island.
It was on the night of the 7th April that the actual breaking up of the
ice commenced. In the morning the Lieutenant, Mrs Barnett, Kalumah, and
Sergeant Long, had climbed to the summit of Cape Bathurst, and saw
that a great change had taken place in the chain of icebergs. The huge
barrier had parted nearly in the middle, and now formed two separate
masses, the larger of which seemed to be moving northwards.
Was it the Kamtchatka Current which produced this motion? Would the
floating island take the same direction? The intense anxiety of the
Lieutenant and his companions can easily be imagined. Their fate might
now be decided in a few hours, and if they should be drifted some
hundred miles to the north, it would be very difficult to reach the
continent in a vessel so small as theirs.
Unfortunately it was impossible to ascertain the nature or extent of the
displacement which was going on. One thing was, however, evident, the
island was not yet moving, at least not in the same direction as the
ice-wall. It therefore seemed probable that whilst part of the ice field
was floating to the north, that portion immediately surrounding the
island still remained stationary.
This displacement of the icebergs did not in the least alter the opinion
of the young Esquimaux. Kalumah still maintained that the thaw would
proceed from north to south, and that the ice wall would shortly feel
the influence of the Behring Current. To make herself more easily
understood, she traced the direction of the current on the sand with
a little piece of wood, and made signs that in following it the island
must approach the American continent. No argument could shake her
conviction on this point, and it was almost impossible not to feel
reassured when listening to the confident expressions of the intelligent
native girl.
The events of the 8th, 9th, and 10th April, seemed, however, to prove
Kalumah to be in the wrong. The northern portion of the chain of
icebergs drifted farther and farther north. The breaking up of the ice
proceeded rapidly and with a great noise, and the ice field opened all
round the island with a deafening crash. Out of doors it was impossible
to hear one’s self speak, a ceaseless roar like that of artillery
drowned every other sound.
About half a mile from the coast on that part of the island overlooked
by Cape Bathurst, the blocks of ice were already beginning to crowd
together, and to pile themselves upon each other. The ice-wall had
broken up into numerous separate icebergs, which were drifting towards
the north. At least it seemed as if they were moving in that direction.
Hobson became more and more uneasy, and nothing that Kalumah could say
reassured him. He replied by counter-arguments, which could not shake
her faith in her own belief.
At last, on the morning of the 11th April, Hobson showed Kalumah the
last icebergs disappearing in the north, and again endeavoured to prove
to her that facts were against her.
“No, no!” replied Kalumah, with an air of greater conviction than
ever, “no, the icebergs are not going to the north, but our island is
going to the south!”
She might perhaps be right after all, and Hobson was much struck by
this last reply. It was really possible that the motion of the icebergs
towards the north was only apparent, and that Victoria Island, dragged
along with the ice-field, was drifting towards the strait. But it was
impossible to ascertain whether this were really the case, as neither
the latitude nor longitude could be taken.
The situation was aggravated by a phenomenon peculiar to the Polar
regions, which rendered it still darker and more impossible to take
observations of any kind.
At the very time of the breaking up of the ice, the temperature fell
several degrees. A dense mist presently enveloped the Arctic latitudes,
but not an ordinary mist. The soil was covered with a white crust,
totally distinct from hoar-frost--it was, in fact, a watery vapour
which congeals on its precipitation. The minute particles of which this
mist was composed formed a thick layer on trees, shrubs, the walls of
the fort, and any projecting surface which bristled with pyramidal or
prismatic crystals, the apexes of which pointed to the wind.
Hobson at once understood the nature of this atmospheric phenomenon,
which whalers and explorers have often noticed in the spring in the
Polar regions.
“It is not a mist or fog,” he said to his companions, “it is a
‘frost-rime’, a dense vapour which remains in a state of complete
congelation.”
But whether a fog or a frozen mist this phenomenon was none the less to
be regretted, for it rose a hundred feet at least above the level of the
sea, and it was so opaque that the colonists could not see each other
when only two or three paces apart.
Every one’s disappointment was very great. Nature really seemed
determined to try them to the uttermost. When the break up of the ice
had come at last, when the wandering island was to leave the spot in
which it had so long been imprisoned, and its movements ought to be
watched with the greatest care, this fog prevented all observations.
This state of things continued for four days. The frost-rime did not
disappear until the 15th April, but on the morning of that date a strong
wind from the south rent it open and dispersed it.
The sun shone brightly once more, and Hobson eagerly seized his
instruments. He took the altitude, and found that the exact position of
Victoria Island was then: Latitude, 69° 57’; longitude, 179° 33’.
Kalumah was right, Victoria Island, in the grasp of the Behring Current,
was drifting towards the south.
CHAPTER XVII. THE AVALANCHE. The colonists were then at last approaching
the more frequented latitudes of Behring Sea. There was no longer any
danger that they would be drifted to the north, and all they had to do
was to watch the displacement of the island, and to estimate the speed
of its motion, which would probably be very unequal, on account of
the obstacles in its path. Hobson most carefully noted every incident,
taking alternately solar and stellar altitudes, and the next day, April
16th, after ascertaining the bearings, he calculated that if its present
speed were maintained, Victoria Island would reach the Arctic Circle,
from which it was now separated at the most by four degrees of latitude,
towards the beginning of May.
It was probable that, when the island reached the narrowest portion of
the strait, it would remain stationary until the thaw broke it up, the
boat would then be launched, and the colonists would set sail for the
American continent.
Everything was ready for an immediate embarkation, and the inhabitants
of the island waited with greater patience and confidence than ever.
They felt, poor things, that the end of their trials was surely near at
last, and that nothing could prevent their landing on one side or the
other of the strait in a few days.
This prospect cheered them up wonderfully, and the gaiety natural to
them all, which they had lost in the terrible anxiety they had so long
endured, was restored. The common meals were quite festal, as there
was no need for economising the stores under present circumstances. The
influence of the spring became more and more sensibly felt, and every
one enjoyed the balmy air, and breathed more freely than before.
During the next few days, several excursions were made to the interior
of the island and along the coast. Everywhere the furred animals, &c.,
still abounded, for even now they could not cross to the continent,
the connection between it and the ice-field being broken, and their
continued presence was a fresh proof that the island was no longer
stationary.
No change had taken place on the island at Cape Esquimaux, Cape Michael,
along the coast, or on the wooded heights of the interior, and the banks
of the lagoon. The large gulf which had opened near Cape Michael during
the storm had closed in the winter, and there was no other fissure on
the surface of the soil.
During these excursions, bands of wolves were seen scudding across parts
of the island. Of all the animals these fierce carnivorous beasts were
the only ones which the feeling of a common danger had not tamed.
Kalumah’s preserver was seen several times. This worthy bear paced to
and fro on the deserted plains in melancholy mood, pausing in his walk
as the explorers passed, and sometimes following them to the fort,
knowing well that he had nothing to fear from them.
On the 20th April Lieutenant Hobson ascertained that the wandering
island was still drifting to the south. All that remained of the
ice-wall, that is to say, the southern portion of the icebergs, followed
it, but as there were no bench marks, the changes of position could only
be estimated by astronomical observations.
Hobson took several soundings in different parts of the ground,
especially at the foot of Cape Bathurst, and on the shores of the
lagoon. He was anxious to ascertain the thickness of the layer of ice
supporting the earth and sand, and found that it had not increased
during the winter, and that the general level of the island did not
appear to have risen higher above that of the sea. The conclusion he
drew from these facts was, that no time should be lost in getting away
from the fragile island, which would rapidly break up and dissolve in
the warmer waters of the Pacific.
About the 25th April the bearing of the island was again changed, the
whole ice-field had moved round from east to west twelve points, so
that Cape Bathurst pointed to the north-west. The last remains of the
ice-wall now shut in the northern horizon, so that there could be no
doubt that the ice-field was moving freely in the strait, and that it
nowhere touched any land.
The fatal moment was approaching. Diurnal or nocturnal observations gave
the exact position of the island, and consequently of the ice-field. On
the 30th of April, both were together drifting across Kotzebue Sound,
a large triangular gulf running some distance inland on the American
coast, and bounded on the south by Cape Prince of Wales, which might,
perhaps, arrest the course of the island if it should deviate in the
very least from the middle of the narrow pass.
The weather was now pretty fine, and the column of mercury often marked
50° Fahrenheit. The colonists had left off their winter garments some
weeks before, and held themselves in constant readiness to leave the
island. Thomas Black had already transported his instruments and books
into the boat, which was waiting on the beach. A good many provisions
had also been embarked and some of the most valuable furs.
On the 2d of May a very carefully taken observation showed that Victoria
Island had a tendency to drift towards the east, and consequently to
reach the American continent. This was fortunate, as they were now out
of danger of being taken any farther by the Kamtchatka Current, which,
as is well known, runs along the coast of Asia. At last the tide was
turning in favour of the colonists!
“I think our bad fortune is at last at an end,” observed Sergeant
Long to Mrs Barnett, “and that our misfortunes are really over; I
don’t suppose there are any more dangers to be feared now.”
“I quite agree with you,” replied Mrs Barnett, “and it is very
fortunate that we had to give up our journey across the ice-field a few
months ago; we ought to be very thankful that it was impassible!”
Mrs Barnett was certainly justified in speaking as she did, for what
fearful fatigues and sufferings they would all have had to undergo in
crossing five hundred miles of ice in the darkness of the Polar night!
On the 5th May, Hobson announced that Victoria Island had just
crossed the Arctic Circle. It had at last re-entered that zone of the
terrestrial sphere in which at one period of the year the sun does not
set. The poor people all felt that they were returning to the inhabited
globe.
The event of crossing the Arctic Circle was celebrated in much the same
way as crossing the Equator for the first time would be on board ship,
and many a glass of spirits was drank in honour of the event.
There was now nothing left to do but to wait till the broken and
half-melted ice should allow of the passage of the boat, which was to
bear the whole colony to the land.
During the 7th May the island turned round to the extent of another
quarter of its circumference. Cape Bathurst now pointed due north, and
those masses of the old chain of icebergs which still remained standing
were now above it, so that it occupied much the same position as that
assigned to it in maps when it was united to the American continent.
The island had gradually turned completely round, and the sun had risen
successively on every point of its shores.
The observations of the 8th May showed that the island had become
stationary near the middle of the passage, at least forty miles from
Cape Prince of Wales, so that land was now at a comparatively short
distance from it, and the safety of all seemed to be secured.
In the evening a good supper was served in the large room, and the
healths of Mrs Barnett and of Lieutenant Hobson were proposed.
The same night the Lieutenant determined to go and see if any changes
had taken place in the ice-field on the south, hoping that a practicable
passage might have been opened.
Mrs Barnett was anxious to accompany him, but he persuaded her to rest a
little instead, and started off, accompanied only by Sergeant Long.
Mrs Barnett, Madge, and Kalumah returned to the principal house after
seeing them off, and the soldiers and women had already gone to bed in
the different apartments assigned to them.
It was a fine night, there was no moon, but the stars shone very
brightly, and as the ice-field vividly reflected their light, it was
possible to see for a considerable distance.
It was nine o’clock when the two explorers left the fort and turned
towards that part of the coast between Port Barnett and Cape Michael.
They followed the beach for about two miles, and found the ice-field in
a state of positive chaos. The sea was one vast aggregation of crystals
of every size, it looked as if it had been petrified suddenly when
tossing in a tempest, and, alas, there was even now no free passage
between the ice-masses--it would be impossible for a boat to pass yet.
Hobson and Long remained on the ice-field talking and looking about them
until midnight, and then seeing that there was still nothing to do but
to wait, they decided to go back to Fort Hope and rest for a few hours.
They had gone some hundred paces, and had reached the dried-up bed of
Paulina River, when an unexpected noise arrested them. It was a distant
rumbling from the northern part of the ice-field, and it became louder
and louder until it was almost deafening. Something dreadful was going
on in the quarter from which it came, and Hobson fancied he felt the ice
beneath his feet trembling, which was certainly far from reassuring.
“The noise comes from the chain of icebergs,” exclaimed Long,
“what can be going on there?”
Hobson did not answer, but feeling dreadfully anxious he rushed towards
the fort dragging his companion after him.
“To the fort! to the fort.” he cried at last, “the ice may have
opened, we may be able to launch our boat on the sea!”
And the two ran as fast as ever they could towards Fort Hope by the
shortest way.
A thousand conjectures crowded upon them. From what new phenomenon did
the unexpected noise proceed? Did the sleeping inhabitants of the fort
know what was going on? They must certainly have heard the noise, for,
in vulgar language, it was loud enough to wake the dead.
Hobson and Long crossed the two miles between them and Fort Hope in
twenty minutes, but before they reached the enceinte they saw the men
and women they had left asleep hurrying away in terrified disorder,
uttering cries of despair.
The carpenter Mac-Nab, seeing the Lieutenant, ran towards him with his
little boy in his arms.
“Look, sir, look!” he cried, drawing his master towards a little
hill which rose a few yards behind the fort.
Hobson obeyed, and saw that part of the ice-wall, which, when he left,
was two or three miles off in the offing, had fallen upon the coast of
the island. Cape Bathurst no longer existed, the mass of earth and
sand of which it was composed had been swept away by the icebergs and
scattered over the palisades. The principal house and all the buildings
connected with it on the north were buried beneath the avalanche. Masses
of ice were crowding upon each other and tumbling over with an awful
crash, crushing everything beneath them. It was like an army of icebergs
taking possession of the island.
The boat which had been built at the foot of the cape was completely
destroyed. The last hope of the unfortunate colonists was gone!
As they stood watching the awful scene, the buildings, formerly occupied
by the soldiers and women, and from which they had escaped in time,
gave way beneath an immense block of ice which fell upon them. A cry of
despair burst from the lips of the houseless outcasts.
“And the others, where are they?” cried the Lieutenant in
heart-rending tones.
“There!” replied Mac-Nab, pointing to the heap of sand, earth, and
ice, beneath which the principal house had entirely disappeared.
Yes, the illustrious lady traveller, Madge, Kalumah, and Thomas Black,
were buried beneath the avalanche which had surprised them in their
sleep!
CHAPTER XVIII. ALL AT WORK. Fearful catastrophe had occurred. The
ice-wall had been flung upon the wandering island, the volume below the
water being five times that of the projecting part, it had come under
the influence of the submarine currents, and, opening a way for itself
between the broken ice-masses, it had fallen bodily upon Victoria
Island, which, driven along by this mighty propelling force, was
drifting rapidly to the south.
Mac-Nab and his companions, aroused by the noise of the avalanche
dashing down upon the dog-house, stable, and principal house, had been
able to escape in time, but now the work of destruction was complete.
Not a trace remained of the buildings in which they had slept, and
the island was bearing all its inhabitants with it to the unfathomable
depths of the ocean! Perhaps, however, Mrs Barnett, Madge, Kalumah, and
the astronomer, were still living! Dead or alive they must be dug out.
At this thought Hobson recovered his composure and shouted--
“Get shovels and pickaxes! The house is strong! it may have held
together! Let us set to work!”
There were plenty of tools and pickaxes, but it was really impossible
to approach the enceinte. The masses of ice were rolling down from the
summits of the icebergs, and some parts of the ice-wall still towered
amongst the ruins two hundred feet above the island. The force with
which the tossing masses, which seemed to be surging all along the
northern horizon, were overthrown can be imagined; the whole coast
between the former Cape Bathurst and Cape Esquimaux was not only hemmed
in, but literally invaded by these moving mountains, which, impelled by
a force they could not resist, had already advanced more than a quarter
of a mile inland.
Every moment the trembling of the ground and a loud report gave notice
that another of these masses had rolled over, and there was a danger
that the island would sink beneath the weight thrown upon it. A very
apparent lowering of the level had taken place all along that part of
the coast near Cape Bathurst, it was evidently gradually sinking down,
and the sea had already encroached nearly as far as the lagoon.
The situation of the colonists was truly terrible, unable as they were
to attempt to save their companions, and driven from the enceinte by the
crashing avalanches, over which they had no power whatever. They could
only wait, a prey to the most awful forebodings.
Day dawned at last, and how fearful a scene was presented by the
districts around Cape Bathurst! The horizon was shut in on every side by
ice-masses, but their advance appeared to be checked for the moment at
least. The ruins of the ice-wall were at rest, and it was only now and
then that a few blocks rolled down from the still tottering crests of
the remaining icebergs. But the whole mass--a great part of its volume
being sunk beneath the surface of the sea--was in the grasp of a
powerful current, and was driving the island along with it to the south,
that is to say, to the ocean, in the depths of which they would alike be
engulfed.
Those who were thus borne along upon the island were not fully conscious
of the peril in which they stood. They had their comrades to save, and
amongst them the brave woman who had so won all their hearts, and for
whom they would gladly have laid down their lives. The time for action
had come, they could again approach the palisades, and there was not a
moment to lose, as the poor creatures had already been buried beneath
the avalanche for six hours.
We have already said that Cape Bathurst no longer existed. Struck by a
huge iceberg it had fallen bodily upon the factory, breaking the boat
and crushing the dog-house and stable with the poor creatures in them.
The principal house next disappeared beneath the masses of earth and
sand, upon which rolled blocks of ice to a height of fifty or sixty
feet. The court of the fort was filled up, of the palisade not a post
was to be seen, and it was from beneath this accumulation of earth,
sand, and ice, that the victims were to be dug out.
Before beginning to work Hobson called the head carpenter to him, and
asked if he thought the house could bear the weight of the avalanche.
“I think so, sir,” replied Mac-Nab; “in fact, I may almost say
I am sure of it. You remember how we strengthened it, it has been
‘casemated,’ and the vertical beams between the ceilings and floors
must have offered great resistance; moreover, the layer of earth and
sand with which the roof was first covered must have broken the shock of
the fall of the blocks of ice from the icebergs.” “God grant you may
be right, Mac-Nab,” replied Hobson, “and that we may be spared the
great grief of losing our friends!”
The Lieutenant then sent for Mrs Joliffe, and asked her if plenty of
provisions had been left in the house.
“Oh, yes,” replied Mrs Joliffe, “there was plenty to eat in the
pantry and kitchen.”
“And any water?”
“Yes, water and rum too.”
“All right, then,” said Hobson, “they will not be starved--but
how about air?”
To this question Mac-Nab could make no reply, and if, as he hoped, the
house had not given way, the want of air would be the chief danger of
the four victims. By prompt measures, however, they might yet be saved,
and the first thing to be done was to open a communication with the
outer air.
All set to work zealously, men and women alike seizing shovels and
pickaxes. The masses of ice, sand, and earth, were vigorously attacked
at the risk of provoking fresh downfalls; but the proceedings were ably
directed by Mac-Nab.
It appeared to him best to begin at the top of the accumulated masses,
so as to roll down loose blocks on the side of the lagoon. The smaller
pieces were easily dealt with, with pick and crowbar, but the large
blocks had to be broken up. Some of great size were melted with the aid
of a large fire of resinous wood, and every means was tried to destroy
or get rid of the ice in the shortest possible time.
But so great was the accumulation, that although all worked without
pause, except when they snatched a little food, there was no sensible
diminution in its amount when the sun disappeared below the horizon. It
was not, however, really of quite so great a height as before, and it
was determined to go on working from above through the night, and when
there was no longer any danger of fresh falls Mac-Nab hoped to be able
to sink a vertical shaft in the compact mass, so as to admit the outer
air to the house as soon as possible.
All night long the party worked at the excavation, attacking the masses
with iron and heat, as the one or the other seemed more likely to be
effective. The men wielded the pickaxe whilst the women kept up the
fires; but all were animated by one purpose--the saving of the lives of
Mrs Barnett, Madge, Kalumah, and the astronomer.
When morning dawned the poor creatures had been buried for thirty hours
in air necessarily very impure under so thick a cover.
The progress made in the night had been so great that Mac-Nab prepared
to sink his shaft, which he meant to go straight down to the top of the
house; and which, according to his calculation, would not have to be
more than fifty feet deep. It would be easy enough to sink this
shaft through the twenty feet of ice; but great difficulty would
be experienced when the earth and sand were reached, as, being very
brittle, they would of course constantly fill in the shaft, and its
sides would therefore have to be lined. Long pieces of wood were
prepared for this purpose, and the boring proceeded. Only three
men could work at it together, and the soldiers relieved each other
constantly, so that the excavation seemed likely to proceed rapidly.
As might be supposed the poor fellows alternated between hope and fear
when some obstacle delayed them. When a sudden fall undid their work
they felt discouraged, and nothing but Mac-Nab’s steady voice could
have rallied them. As the men toiled in turn at their weary task the
women stood watching them from the foot of a hill, saying little, but
often praying silently. They had now nothing to do but to prepare the
food, which the men devoured in their short intervals of repose.
The boring proceeded without any very great difficulty, but the ice was
so hard that the progress was but slow. At the end of the second day
Mac-Nab had nearly reached the layer of earth and sand, and could not
hope to get to the top of the house before the end of the next day.
Night fell, but the work was continued by the light of torches. A
“snow-house” was hastily dug out in one of the hummocks on the shore
as a temporary shelter for the women and the little boy. The wind had
veered to the south-west, and a cold rain began to fall, accompanied
with occasional squalls; but neither the Lieutenant nor his men dreamt
of leaving off work.
Now began the worst part of the task. It was really impossible to bore
in the shifting masses of sand and earth, and it became necessary to
prop up the sides of the shaft with wood, the loose earth being drawn
to the surface in a bucket hung on a rope. Of course under the
circumstances the work could not proceed rapidly, falls might occur at
any moment, and the miners were in danger of being buried in their turn.
Mac-Nab was generally the one to remain at the bottom of the narrow
shaft, directing the excavation, and frequently sounding with a long
pick, but as it met with no resistance, it was evident that it did not
reach the roof of the house.
When the morning once more dawned, only ten feet had been excavated in
the mass of earth and sand, so that twenty remained to be bored through
before the roof of the house could be reached, that is to say, if it had
not given way, and still occupied the position it did before the fall of
the avalanche.
It was now fifty-four hours since Mrs Barnett and her companions were
buried!
Mac-Nab and the Lieutenant often wondered if they on their side had made
any effort to open a communication with the outer air. They felt sure
that with her usual courage, Mrs Barnett would have tried to find some
way out if her movements were free. Some tools had been left in the
house, and Kellet, one of the carpenter’s men, remembered leaving his
pickaxe in the kitchen. The prisoners might have broken open one of the
doors and begun to pierce a gallery across the layer of earth. But such
a gallery could only be driven in a horizontal direction, and would be
a much longer business than the sinking of a shaft from above, for
the masses flung down by the avalanche, although only sixty feet deep,
covered a space more than five hundred feet in diameter. Of course the
prisoners could not be aware of this fact, and if they should succeed in
boring their horizontal gallery, it would be eight days at least before
they could cut through the last layer of ice, and by that time they
would be totally deprived of air, if not of food.
Nevertheless the Lieutenant carefully went over every portion of
the accumulation himself, and listened intently for any sounds of
subterranean digging, but he heard nothing.
On the return of day the men toiled with fresh energy, bucket after
bucket was drawn to the surface of the shaft loaded with earth. The
clumsy wooden props answered admirably in keeping the earth from filling
in the pit, a few falls occurred, but they were rapidly checked, and no
fresh misfortunes occurred throughout the day, except that the soldier
Garry received a blow on the head from a falling block of ice. The wound
was not however severe, and he would not leave his work.
At four o’clock the shaft was fifty feet deep altogether, having been
sunk through twenty feet of ice and thirty of sand and earth.
It was at this depth that Mac-Nab had expected to reach the roof of the
house, if it had resisted the pressure of the avalanche.
He was then at the bottom of the shaft, and his disappointment and
dismay can be imagined when, on driving his pickaxe into the ground as
far as it would go, it met with no resistance whatever.
Sabine was with him, and for a few moments he remained with his arms
crossed, silently looking at his companion.
“No roof then?” inquired the hunter.
“Nothing whatever,” replied the carpenter, “but let us work on,
the roof has bent of course, but the floor of the loft cannot have given
way. Another ten feet and we shall come to that floor, or else”--
Mac-Nab did not finish his sentence, and the two resumed their work with
the strength of despair.
At six o’clock in the evening, another ten or twelve feet had been dug
out.
Mac-Nab sounded again, nothing yet, his pick still sunk in the shifting
earth, and flinging it from him, he buried his face in his hands and
muttered--
“Poor things, poor things!” He then climbed to the opening of the
shaft by means of the wood-work.
The Lieutenant and the Sergeant were together in greater anxiety than
ever, and taking them aside, the carpenter told them of his dreadful
disappointment.
“Then,” observed Hobson, “the house must have been crushed by the
avalanche, and the poor people in it”--
“No!” cried the head-carpenter with earnest conviction, “no, it
cannot have been crushed, it must have resisted, strengthened as it was.
It cannot--it cannot have been crushed!”
“Well, then, what has happened?” said the Lieutenant in a broken
voice, his eyes filling with tears.
“Simply this,” replied Mac-Nab, “the house itself has remained
intact, but the ground on which it was built must have sunk. The house
has gone through the crust of ice which forms the foundation of the
island. It has not been crushed, but engulfed, and the poor creatures in
it”--
“Are drowned!” cried Long.
“Yes, Sergeant, drowned without a moment’s notice--drowned like
passengers on a foundered vessel!”
For some minutes the three men remained silent. Mac-Nab’s idea was
probably correct. Nothing was more likely than that the ice forming the
foundation of the island had given way under such enormous pressure. The
vertical props which supported the beams of the ceiling, and rested on
those of the floor, had evidently aided the catastrophe by their weight,
and the whole house had been engulfed.
“Well, Mac-Nab,” said Hobson at last, “if we cannot find them
alive”--
“We must recover their bodies,” added the head carpenter.
“And with these words Mac-Nab, accompanied by the Lieutenant, went
back to his work at the bottom of the shaft without a word to any of his
comrades of the terrible form his anxiety had now assumed.
The excavation continued throughout the night, the men relieving each
other every hour, and Hobson and Mac-Nab watched them at work without a
moment’s rest.
At three o’clock in the morning Kellet’s pickaxe struck against
something hard, which gave out a ringing sound. The head carpenter felt
it almost before he heard it.
“We have reached them!” cried the soldier, “they are saved.”
“Hold your tongue, and go on working,” replied the Lieutenant in a
choked voice.
It was now seventy-six hours since the avalanche fell upon the house!
Kellet and his companion Pond resumed their work. The shaft must have
nearly reached the level of the sea, and Mac-Nab therefore felt that all
hope was gone.
In less than twenty minutes the hard body which Kellet had struck
was uncovered, and proved to be one of the rafters of the roof. The
carpenter flung himself to the bottom of the shaft, and seizing a
pickaxe sent the laths of the roof flying on every side. In a few
moments a large aperture was made, and a figure appeared at it which it
was difficult to recognise in the darkness.
It was Kalumah!
“Help! help!” she murmured feebly.
Hobson let himself down through the opening, and found himself up to the
waist in ice-cold water. Strange to say, the roof had not given way, but
as Mac-Nab had supposed, the house had sunk, and was full of water. The
water did not, however, yet fill the loft, and was not more than a foot
above the floor. There was still a faint hope!
The Lieutenant, feeling his way in the darkness, came across a
motionless body, and dragging it to the opening he consigned it to Pond
and Kellet. It was Thomas Black.
Madge, also senseless, was next found; and she and the astronomer were
drawn up to the surface of the ground with ropes, where the open air
gradually restored them to consciousness.
Mrs Barnett was still missing, but Kalumah led Hobson to the very end of
the loft, and there he found the unhappy lady motionless and insensible,
with her head scarcely out of the water.
The Lieutenant lifted her in his arms and carried her to the opening,
and a few moments later he had reached the outer air with his burden,
followed by Mac-Nab with Kalumah.
Every one gathered round Mrs Barnett in silent anxiety, and poor
Kalumah, exhausted as she was, flung herself across her friend’s body.
Mrs Barnett still breathed, her heart still beat feebly, and revived by
the pure fresh air she at last opened her eyes.
A cry of joy burst from every lip, a cry of gratitude to Heaven for the
great mercy vouchsafed, which was doubtless heard above.
Day was now breaking in the east, the sun was rising above the horizon,
lighting up the ocean with its brilliant beams, and Mrs Barnett
painfully staggered to her feet. Looking round her from the summit of
the new mountain formed by the avalanche, which overlooked the whole
island, she murmured in a changed and hollow voice--
“The sea! the sea!”
Yes, the ocean now encircled the wandering island, the sea was open at
last, and a true sea-horizon shut in the view from east to west.
CHAPTER XIX. BEHRING SEA. The island, driven by the ice-wall, had then
drifted at a great speed into Behring Sea, after crossing the strait
without running aground on its shores! It was still hurrying on before
the icy barrier, which was in the grasp of a powerful submarine current,
hastening onwards on to its inevitable dissolution in the warmer waters
of the Pacific, and the boat on which all had depended was useless!
As soon as Mrs Barnett had entirely recovered consciousness, she related
in a few words the history of the seventy-four hours spent in the house
now in the water. Thomas Black, Madge, and Kalumah had been aroused
by the crash of the avalanche, and had rushed to the doors or windows.
There was no longer any possibility of getting out, the mass of earth
and sand, which was but a moment before Cape Bathurst, completely
covered the house, and almost immediately afterwards the prisoners heard
the crash of the huge ice-masses which were flung upon the factory.
In another quarter of an hour all felt that the house, whilst resisting
the enormous pressure, was sinking through the soil of the island. They
knew that the crust of the ice must have given way, and that the house
would fill with water!
To seize a few provisions remaining in the pantry, and to take refuge in
the loft, was the work of a moment. This the poor creatures did from a
dim instinct of self-preservation, but what hope could they really
have of being saved! However, the loft seemed likely to resist, and two
blocks of ice abutting from the roof saved it from being immediately
crushed.
Whilst thus imprisoned the poor creatures could hear the constant falls
from the icebergs, whilst the sea was gradually rising through the lower
rooms. They must either be crushed or drowned!
But by little short of a miracle, the roof of the house, with its strong
framework, resisted the pressure, and after sinking a certain depth the
house remained stationary, with the water rather above the floor of the
loft. The prisoners were obliged to take refuge amongst the rafters
of the roof, and there they remained for many hours. Kalumah devoted
herself to the service of the others, and carried food to them through
the water. They could make no attempt to save themselves, succour could
only come from without.
It was a terrible situation, for breathing was difficult in the vitiated
air deficient as it was in oxygen, and charged with a great excess of
carbonic acid.... A few hours later Hobson would only have found the
corpses of his friends!
The horror of the position was increased by the gushing of the water
through the lower rooms, which convinced Mrs Barnett that the island was
drifting to the south. She had, in fact, guessed the whole truth; she
knew that the ice-wall had heeled over and fallen upon the island, and
concluded that the boat was destroyed. It was this last fact which gave
such terrible significance to her first words when she looked around her
after her swoon--
“The sea! the sea!”
Those about her, however, could think of nothing yet but the fact, that
they had saved her for whom they would have died, and with her Madge,
Kalumah, and Thomas Black. Thus far not one of those who had joined
the Lieutenant in his disastrous expedition had succumbed to any of the
fearful dangers through which they had passed.
But matters were not yet at their worst, and fresh troubles were soon to
hasten the final catastrophe.
Hobson’s first care after Mrs Barnett’s recovery was to take the
bearings of the inland. It was listless now to think of quitting it, as
the sea was open and their boat destroyed. A few ruins alone remained
of the mighty ice-wall, the upper portion of which had crushed Cape
Bathurst whilst the submerged base was driving the island to the south.
The instruments and maps belonging to the astronomer were found in the
ruins of the house, and were fortunately uninjured. The weather was
cloudy, but Hobson succeeded in taking the altitude of the sun with
sufficient accuracy for his purpose.
We give the result obtained at noon on the 12th May. Victoria Island was
then situated in longitude 168°12’ west of Greenwich, and in latitude
63°37’ N. The exact spot was looked out on the chart, and proved
to be in Norton Sound, between Cape Tchaplin on the Asiatic and Cape
Stephens on the American coast, but a hundred miles from either.
“We must give up all hope of making the land of the continent then!”
said Mrs Barnett.
“Yes, madam,” replied Hobson; “all hope of that is at an end; the
current is carrying us with great rapidity out into the offing, and our
only chance is, that we may pass within sight of a whaler.”
“Well, but,” added Mrs Barnett, “if we cannot make the land
of either continent, might not the current drive us on to one of the
islands of Behring Sea?”
There was, in fact, a slight possibility that such a thing might happen,
and all eagerly clutched at the hope, like a drowning man at a plank.
There are plenty of islands in Behring Sea, St Lawrence, St Matthew,
Nunivak, St Paul, George island, &c. The wandering island was in fact at
that moment not far from St Lawrence, which is of a considerable size,
and surrounded with islets; and should it pass it without stopping,
there was yet a hope that the cluster of the Aleutian Islands, bounding
Behring Sea on the south, might arrest its course.
Yes! St Lawrence might be a harbour of refuge for the colonists, and if
it failed them, St Matthew, and the group of islets of which it is the
centre, would still be left. It would not do, however, to count upon
the Aleutian Islands, which were more than eight hundred miles away,
and which they might never reach. Long, long before they got so far,
Victoria Island, worn away by the warm sea-waves, and melted by the rays
of the sun, which was already in the sign of Gemini, would most likely
have sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
There is, however, no fixed point beyond which floating ice does not
advance. It approaches nearer to the equator in the southern than in the
northern hemisphere. Icebergs have been seen off the Cape of Good Hope,
at about thirty-six degrees south latitude, but those which come down
from the Arctic Ocean have never passed forty degrees north latitude.
The weather conditions, which are of course variable, determine the
exact locality where ice will melt; in severe and prolonged winters it
remains solid in comparatively low latitudes, and vice versa in early
springs.
Now the warm season of 1861 had set in very early, and this would
hasten the dissolution of Victoria Island. The waters of Behring Sea
had already changed from blue to green, as the great navigator
Hudson observed they always do on the approach of icebergs, so that a
catastrophe might be expected at any moment.
Hobson determined to do his best to avert the coming misfortune, and
ordered a raft to be constructed which would carry the whole colony,
and might be guided to the continent somehow or other. There was every
chance of meeting vessels now that the whaling season had commenced, and
Mac-Nab was commissioned to make a large solid raft which would float
when Victoria Island was engulfed.
But first of all, it was necessary to construct some shelter for the
homeless inhabitants of the island. The simple plan appeared to be
to dig out the old barracks, which had been built on to the principal
house, and the walls of which were still standing. Every one set to work
with a hearty good-will, and in a few days a shelter was provided from
the inclemencies of the fickle weather.
Search was also made in the ruins of the large house, and a good
many articles of more or less value were saved from the submerged
rooms--tools, arms, furniture, the air pumps, and the air vessel, &c.
On the 13th May all hope of drifting on to the island of St Lawrence had
to be abandoned. When the bearings were taken, it was found that they
were passing at a considerable distance to the east of that island; and,
as Hobson was well aware, currents do not run against natural obstacles,
but turn them, so that little hope could be entertained of thus
making the land. It is true the network of islands in the Catherine
Archipelago, scattered over several degrees of latitude, might stop the
island if it ever got so far. But, as we have before stated, that was
not probable, although it was advancing at great speed; for this speed
must decrease considerably when the ice-wall which was driving it along
should be broken away or dissolved, unprotected as it was from the heat
of the sun by any covering of earth or sand.
Lieutenant Hobson, Mrs Barnett, Sergeant Long, and the head carpenter
often discussed these matters, and came to the conclusion that the
island could certainly never reach the Aleutian group with so many
chances against it.
On the 14th May, Mac-Nab and his men commenced the construction of a
huge raft. It had to be as high as possible above the water, to prevent
the waves from breaking over it, so that it was really a formidable
undertaking. The blacksmith, Rae, had fortunately found a large number
of the iron bolts which had been brought from Fort Reliance, and they
were invaluable for firmly fastening together the different portions of
the framework of the raft.
We must describe the novel site for the building of the raft suggested
by Lieutenant Hobson. Instead of joining the timbers and planks
together on the ground, they were joined on the surface of the lake.
The different pieces of wood were prepared on the banks, and launched
separately. They were then easily fitted together on the water. This
mode of proceeding had two advantages:--
1. The carpenter would be able at once to judge of the point of
flotation, and the stability which should be given to the raft. 2. When
Victoria Island melted, the raft would already be floating, and would
not be liable to the shocks it would receive if on land when the
inevitable break-up came.
Whilst these works were going on, Hobson would wander about on the
beach, either alone or with Mrs Barnett, examining the state of the sea,
and the ever-changing windings of the coast-line, worn by the constant
action of the waves. He would gaze upon the vast deserted ocean, from
which the very icebergs had now disappeared, watching, ever watching,
like a shipwrecked mariner, for the vessel which never came. The ocean
solitudes were only frequented by cetacea, which came to feed upon the
microscopic anima[l]culae which form their principal food, and abound in
the green waters. Now and then floating trees of different kinds, which
had been brought by the great ocean currents from warm latitudes, passed
the island on their way to the north.
On the 16th May, Mrs Barnett and Madge were walking together on that
part of the island between the former Cape Bathurst and Port Barnett. It
was a fine warm day, and there had been no traces of snow on the ground
for some time; all that recalled the bitter cold of the Polar regions
were the relics left by the ice-wall on the northern part of the island;
but even these were rapidly melting, and every day fresh waterfalls
poured from their summits and bathed their sides. Very soon the sun
would have completely dissolved every atom of ice.
Strange indeed was the aspect of Victoria Island. But for their terrible
anxiety, the colonists must have gazed at it with eager interest. The
ground was more prolific than it could have been in any former spring,
transferred as it was to milder latitudes. The little mosses and
tender flowers grew rapidly, and Mrs Joliffe’s garden was wonderfully
successful. The vegetation of every kind, hitherto checked by the rigour
of the Arctic winter, was not only more abundant, but more brilliantly
coloured. The hues of leaves and flowers were no longer pale and watery,
but warm and glowing, like the sunbeams which called them forth. The
arbutus, willow, birch, fir, and pine trees were clothed with
dark verdure; the sap--sometimes heated in a temperature of 68°
Fahrenheit--burst open the young buds; in a word, the Arctic landscape
was completely transformed, for the island was now beneath the same
parallel of latitude as Christiania or Stockholm, that is to say, in one
of the finest districts of the temperate zones.
But Mrs Barnett had now no eyes for these wonderful phenomena of nature.
The shadow of the coming doom clouded her spirit. She shared the feeling
of depression manifested by the hundreds of animals now collected round
the factory. The foxes, martens, ermines, lynxes, beavers, musk-rats,
gluttons, and even the wolves, rendered less savage by their instinctive
knowledge of a common danger, approached nearer and nearer to their
old enemy man, as if man could save them. It was a tacit, a touching
acknowledgment of human superiority, under circumstances in which that
superiority could be of absolutely no avail.
No! Mrs Barnett cared no longer for the beauties of nature, and gazed
without ceasing upon the boundless, pitiless, infinite ocean with its
unbroken horizon.
“Poor Madge!” she said at last to her faithful companion; “it
was I who brought you to this terrible pass--you who have followed me
everywhere, and whose fidelity deserved a far different recompense! Can
you forgive me?”
“There is but one thing I could never have forgiven you,” replied
Madge,--”a death I did not share!”
“Ah, Madge!” cried Mrs Barnett, “if my death could save the lives
of all these poor people, how gladly would I die!”
“My dear girl,” replied Madge, “have you lost all hope at last?”
“I have indeed,” murmured Mrs Barnett, hiding her face on Madge’s
shoulder.
The strong masculine nature had given way at last, and Mrs Barnett was
for a moment a feeble woman. Was not her emotion excusable in so awful a
situation?
Mrs Barnett sobbed aloud, and large tears rolled down her cheeks.
Madge kissed and caressed her, and tried all she could to reassure her;
and presently, raising her head, her poor mistress said--
“Do not tell them, Madge, how I have given way--do not betray that I
have wept.”
“Of course not,” said Madge, “and they would not believe me if I
did. It was but a moment’s weakness. Be yourself, dear girl; cheer up,
and take fresh courage.”
“Do you mean to say you still hope yourself!” exclaimed Mrs Barnett,
looking anxiously into her companion’s face.
“I still hope!” said Madge simply.
But a few days afterwards, every chance of safety seemed to be indeed
gone, when the wandering island passed outside the St Matthew group, and
drifted away from the last land in Behring Sea!
CHAPTER XX. IN THE OFFING. Victoria Island was now floating in the
widest part of Behring Sea, six hundred miles from the nearest of the
Aleutian Islands, and two hundred miles from the nearest land, which was
on the east. Supposing no accident happened, it would be three weeks at
least before this southern boundary of Behring Sea could be reached.
Could the island last so long? Might it not burst open at any moment,
subject as it was even now to the constant action of tepid water, the
mean temperature of which was more than 50° Fahrenheit?
Lieutenant Hobson pressed on the construction of the raft as rapidly as
possible, and the lower framework was already floating on the lagoon.
Mac-Nab wished to make it as strong as possible, for it would have a
considerable distance to go to reach the Aleutian Islands, unless they
were fortunate enough to meet with a whaler.
No important alteration had lately taken place in the general
configuration of the island. Reconaissances were taken everyday, but
great caution was necessary, as a fracture of the ground might at any
moment cut off the explorers from the rest of the party.
The wide gulf near Cape Michael, which the winter had closed, had
reopened gradually, and now ran a mile inland, as far as the dried-up
bed of the little river. It was probable that it was soon to extend to
the bed itself, which was of course of little thickness, having been
hollowed out by the stream. Should it do so, the whole district between
Cape Michael and Port Barnett, bounded on the west by the river bed,
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