, July 6th Hobson and Mac-Nab the
carpenter went to choose the site of the principal house on the plateau
at the foot of Cape Bathurst. From this point the view embraced the
lagoon and the western districts to a distance of ten or twelve miles.
On the right, about four miles off, towered icebergs of a considerable
height. partly draped in mist; whilst on the left stretched apparently
boundless plains, vast steppes which it would be impossible to
distinguish from the frozen surface of the lagoon or from the sea itself
in the winter.
The spot chosen, Hobson and Mac-Nab set out the outer walls of the house
with the line. This outline formed a rectangle measuring sixty feet on
the larger side, and thirty on the smaller. The façade of the house
would therefore have a length of sixty feet it was to have a door and
three windows on the side of the promontory, where the inner court was
to be situated, and four windows on the side of the lagoon. The door was
to open at the left corner, instead of in the middle, of the back of
the house, for the sake of warmth. This arrangement would impede the
entrance of the outer air to the further rooms, and add considerably to
the comfort of the inmates of the fort.
According to the simple plan agreed upon by the Lieutenant and his
master-carpenter, there were to be four compartments in the house: the
first to be an antechamber with a double door to keep out the wind;
the second to serve as a kitchen, that the cooking which would generate
damp, might be all done quite away from the living-rooms; the third, a
large hall, where the daily meals were to be served in common; and the
fourth, to be divided into several cabins, like the state-rooms on board
ship.
The soldiers were to occupy the dining-hall provisionally, and a kind of
camp-bed was arranged for them at the end of the room. The Lieutenant,
Mrs Barnett, Thomas Black, Madge, Mrs Joliffe, Mrs Mac-Nab, and Mrs
Rae were to lodge in the cabins of the fourth compartment. They would
certainly be packed pretty closely; but it was only a temporary state
of things, and when the barracks were constructed, the principal house
would be reserved to the officer in command, his sergeant, Thomas Black,
Mrs Barnett, and her faithful Madge, who never left her. Then the fourth
compartment might perhaps be divided into three cabins, instead of four;
for to avoid corners as much as possible is a rule which should never be
forgotten by those who winter in high latitudes Nooks and corners
are, in fact, so many receptacles of ice. The partitions impede the
ventilation; and the moisture, generated in the air, freezes readily,
and makes the atmosphere of the rooms unhealthy causing grave maladies
to those who sleep in them.
On this account many navigators who have to winter in the midst of ice
have one large room in the centre of their vessel, which is shared by
officers and sailors in common. For obvious reasons, however, Hobson
could not adopt this plan.
From the preceding description we shall have seen that the future house
was to consist merely of a ground-floor. The roof was to be high, and
its sides to slope considerably, so that water could easily run off
them. The snow would, however, settle upon them; and when once they were
covered with it, the house would be, so to speak, hermetically closed,
and the inside temperature would be kept at the same mean height. Snow
is, in fact, a very bad conductor of beat: it prevents it from entering,
it is true; but, what is more important in an Arctic winter, it also
keeps it from getting out.
The carpenter was to build two chimneys-one above the kitchen, the other
in connection with the stove of the large dining-room, which was to heat
it and the compartment containing the cabins. The architectural
effect of the whole would certainly be poor; but the house would be as
comfortable as possible, and what more could any one desire?
Certainly an artist who had once seen it would not soon forget this
winter residence, set down in the gloomy Arctic twilight in the midst
of snow-drifts, half hidden by icicles, draped in white from roof to
foundation, its walls encrusted with snow, and the smoke from its fires
assuming strangely-contorted forms in the wind.
But now to tell of the actual construction of this house, as yet
existing only in imagination. This, of course, was the business of
Mac-Nab and his men; and while the carpenters were at work, the foraging
party to whom the commissariat was entrusted would not be idle. There
was plenty for every one to do.
The first step was to choose suitable timber, and a species of Scotch
fir was decided on, which grew conveniently upon the neighbouring hills,
and seemed altogether well adapted to the multifarious uses to which it
would be put. For in the rough and ready style of habitation which they
were planning, there could be no variety of material; and every part
of the house-outside and inside walls, flooring, ceiling, partitions,
rafters, ridges, framework, and tiling-would have to be contrived
of planks, beams, and timbers. As may readily be supposed, finished
workmanship was not necessary for such a description of building, and
Mac-Nab was able to proceed very rapidly without endangering the
safety of the building. About a hundred of these firs were chosen and
felled-they were neither barked nor squared-and formed so many timbers,
averaging some twenty feet in length. The axe and the chisel did not
touch them except at the ends, in order to form the tenons and mortises
by which they were to be secured to one another. Very few days sufficed
to complete this part of the work, and the timbers were brought down by
the dogs to the site fixed on for the principal building. To start with,
the site had been carefully levelled. The soil, a mixture of fine
earth and sand, had been beaten and consolidated with heavy blows. The
brushwood with which it was originally covered was burnt, and the thick
layer of ashes thus produced would prevent the damp from penetrating the
floors. A clean and dry foundation having been thus secured on which
to lay the first joists, upright posts were fixed at each corner of the
site, and at the extremities of the inside walls, to form the skeleton
of the building. The posts were sunk to a depth of some feet in the
ground, after their ends had been hardened in the fire; and were
slightly hollowed at each side to receive the crossbeams of the outer
wall, between which the openings for the doors and windows had been
arranged for. These posts were held together at the top by horizontal
beams well let into the mortises, and consolidating the whole building.
On these horizontal beams, which represented the architraves of the two
fronts, rested the high trusses of the roof, which overhung the walls
like the eaves of a chalet. Above this squared architrave were laid the
joists of the ceiling, and those of the floor upon the layer of ashes.
The timbers, both in the inside and outside walls, were only laid side
by side. To insure their being properly joined, Rae the blacksmith
drove strong iron bolts through them at intervals; and when even this
contrivance proved insufficient to close the interstices as hermetically
as was necessary, Mac-Nab had recourse to calking, a process which
seamen find invaluable in rendering vessels water-tight; only as a
substitute for tow he used a sort of dry moss, with which the eastern
side of the cape was covered, driving it into the crevices with
calking-irons and a hammer, filling up each hollow with layers of hot
tar, obtained without difficulty from the pine-trees, and thus making
the walls and boarding impervious to the rain and damp of the winter
season.
The door and windows in the two fronts were roughly but strongly built,
and the small panes of the latter glazed with isinglass, which, though
rough, yellow, and almost opaque, was yet the best substitute for glass
which the resources of the country afforded; and its imperfections
really mattered little, as the windows were sure to be always open in
fine weather; while during, the long night of the Arctic winter they
would be useless, and have to be kept closed and defended by heavy
shutters with strong bolts against the violence of the gales. Meanwhile
the house was being quickly fitted up inside. By means of a double door
between the outer and inner halls a too sudden change of temperature
was avoided, and the wind was prevented from blowing with unbroken force
into the rooms. The air-pumps, brought from Fort Reliance, were so fixed
as to let in fresh air whenever excessive cold prevented the opening of
doors or windows -one being made to eject the impure air from within,
the other to renew the supply; for the Lieutenant had given his whole
mind to this important matter.
The principal cooking utensil was a large iron furnace, which had been
brought piecemeal from Fort Reliance, and which the carpenter put up
without any difficulty. The chimneys for the kitchen and ball, however,
seemed likely to tax the ingenuity of the workmen to the utmost, as
no material within their reach was strong enough for the purpose, and
stone, as we have said before, was nowhere to be found in the country
around Cape Bathurst.
The difficulty appeared insurmountable, when the invincible Lieutenant
suggested that they should utilise the shells with which the shore was
strewed.
“Make chimneys of shells!” cried the carpenter.
“Yes, Mac-Nab,” replied Hobson; “we must collect the shells,
grind them, burn them, and make them into lime, then mould the lime into
bricks, and use them in the same way.”
“Let us try the shells, by all means,” replied the carpenter; and
so the idea was put in practice at once, and many tons collected of
calcareous shells identical with those found in the lowest stratum of
the Tertiary formations.
A furnace was constructed for the decomposition of the carbonate which
is so large an ingredient of these shells, and thus the lime required
was obtained in the space of a few hours. It would perhaps be too much
to say that the substance thus made was as entirely satisfactory as
if it had gone through all the usual processes; but it answered its
purpose, and strong conical chimneys soon adorned the roof, to the great
satisfaction of Mrs Paulina Barnett, who congratulated the originator of
the scheme warmly on its success, only adding laughingly, that she hoped
the chimneys would not smoke.
“Of course they will smoke, madam,” replied Hobson coolly; “all
chimneys do!”
All this was finished within a month, and on the 6th of August they were
to take possession of the new house.
While Mac-Nab and his men were working so hard, the foraging party,
with the Lieutenant at its head, had been exploring the environs of Cape
Bathurst, and satisfied themselves that there would be no difficulty in
supplying the Company’s demands for fur and feathers, so soon as they
could set about hunting in earnest. In the meantime they prepared the
way for future sport, contenting themselves for the present with the
capture of a few couples of reindeer, which they intended to domesticate
for the sake of their milk and their young. They were kept in a paddock
about fifty yards from the house, and entrusted to the care of Mac-Nabs
wife, an Indian woman, well qualified to take charge of them.
The care of the household fell to Mrs Paulina Barnett, and this good
woman, with Madge’s help, was invaluable in providing for all the
small wants, which would inevitably have escaped the notice of the men.
After scouring the country within a radius of several miles, the
Lieutenant notified, as the result of his observations, that the
territory on which they had established themselves, and to which he gave
the name of Victoria Land, was a large peninsula about one hundred and
fifty square miles in extent, with very clearly-defined boundaries,
connected with the American continent by an isthmus, extending from
the lower end of Washburn Bay on the east, as fair as the corresponding
slope on the opposite coast. The Lieutenant next proceeded to ascertain
what were the resources of the lake and river, and found great reason to
be satisfied with the result of his examination. The shallow waters of
the lake teemed with trout, pike, and other available fresh-water fish;
and the little river was a favourite resort of salmon and shoals of
white bait and smelts. The supply of sea-fish was not so good; and
though many a grampus and whale passed by in the offing, the latter
probably flying from the harpoons of the Behring Strait fishermen there
were no means of capturing them unless one by chance happened to get
stranded on the coast; nor would Hobson allow any of the seals
which abounded on the western shore to be taken until a satisfactory
conclusion should be arrived at as to how to use them to the best
advantage.
The colonists now considered themselves fairly installed stalled in
their new abode, and after due deliberation unanimously agreed to bestow
upon the settlement the name of Fort Good Hope.
Alas! the auspicious title was never to be inscribed upon a map. The
undertaking, begun so bravely and with such prospects of success, was
destined never to be carried out, and another disaster would have to be
added to the long list of failures in Arctic enterprise.
CHAPTER XIV. SOME EXCURSIONS. It did not take long to furnish the new
abode. A camp-bed was set up in the hall, and the carpenter Mac-Nab
constructed a most substantial table, around which were ranged fixed
benches. A few movable seats and two enormous presses completed the
furniture of this apartment. The inner room, which was also ready, was
divided by solid partitions into six dormitories, the two end ones
alone being lighted by windows looking to the front and back. The only
furniture was a bed and a table. Mrs Paulina Barnett and Madge were
installed in one which looked immediately out upon the lake. Hobson
offered the other with the window in it to Thomas Black, and the
astronomer took immediate possession of it. The Lieutenant’s own room
was a dark cell adjoining the hall, with no window but a bull’s eye
pierced through the partition. Mrs Joliffe, Mrs Mac-Nab, and Mrs Rae,
with their husbands, occupied the other dormitories. These good people
agreed so well together that it would have been a pity to separate them.
Moreover, an addition was expected shortly to the little colony; and
Mac-Nab had already gone so far as to secure the services of Mrs Barnett
as god-mother, an honour which gave the good woman much satisfaction.
The sledges had been entirely unloaded, and the bedding carried into
the different rooms. All utensils, stores, and provisions which were
not required for immediate use were stowed away in a garret, to which a
ladder gave access. The winter clothing-such as boots, overcoats, furs,
and skins-were also taken there, and protected from the damp in large
chests. As soon as these arrangements were completed, the Lieutenant
began to provide for the heating of the house.
Knowing that the most energetic measures were necessary to combat the
severity of the Arctic winter, and that during the weeks of intensest
cold there would be no possibility of leaving the house to forage for
supplies, he ordered a quantity of fuel to be brought from the wooded
hills in the neighbourhood, and took care to obtain a plentiful store of
oil from the seals which abounded on the shore.
In obedience to his orders, and under his directions, the house was
provided with a condensing apparatus which would receive the internal
moisture, and was so constructed that the ice which would form in it
could easily be removed.
This question of heating was a very serious one to the Lieutenant.
“I am a native of the Polar regions, madam,” he often said to Mrs
Barnett; “I have some experience in these matters, and I have read
over and over again books written by those who have wintered in these
latitudes. It is impossible to take too many precautions in preparing to
pass a winter in the Arctic regions, and nothing must be left to chance
where a single neglect may prove fatal to the enterprise.”
“Very true, Mr Hobson,” replied Mrs Barnett; “and you have
evidently made up your mind to conquer the cold; but there is the food
to be thought of too.”
“Yes, indeed; I have been thinking of that, and mean to make all
possible use of the produce of the country so as to economise our
stores. As soon as we can, we will make some foraging expeditions. We
need not think about the furs at present, for there will be plenty of
time during the winter to stock the Company’s depôts. Besides, the
furred animals have not got their winter clothing on yet, and the skins
would lose fifty per cent. of their value if taken now. Let us content
ourselves for the present with provisioning Fort Hope. Reindeer, elk,
- and any wapitis that may have ventured so far north are the only game
worth our notice just now; it will be no small undertaking to provide
food for twenty people and sixty dogs.”
The Lieutenant loved order, and determined to do everything in the most
methodical manner, feeling confident that if his companions would help
him to the utmost of their power, nothing need be wanting to the success
of the expedition.
The weather at this season was almost always fine, and might be expected
to continue so for five weeks longer, when the snow would begin to fall.
It was very important that the carpenters-should make all possible use
of the interval; and as soon as the principal house was finished, Hobson
set them to work to build an enormous kennel or shed in which to keep
the teams of dogs. This doghouse was built at the very foot of the
promontory, against the hill, and about forty yards to the right of
the house. Barracks for the accommodation of the men were to be built
opposite this kennel on the left, while the store and powder magazines
were to occupy the front of the enclosure.
Hobson determined with almost excessive prudence to have the Factory
enclosed before the winter set in. A strong fence of pointed stakes,
planted firmly in the ground, was set up as a protection against
the inroads of wild animals or the hostilities of the natives. The
Lieutenant had not forgotten an outrage which had been committed along
the coast at no great distance from Fort Hope, and he well knew how
essential it was to be safe from a coup de main. The factory was
therefore entirely encircled, and at each extremity of the lagoon
Mac-Nab undertook to erect a wooden sentry-box commanding the
coast-line, from which a watch could be kept without any danger. The
men worked indefatigably, and it seemed likely that everything would be
finished before the cold season set in.
In the meantime hunting parties were organised. The capture of seals
being put off for a more convenient season, the sportsmen prepared
to supply the fort with game, which might be dried and preserved for
consumption during the bad season.
Accordingly Marbre and Sabine, sometimes accompanied by the Lieutenant
and Sergeant Long, whose experience was invaluable, scoured the country
daily for miles round; and it was no uncommon sight to see Mrs Paulina
Barnett join them and step briskly along shouldering her gun bravely,
and never allowing herself to be outstripped by her companions.
Throughout the month of August these expeditions were continued with
great success, and the store of provisions increased rapidly. Marbre
and Sabine were skilled in all the artifices which sportsmen employ in
stalking their prey-particularly the reindeer, which are exceedingly
wary. How patiently they would face the wind lest the creature’s keen
sense of smell should warn it of their approach! and how cunningly they
lured it on to its destruction by displaying the magnificent antlers of
some former victim above the birch-bushes !
They found a useful alley (sic) in a certain little traitorous bird to
which the Indians have given the name of “monitor.” It is a kind of
daylight owl, about the size of a pigeon, and has earned its name by its
habit of calling the attention of hunters to their quarry, by uttering a
sharp note like the cry of a child.
When about fifty reindeer, or, to give them their Indian name,
“caribous,” had been brought down by the guns, the flesh was cut
into long strips for food, the skins being kept to be tanned and used
for shoe-leather.
Besides the caribous, there were also plenty of Polar hares, which
formed an agreeable addition to the larder. They were much less timorous
than the European species, and allowed themselves to be caught in great
numbers. They belong to the rodent family, and have long ears, brown
eyes, and a soft fur resembling swan’s down. They weigh from ten to
fifteen pounds each, and their flesh is excellent. Hundreds of them were
cared for winter use, and the remainder converted into excellent pies by
the skilful hands of Mrs Joliffe.
While making provision for future wants, the daily supplies were not
neglected. In addition to the Polar hares, which underwent every variety
of culinary treatment from Mrs Joliffe, and won for her compliments
innumerable from hunters and workmen alike, many waterfowl figured in
the bill of fare. Besides the ducks which abounded on the shores of the
lagoon, large flocks of grouse congregated round the clumps of stunted
willows. They belong, as their zoological name implies, to the partridge
family, and might be aptly described as white partridges with long
black-spotted feathers in the tail. The Indians call them willow-fowl;
but to a European sportsman they are neither more nor less than
blackcock (Tetrao tetrix). When roasted slightly before a quick clear
fire they proved delicious.
Then there were the supplies furnished by lake and stream. Sergeant
Long was a first-rate angler, and nothing could surpass the skill and
patience with which he whipped the water and cast his line. The faithful
Madge, another worthy disciple of Isaak Walton was perhaps his only
equal. Day after day the two sallied forth together rod in hand, to
spend the day in mute companionship by the river-side, whence they were
sure to return in triumph laden with some splendid specimens of the
salmon tribe.
But to return to our sportsmen; they soon found that their hunting
excursions were not to be free from peril. Hobson perceived with some
alarm that bears were very numerous in the neighbourhood and that
scarcely a day passed without one or more of them being sighted.
Sometimes these unwelcome visitors belonged to the family of brown
bears, so common throughout the whole “Cursed Land; “but now and
then a solitary specimen of the formidable Polar bear warned the hunters
what dangers they might have to encounter so soon as the first frost
should drive great numbers of these fearful animals to the neighbourhood
of Cape Bathurst. Every book of Arctic explorations is full of accounts
of the frequent perils to which travellers and whalers are exposed from
the ferocity of these animals.
Now and then, too, a distant pack of wolves was seen, which receded like
a wave at the approach of the hunters, or the sound of their bark
was heard as they followed the trail of a reindeer or wapiti. These
creatures were large grey wolves, about three feet high, with long
tails, whose fur becomes white in the winter. They abounded in this part
of the country, where food was plentiful; and frequented wooded spots,
where they lived in holes like foxes. During the temperate season,
when they could get as much as they wanted to eat, they were scarcely
dangerous, and fled with the characteristic cowardice of their race at
the first sign of pursuit; but when impelled by hunger, their numbers
rendered them very formidable; and from the fact of their lairs being
close at hand, they never left the country even in the depth of winter.
One day the sportsmen returned to Fort Hope, bringing with them an
unpleasant-looking animal, which neither Mrs Paulina Barnett nor the
astronomer, Thomas Black, had ever before seen. It was a carnivorous
creature of the plantigrada family, and greatly resembled the American
glutton, being strongly built, with short legs, and, like all animals of
the feline tribe, a very supple back; its eyes were small and horny, and
it was armed with curved claws and formidable jaws.
“What is this horrid creature?” inquired Mrs Paulina Barnett of
Sabine, who replied in his usual sententious manner--
“A Scotchman would call it a ‘quick-hatch,’ an Indian an
‘okelcoo-haw-gew,’ and a Canadian a ‘carcajou.”’
“And what do you call it?”
“A wolverene, ma’am,” returned Sabine, much delighted with the
elegant way in which he had rounded his sentence.
The wolverene, as this strange quadruped is called by zoologists, lives
in hollow trees or rocky caves, whence it issues at night and creates
great havoc amongst beavers, musk-rats, and other rodents, sometimes
fighting with a fox or a wolf for its spoils. Its chief characteristics
are great cunning, immense muscular power, and an acute sense of smell.
It is found in very high latitudes; and the short fur with which it is
clothed becomes almost black in the winter months, and forms a large
item in the Company’s exports.
During their excursions the settlers paid as much attention to the Flora
of the country as to its Fauna; but in those regions vegetation, has
necessarily a hard struggle for existence, as it must brave every season
of the year, whereas the animals are able to migrate to a warmer climate
during the winter.
The hills on the eastern side, of the lake were well covered with pine
and fir trees; and Jaspar also noticed the “tacamahac,” a species of
poplar which grows to a great height and shoots forth yellowish leaves
which turn green in the autumn. These trees and larches were, however,
few and sickly looking, as if they found the oblique rays of the sun
insufficient to make them thrive. The black fir, or Norway spruce fir,
throve better, especially when situated in ravines well sheltered
from the north wind. The young shoots of this tree are very
valuable, yielding a favourite beverage known in North America as “
spruce-beer.” A good crop of these branchlets was gathered in and
stored in the cellar of Fort Hope. There were also the dwarf birch,
a shrub about two feet high, native to very cold climates, and whole
thickets of cedars, which are so valuable for fuel.
Of vegetables which could be easily grown and used for food, this barren
land yielded but few; and Mrs Joliffe, who took a great interest in “
economic “ botany, only met with .two plants which were available in
cooking.
One of these, a bulb, very difficult to classify, because its leaves
fall off just at the flowering season, turned out to be a wild leek, and
yielded a good crop of onions, each about the size of an egg.
The other plant was that known throughout North America as “Labrador
tea;” it grew abundantly on the shores of the lagoon between the
clumps of willow and arbutus, and formed the principal food of the
Polar hares. Steeped in boiling water, and flavoured with a few drops of
brandy or gin, it formed an excellent beverage, and served to economise
the supply of China tea which the party had brought from Fort Reliance.
Knowing the scarcity of vegetables, Jaspar Hobson had plenty of
seeds with him, chiefly sorrel and scurvy-grass (Cochlearia), the
antiscorbutic properties of which are invaluable in these latitudes. In
choosing the site of the settlement, such care bad been taken to find
a spot sheltered from the keen blasts, which shrivel vegetation like a
fire, that there was every chance of these seeds yielding a good crop in
the ensuing season.
The dispensary of the new fort contained other antiscorbutics, in the
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000