regular thaw.
On all sides nothing could be heard but the noise of cracking ice
and falling avalanches.
The travellers had to be very careful in avoiding hills, and even in
speaking aloud, for the slightest agitation in the air might have
caused a catastrophe. Indeed, the suddenness is the peculiar feature
in Arctic
[Illustration: ]
avalanches, distinguishing them from those of Switzerland and
Norway. Often the dislodgment of a block of ice is instantaneous,
and not even a cannon-ball or thunderbolt could be more rapid in its
descent. The loosening, the fall, and the crash happen almost
simultaneously.
Happily, however, no accident befel any of the party, and three days
afterwards they came to smooth, level ground again.
[Illustration: ]
But here a new phenomenon met their gaze--a phenomenon which was
long a subject of patient inquiry among the learned of both
hemispheres. They came to a long chain of low hills which seemed to
extend for miles, and were all covered on the eastern side with
bright red snow.
It is easy to imagine the surprise and half-terrified exclamations
of the little company at the sight of this long red curtain; but the
Doctor hastened to reassure them, or rather to instruct them, as to
the nature of this peculiar snow. He told them that this same red
substance had been found in Switzerland, in the heart of the Alps,
and that the colour proceeded solely from the presence of certain
corpuscles, about the nature of which for a long time chemists could
not agree. They could not decide whether these corpuscles were of
animal or vegetable origin, but at last it was settled that they
belonged to the family of fungi, being a sort of microscopic
champignon of the species Uredo.
Turning the snow over with his iron-tipped staff, the Doctor found
that the colouring matter measured nine feet deep. He pointed this
out to his companions, that they might have some idea of the
enormous number of these tiny mushrooms in a layer extending so many
miles.
This phenomenon was none the less strange for being explained, for
red is a colour seldom seen in nature over any considerable area.
The reflection of the sun's rays upon it produced the most
peculiar effect, lighting up men, and animals, and rocks with a
fiery glow, as if proceeding from some flame within. When the snow
melted it looked like blood, as the red particles do not decompose.
It seemed to the travellers as if rivulets of blood were running
among their feet.
[Illustration: ]
The Doctor filled several bottles with this precious substance to
examine at leisure, as he had only had a glimpse of the Crimson
Cliffs in Baffin's Bay.
[Illustration: ]
This Field of Blood, as he called it, took three hours to get over,
and then the country resumed its usual aspect.
[Illustration: At Bell's suggestion torches were
contrived.--P.199]
CHAPTER XX.
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW.
On the fourth of July there was such an exceedingly dense fog, that
it was very difficult to keep the straight course for the north. No
misadventure, however, befel the party during the darkness, except
the loss of Bell's snow-shoes. At Bell's suggestion, which fired
the Doctor's inventive genius, torches were contrived, made of tow
steeped in spirits-of-wine and fastened on the end of a stick, and
these served somewhat to help them on, though they made but small
progress; for, on the sixth, after the fog had cleared off, the
Doctor took their bearings, and found that they had only been
marching at the rate of eight miles a day.
Determined to make up for lost time, they rose next morning very
early and started off, Bell and Altamont as usual going ahead of the
rest and acting as scouts. Johnson and the others kept beside the
sledge, and were soon nearly two miles behind the guides; but the
weather was so dry and clear that all their movements could be
distinctly observed.
"What now?" said Clawbonny, as he saw them make a sudden halt,
and stoop down as if examining the ground.
"I was just wondering what they are about, myself," replied old
Johnson.
"Perhaps they have come on the tracks of animals," suggested
Hatteras.
"No," said Clawbonny, "it can't be that."
[Illustration: ]
"Why not?"
"Because Duk would bark."
"Well, it is quite evident they are examining some sort of
marks."
"Let's get on, then," said Hatteras; and, urging forward the
dogs, they rejoined their companions in about twenty minutes, and
shared their surprise at finding unmistakable fresh footprints of
human beings in the snow, as plain as if only made the preceding day.
"They are Esquimaux footprints," said Hatteras.
"Do you think so?" asked Altamont.
"There is no doubt of it."
"But what do you make of this, then?" returned Altamont,
pointing to another footmark repeated in
[Illustration: ]
several places. "Do you believe for a minute that was made by an
Esquimaux?"
It was incontestably the print of a European boot--nails, sole, and
heel clearly stamped in the snow. There was no room for doubt, and
Hatteras exclaimed in amazement--
"Europeans here!"
"Evidently," said Johnson.
"And yet it is so improbable that we must take a second look
before pronouncing an opinion," said Clawbonny.
But the longer he looked, the more apparent became the fact.
Hatteras was chagrined beyond measure. A European here, so near the
Pole!
The footprints extended for about a quarter of a mile, and then
diverged to the west. Should the travellers follow them further?
"No," said Hatteras, "let us go on."
He was interrupted by an exclamation from the Doctor, who had just
picked up an object that gave still more convincing proof of
European origin. It was part of a pocket spy-glass!
"Well, if we still had any doubts about the footmarks, this
settles the case at once, at any rate," said Clawbonny.
"Forward!" exclaimed Hatteras so energetically, that
instinctively each one obeyed, and the march was resumed forthwith.
The day wore away, but no further sign of the presence of suspected
rivals was discovered, and they prepared to encamp for the night.
The tent was pitched in a ravine for shelter, as the sky was dark
and threatening, and a violent north wind was blowing.
"I'm afraid we'll have a bad night," said Johnson.
"A pretty noisy one, I expect," replied the Doctor, "but not
cold. We had better take every precaution, and fasten down our tent
with good big stones."
"You are right, Mr. Clawbonny. If the hurricane swept away our
tent, I don't know where we should find it again."
[Illustration: ]
The tent held fast, but sleep was impossible, for the tempest was
let loose and raged with tremendous violence.
"It seems to me," said the Doctor, during a brief lull in the
deafening roar," as if I could hear the sound of collisions
between icebergs and ice-fields. If we were near the sea, I could
really believe there was a general break-up in the ice."
"I can't explain the noises any other way," said Johnson.
"Can we have reached the coast, I wonder?" asked Hatteras.
"It is not impossible," replied Clawbonny. "Listen! Do you
hear that crash? That is certainly the sound of icebergs falling. We
cannot be very far from the ocean."
"Well, if it turn out to be so, I shall push right on over the
ice-fields."
"Oh, they'll be all broken up after such a storm as this. We
shall see what to-morrow, brings; but all I can say is, if any poor
fellows are wandering about in a night like this, I pity them.
The storm lasted for ten hours, and the weary travellers anxiously
watched for the morning. About daybreak its fury seemed to have
spent itself, and Hatteras, accompanied by Bell and Altamont,
ventured to leave the tent. They climbed a hill about three hundred
feet high, which commanded a wide view. But what a metamorphosed
region met their gaze! All the ice had completely vanished, the
storm had chased away the winter, and stripped the soil everywhere
of its snow covering.
[Illustration: Three hours afterwards they arrived at the coast, and
shouted simultaneously, "The sea! the sea!"--P.206]
But Hatteras scarcely bestowed a glance on surrounding objects; his
eager gaze was bent on the northern horizon, which appeared shrouded
in black mist.
"That may very likely be caused by the ocean," suggested
Clawbonny.
"You are right. The sea must be there," was the reply.
"That tint is what we call the blink of open water," said
Johnson.
"Come on, then, to the sledge at once, and let us get to this
unknown ocean," exclaimed Hatteras.
Their few preparations were soon made, and the march resumed. Three
hours afterwards they arrived at the coast, and shouted
simultaneously, "The sea! the sea!"
"Ay, and open sea!" added Hatteras.
And so it was. The storm had opened wide the Polar Basin, and the
loosened packs were drifting in all directions. The icebergs had
weighed anchor, and were sailing out into the open sea.
This new ocean stretched far away out of sight, and not a single
island or continent was visible.
On the east and west the coast formed two capes or headlands, which
sloped gently down to the sea. In the centre, a projecting rock
formed a small natural bay, sheltered on three sides, into which a
wide river fell, bearing in its bosom the melted snows of winter.
After a careful survey of the coast, Hatteras determined to launch
the sloop that very day, and to unpack the sledge, and get
everything on board. The tent was soon put up, and a comfortable
repast prepared. This important business despatched, work commenced;
and all hands were so expeditious and willing, that by five
[Illustration: ]
o'clock nothing more remained to be done. The sloop lay rocking
gracefully in the little bay, and all the cargo was on board except
the tent, and what was required for the night's encampment.
The sight of the sloop suggested to Clawbonny the propriety of
giving Altamont's name to the little bay. His proposition to that
effect met with unanimous approval, and the port was forthwith
dignified by the title of Altamont Harbour.
According to the Doctor's calculations the travellers were now
only 9° distant from the Pole. They had gone over two hundred miles
from Victoria Bay to Altamont Harbour, and were in latitude 87°
5' and longitude 118° 35'.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE OPEN SEA.
Next morning by eight o'clock all the remaining effects were on
board, and the preparations for departure completed. But before
starting the Doctor thought he would like to take a last look at the
country and see if any further traces of the presence of strangers
could be discovered, for the mysterious footmarks they had met with
were never out of his thoughts. He climbed to the top of a height
which commanded a view of the whole southern horizon, and took out
his pocket telescope. But what was his astonishment, to find he
could see nothing through it, not even neighbouring objects. He
rubbed his eyes and looked again, but with no better result. Then he
began to examine the telescope, the object glass was gone!
The object glass! This explained the whole mystery, foot-prints and
all; and with a shout of surprise he hurried down the hill to impart
his discovery to the wondering companions, who came running towards
him, startled by his loud exclamation, and full of anxiety at his
precipitate descent.
"Well, what is the matter now?" said Johnson.
The Doctor could hardly speak, he was so out of breath. At last he
managed to gasp out--
"The tracks, footmarks, strangers."
"What?" said Hatteras, "strangers here?"
"No, no, the object glass; the object glass out of my telescope."
[Illustration: ]
And he held out his spy-glass for them to look at.
"Ah! I see," said Altamont; "it is wanting."
"Yes."
"But then the footmarks?"
"They were ours, friends, just ours," exclaimed the Doctor.
"We had lost ourselves in the fog, and been wandering in a
circle."
"But the boot-marks," objected Hatteras.
"Bell's. He walked about a whole day after he had lost his snow
shoes."
"So I did," said Bell.
The mistake was so evident, that they all laughed heartily, except
Hatteras, though no one was more glad than he at the discovery.
A quarter of an hour afterwards the little sloop sailed out of
Altamont Harbour, and commenced her voyage of discovery. The wind
was favourable, but there was little of it, and the weather was
positively warm.
The sloop was none the worse for the sledge journey. She was in
first-rate trim, and easily managed. Johnson steered, the Doctor,
Bell, and the American leaned back against the cargo, and Hatteras
stood at the prow, his fixed, eager gaze bent steadily on that
mysterious point towards which he felt drawn with irresistible
power, like the magnetic needle to the Pole. He wished to be the
first to descry any shore that might come in sight, and he had every
right to the honour.
The water of this Polar Sea presented some peculiar features worth
mentioning. In colour it was a faint ultramarine blue, and possessed
such wonderful transparency that one seemed to gaze down into
fathomless depths. These depths were lighted up, no doubt, by some
electrical phenomenon, and so many varieties of living creatures
were visible that the vessel seemed to be sailing over a vast
aquarium.
Innumerable flocks of birds were flying over the surface of this
marvellous ocean, darkening the sky like thick heavy storm-clouds.
Water-fowl of every description were among them, from the albatross
to the penguin, and all of gigantic proportions. Their cries were
absolutely deafening, and some of them had such
[Illustration: ]
immense, wide-spreading wings, that they covered the sloop
completely as they flew over. The Doctor thought himself a good
naturalist, but he found his science greatly at fault, for many a
species here was wholly unknown to any ornithological society.
[Illustration: And the Doctor leaning over the side of the vessel,
could see the whales and the dolphins, and all the rest of the
monsters of the deep.--P.214]
The good little man was equally nonplussed when he looked at the
water, for he saw the most wonderful medusæ, some so large that
they looked like little islands floating about among Brobdignagian
sea-weeds. And below the surface, what a spectacle met the eye!
Myriads of fish of every species; young manati at play with each
other; narwhals with their one strong weapon of defence, like the
horn of a unicorn, chasing the timid seals; whales of every tribe,
spouting out columns of water and mucilage, and filling the air with
a peculiar whizzing noise; dolphins, seals, and walruses; sea-dogs
and sea-horses, sea-bears and sea-elephants, quietly browsing on
submarine pastures; and the Doctor could gaze at them all as easily
and clearly as if they were in glass tanks in the Zoological Gardens.
There was a strange supernatural purity about the atmosphere. It
seemed charged to overflowing with oxygen, and had a marvellous
power of exhilaration, producing an almost intoxicating effect on
the brain.
Towards evening, Hatteras and his companions lost sight of the
coast. Night came on, though the sun remained just above the
horizon; but it had the same influence on animated nature as in
temperate zones. Birds, fish, and all the cetacea disappeared and
perfect silence prevailed.
Since the departure from Altamont Harbour, the sloop had made one
degree further north. The next day brought no signs of land; there
was not even a speck on the horizon. The wind was still favourable,
and the sea pretty calm. The birds and fishes returned as numerously
as on the preceding day, and the Doctor leaning over the side of the
vessel, could see the whales and the dolphins, and all the rest of
the monsters of the deep, gradually coming up from the clear depths
below. On the surface, far as the eye could reach, nothing was
visible except a solitary iceberg here and there, and a few
scattered floes.
Indeed, but little ice was met with anywhere. The sloop was ten
degrees above the point of greatest cold, and consequently in the
same temperature as Baffin's Bay and Disko. It was therefore not
astonishing that the sea should be open in these summer months.
This is a fact of great practical value, for if ever the whalers can
penetrate north as far as the Polar basin, they may be sure of an
immediate cargo, as this part of the ocean seems the general
reservoir of whales and seals, and every marine species.
The day wore on, but still nothing appeared on the horizon. Hatteras
never left the prow of the ship, but stood, glass in hand, eagerly
gazing into the distance with anxious, questioning eyes, and seeking
to discover, in the colour of the water, the shape of the waves, and
the breath of the wind, indications of approaching land.
CHAPTER XXII.
GETTING NEAR THE POLE.
Hour after hour passed away, and still Hatteras persevered in his
weary watch, though his hopes appeared doomed to disappointment.
At length, about six in the evening, a dim, hazy, shapeless sort of
mist seemed to rise far away between sea and sky. It was not a
cloud, for it was constantly vanishing, and then reappearing next
minute.
Hatteras was the first to notice this peculiar phenomenon; but after
an hour's scrutiny through his telescope, he could make nothing of
it.
All at once, however, some sure indication met his eye, and
stretching out his arm to the horizon, he shouted, in a clear
ringing voice---
"Land! land!"
His words produced an electrical effect on his companions, and every
man rushed to his side.
"I see it, I see it," said Clawbonny.
"Yes, yes, so do I!" exclaimed Johnson.
"It is a cloud," said Altamont.
"Land! land!" repeated Hatteras, in tones of absolute conviction.
Even while he spoke the appearance vanished, and when it returned
again the Doctor fancied he caught a gleam of light about the smoke
for an instant.
[Illustration: "It is a volcano!" he exclaimed.--P.217]
"It is a volcano!" he exclaimed.
"A volcano?" repeated Altamont.
"Undoubtedly."
[Illustration: ]
"In so high a latitude?"
"Why not? Is not Iceland a volcanic island--indeed, almost made
of volcanoes, one might say?"
"Well, has not our famous countryman, James Ross, affirmed the
existence of two active volcanoes, the Erebus and the Terror, on the
Southern Continent, in longitude 170° and latitude 78°? Why, then,
should not volcanoes be found near the North Pole?"
"It is possible, certainly," replied Altamont.
"Ah, now I see it distinctly," exclaimed the Doctor." It is a
volcano!"
"Let us make right for it then," said Hatteras.
[Illustration: ]
It was impossible longer to doubt the proximity of the coast. In
twenty-four hours, probably, the bold navigators might hope to set
foot on its untrodden soil. But strange as it was, now that they
were so near the goal of their voyage, no one showed the joy which
might have been expected. Each man sat silent, absorbed in his own
thoughts, wondering what sort of place this Pole must be. The birds
seemed to shun it, for though it was evening, they were all flying
towards the south with outspread wings. Was it, then, so
inhospitable, that not so much as a sea-gull or a ptarmigan could
find a shelter? The fish, too, even the large cetacea, were
hastening away through the transparent waters. What
[Illustration: ]
could cause this feeling either of repulsion or terror?
At last sleep overcame the tired men, and one after another dropped
off, leaving Hatteras to keep watch.
He took the helm, and tried his best not to close his eyes, for he
grudged losing precious time; but the slow motion of the vessel
rocked him into a state of such irresistible somnolence that, in
spite of himself, he was soon, like his companions, locked fast in
deep slumber. He began to dream, and imagination brought back all
the scenes of his past life. He dreamt of his ship, the Forward, and
of the traitors that had burnt it. Again he felt all the agonies of
disappointment and failure, and forgot his actual situation. Then
the scene changed, and he saw himself at the Pole unfurling the
Union Jack!
While memory and fancy were thus busied, an enormous cloud of an
olive tinge had begun to darken sea and sky. A hurricane was at
hand. The first blast of the tempest roused the captain and his
companions, and they were on their feet in an instant, ready to meet
it. The sea had risen tremendously, and the ship was tossing
violently up and down on the billows. Hatteras took the helm again,
and kept a firm hold of it, while Johnson and Bell baled out the
water which was constantly dashing over the ship.
It was a difficult matter to preserve the right course, for the
thick fog made it impossible to see more than a few yards off.
This sudden tempest might well seem to such excited men, a stern
prohibition against further approach to the Pole; but it needed but
a glance at their resolute faces to know that they would neither
yield to winds nor waves, but go right on to the end.
[Illustration: ]
For a whole day the struggle lasted, death threatening them each
moment; but about six in the evening, just as the fury of the waves
seemed at its highest pitch, there came a sudden calm. The wind was
stilled as if miraculously, and the sea became smooth as glass.
Then came a most extraordinary inexplicable phenomenon.
The fog, without dispersing, became strangely luminous, and the
sloop sailed along in a zone of electric light. Mast, sail, and
rigging appeared pencilled in black against the phosphorescent sky
with wondrous distinctness. The men were bathed in light, and their
faces shone with a fiery glow.
"The volcano!" exclaimed Hatteras.
"Is it possible?" said Bell.
"No, no!" replied Clawbonny. "We should be suffocated with its
flames so near."
"Perhaps it is the reflection," suggested Altamont.
"Not that much even, for then we must be near land, and in that
case we should hear the noise of the eruption."
"What is it, then?" asked the captain.
"It is a cosmical phenomenon," replied the Doctor, "seldom met
hitherto. If we go on, we shall soon get out of our luminous sphere
and be back in the darkness and tempest again."
"Well, let's go on, come what may," said Hatteras.
The Doctor was right. Gradually the fog began to lose its light, and
then its transparency, and the howling wind was heard not far off. A
few minutes more, and the little vessel was caught in a violent
squall, and swept back into the cyclone.
But the hurricane had fortunately turned a point towards the south,
and left the vessel free to run before the wind straight towards the
Pole. There was imminent danger of her sinking, for she sped along
at frenzied speed, and any sudden collision with rock or iceberg
must have inevitably dashed her to pieces.
But not a man on board counselled prudence. They were intoxicated
with the danger, and no speed could be quick enough to satisfy their
longing impatience to reach the unknown.
At last they began evidently to near the coast. Strange symptoms
were manifest in the air; the fog suddenly rent like a curtain torn
by the wind; and for an instant, like a flash of lightning, an
immense column of flame was seen on the horizon.
"The volcano! the volcano!" was the simultaneous exclamation.
But the words had hardly passed their lips before the fantastic
vision had vanished. The wind suddenly changed to south-east, and
drove the ship back again from the land.
"Confound it!" said Hatteras; "we weren't three miles from
the coast."
However, resistance was impossible. All that could be done was to
keep tacking; but every few minutes the little sloop would be thrown
on her side, though she righted herself again immediately obedient
to the helm.
As Hatteras stood with dishevelled hair, grasping the helm as if
welded to his hand, he seemed the animating soul of the ship.
All at once, a fearful sight met his gaze.
Scarcely twenty yards in front was a great block of ice coming right
towards them, mounting and falling on the stormy billows, ready to
overturn at any moment and crush them in its descent.
But this was not the only danger that threatened the bold
navigators. The iceberg was packed with white bears, huddling close
together, and evidently beside themselves with terror.
The iceberg made frightful lurches, sometimes inclining at such a
sharp angle that the animals rolled pell-mell over each other and
set up a loud growling, which mingled with the roar of the elements
and made a terrible concert.
For a quarter of an hour, which seemed a whole century, the sloop
sailed on in this formidable company, sometimes a few yards distant
and sometimes near enough to touch. The Greenland dogs trembled for
fear, but Duk was quite imperturbable. At last the iceberg lost
ground, and got driven by the wind further and further away till it
disappeared in the fog, only at intervals betraying its presence by
the ominous growls of its equipage.
[Illustration: Mast and sail were torn off, and went flying away
through the darkness like some large white bird.--P.224]
The storm now burst forth with redoubled fury. The little barque was
lifted bodily out of the water, and whirled round and round with the
most frightful rapidity. Mast and sail were torn off, and went
flying away through the darkness like some large white bird. A
whirlpool began to form among the waves, drawing down the ship
gradually by its irresistible suction.
[Illustration: ]
Deeper and deeper she sank, whizzing round at such tremendous speed
that to the poor fellows on board, the water seemed motionless. All
five men stood erect, gazing at each other in speechless terror. But
suddenly the ship rose perpendicularly, her prow went above the edge
of the vortex, and getting out of the centre of attraction by her
own velocity, she escaped at a tangent from the circumference, and
was thrown far beyond, swift as a ball from a cannon's mouth.
Altamont, the Doctor, Johnson, and Bell were pitched flat on the
planks. When they got up, Hatteras had disappeared!
It was two o'clock in the morning.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE ENGLISH FLAG
For a few seconds they seemed stupefied, and then a cry of
"Hatteras!" broke from every lip.
On all sides, nothing was visible but the tempestuous ocean. Duk
barked desperately, and Bell could hardly keep him from leaping into
the waves.
"Take the helm, Altamont," said the Doctor, "and let us try
our utmost to find our poor captain."
Johnson and Bell seized the oars, and rowed about for more than an
hour; but their search was vain--Hatteras was lost!
Lost! and so near the Pole, just as he had caught sight of the goal!
The Doctor called, and shouted, and fired signals, and Duk made
piteous lamentations; but there was no response. Clawbonny could
bear up no longer; he buried his head in his hands, and fairly wept
aloud.
At such a distance from the coast, it was impossible Hatteras could
reach it alive, without an oar or even so much as a spar to help
him; if ever he touched the haven of his desire, it would be as a
swollen, mutilated corpse!
Longer search was useless, and nothing remained but to resume the
route north. The tempest was dying out, and about five in the
morning on the 11th of July, the wind fell, and the sea gradually
became calm. The sky recovered its polar clearness, and less than
three miles away the land appeared in all its grandeur.
The new continent was only an island, or rather a volcano, fixed
like a lighthouse on the North Pole of the world.
[Illustration: Two men in a boat observing a volcano in the
distance.]
The mountain was in full activity, pouring out a mass of burning
stones and glowing rock. At every fresh eruption there was a
convulsive heaving within, as if some mighty giant were respiring,
and the masses ejected were thrown up high into the air amidst jets
of bright flame, streams of lava rolling down the sides in impetuous
torrents. In one part, serpents of fire seemed writhing and
wriggling amongst smoking rocks, and in
[Illustration: ]
another the glowing liquid fell in cascades, in the midst of purple
vapour, into a river of fire below, formed of a thousand igneous
streams, which emptied itself into the sea, the waters hissing and
seething like a boiling cauldron.
Apparently there was only one crater to the volcano, out of which
the columns of fire issued, streaked with forked lightning.
Electricity seemed to have something to do with this magnificent
panorama.
Above the panting flames waved an immense plume-shaped cloud of
smoke, red at its base and black at its summit. It rose with
incomparable majesty, and unrolled in thick volumes.
The sky was ash-colour to a great height, and it was evident that
the darkness that had prevailed while the tempest lasted, which had
seemed quite inexplicable to the Doctor, was owing to the columns of
cinders overspreading the sun like a thick curtain. He remembered a
similar phenomenon which occurred in the Barbadoes, where the whole
island was plunged in profound obscurity by the mass of cinders
ejected from the crater of Isle St. Vincent.
This enormous ignivomous rock in the middle of the sea was six
thousand feet high, just about the altitude of Hecla.
It seemed to rise gradually out of the water as the boat got nearer.
There was no trace of vegetation, indeed there was no shore; the
rock ran straight down to the sea.
"Can we land?" said the Doctor.
"The wind is carrying us right to it," said Altamont. "But I
don't see an inch of land to set our foot upon."
"It seems so at this distance," said Johnson; "but we shall be
sure to find some place to run in our boat at, and that is all we
want."
"Let us go on, then," said Clawbonny, dejectedly.
He had no heart now for anything. The North Pole was indeed before
his eyes, but not the man who had discovered it.
As they got nearer the island, which was not more than eight or ten
miles in circumference, the navigators noticed a tiny fiord, just
large enough to harbour their boat, and made towards it immediately.
They feared their captain's dead body would meet their eyes on the
coast, and yet it seemed difficult for a corpse to lie on it, for
there was no shore, and the sea broke on steep rocks, which were
covered with cinders above watermark.
At last the little sloop glided gently into the narrow opening
between two sandbanks just visible above the water, where she would
be safe from the violence of the breakers; but before she could be
moored, Duk began howling and barking again in the most piteous
manner, as if calling on the cruel sea and stony rocks to yield up
his lost master. The Doctor tried to calm him by caresses, but in
vain. The faithful beast, as if he would represent the captain,
sprang on shore with a tremendous bound, sending a cloud of cinders
after him.
"Duk! Duk!" called Clawbonny.
But Duk had already disappeared.
[Illustration: ]
After the sloop was made fast, they all got out and went after him.
Altamont was just going to climb to the top of a pile of stones,
when the Doctor exclaimed, "Listen!"
Duk was barking vehemently some distance off, but his bark seemed
full of grief rather than fury.
"Has he come on the track of some animal, do you think?" asked
Johnson.
"No, no!" said Clawbonny, shuddering. "His bark is too
sorrowful; it is the dog's tear. He has found the body of
Hatteras."
They all four rushed forward, in spite of the blinding cinder-dust,
and came to the far-end of a fiord, where they discovered the dog
barking round a corpse wrapped in the British flag!
"Hatteras! Hatteras!" cried the Doctor, throwing himself on the
body of his friend. But next minute he started up with an
indescribable cry, and shouted, "Alive! alive!"
"Yes!" said a feeble voice; "yes, alive at the North Pole, on
Queen's Island."
"Hurrah for England!" shouted all with one accord.
"And for America!" added Clawbonny, holding out one hand to
Hatteras and the other to Altamont.
Duk was not behind with his hurrah, which was worth quite as much as
the others.
For a few minutes the joy of recovery of their captain filled all
their hearts, and the poor fellows could not restrain their tears.
The Doctor found, on examination, that he was not seriously hurt.
The wind threw him on the coast where landing was perilous work,
but, after being driven back more than once into the sea, the hardy
sailor had managed to scramble on to a rock, and gradually to hoist
himself above the waves.
Then he must have become insensible, for he remembered nothing more
except rolling himself in his flag. He only awoke to consciousness
with the loud barking and caresses of his faithful Duk.
After a little, Hatteras was able to stand up supported by the
Doctor, and tried to get back to the sloop.
He kept exclaiming, "The Pole! the North Pole!"
"You are happy now?" said his friend.
"Yes, happy! And are not you? Isn't it joy to find yourself
here! The ground we tread is round the Pole! The air we breathe is
the air that blows round the Pole! The sea we have crossed is the
sea which washes the Pole! Oh! the North Pole! the North Pole!"
He had become quite delirious with excitement, and fever burned in
his veins. His eyes shone with unnatural brilliancy, and his brain
seemed on fire. Perfect rest was what he most needed, for the Doctor
found it impossible to quiet him.
A place of encampment must therefore be fixed upon immediately.
[Illustration: Altamont speedily discovered a grotto composed of
rocks.--P.234]
Altamont speedily discovered a grotto composed of rocks, which had
so fallen as to form a sort of cave. Johnson and Bell carried in
provisions, and gave the dogs their liberty.
About eleven o'clock, breakfast, or rather dinner, was ready,
consisting of pemmican, salt meat, and smoking-hot tea and coffee.
But Hatteras would do nothing till the exact position of the island
was ascertained; so the Doctor and Altamont set to work with their
instruments, and found that the exact latitude of the grotto was
89° 59' 15". The longitude was of little importance, for all
the meridians blended a few hundred feet higher.
The 90° of lat. was then only about three quarters of a mile off,
or just about the summit of the volcano.
When the result was communicated to Hatteras, he desired that a
formal document might be drawn up to attest the fact, and two copies
made, one of which should be deposited on a cairn on the island.
Clawbonny was the scribe, and indited the following document, a copy
of which is now among the archives of the Royal Geographical Society
of London:--
"On this 11th day of July, 1861, in North latitude 89° 59'
15" was discovered Queen's Island at the North Pole, by Captain
Hatteras, Commander of the brig Forward of Liverpool, who signs
this, as also all his companions.
"Whoever may find this document is requested to forward it to the
Admiralty.
"(Signed) JOHN HATTERAS, Commander
of the Forward
"DR. CLAWBONNY
"ALTAMONT, Commander of the Porpoise
"JOHNSON, Boatswain
"BELL, Carpenter."
"And now, friends, come to table," said the Doctor, merrily.
Coming to table was just squatting on the ground.
"But who," said Clawbonny, "would not give all the tables and
dining-rooms in the world to dine at 89" 59' and 15" N.
lat.?"
It was an exciting occasion this first meal at the Pole! What
neither ancients nor moderns, neither Europeans, nor Americans, nor
Asiatics had been able to accomplish was now achieved, and all past
sufferings and perils were forgotten in the glow of success.
"But, after all," said Johnson, after toasts to Hatteras and the
North Pole had been enthusiastically drunk, "what is there so very
special about the North Pole? Will you tell me, Mr. Clawbonny?"
"Just this, my good Johnson. It is the only point of the globe
that is motionless; all the other points are revolving with extreme
rapidity."
"But I don't see that we are any more motionless here than at
Liverpool."
"Because in both cases you are a party concerned, both in the
motion and the rest; but the fact is certain."
Clawbonny then went on to describe the diurnal and annual motions of
the earth--the one round its own axis, the extremities of which are
the poles, which is accomplished in twenty-four hours, and the other
round the sun, which takes a whole year.
Bell and Johnson listened half incredulously, and
[Illustration: ]
couldn't see why the earth could not have been allowed to keep
still, till Altamont informed them that they would then have had
neither day nor night, nor spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
"Ay, and worse still," said Clawbonny, "if the motion chanced
to be interrupted, we should fall right into the sun in sixty-four
and a half days."
"What! take sixty-four and a half days, to fall?" exclaimed
Johnson.
"Yes, we are ninety-five millions of miles off. But when I say the
Pole is motionless, it is not strictly true; it is only so in
comparison with the rest of the globe, for it has a certain movement
of its own, and completes a circle in about twenty-six thousand
years. This comes from the precession of the equinoxes."
A long and learned talk was started on this subject between Altamont
and the Doctor, simplified, however, as much as possible for the
benefit of Bell and Johnson.
Hatteras took no part in it, and even when they went on to speculate
about the earth's centre, and discussed several of the theories
that had been advanced respecting it, he seemed not to hear; it was
evident his thoughts were far away.
Among other opinions put forth was one in our own days, which
greatly excited Altamont's surprise. It was held that there was an
immense opening at the poles which led into the heart of the earth,
and that it was out of the opening that the light of the Aurora
Borealis streamed. This was gravely stated, and Captain Synness, a
countryman of our own, actually proposed that Sir Humphrey Davy,
Humboldt, and Arago should undertake an expedition through it, but
they refused."
"And quite right too," said Altamont.
"So say I; but you see, my friends, what absurdities imagination
has conjured up about these regions, and how, sooner or later, the
simple reality comes to light."
CHAPTER XXIV.
MOUNT HATTERAS.
After this conversation they all made themselves as comfortable as
they could, and lay down to sleep.
All, except Hatteras; and why could this extraordinary man not sleep
like the others?
Was not the purpose of his life attained now? Had he not realized
his most daring project? Why could he not rest? Indeed, might not
one have supposed that, after the strain his nervous system had
undergone, he would long for rest?
But no, he grew more and more excited, and it was not the thought of
returning that so affected him. Was he bent on going farther still?
Had his passion for travel no limits? Was the world too small for
him now he had circumnavigated it.
Whatever might be the cause, he could not sleep; yet this first
night at the Pole was clear and calm. The isle was absolutely
uninhabited--not a bird was to be seen in this burning atmosphere,
not an animal on these scoriae-covered rocks, not a fish in these
seething waters. Next morning, when Altamont, and the others awoke,
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