for the wind to penetrate. All these preparations took about three
weeks, and the 10th of October came round without anything remarkable
happening.
CHAPTER XXV
AN OLD FOX
That day the thermometer went down to 3 degrees below zero. The weather
was pretty calm, and the cold without breeze was bearable. Hatteras
profited by the clearness of the atmosphere to reconnoitre the
surrounding plains; he climbed one of the highest icebergs to the
north, and could see nothing, as far as his telescope would let him,
but ice-fields and icebergs. No land anywhere, but the image of chaos
in its saddest aspect. He came back on board trying to calculate the
probable duration of his captivity. The hunters, and amongst them
the doctor, James Wall, Simpson, Johnson, and Bell, did not fail to
supply the ship with fresh meat. Birds had disappeared; they were
gone to less rigorous southern climates. The ptarmigans, a sort of
partridge, alone stay the winter in these latitudes; they are easily
killed, and their great number promised an abundant supply of game.
There were plenty of hares, foxes, wolves, ermine, and bears; there
were enough for any sportsman, English, French, or Norwegian; but
they were difficult to get at, and difficult to distinguish on the
white plains from the whiteness of their fur; when the intense cold
comes their fur changes colour, and white is their winter colour.
The doctor found that this change of fur is not caused by the change
of temperature, for it takes place in the month of October, and is
simply a precaution of Providence to guard them from the rigour of
a boreal winter.
Seals were abundant in all their varieties, and were particularly
sought after by the hunters for the sake, not only of their skins,
but their fat, which is very warming; besides which, the liver of
these animals makes excellent fuel: hundreds of them were to be seen,
and two or three miles to the north of the brig the ice was literally
perforated all over with the holes these enormous amphibians make;
only they smelt the hunters from afar, and many were wounded that
escaped by plunging under the ice. However, on the 19th, Simpson
managed to catch one at about a hundred yards from the ship; he had
taken the precaution to block up its hole of refuge so that it was
at the mercy of the hunters. It took several bullets to kill the animal,
which measured nine feet in length; its bulldog head, the sixteen
teeth in its jaws, its large pectoral fins in the shape of pinions,
and its little tail, furnished with another pair of fins, made it
a good specimen of the family of dog-hound fish. The doctor, wishing
to preserve the head for his natural history collection, and its skin
for his future use, had them prepared by a rapid and inexpensive
process. He plunged the body of the animal into the hole in the ice,
and thousands of little prawns soon ate off all the flesh; in half
a day the work was accomplished, and the most skilful of the honourable
corporation of Liverpool tanners could not have succeeded better.
As soon as the sun had passed the autumnal equinox--that is to say,
on the 23rd of September--winter may be said to begin in the Arctic
regions. The sun disappears entirely on the 23rd of October, lighting
up with its oblique rays the summits of the frozen mountains. The
doctor wished him a traveller's farewell; he was not going to see
him again till February. But obscurity is not complete during this
long absence of the sun; the moon comes each month to take its place
as well as she can; starlight is very bright, and there is besides
frequent aurora borealis, and a refraction peculiar to the snowy
horizons; besides, the sun at the very moment of his greatest austral
declination, the 21st of December, is still only 13 degrees from the
Polar horizon, so that there is twilight for a few hours; only fogs,
mists, and snowstorms often plunge these regions into complete
obscurity. However, at this epoch the weather was pretty favourable;
the partridges and the hares were the only animals that had a right
to complain, for the sportsmen did not give them a moment's peace;
they set several fox-traps, but the suspicious animals did not let
themselves be caught so easily; they would often come and eat the
snare by scratching out the snow from under the trap; the doctor wished
them at the devil, as he could not get them himself. On the 25th of
October the thermometer marked more than 4 degrees below zero. A
violent tempest set in; the air was thick with snow, which prevented
a ray of light reaching the -Forward-. During several hours they were
very uneasy about Bell and Simpson, who had gone too far whilst
hunting; they did not reach the ship till the next day, after having
lain for a whole day in their buckskins, whilst the tempest swept
the air about them, and buried them under five feet of snow. They
were nearly frozen, and the doctor had some trouble to restore their
circulation.
The tempest lasted a week without interruption. It was impossible
to stir out. In a single day the temperature varied fifteen and twenty
degrees. During their forced idleness each one lived to himself; some
slept, others smoked, or talked in whispers, stopping when they saw
the doctor or Johnson approach; there was no moral union between the
men; they only met for evening prayers, and on Sunday for Divine
service. Clifton had counted that once the 78th parallel cleared,
his share in the bounty would amount to 375 pounds; he thought that
enough, and his ambition did not go beyond. The others were of the
same opinion, and only thought of enjoying the fortune acquired at
such a price. Hatteras was hardly ever seen. He neither took part
in the hunting nor other excursions. He felt no interest in the
meteorological phenomena which excited the doctor's admiration. He
lived for one idea; it was comprehended in three words--the North
Pole. He was constantly looking forward to the moment when the
-Forward-, once more free, would begin her adventurous voyage again.
In short, it was a melancholy life; the brig, made for movement, seemed
quite out of place as a stationary dwelling; her original form could
not be distinguished amidst the ice and snow that covered her, and
she was anything but a lively spectacle. During these unoccupied hours
the doctor put his travelling notes in order--the notes from which
this history is taken; he was never idle, and the evenness of his
humour remained the same, only he was very glad to see the tempest
clearing off so as to allow him to set off hunting once more. On the
3rd of November, at six in the morning, with a temperature at 5 degrees
below zero, he started, accompanied by Johnson and Bell; the plains
of ice were level; the snow, which covered the ground thickly,
solidified by the frost, made the ground good for walking; a dry and
keen cold lightened the atmosphere; the moon shone in all her
splendour, and threw an astonishing light on all the asperities of
the field; their footsteps left marks on the snow, and the moon lighted
up their edges, so that they looked like a luminous track behind the
hunters whose shadows fell on the ice with astonishing outlines.
The doctor had taken his friend Dick with him; he preferred him to
the Greenland dogs to run down the game for a good reason; the latter
do not seem to have the scent of their brethren of more temperate
climates. Dick ran on and often pointed out the track of a bear, but
in spite of his skill the hunters had not even killed a hare after
two hours' walking.
"Do you think the game has gone south too?" asked the doctor, halting
at the foot of a hummock.
"It looks like it, Mr. Clawbonny," answered the carpenter.
"I don't think so," answered Johnson; "hares, foxes, and bears are
accustomed to the climate; I believe the late tempest is the cause
of their disappearance; but with the south winds they'll soon come
back. Ah! if you said reindeers or musk-oxen it would be a different
thing."
"But it appears those, too, are found in troops in Melville Island,"
replied the doctor; "that is much further south, I grant you; when
Parry wintered there he always had as much game as he wanted."
"We are not so well off," said Bell; "if we could only get plenty
of bear's flesh I should not complain."
"Bears are very difficult to get at," answered the doctor; "it seems
to me they want civilising."
"Bell talks about the bear's flesh, but we want its fat more than
its flesh or its skin," said Johnson.
"You are right, Johnson; you are always thinking about the fuel."
"How can I help thinking about it? I know if we are ever so careful
of it we've only enough left for three weeks."
"Yes," replied the doctor, "that is our greatest danger, for we are
only at the beginning of November, and February is the coldest month
of the year in the Frozen Zone; however, if we can't get bear's grease
we can rely on that of the seals."
"Not for long, Mr. Clawbonny," answered Johnson. "They'll soon desert
us too; either through cold or fright, they'll soon leave off coming
on to the surface of the ice."
"Then we must get at the bears," said the doctor; "they are the most
useful animals in these countries: they furnish food, clothes, light,
and fuel. Do you hear, Dick?" continued he, caressing his friend;
"we must have a bear, so look out."
Dick, who was smelling the ice as the doctor spoke, started off all
at once, quick as an arrow. He barked loudly, and, notwithstanding
his distance, the sportsmen heard him distinctly. The extreme
distance to which sound is carried in these low temperatures is
astonishing; it is only equalled by the brilliancy of the
constellations in the boreal sky.
The sportsmen, guided by Dick's barking, rushed on his traces; they
had to run about a mile, and arrived quite out of breath, for the
lungs are rapidly suffocated in such an atmosphere. Dick was pointing
at about fifty paces from an enormous mass at the top of a mound of
ice.
"We've got him," said the doctor, taking aim.
"And a fine one," added Bell, imitating the doctor.
"It's a queer bear," said Johnson, waiting to fire after his two
companions.
Dick barked furiously. Bell advanced to within twenty feet and fired,
but the animal did not seem to be touched. Johnson advanced in his
turn, and after taking a careful aim, pulled the trigger.
"What," cried the doctor, "not touched yet? Why, it's that cursed
refraction. The bear is at least a thousand paces off."
The three sportsmen ran rapidly towards the animal, whom the firing
had not disturbed; he seemed to be enormous, and without calculating
the dangers of the attack, they began to rejoice in their conquest.
Arrived within reasonable distance they fired again; the bear,
mortally wounded, gave a great jump and fell at the foot of the mound.
Dick threw himself upon it.
"That bear wasn't difficult to kill," said the doctor.
"Only three shots," added Bell in a tone of disdain, "and he's down."
"It's very singular," said Johnson.
"Unless we arrived at the very moment when it was dying of old age,"
said the doctor, laughing.
So speaking, the sportsmen reached the foot of the mound, and, to
their great stupefaction, they found Dick with his fangs in the body
of a white fox.
"Well, I never!" cried Bell.
"We kill a bear and a fox falls," added the doctor.
Johnson did not know what to say.
"Why!" said the doctor, with a roar of laughter, "it's the refraction
again!"
"What do you mean, Mr. Clawbonny?" asked the carpenter.
"Why, it deceived us about the size as it did about the distance.
It made us see a bear in a fox's skin."
"Well," answered Johnson, "now we've got him, we'll eat him."
Johnson was going to lift the fox on to his shoulders, when he cried
like Bell--"Well, I never!"
"What is it?" asked the doctor.
"Look, Mr. Clawbonny--look what the animal's got on its neck; it's
a collar, sure enough."
"A collar?" echoed the doctor, leaning over the animal. A half
worn-out collar encircled the fox's neck, and the doctor thought he
saw something engraved on it; he took it off and examined it.
"That bear is more than twelve years old, my friends," said the doctor;
"it's one of James Ross's foxes, and the collar has been round its
neck ever since 1848."
"Is it possible?" cried Bell.
"There isn't a doubt about it, and I'm sorry we've shot the poor animal.
During his wintering James Ross took a lot of white foxes in his traps,
and had brass collars put round their necks on which were engraved
the whereabouts of his ships, the -Enterprise- and the -Investigator-,
and the store magazines. He hoped one of them might fall into the
hands of some of the men belonging to Franklin's expedition. The poor
animal might have saved the lives of the ship's crews, and it has
fallen under our balls."
"Well, we won't eat him," said Johnson, "especially as he's twelve
years old. Anyway, we'll keep his skin for curiosity sake." So saying
he lifted the animal on his shoulders, and they made their way to
the ship, guided by the stars; still their expedition was not quite
fruitless: they bagged several brace of ptarmigans. An hour before
they reached the -Forward-, a phenomenon occurred which excited the
astonishment of the doctor; it was a very rain of shooting stars;
they could be counted by thousands, like rockets in a display of
fireworks. They paled the light of the moon, and the admirable
spectacle lasted several hours. A like meteor was observed at
Greenland by the Moravian brothers in 1799. The doctor passed the
whole night watching it, till it ceased, at seven in the morning,
amidst the profound silence of the atmosphere.
CHAPTER XXVI
THE LAST LUMP OF COAL
It seemed certain that no bears were to be had; several seals were
killed during the days of the 4th, 5th, and 6th of November; then
the wind changed, and the thermometer went up several degrees; but
the snow-drifts began again with great violence. It became impossible
to leave the vessel, and the greatest precaution was needed to keep
out the damp. At the end of the week there were several bushels of
ice in the condensers. The weather changed again on the 15th of
November, and the thermometer, under the influence of certain
atmospherical conditions, went down to 24 degrees below zero. It was
the lowest temperature observed up till then. This cold would have
been bearable in a quiet atmosphere, but there was a strong wind which
seemed to fill the atmosphere with sharp blades. The doctor was vexed
at being kept prisoner, for the ground was covered with snow, made
hard by the wind, and was easy to walk upon; he wanted to attempt
some long excursion.
It is very difficult to work when it is so cold, because of the
shortness of breath it causes. A man can only do a quarter of his
accustomed work; iron implements become impossible to touch; if one
is taken up without precaution, it causes a pain as bad as a burn,
and pieces of skin are left on it. The crew, confined to the ship,
were obliged to walk for two hours on the covered deck, where they
were allowed to smoke, which was not allowed in the common room. There,
directly the fire got low, the ice invaded the walls and the joins
in the flooring; every bolt, nail, or metal plate became immediately
covered with a layer of ice. The doctor was amazed at the instantaneity
of the phenomenon. The breath of the men condensed in the air, and
passing quickly from a fluid to a solid state, fell round them in
snow. At a few feet only from the stoves the cold was intense, and
the men stood near the fire in a compact group. The doctor advised
them to accustom their skin to the temperature, which would certainly
get worse, and he himself set the example; but most of them were too
idle or too benumbed to follow his advice, and preferred remaining
in the unhealthy heat. However, according to the doctor, there was
no danger in the abrupt changes of temperature in going from the warm
room into the cold. It is only dangerous for people in perspiration;
but the doctor's lessons were thrown away on the greater part of the
crew.
As to Hatteras, he did not seem to feel the influence of the
temperature. He walked silently about at his ordinary pace. Had the
cold no empire over his strong constitution, or did he possess in
a supreme degree the natural heat he wished his sailors to have? Was
he so armed in his one idea as to be insensible to exterior
impressions? His men were profoundly astonished at seeing him facing
the 24 degrees below zero; he left the ship for hours, and came back
without his face betraying the slightest mark of cold.
"He is a strange man," said the doctor to Johnson; "he even astonishes
me. He is one of the most powerful natures I have ever studied in
my life."
"The fact is," answered Johnson, "that he comes and goes in the open
air without clothing himself more warmly than in the month of June."
"Oh! the question of clothes is not of much consequence," replied
the doctor; "it is of no use clothing people who do not produce heat
naturally. It is the same as if we tried to warm a piece of ice by
wrapping it up in a blanket! Hatteras does not want that; he is
constituted so, and I should not be surprised if being by his side
were as good as being beside a stove."
Johnson had the job of clearing the water-hole the next day, and
remarked that the ice was more than ten feet thick. The doctor could
observe magnificent aurora borealis almost every night; from four
till eight p.m. the sky became slightly coloured in the north; then
this colouring took the regular form of a pale yellow border, whose
extremities seemed to buttress on to the ice-field. Little by little
the brilliant zone rose in the sky, following the magnetic meridian,
and appeared striated with blackish bands; jets of some luminous
matter, augmenting and diminishing, shot out lengthways; the meteor,
arrived at its zenith, was often composed of several bows, bathed
in floods of red, yellow, or green light. It was a dazzling spectacle.
Soon the different curves all joined in one point, and formed boreal
crowns of a heavenly richness. At last the bows joined, the splendid
aurora faded, the intense rays melted into pale, vague, undetermined
shades, and the marvellous phenomenon, feeble, and almost
extinguished, fainted insensibly into the dark southern clouds.
Nothing can equal the wonders of such a spectacle under the high
latitudes less than eight degrees from the Pole; the aurora borealis
perceived in temperate regions gives no idea of them--not even a
feeble one; it seems as if Providence wished to reserve its most
astonishing marvels for these climates.
During the duration of the moon several images of her are seen in
the sky, increasing her brilliancy; often simple lunar halos surround
her, and she shines from the centre of her luminous circle with a
splendid intensity.
On the 26th of November there was a high tide, and the water escaped
with violence from the water-hole; the thick layer of ice was shaken
by the rising of the sea, and sinister crackings announced the
submarine struggle; happily the ship kept firm in her bed, and her
chains only were disturbed. Hatteras had had them fastened in
anticipation of the event. The following days were still colder; there
was a penetrating fog, and the wind scattered the piled-up snow; it
became difficult to see whether the whirlwinds began in the air or
on the ice-fields; confusion reigned.
The crew were occupied in different works on board, the principal
of which consisted in preparing the grease and oil produced by the
seals; they had become blocks of ice, which had to be broken with
axes into little bits, and ten barrels were thus preserved.
All sorts of vessels were useless, and the liquid they contained would
only have broken them when the temperature changed. On the 28th the
thermometer went down to 32 degrees below zero; there was only coal
enough left for ten days, and everyone looked forward to its
disappearance with dread. Hatteras had the poop stove put out for
economy's sake, and from that time Shandon, the doctor, and he stayed
in the common room. Hatteras was thus brought into closer contact
with the men, who threw ferocious and stupefied looks at him. He heard
their reproaches, their recriminations, and even their threats, and
he could not punish them. But he seemed to be deaf to everything.
He did not claim the place nearest the fire, but stopped in a corner,
his arms folded, never speaking.
In spite of the doctor's recommendations, Pen and his friends refused
to take the least exercise; they passed whole days leaning against
the stove or lying under the blankets of their hammocks. Their health
soon began to suffer; they could not bear up against the fatal
influence of the climate, and the terrible scurvy made its appearance
on board. The doctor had, however, begun, some time ago, to distribute
limejuice and lime pastilles every morning; but these preservatives,
generally so efficacious, had very little effect on the malady, which
soon presented the most horrible symptoms. The sight of the poor
fellows, whose nerves and muscles contracted with pain, was pitiable.
Their legs swelled in an extraordinary fashion, and were covered with
large blackish blue spots; their bloody gums and ulcerated lips only
gave passage to inarticulate sounds; the vitiated blood no longer
went to the extremities.
Clifton was the first attacked; then Gripper, Brunton, and Strong
took to their hammocks. Those that the malady still spared could not
lose sight of their sufferings; they were obliged to stay there, and
it was soon transformed into a hospital, for out of eighteen sailors
of the -Forward-, thirteen were attacked in a few days. Pen seemed
destined to escape contagion; his vigorous nature preserved him from
it. Shandon felt the first symptoms, but they did not go further,
and exercise kept the two in pretty good health.
The doctor nursed the invalids with the greatest care, and it made
him miserable to see the sufferings he could not alleviate. He did
all he could to keep his companions in good spirits; he talked to
them, read to them, and told them tales, which his astonishing memory
made it easy for him to do. He was often interrupted by the complaints
and groans of the invalids, and he stopped his talk to become once
more the attentive and devoted doctor. His health kept up well; he
did not get thinner, and he used to say that it was a good thing for
him that he was dressed like a seal or a whale, who, thanks to its
thick layer of fat, easily supports the Arctic atmosphere. Hatteras
felt nothing, either physically or morally. Even the sufferings of
his crew did not seem to touch him. Perhaps it was because he would
not let his face betray his emotions; but an attentive observer would
have remarked that a man's heart beat beneath the iron envelope. The
doctor analysed him, studied him, but did not succeed in classifying
so strange an organisation, a temperament so supernatural. The
thermometer lowered again; the walk on deck was deserted; the
Esquimaux dogs alone frequented it, howling lamentably.
There was always one man on guard near the stove to keep up the fire;
it was important not to let it go out. As soon as the fire got lower,
the cold glided into the room; ice covered the walls, and the humidity,
rapidly condensed, fell in snow on the unfortunate inhabitants of
the brig. It was in the midst of these unutterable tortures that the
8th of December was reached. That morning the doctor went as usual
to consult the exterior thermometer. He found the mercury completely
frozen.
"Forty-four degrees below zero!" he cried with terror. And that day
they threw the last lump of coal into the stove.
CHAPTER XXVII
CHRISTMAS
There was then a movement of despair. The thought of death, and death
from cold, appeared in all its horror; the last piece of coal burnt
away as quickly as the rest, and the temperature of the room lowered
sensibly. But Johnson went to fetch some lumps of the new fuel which
the marine animals had furnished him with, and he stuffed it into
the stove; he added some oakum, impregnated with frozen oil, and soon
obtained enough heat. The smell of the grease was abominable, but
how could they get rid of it? They were obliged to get used to it.
Johnson agreed that his expedient left much to wish for, and would
have no success in a Liverpool house.
"However," added he, "the smell may have one good result."
"What's that?" asked the carpenter.
"It will attract the bears; they are very fond of the stink."
"And what do we want with bears?" added Bell.
"You know, Bell, we can't depend on the seals; they've disappeared
for a good while to come; if the bears don't come to be turned into
fuel too, I don't know what will become of us."
"There would be only one thing left; but I don't see how----"
"The captain would never consent; but perhaps we shall be obliged."
Johnson shook his head sadly, and fell into a silent reverie, which
Bell did not interrupt. He knew that their stock of grease would not
last more than a week with the strictest economy.
The boatswain was not mistaken. Several bears, attracted by the fetid
exhalations, were signalled to the windward; the healthy men gave
chase to them, but they are extraordinarily quick, and did not allow
themselves to be approached, and the most skilful shots could not
touch them. The ship's crew was seriously menaced with death from
cold; it was impossible to resist such a temperature more than
forty-eight hours, and every one feared the end of the fuel. The
dreaded moment arrived at three o'clock p.m. on the 20th of December.
The fire went out; the sailors looked at each other with haggard eyes.
Hatteras remained immovable in his corner. The doctor as usual marched
up and down in agitation; he was at his wits' end. The temperature
of the room fell suddenly to 7 degrees below zero. But if the doctor
did not know what to do, some of the others did. Shandon, calm and
resolute, and Pen with anger in his eyes, and two or three of their
comrades, who could still walk, went up to Hatteras.
"Captain!" said Shandon.
Hatteras, absorbed in thought, did not hear him.
"Captain!" repeated Shandon, touching his hand.
Hatteras drew himself up.
"What is it?" he said.
"Our fire is out!"
"What then?" answered Hatteras.
"If you mean to kill us with cold, you had better say so," said Shandon
ironically.
"I mean," said Hatteras gravely, "to require every man to do his duty
to the end."
"There's something higher than duty, captain--there's the right to
one's own preservation. I repeat that the fire is out, and if it is
not relighted, not one of us will be alive in two days."
"I have no fuel," answered Hatteras, with a hollow voice.
"Very well," cried Pen violently, "if you have no fuel, we must take
it where we can!"
Hatteras grew pale with anger.
"Where?" said he.
"On board," answered the sailor insolently.
"On board!" echoed the captain, his fists closed, his eyes sparkling.
He had seized an axe, and he now raised it over Pen's head.
"Wretch!" he cried.
The doctor rushed between the captain and Pen; the axe fell to the
ground, its sharp edge sinking into the flooring. Johnson, Bell, and
Simpson were grouped round Hatteras, and appeared determined to give
him their support. But lamentable and plaintive voices came from the
beds.
"Some fire! Give us some fire!" cried the poor fellows.
Hatteras made an effort, and said calmly:
"If we destroy the brig, how shall we get back to England?"
"We might burn some of the rigging and the gunwale, sir," said Johnson.
"Besides, we should still have the boats left," answered Shandon;
"and we could build a smaller vessel with the remains of the old one!"
"Never!" answered Hatteras.
"But----" began several sailors, raising their voices.
"We have a great quantity of spirits of wine," answered Hatteras;
"burn that to the last drop."
"Ah, we didn't think of that!" said Johnson, with affected
cheerfulness, and by the help of large wicks steeped in spirits he
succeeded in raising the temperature a few degrees.
During the days that followed this melancholy scene the wind went
round to the south, and the thermometer went up. Some of the men could
leave the vessel during the least damp part of the day; but ophthalmia
and scurvy kept the greater number on board; besides, neither fishing
nor hunting was practicable. But it was only a short respite from
the dreadful cold, and on the 25th, after an unexpected change in
the wind, the mercury again froze; they were then obliged to have
recourse to the spirits of wine thermometer, which never freezes.
The doctor found, to his horror, that it marked 66 degrees below zero;
men had never been able to support such a temperature. The ice spread
itself in long tarnished mirrors on the floor; a thick fog invaded
the common room; the damp fell in thick snow; they could no longer
see one another; the extremities became blue as the heat of the body
left them; a circle of iron seemed to be clasping their heads, and
made them nearly delirious. A still more fearful symptom was that
their tongues could no longer articulate a word.
From the day they had threatened to burn his ship, Hatteras paced
the deck for hours. He was guarding his treasures; the wood of the
ship was his own flesh, and whoever cut a piece off cut off one of
his limbs. He was armed, and mounted guard, insensible to the cold,
the snow, and the ice, which stiffened his garments and enveloped
him in granite armour. His faithful Dick accompanied him, and seemed
to understand why he was there.
However, on Christmas Day he went down to the common room. The doctor,
taking advantage of what energy he had left, went straight to him,
and said--
"Hatteras, we shall all die if we get no fuel."
"Never!" said Hatteras, knowing what was coming.
"We must," said the doctor gently.
"Never!" repeated Hatteras with more emphasis still. "I will never
consent! They can disobey me if they like!"
Johnson and Bell took advantage of the half-permission, and rushed
on deck. Hatteras heard the wood crack under the axe. He wept. What
a Christmas Day for Englishmen was that on board the -Forward-! The
thought of the great difference between their position and that of
the happy English families who rejoiced in their roast beef, plum
pudding, and mince pies added another pang to the miseries of the
unfortunate crew. However, the fire put a little hope and confidence
into the men; the boiling of coffee and tea did them good, and the
next week passed less miserably, ending the dreadful year 1860; its
early winter had defeated all Hatteras's plans.
On the 1st of January, 1861, the doctor made a discovery. It was not
quite so cold, and he had resumed his interrupted studies; he was
reading Sir Edward Belcher's account of his expedition to the Polar
Seas; all at once a passage struck him; he read it again and again.
It was where Sir Edward Belcher relates that after reaching the
extremity of Queen's Channel he had discovered important traces of
the passage and residence of men. "They were," said he, "very superior
habitations to those which might be attributed to the wandering
Esquimaux. The walls had foundations, the floors of the interior had
been covered with a thick layer of fine gravel, and were paved.
Reindeer, seal, and walrus bones were seen in great quantities. -We
found some coal.-" At the last words the doctor was struck with an
idea; he carried the book to Hatteras and showed him the passage.
"They could not have found coal on this deserted coast," said
Hatteras; "it is not possible!"
"Why should we doubt what Belcher says? He would not have recorded
such a fact unless he had been certain and had seen it with his own
eyes."
"And what then, doctor?"
"We aren't a hundred miles from the coast where Belcher saw the coal,
and what is a hundred miles' excursion? Nothing. Longer ones than
that have often been made across the ice."
"We will go," said Hatteras.
Johnson was immediately told of their resolution, of which he strongly
approved; he told his companions about it: some were glad, others
indifferent.
"Coal on these coasts!" said Wall, stretched on his bed of pain.
"Let them go," answered Shandon mysteriously.
But before Hatteras began his preparations for the journey, he wished
to be exactly certain of the -Forward's- position. He was obliged
to be mathematically accurate as to her whereabouts, because of
finding her again. His task was very difficult; he went upon deck
and took at different moments several lunar distances and the meridian
heights of the principal stars. These observations were hard to make,
for the glass and mirrors of the instrument were covered with ice
from Hatteras's breath; he burnt his eyelashes more than once by
touching the brass of the glasses. However, he obtained exact bases
for his calculations, and came down to make them in the room. When
his work was over, he raised his head in astonishment, took his map,
pricked it, and looked at the doctor.
"What is it?" asked the latter.
"In what latitude were we at the beginning of our wintering?"
"We were in latitude 78 degrees 15 minutes, by longitude 95 degrees
35 minutes; exactly at the Frozen Pole."
"Well," said Hatteras, in a low tone, "our ice-field has been
drifting! We are two degrees farther north and farther west, and three
hundred miles at least from your store of coal!"
"And those poor fellows don't know," said the doctor.
"Hush!" said Hatteras, putting his finger on his lips.
CHAPTER XXVIII
PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE
Hatteras would not inform his crew of their situation, for if they
had known that they had been dragged farther north they would very
likely have given themselves up to the madness of despair. The captain
had hidden his own emotions at his discovery. It was his first happy
moment during the long months passed in struggling with the elements.
He was a hundred and fifty miles farther north, scarcely eight degrees
from the Pole! But he hid his delight so profoundly that even the
doctor did not suspect it; he wondered at seeing an unwonted
brilliancy in the captain's eyes; but that was all, and he never once
thought of the reason.
The -Forward-, by getting nearer the Pole, had got farther away from
the coal repository observed by Sir Edward Belcher; instead of one
hundred, it lay at two hundred and fifty miles farther south. However,
after a short discussion about it between Hatteras and Clawbonny,
the journey was persisted in. If Belcher had written the truth--and
there was no reason for doubting his veracity--they should find things
exactly in the same state as he had left them, for no new expedition
had gone to these extreme continents since 1853. There were few or
no Esquimaux to be met with in that latitude. They could not be
disappointed on the coast of New Cornwall as they had been on Beechey
Island. The low temperature preserves the objects abandoned to its
influence for any length of time. All probabilities were therefore
in favour of this excursion across the ice. It was calculated that
the expedition would take, at the most, forty days, and Johnson's
preparations were made in consequence.
The sledge was his first care; it was in the Greenland style,
thirty-five inches wide and twenty-four feet long. The Esquimaux
often make them more than fifty feet long. This one was made of long
planks, bent up front and back, and kept bent like a bow by two thick
cords; the form thus given to it gave it increased resistance to
shocks; it ran easily on the ice, but when the snow was soft on the
ground it was put upon a frame; to make it glide more easily it was
rubbed, Esquimaux fashion, with sulphur and snow. Six dogs drew it;
notwithstanding their leanness these animals did not appear to suffer
from the cold; their buckskin harness was in good condition, and they
could draw a weight of two thousand pounds without fatigue. The
materials for encampment consisted of a tent, should the construction
of a snow-house be impossible, a large piece of mackintosh to spread
over the snow, to prevent it melting in contact with the human body,
and lastly, several blankets and buffalo-skins. They took the halkett
boat too.
The provisions consisted of five cases of pemmican, weighing about
four hundred and fifty pounds; they counted one pound of pemmican
for each man and each dog; there were seven dogs including Dick, and
four men. They also took twelve gallons of spirits of wine--that is
to say, about one hundred fifty pounds weight--a sufficient quantity
of tea and biscuit, a portable kitchen with plenty of wicks, oakum,
powder, ammunition, and two double-barrelled guns. They also used
Captain Parry's invention of indiarubber belts, in which the warmth
of the body and the movement of walking keeps coffee, tea, and water
in a liquid state. Johnson was very careful about the snow-shoes;
they are a sort of wooden patten, fastened on with leather straps;
when the ground was quite hard and frozen they could be replaced by
buckskin moccasins; each traveller had two pairs of both.
These preparations were important, for any detail omitted might
occasion the loss of an expedition; they took four whole days. Each
day at noon Hatteras took care to set the position of his ship; they
had ceased to drift; he was obliged to be certain in order to get
back. He next set about choosing the men he should take with him;
some of them were not fit either to take or leave, but the captain
decided to take none but sure companions, as the common safety
depended upon the success of the excursion. Shandon was, therefore,
excluded, which he did not seem to regret. James Wall was ill in bed.
The state of the sick got no worse, however, and as the only thing
to do for them was to rub them with lime-juice, and give them doses
of it, the doctor was not obliged to stop, and he made one of the
travellers. Johnson very much wished to accompany the captain in his
perilous enterprise, but Hatteras took him aside, and said, in an
affectionate tone:
"Johnson, I have confidence in you alone. You are the only officer
in whose hands I can leave my ship. I must know that you are there
to overlook Shandon and the others. They are kept prisoners here by
the winter, but I believe them capable of anything. You will be
furnished with my formal instructions, which, in case of need, will
give you the command. You will take my place entirely. Our absence
will last four or five weeks at the most. I shall not be anxious,
knowing you are where I cannot be. You must have wood, Johnson, I
know, but, as far as possible, spare my poor ship. Do you understand
me, Johnson?"
"Yes, sir," answered the old sailor, "I'll stop if you wish."
"Thank you," said Hatteras, shaking his boatswain's hand; "and if
we don't come back, wait for the next breaking-up time, and try to
push forward towards the Pole. But if the others won't go, don't mind
us, and take the -Forward- back to England."
"Are those your last commands, captain?"
"Yes, my express commands," answered Hatteras.
"Very well, sir, they shall be carried out," said Johnson simply.
The doctor regretted his friend, but he thought Hatteras had acted
wisely in leaving him. Their other two travelling companions were
Bell the carpenter and Simpson. The former was in good health, brave
and devoted, and was the right man to render service during the
encampments on the snow; Simpson was not so sure, but he accepted
a share in the expedition, and his hunting and fishing capabilities
might be of the greatest use. The expedition consisted, therefore,
of four men, Hatteras, Clawbonny, Bell, and Simpson, and seven dogs.
The provisions had been calculated in consequence. During the first
days of January the temperature kept at an average of 33 degrees below
zero. Hatteras was very anxious for the weather to change; he often
consulted the barometer, but it is of little use in such high latitudes.
A clear sky in these regions does not always bring cold, and the snow
does not make the temperature rise; the barometer is uncertain; it
goes down with the north and east winds; low, it brought fine weather;
high, snow or rain. Its indications could not, therefore, be relied
upon.
At last, on January 5th, the mercury rose to 18 degrees below zero,
and Hatteras resolved to start the next day; he could not bear to
see his ship burnt piece by piece before his eyes; all the poop had
gone into the stove. On the 6th, then, in the midst of whirlwinds
of snow, the order for departure was given. The doctor gave his last
orders about the sick; Bell and Simpson shook hands silently with
their companions. Hatteras wished to say his good-byes aloud, but
he saw himself surrounded by evil looks and thought he saw Shandon
smile ironically. He was silent, and perhaps hesitated for an instant
about leaving the -Forward-, but it was too late to turn back; the
loaded sledge, with the dogs harnessed to it, awaited him on the
ice-field. Bell started the first; the others followed.
Johnson accompanied the travellers for a quarter of a mile, then
Hatteras begged him to return on board, and the old sailor went back
after making a long farewell gesture. At that moment Hatteras turned
a last look towards the brig, and saw the extremity of her masts
disappear in the dark clouds of the sky.
CHAPTER XXIX
ACROSS THE ICE
The little troop descended towards the south-east. Simpson drove the
sledge. Dick helped him with zeal, and did not seem astonished at
the new occupation of his companions. Hatteras and the doctor walked
behind, whilst Bell went on in front, sounding the ice with his
iron-tipped stick. The rising of the thermometer indicated
approaching snow; it soon fell in thick flakes, and made the journey
difficult for the travellers; it made them deviate from the straight
line, and obliged them to walk slower; but, on an average, they made
three miles an hour. The surface of the ice was unequal, and the sledge
was often in danger of being overturned, but by great care it was
kept upright.
Hatteras and his companions were clothed in skins more useful than
elegant. Their heads and faces were covered with hoods, their mouths,
eyes, and noses alone coming into contact with the air. If they had
not been exposed the breath would have frozen their coverings, and
they would have been obliged to take them off with the help of an
axe--an awkward way of undressing. The interminable plain kept on
with fatiguing monotony; icebergs of uniform aspect and hummocks
whose irregularity ended by seeming always the same; blocks cast in
the same mould, and icebergs between which tortuous valleys wound.
The travellers spoke little, and marched on, compass in hand. It is
painful to open one's mouth in such an atmosphere; sharp icicles form
immediately between one's lips, and the breath is not warm enough
to melt them. Bell's steps were marked in the soft ground, and they
followed them attentively, certain of being able to go where he had
been before.
Numerous traces of bears and foxes crossed their path, but not an
animal was seen that day. It would have been dangerous and useless
to hunt them, as the sledge was sufficiently freighted. Generally
in this sort of excursion travellers leave provision-stores along
their route; they place them in hiding-places of snow, out of reach
of animals; unload during the journey, and take up the provisions
on their return. But Hatteras could not venture to do this on moveable
ice-fields, and the uncertainty of the route made the return the same
way exceedingly problematic. At noon Hatteras caused his little troop
to halt under shelter of an ice-wall. Their breakfast consisted of
pemmican and boiling tea; the latter beverage comforted the cold
wayfarers. They set out again after an hour's rest. The first day
they walked about twenty miles, and in the evening both men and dogs
were exhausted. However, notwithstanding their fatigue, they were
obliged to construct a snow-house in which to pass the night. It took
about an hour and a half to build. Bell showed himself very skilful.
The ice-blocks were cut out and placed above one another in the form
of a dome; a large block at the top made the vault. Snow served for
mortar and filled up the chinks. It soon hardened and made a single
block of the entire structure. It was reached by a narrow opening,
through which the doctor squeezed himself painfully, and the others
followed him. The supper was rapidly prepared with spirits of wine.
The interior temperature of the snow-house was bearable, as the wind
which raged outside could not penetrate. When their repast, which
was always the same, was over, they began to think of sleep. A
mackintosh was spread over the floor and kept them from the damp.
Their stockings and shoes were dried by the portable grate, and then
three of the travellers wrapped themselves up in their blankets,
leaving the fourth to keep watch; he watched over the common safety,
and prevented the opening getting blocked up, for if it did they would
be buried alive.
Dick shared the snow-house; the other dogs remained outside, and after
their supper they squatted down in the snow, which made them a blanket.
The men were tired out with their day's walk, and soon slept. The
doctor took his turn on guard at three o'clock in the morning. There
was a tempest during the night, the gusts of which thickened the walls
of the snow-house. The next day, at six o'clock, they set out again
on their monotonous march. The temperature lowered several degrees,
and hardened the ground so that walking was easier. They often met
with mounds or cairns something like the Esquimaux hiding-places.
The doctor had one demolished, and found nothing but a block of ice.
"What did you expect, Clawbonny?" said Hatteras. "Are we not the first
men who have set foot here?"
"It's very likely we are, but who knows?" answered the doctor.
"I do not want to lose my time in useless search," continued the
captain; "I want to be quick back to my ship, even if we don't find
the fuel."
"I believe we are certain of doing that," said the doctor.
"I often wish I had not left the -Forward-," said Hatteras; "a
captain's place is on board."
"Johnson is there."
"Yes; but--well, we must make haste, that's all."
The procession marched along rapidly; Simpson excited the dogs by
calling to them; in consequence of a phosphorescent phenomenon they
seemed to be running on a ground in flames, and the sledges seemed
to raise a dust of sparks. The doctor went on in front to examine
the state of the snow, but all at once he disappeared. Bell, who was
nearest to him, ran up.
"Well, Mr. Clawbonny," he called out in anxiety, "where are you?"
"Doctor!" called the captain.
"Here, in a hole," answered a reassuring voice; "throw me a cord,
and I shall soon be on the surface of the globe again."
They threw a cord to the doctor, who was at the bottom of a hole about
ten feet deep; he fastened it round his waist, and his companions
hauled him up with difficulty.
"Are you hurt?" asked Hatteras.
"Not a bit," answered the doctor, shaking his kind face, all covered
with snow.
"But how did you tumble down there?"
"Oh, it was the refraction's fault," he answered laughing. "I thought
I was stepping across about a foot's distance, and I fell into a hole
ten feet deep! I never shall get used to it. It will teach us to sound
every step before we advance. Ears hear and eyes see all topsy-turvy
in this enchanted spot."
"Can you go on?" asked the captain.
"Oh, yes; the little fall has done me more good than harm."
In the evening the travellers had marched twenty-five miles; they
were worn out, but it did not prevent the doctor climbing up an iceberg
while the snow-house was being built. The full moon shone with
extraordinary brilliancy in the clearest sky; the stars were
singularly bright; from the top of the iceberg the view stretched
over an immense plain, bristling with icebergs; they were of all sizes
and shapes, and made the field look like a vast cemetery, in which
twenty generations slept the sleep of death. Notwithstanding the cold,
the doctor remained a long time in contemplation of the spectacle,
and his companions had much trouble to get him away; but they were
obliged to think of rest; the snow-hut was ready; the four companions
burrowed into it like moles, and soon slept the sleep of the just.
The next day and the following ones passed without any particular
incident; the journey was easy or difficult according to the weather;
when it was cold and clear they wore their moccasins and advanced
rapidly, when damp and penetrating, their snow-shoes, and made little
way. They reached thus the 15th of January; the moon was in her last
quarter, and was only visible for a short time; the sun, though still
hidden below the horizon, gave six hours of a sort of twilight, not
sufficient to see the way by; they were obliged to stake it out
according to the direction given by the compass. Bell led the way;
Hatteras marched in a straight line behind him; then Simpson and the
doctor, taking it in turns, so as only to see Hatteras, and keep in
a straight line. But notwithstanding all their precautions, they
deviated sometimes thirty or forty degrees; they were then obliged
to stake it out again. On Sunday, the 15th of January, Hatteras
considered he had made a hundred miles to the south; the morning was
consecrated to the mending of different articles of clothing and
encampment; divine service was not forgotten. They set out again at
noon; the temperature was cold, the thermometer marked only 32 degrees
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