with some rotten tent-rags still hanging to them?"
"Yes; that's where Parry disembarked his provisions from his ship,
and, if I remember rightly, the roof of his tent was a topsail."
"Everything must be greatly changed since 1825!"
"Not so much as any one might think. John Ross owed the health and
safety of his crew to that fragile habitation in 1829. When the -Prince
Albert- sent an expedition there in 1851, it was still existing;
Captain Kennedy had it repaired, nine years ago now. It would be
interesting to visit it, but Hatteras isn't in the humour to stop!"
"I daresay he is right, Mr. Clawbonny; if time is money in England,
here it is life, and a day's or even an hour's delay might make all
the difference."
During the day of Thursday, the 1st of June, the -Forward- cut across
Creswell Bay; from Fury Point the coast rose towards the north in
perpendicular rocks three hundred feet high; it began to get lower
towards the south; some snow summits looked like neatly-cut tables,
whilst others were shaped like pyramids, and had other strange forms.
The weather grew milder during that day, but was not so clear; land
was lost to sight, and the thermometer went up to thirty-two degrees;
seafowl fluttered about, the flocks of wild ducks were seen flying
north; the crew could divest themselves of some of their garments,
and the influence of the Arctic summer began to be felt. Towards
evening the -Forward- doubled Cape Garry at a quarter of a mile from
the shore, where the soundings gave from ten to twelve fathoms; from
thence she kept near the coast as far as Brentford Bay. It was under
this latitude that Bellot Strait was to be met with; a strait the
existence of which Sir John Ross did not even guess at during his
expedition in 1828; his maps indicated an uninterrupted coast-line,
whose irregularities he noted with the utmost care; the entrance to
the strait must therefore have been blocked up by ice at the time.
It was really discovered by Kennedy in April, 1852, and he gave it
the name of his lieutenant, Bellot, as "a just tribute," he said,
"to the important services rendered to our expedition by the French
officer."
CHAPTER XVI
THE MAGNETIC POLE
Hatteras felt his anxiety increase as he neared the strait; the fate
of his voyage depended upon it; up till now he had done more than
his predecessors, the most fortunate of whom, McClintock, had taken
fifteen months to reach this part of the Polar Seas; but it was little
or nothing if he did not succeed in clearing Bellot Strait; he could
not retrace his steps, and would be blocked up till the following
year.
He trusted the care of examining the coast to no one but himself;
he mounted the crow's nest and passed several hours there during the
morning of Saturday. The crew perfectly understood the ship's
position; profound silence reigned on board; the engine slackened
steam, and the -Forward- kept as near land as possible; the coast
bristled with icebergs, which the warmest summers do not melt; an
experienced eye alone could distinguish an opening between them.
Hatteras compared his maps with the land. As the sun showed himself
for an instant towards noon, he caused Shandon and Wall to take a
pretty exact observation, which was shouted to him. All the crew
suffered the tortures of anxiety for half the day, but towards two
o'clock these words were shouted from the top of the mizenmast:
"Veer to the west, all steam on."
The brig instantly obeyed; her prow was directed towards the point
indicated; the sea foamed under the screws, and the -Forward-, with
all speed on, entered between two ice-streams. The road was found,
Hatteras descended upon deck, and the ice-master took his place.
"Well, captain," said the doctor, "we are in the famous strait at
last."
"Yes," answered Hatteras, lowering his voice; "but getting in isn't
everything; we must get out too," and so saying he regained his cabin.
"He's right," said the doctor; "we are here in a sort of mousetrap,
with scarcely enough space for working the brig, and if we are forced
to winter in the strait!... Well, we shan't be the first that have
had to do it, and they got over it, and so shall we."
The doctor was not mistaken. It was in that very place, in a little
sheltered harbour called Kennedy Harbour by McClintock himself, that
the -Fox- wintered in 1858. The high granite chain and the steep cliffs
of the two banks were clearly discernible.
Bellot Strait is seventeen miles long and a mile wide, and about six
or seven fathoms deep. It lies between mountains whose height is
estimated at 1,600 feet. It separates North Somerset from Boothia
Land.
It is easy to understand that there is not much elbow-room for vessels
in such a strait. The -Forward- advanced slowly, but it did advance;
tempests are frequent in the strait, and the brig did not escape them;
by Hatteras's order all sails were furled; but, notwithstanding all
precautions, the brig was much knocked about; the waves dashed over
her, and her smoke fled towards the east with astonishing rapidity;
her course was not certain amongst the moving ice; the barometer fell;
it was difficult to stop on deck, and most of the men stayed below
to avoid useless suffering.
Hatteras, Johnson, and Shandon remained on the poop in spite of the
gales of snow and rain; as usual the doctor had asked himself what
would be the most disagreeable thing he could do, and answered himself
by going on deck at once; it was impossible to hear and difficult
to see one another, so that he kept his reflections to himself.
Hatteras tried to see through the fog; he calculated that they would
be at the mouth of the strait at six o'clock, but when the time came
all issue seemed closed up; he was obliged to wait and anchor the
brig to an iceberg; but he stopped under pressure all night.
The weather was frightful. The -Forward- threatened to break her
chains at every instant; it was feared that the iceberg to which they
were anchored, torn away at its base under the violent west wind,
would float away with the brig. The officers were constantly on the
look-out and under extreme apprehension; along with the snow there
fell a perfect hail of ice torn off from the surface of the icebergs
by the strength of the wind; it was like a shower of arrows bristling
in the atmosphere. The temperature rose singularly during this
terrible night; the thermometer marked fifty-seven degrees, and the
doctor, to his great astonishment, thought he saw flashes of lightning
in the south, followed by the roar of far-off thunder that seemed
to corroborate the testimony of the whaler Scoresby, who observed
a similar phenomenon above the sixty-fifth parallel. Captain Parry
was also witness to a similar meteorological wonder in 1821.
Towards five o'clock in the morning the weather changed with
astonishing rapidity; the temperature went down to freezing point,
the wind turned north, and became calmer. The western opening to the
strait was in sight, but entirely obstructed. Hatteras looked eagerly
at the coast, asking himself if the passage really existed. However,
the brig got under way, and glided slowly amongst the ice-streams,
whilst the icebergs pressed noisily against her planks, the packs
at that epoch were still from six to seven feet thick; they were
obliged carefully to avoid their pressure, for if the brig had
resisted them she would have run the risk of being lifted up and turned
over on her side. At noon, for the first time, they could admire a
magnificent solar phenomenon, a halo with two parhelia; the doctor
observed it, and took its exact dimensions; the exterior bow was only
visible over an extent of thirty degrees on each side of its horizontal
diameter; the two images of the sun were remarkably clear; the colours
of the luminous bows proceeded from inside to outside, and were red,
yellow, green, and very light blue--in short, white light without
any assignable exterior limit. The doctor remembered the ingenious
theory of Thomas Young about these meteors; this natural philosopher
supposed that certain clouds composed of prisms of ice are suspended
in the atmosphere; the rays of the sun that fall on the prisms are
decomposed at angles of sixty and ninety degrees. Halos cannot,
therefore, exist in a calm atmosphere. The doctor thought this theory
very probable. Sailors accustomed to the boreal seas generally
consider this phenomenon as the precursor of abundant snow. If their
observation was just, the position of the -Forward- became very
difficult. Hatteras, therefore, resolved to go on fast; during the
remainder of the day and following night he did not take a minute's
rest, sweeping the horizon with his telescope, taking advantage of
the least opening, and losing no occasion of getting out of the strait.
But in the morning he was obliged to stop before the insuperable
ice-bank. The doctor joined him on the poop. Hatteras went with him
apart where they could talk without fear of being overheard.
"We are in for it," began Hatteras; "it is impossible to go any
further."
"Is there no means of getting out?" asked the doctor.
"None. All the powder in the -Forward- would not make us gain half
a mile!"
"What shall we do, then?" said the doctor.
"I don't know. This cursed year has been unfavourable from the
beginning."
"Well," answered the doctor, "if we must winter here, we must. One
place is as good as another."
"But," said Hatteras, lowering his voice, "we must not winter here,
especially in the month of June. Wintering is full of physical and
moral danger. The crew would be unmanageable during a long inaction
in the midst of real suffering. I thought I should be able to stop
much nearer the Pole than this!"
"Luck would have it so, or Baffin's Bay wouldn't have been closed."
"It was open enough for that American!" cried Hatteras in a rage.
"Come, Hatteras," said the doctor, interrupting him on purpose,
"to-day is only the 5th of June; don't despair; a passage may suddenly
open up before us; you know that the ice has a tendency to break up
into several blocks, even in the calmest weather, as if a force of
repulsion acted upon the different parts of it; we may find the sea
free at any minute."
"If that minute comes we shall take advantage of it. It is quite
possible that, once out of Bellot Strait, we shall be able to go north
by Peel Strait or McClintock Channel, and then----"
"Captain," said James Wall, who had come up while Hatteras was
speaking, "the ice nearly carries off our rudder."
"Well," answered Hatteras, "we must risk it. We must be ready day
and night. You must do all you can to protect it, Mr. Wall, but I
can't have it removed."
"But----" added Wall.
"That is my business," said Hatteras severely, and Wall went back
to his post.
"I would give five years of my life," said Hatteras, in a rage, "to
be up north. I know no more dangerous passage. To add to the difficulty,
the compass is no guide at this distance from the magnetic pole: the
needle is constantly shifting its direction."
"I acknowledge," answered the doctor, "that navigation is difficult,
but we knew what we had to expect when we began our enterprise, and
we ought not to be surprised at it."
"Ah, doctor, my crew is no longer what it was; the officers are
spoiling the men. I could make them do what I want by offering them
a pecuniary reward, but I am not seconded by my officers, but they
shall pay dearly for it!"
"You are exaggerating, Hatteras."
"No, I am not. Do you think the crew is sorry for the obstacles that
I meet with? On the contrary, they hope they will make me abandon
my projects. They do not complain now, and they won't as long as the
-Forward- is making for the south. The fools! They think they are
getting nearer England! But once let me go north and you'll see how
they'll change! I swear, though, that no living being will make me
deviate from my line of conduct. Only let me find a passage, that's
all!"
One of the captain's wishes was fulfilled soon enough. There was a
sudden change during the evening; under some influence of the wind,
the current, or the temperature, the ice-fields were separated; the
-Forward- went along boldly, breaking up the ice with her steel prow;
she sailed along all night, and the next morning about six cleared
Bellot Strait. But that was all; the northern passage was completely
obstructed--to the great disgust of Hatteras. However, he had
sufficient strength of character to hide his disappointment, and as
if the only passage open was the one he preferred, he let the -Forward-
sail down Franklin Strait again; not being able to get up Peel Strait,
he resolved to go round Prince of Wales's Land to get into McClintock
Channel. But he felt he could not deceive Shandon and Wall as to the
extent of his disappointment. The day of the 6th of June was
uneventful; the sky was full of snow, and the prognostics of the halo
were fulfilled.
During thirty-six hours the -Forward- followed the windings of
Boothia Land, unable to approach Prince of Wales's Land; the captain
counted upon getting supplies at Beechey Island; he arrived on the
Thursday at the extremity of Franklin Strait, where he again found
the road to the north blocked up. It was enough to make him despair;
he could not even retrace his steps; the icebergs pushed him onwards,
and he saw the passages close up behind him as if there never had
existed open sea where he had passed an hour before. The -Forward-
was, therefore, not only prevented from going northwards, but could
not stop still an instant for fear of being caught, and she fled before
the ice as a ship flies before a storm.
On Friday, the 8th of June, they arrived near the shore of Boothia,
at the entrance to James Ross Strait, which they were obliged to avoid,
as its only issue is on the west, near the American coasts.
Observations taken at noon from this point gave 70 degrees 5 minutes
17 seconds latitude, and 96 degrees 46 minutes 45 seconds longitude;
when the doctor heard that he consulted his map, and saw they were
at the magnetic pole, at the very place where James Ross, the nephew
of Sir John, had fixed it. The land was low near the coast, and at
about a mile's distance became slightly elevated, sixty feet only.
The -Forward's- boiler wanted cleaning, and the captain caused the
brig to be anchored to an ice-field, and allowed the doctor and the
boatswain to land. He himself cared for nothing but his pet project,
and stayed in his cabin, consulting his map of the Pole.
The doctor and his companion easily succeeded in reaching land; the
doctor took a compass to make experiments with. He wished to try if
James Ross's conclusions hold good. He easily discovered the
limestone heap raised by Ross; he ran to it; an opening allowed him
to see, in the interior, the tin case in which James Ross had placed
the official report of his discoveries. No living being seemed to
have visited this desolate coast for the last thirty years. In this
spot a loadstone needle, suspended as delicately as possible,
immediately moved into an almost vertical position under the magnetic
influence; if the centre of attraction was not immediately under the
needle, it could only be at a trifling distance. The doctor made the
experiment carefully, and found that the imperfect instruments of
James Ross had given his vertical needle an inclination of 89 degrees
59 minutes, making the real magnetic point at a minute's distance
from the spot, but that his own at a little distance gave him an
inclination of 90 degrees.
"Here is the exact spot of the world's magnetic pole," said the doctor,
rapping the earth.
"Then," said the boatswain, "there's no loadstone mountain, after
all."
"Of course not; that mountain was only a credulous hypothesis. As
you see, there isn't the least mountain capable of attracting ships,
of attracting their iron anchor after anchor and nail after nail,
and you see it respects your shoes as much as any other land on the
globe."
"Then how do you explain----"
"Nothing is explained, Johnson; we don't know enough for that yet.
But it is certain, exact, mathematical, that the magnetic pole is
in this very spot!"
"Ah, Mr. Clawbonny! how happy the captain would be to say as much
of the boreal pole!"
"He will some day, Johnson, you will see."
"I hope he will," answered the boatswain.
He and the doctor elevated a cairn on the exact spot where the
experiment had been made, and returned on board at five o'clock in
the evening.
CHAPTER XVII
THE FATE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN
The -Forward- succeeded in cutting straight across James Ross Strait,
but not without difficulty; the crew were obliged to work the saws
and use petards, and they were worn out with fatigue. Happily the
temperature was bearable, and thirty degrees higher than that
experienced by James Ross at the same epoch. The thermometer marked
thirty-four degrees.
On Saturday they doubled Cape Felix at the northern extremity of King
William's Land, one of the middle-sized isles of the northern seas.
The crew there experienced a strong and painful sensation, and many
a sad look was turned towards the island as they sailed by the coast.
This island had been the theatre of the most terrible tragedy of modern
times. Some miles to the west the -Erebus- and the -Terror- had been
lost for ever. The sailors knew about the attempts made to find Admiral
Franklin and the results, but they were ignorant of the affecting
details of the catastrophe. While the doctor was following the
progress of the ship on his map, several of them, Bell, Bolton, and
Simpson, approached and entered into conversation with him. Their
comrades, animated by curiosity, soon followed them; while the brig
flew along with extreme rapidity, and the coast with its bays, capes,
and promontories passed before their eyes like a gigantic panorama.
Hatteras was marching up and down the poop with quick steps. The doctor,
on the deck, looked round, and saw himself surrounded by almost the
whole crew. He saw how powerful a recital would be in such a situation,
and he continued the conversation begun with Johnson as follows:--
"You know how Franklin began, my friends; he was a cabin-boy like
Cook and Nelson; after having employed his youth in great maritime
expeditions, he resolved in 1845 to launch out in search of the
North-West passage; he commanded the -Erebus- and the -Terror-, two
vessels, already famous, that had just made an Antarctic campaign
under James Ross, in 1840. The -Erebus-, equipped by Franklin, carried
a crew of seventy men, officers and sailors, with Fitz-James as
captain; Gore and Le Vesconte, lieutenants; Des Voeux, Sargent, and
Couch, boatswains; and Stanley as surgeon. The -Terror- had
sixty-eight men, Captain Crozier; Lieutenants Little, Hodgson, and
Irving; Horesby and Thomas were the boatswains, and Peddie the surgeon.
In the names on the map of the capes, straits, points, and channels,
you may read those of these unfortunate men, not one of whom was
destined ever again to see his native land. There were a hundred and
thirty-eight men in all! We know that Franklin's last letters were
addressed from Disko Island, and were dated July 12th, 1845. 'I hope,'
he said, 'to get under way to-night for Lancaster Strait.' What
happened after his departure from Disko Bay? The captains of two
whalers, the -Prince of Wales- and the -Enterprise-, perceived the
two ships in Melville Bay for the last time, and after that day nothing
was heard of them. However, we can follow Franklin in his westerly
course: he passed through Lancaster and Barrow Straits, and arrived
at Beechey Island, where he passed the winter of 1845 and '46."
"But how do you know all this?" asked Bell, the carpenter.
"By three tombs which Austin discovered on that island in 1850. Three
of Franklin's sailors were buried there, and by a document which was
found by Lieutenant Hobson, of the -Fox-, which bears the date of
April 25th, 1848, we know that after their wintering the -Erebus-
and the -Terror- went up Wellington Strait as far as the
seventy-seventh parallel; but instead of continuing their route
northwards, which was, probably, not practicable, they returned
south."
"And that was their ruin!" said a grave voice. "Safety lay to the
north."
Every one turned round. Hatteras, leaning on the rail of the poop,
had just uttered that terrible observation.
"There is not a doubt," continued the doctor, "that Franklin's
intention was to get back to the American coast; but tempests stopped
him, and on the 12th September, 1846, the two ships were seized by
the ice, at a few miles from here, to the north-west of Cape Felix;
they were dragged along N.N.W. to Victoria Point over there," said
the doctor, pointing to a part of the sea. "Now," he continued, "the
ships were not abandoned till the 22nd of April, 1848. What happened
during these nineteen months? What did the poor unfortunate men do?
They, doubtless, explored the surrounding land, attempting any
chance of safety, for the admiral was an energetic man, and if he
did not succeed----"
"Very likely his crew betrayed him," added Hatteras.
The sailors dared not raise their eyes; these words pricked their
conscience.
"To end my tale, the fatal document informs us also that John Franklin
succumbed to fatigue on the 11th of June, 1847. Honour to his memory!"
said the doctor, taking off his hat. His audience imitated him in
silence.
"What became of the poor fellows for the next ten months after they
had lost their chief? They remained on board their vessels, and only
resolved to abandon them in April, 1848; a hundred and five men out
of a hundred and thirty-eight were still living; thirty-three were
dead! Then Captain Crozier and Captain Fitz-James raised a cairn on
Victory Point, and there deposited their last document. See, my
friends, we are passing the point now! You can still see the remains
of the cairn placed on the extreme point, reached by John Ross in
1831. There is Jane Franklin Cape. There is Franklin Point. There
is Le Vesconte Point. There is Erebus Bay, where the boat made out
of the -debris- of one of the vessels was found on a sledge. Silver
spoons, provisions in abundance, chocolate, tea, and religious books
were found there too. The hundred and five survivors, under Captain
Crozier, started for Great Fish River. Where did they get to? Did
they succeed in reaching Hudson's Bay? Did any survive? What became
of them after this last departure?"
"I will tell you what became of them," said John Hatteras in a firm
voice. "Yes, they did try to reach Hudson's Bay, and they split up
into several parties! Yes, they did make for the south! A letter from
Dr. Rae in 1854 contained the information that in 1850 the Esquimaux
had met on King William's Land a detachment of forty men travelling
on the ice, and dragging a boat, thin, emaciated, worn out by fatigue
and suffering! Later on they discovered thirty corpses on the
continent and five on a neighbouring island, some half-buried, some
left without burial, some under a boat turned upside down, others
under the remains of a tent; here an officer with his telescope on
his shoulder and a loaded gun at his side, further on a boiler with
the remnants of a horrible meal! When the Admiralty received these
tidings it begged the Hudson's Bay Company to send its most
experienced agents to the scene. They descended Back River to its
mouth. They visited the islands of Montreal, Maconochie, and Ogle
Point. But they discovered nothing. All the poor wretches had died
from misery, suffering, and hunger, whilst trying to prolong their
existence by the dreadful resource of cannibalism. That is what became
of them on the southern route. Well! Do you still wish to march in
their footsteps?"
His trembling voice, his passionate gestures and beaming face,
produced an indescribable effect. The crew, excited by its emotion
before this fatal land, cried out with one voice: "To the north! To
the north!"
"Yes, to the north! Safety and glory lie to the north. Heaven is for
us! The wind is changing; the pass is free!"
So saying, Hatteras gave orders to turn the vessel; the sailors went
to work with alacrity; the ice streams got clear little by little;
the -Forward-, with all steam on, made for McClintock Channel.
Hatteras was right when he counted upon a more open sea; he followed
up the supposed route taken by Franklin, sailing along the western
coast of Prince of Wales's Land, then pretty well known, whilst the
opposite shore is still unknown. It was evident that the breaking
up of the ice had taken place in the eastern locks, for this strait
appeared entirely free; the -Forward- made up for lost time; she fled
along so quickly that she passed Osborne Bay on the 14th of June,
and the extreme points attained by the expeditions of 1851. Icebergs
were still numerous, but the sea did not threaten to quit the keel
of the -Forward-.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE NORTHERN ROUTE
The crew seemed to have returned to its habits of discipline and
obedience. There was little fatiguing work to do, and they had a good
deal of leisure. The temperature kept above freezing point, and it
seemed as if the thaw had removed the great obstacles to navigation.
Dick, now sociable and familiar, had made great friends with Dr.
Clawbonny. But as in most friendships one friend has to give way to
the other, it must be acknowledged it was not the dog. Dick did what
he liked with the doctor, who obeyed him as if he were the dog. He
was amiable with most of the sailors and officers on board, only by
instinct, doubtless, he shunned Shandon's society; he also kept up
a grudge against Pen and Foker; he vented his hatred of them by
growling at their approach. But they dare not now attack the captain's
dog--his "familiar," as Clifton called him. On the whole the crew
had plucked up courage again and worked well.
"It seems to me," said James Wall one day to Richard Shandon, "that
our men took the captain's speech seriously; they no longer seem to
be doubtful of success."
"The more fools they!" answered Shandon. "If they reflected, if they
examined the situation, they would see that we are going out of one
imprudence into another."
"But," continued Wall, "the sea is open now, and we are getting back
into well-known tracks; aren't you exaggerating a bit, Shandon?"
"No, I am not exaggerating; the dislike I feel to Hatteras is not
blinding me. Have you seen the coal-holes lately?"
"No," answered Wall.
"Well, then, go and examine them: you will see how much there's left.
He ought to have navigated under sail, and have kept the engine for
currents and contrary winds; he ought only to have used his coal where
he was obliged; who can tell where we shall be kept, and for how many
years? But Hatteras only thinks about getting north. Whether the wind
is contrary or not, he goes along at full steam, and if things go
on as they are doing now, we shall soon be in a pretty pickle."
"If what you say is true, it is very serious."
"Yes, it is, because of the wintering. What shall we do without coal
in a country where even the thermometer freezes?"
"But, if I am not mistaken, the captain counts upon renewing his stock
of coal at Beechey Island. It appears there is a large provision
there."
"And suppose we can't reach Beechey Island, what will become of us
then?"
"You are right, Shandon; Hatteras seems to me very imprudent; but
why don't you expostulate with him on the subject?"
"No," said Shandon, with ill-concealed bitterness, "I won't say a
word. It is nothing to do with me now. I shall wait to see what turns
up; I shall obey orders, and not give my opinion where it isn't
wanted."
"Allow me to tell you that you are in the wrong, Shandon; you have
as much interest in setting yourself against the captain's imprudence
as we have."
"He wouldn't listen to me if I were to speak; do you think he would?"
Wall dared not answer in the affirmative, and he added--
"But perhaps he would listen to the crew."
"The crew!" answered Shandon, shrugging his shoulders; "you don't
know the crew. The men know they are nearing the 72nd parallel, and
that they will earn a thousand pounds for every degree above that."
"The captain knew what he was doing when he offered them that."
"Of course he did, and for the present he can do what he likes with
them."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that while they have nothing to do, and there is an open sea,
they will go on right enough; but wait till difficulty and danger
come, and you will see how much they'll think about the money!"
"Then you don't think Hatteras will succeed?"
"No, he will not; to succeed in such an enterprise there must be a
good understanding between him and his officers, and that does not
exist. Hatteras is a madman; all his past career proves it. Well,
we shall see; perhaps circumstances will force them to give the
command to a less adventurous captain."
"Still," said Wall, shaking his head, "he will always have on his
side----"
"Dr. Clawbonny, a man who only cares for science, and Johnson, a sailor
who only cares to obey, and perhaps two more men like Bell, the
carpenter; four at the most, and we are eighteen on board! No, Wall,
Hatteras has not got the confidence of his men, and he knows it, so
he bribes them; he profited cleverly by the Franklin affair, but that
won't last, I tell you, and if he doesn't reach Beechey Island he's
a lost man!"
"Suppose the crew should take it into its head----"
"Don't tell the crew what I think," answered Shandon quickly; "the
men will soon see for themselves. Besides, just now we must go north.
Who knows if Hatteras won't find that way will bring us back sooner?
At the end of McClintock Channel lies Melville Bay, and from thence
go the straits that lead to Baffin's Bay. Hatteras must take care!
The way to the east is easier than the road to the north!"
Hatteras was not mistaken in his opinion that Shandon would betray
him if he could. Besides, Shandon was right in attributing the
contentment of the men to the hope of gain. Clifton had counted exactly
how much each man would have. Without reckoning the captain and the
doctor, who would not expect a share in the bounty-money, there
remained sixteen men to divide it amongst. If ever they succeeded
in reaching the Pole, each man would have 1,125 pounds--that is to
say, a fortune. It would cost the captain 18,000 pounds, but he could
afford it. The thoughts of the money inflamed the minds of the crew,
and they were now as anxious to go north as before they had been eager
to turn south. The -Forward- during the day of June 16th passed Cape
Aworth. Mount Rawlinson raised its white peaks towards the sky; the
snow and fog made it appear colossal, as they exaggerated its
distance; the temperature still kept some degrees above freezing
point; improvised cascades and cataracts showed themselves on the
sides of the mountains, and avalanches roared down with the noise
of artillery discharges. The glaciers, spread out in long white sheets,
projected an immense reverberation into space. Boreal nature, in its
struggle with the frost, presented a splendid spectacle. The brig
went very near the coast; on some sheltered rocks rare heaths were
to be seen, the pink flowers lifting their heads timidly out of the
snows, and some meagre lichens of a reddish colour and the shoots
of a dwarf willow.
At last, on the 19th of June, at the famous seventy-third parallel,
they doubled Cape Minto, which forms one of the extremities of Ommaney
Bay; the brig entered Melville Bay, surnamed by Bolton Money Bay;
the merry sailors joked about the name, and made Dr. Clawbonny laugh
heartily. Notwithstanding a strong breeze from the northeast, the
-Forward- made considerable progress, and on the 23rd of June she
passed the 74th degree of latitude. She was in the midst of Melville
Bay, one of the most considerable seas in these regions. This sea
was crossed for the first time by Captain Parry in his great expedition
of 1819, and it was then that his crew earned the prize of 5,000 pounds
promised by Act of Parliament. Clifton remarked that there were two
degrees from the 72nd to the 74th; that already placed 125 pounds
to his credit. But they told him that a fortune was not worth much
there, and that it was of no use being rich if he could not drink
his riches, and he had better wait till he could roll under a Liverpool
table before he rejoiced and rubbed his hands.
CHAPTER XIX
A WHALE IN SIGHT
Melville Bay, though easily navigable, was not free from ice;
ice-fields lay as far as the utmost limits of the horizon; a few
icebergs appeared here and there, but they were immovable, as if
anchored in the midst of the frozen fields. The -Forward-, with all
steam on, followed the wide passes where it was easy to work her.
The wind changed frequently from one point of the compass to another.
The variability of the wind in the Arctic Seas is a remarkable fact;
sometimes a dead calm is followed in a few minutes by a violent tempest,
as the -Forward- found to her cost on the 23rd of June in the midst
of the immense bay. The more constant winds blow from off the ice-bank
on to the open sea, and are intensely cold. On that day the thermometer
fell several degrees; the wind veered round to the south, and violent
gusts, sweeping over the ice-fields, brought a thick snow along with
them. Hatteras immediately caused the sails that helped the screw
to be furled, but not quickly enough to prevent his little foresail
being carried away in the twinkling of an eye. Hatteras worked his
ship with the greatest composure, and did not leave the deck during
the tempest; he was obliged to fly before the weather and to turn
westward. The wind raised up enormous waves, in the midst of which
blocks of ice balanced themselves; these blocks were of all sizes
and shapes, and had been struck off the surrounding ice-fields; the
brig was tossed about like a child's plaything, and morsels of the
packs were thrown over her hull; at one instant she was lying
perpendicularly along the side of a liquid mountain; her steel prow
concentrated the light, and shone like a melting metal bar; at another
she was down an abyss, plunging her head into whirlwinds of snow,
whilst her screws, out of the water, turned in space with a sinister
noise, striking the air with their paddles. Rain mixed with the snow
and fell in torrents.
The doctor could not miss such an occasion of getting wet to the skin;
he remained on deck, a prey to that emotional admiration which a
scientific man must necessarily feel during such a spectacle. His
nearest neighbour could not have heard him speak, so he said nothing
and watched; but whilst watching he was witness to an odd phenomenon,
peculiar to hyperborean regions. The tempest was confined to a
restricted area, and only extended for about three or four miles;
the wind that passes over ice-fields loses much of its strength and
cannot carry its violence far out; the doctor perceived from time
to time, through an opening in the tempest, a calm sky and a quiet
sea beyond some ice-fields. The -Forward- would therefore only have
to take advantage of some channels left by the ice to find a peaceful
navigation again, but she ran the risk of being thrown on to one of
the moving banks which followed the movement of the swell. However,
in a few hours Hatteras succeeded in getting his ship into a calm
sea, whilst the violence of the hurricane spent itself at a few cables'
length from the -Forward-. Melville Bay no longer presented the same
aspect; under the influence of the winds and the waves a great number
of icebergs, detached from the coast, floated northward, running
against one another in every direction. There were several hundreds
of them, but the bay is very wide, and the brig easily avoided them.
The spectacle of these floating masses was magnificent; they seemed
to be having a grand race for it on the open sea. The doctor was getting
quite excited with watching them, when the harpooner, Simpson, came
up and made him look at the changing tints in the sea; they varied
from a deep blue to olive green; long stripes stretched north and
south in such decided lines that the eye could follow each shade out
of sight. Sometimes a transparent sheet of water would follow a
perfectly opaque sheet.
"Well, Mr. Clawbonny, what do you think of that?" said Simpson.
"I am of the same opinion as the whaler Scoresby on the nature of
the different coloured waters; blue water has no animalculae, and
green water is full of them. Scoresby has made several experiments
on this subject, and I think he is right."
"Well, sir, I know something else about the colours in the sea, and
if I were a whaler I should be precious glad to see them."
"But I don't see any whales," answered the doctor.
"You won't be long before you do, though, I can tell you. A whaler
is lucky when he meets with those green stripes under this latitude."
"Why?" asked the doctor, who always liked to get information from
anybody who understood what they were talking about.
"Because whales are always found in great quantities in green water."
"What's the reason of that?"
"Because they find plenty of food in them."
"Are you sure of that?"
"I've seen it a hundred times, at least, in Baffin Sea; why shouldn't
it be the same in Melville Bay? Besides, look there, Mr. Clawbonny,"
added Simpson, leaning over the barricading.
"Why any one would think it was the wake of a ship!"
"It is an oily substance that the whale leaves behind. The animal
can't be far off!"
The atmosphere was impregnated with a strong oily odour, and the
doctor attentively watched the surface of the water. The prediction
of the harpooner was soon accomplished. Foker called out from the
masthead--
"A whale alee!"
All looks turned to the direction indicated. A small spout was
perceived coming up out of the sea about a mile from the brig.
"There she spouts!" cried Simpson, who knew what that meant.
"She has disappeared!" answered the doctor.
"Oh, we could find her again easily enough if necessary!" said Simpson,
with an accent of regret. To his great astonishment, and although
no one dared ask for it, Hatteras gave orders to man the whaler.
Johnson went aft to the stern, while Simpson, harpoon in hand, stood
in the bow. They could not prevent the doctor joining the expedition.
The sea was pretty calm. The whaler soon got off, and in ten minutes
was a mile from the brig. The whale had taken in another provision
of air, and had plunged again; but she soon returned to the surface
and spouted out that mixture of gas and mucus that escapes from her
air-holes.
"There! There!" said Simpson, pointing to a spot about eight hundred
yards from the boat. It was soon alongside the animal, and as they
had seen her from the brig too, she came nearer, keeping little steam
on. The enormous cetacean disappeared and reappeared as the waves
rose and fell, showing its black back like a rock in open sea. Whales
do not swim quickly unless they are pursued, and this one only rocked
itself in the waves. The boat silently approached along the green
water; its opacity prevented the animal seeing the enemy. It is always
an agitating spectacle when a fragile boat attacks one of these
monsters; this one was about 130 feet long, and it is not rare, between
the 72nd and the 80th degree, to meet with whales more than 180 feet
long. Ancient writers have described animals more than 700 feet long,
but they drew upon their imagination for their facts. The boat soon
neared the whale; on a sign from Simpson the men rested on their oars,
and brandishing his harpoon, the experienced sailor threw it with
all his strength; it went deep into the thick covering of fat. The
wounded whale struck the sea with its tail and plunged. The four oars
were immediately raised perpendicularly; the cord fastened to the
harpoon, and attached to the bow, rolled rapidly out and dragged the
boat along, steered cleverly by Johnson.
The whale got away from the brig and made for the moving icebergs;
she kept on for more than half-an-hour; they were obliged to wet the
cord fastened to the harpoon to prevent it catching fire by rubbing
against the boat. When the whale seemed to be going along a little
more slowly, the cord was pulled in little by little and rolled up;
the whale soon reappeared on the surface of the sea, which she beat
with her formidable tail: veritable waterspouts fell in a violent
rain on to the boat. It was getting nearer. Simpson had seized a long
lance, and was preparing to give close battle to the animal, when
all at once the whale glided into a pass between two mountainous
icebergs. The pursuit then became really dangerous.
"The devil!" said Johnson.
"Go ahead," cried Simpson; "we've got her!"
"But we can't follow her into the icebergs!" said Johnson, steering
steadily.
"Yes we can!" cried Simpson.
"No, no!" cried some of the sailors.
"Yes, yes!" said others.
During the discussion the whale had got between two floating mountains
which the swell was bringing close together. The boat was being
dragged into this dangerous part when Johnson rushed to the fore,
an axe in his hand, and cut the cord. He was just in time; the two
mountains came together with a tremendous crash, crushing the
unfortunate animal.
"The whale's lost!" cried Simpson.
"But we are saved!" answered Johnson.
"Well," said the doctor, who had not moved, "that was worth seeing!"
The crushing force of these ice-mountains is enormous. The whale was
victim to an accident that often happens in these seas. Scoresby
relates that in the course of a single summer thirty whales perished
in the same way in Baffin's Sea; he saw a three-master flattened in
a minute between two immense walls of ice. Other vessels were split
through, as if with a lance, by pointed icicles a hundred feet long,
meeting through the planks. A few minutes afterwards the boat hailed
the brig, and was soon in its accustomed place on deck.
"It is a lesson for those who are imprudent enough to adventure into
the channels amongst the ice!" said Shandon in a loud voice.
CHAPTER XX
BEECHEY ISLAND
On the 25th of June the -Forward- arrived in sight of Cape Dundas
at the north-western extremity of Prince of Wales's Land. There the
difficulty of navigating amongst the ice grew greater. The sea is
narrower there, and the line made by Crozier, Young, Day, Lowther,
and Garret Islands, like a chain of forts before a roadstead, forced
the ice-streams to accumulate in this strait. The brig took from the
25th to the 30th of June to make as much way as she would have done
in one day under any other circumstances; she stopped, retraced her
steps, waiting for a favourable occasion so as not to miss Beechey
Island, using a great deal of coal, as the fires were only moderated
when she had to halt, but were never put out, so that she might be
under pressure day and night. Hatteras knew the extent of his coal
provision as well as Shandon, but as he was certain of getting his
provision renewed at Beechey Island he would not lose a minute for
the sake of economy; he had been much delayed by his forced march
southward, and although he had taken the precaution of leaving England
before the month of April, he did not find himself more advanced than
preceding expeditions had been at the same epoch. On the 30th they
sighted Cape Walker at the north-eastern extremity of Prince of
Wales's Land; it was the extreme point that Kennedy and Bellot
perceived on the 3rd of May, 1852, after an excursion across the whole
of North Somerset. Before that, in 1851, Captain Ommaney, of the
Austin expedition, had the good luck to revictual his detachments
there. This cape is very high, and remarkable for its reddish-brown
colour; from there, when the weather is clear, the view stretches
as far as the entrance to Wellington Channel. Towards evening they
saw Cape Bellot, separated from Cape Walker by McLeon Bay. Cape Bellot
was so named in the presence of the young French officer, for whom
the English expedition gave three cheers. At this spot the coast is
made of yellowish limestone, presenting a very rugged outline; it
is defended by enormous icebergs which the north winds pile up there
in a most imposing way. It was soon lost to sight by the -Forward-
as she opened a passage amongst the ice to get to Beechey Island
through Barrow Strait. Hatteras resolved to go straight on, and, so
as not to be drifted further than the island, scarcely quitted his
post during the following days; he often went to the masthead to look
out for the most advantageous channels. All that pluck, skill, and
genius could do he did while they were crossing the strait. Fortune
did not favour him, for the sea is generally more open at this epoch.
But at last, by dint of sparing neither his steam, his crew, nor
himself, he attained his end.
On the 3rd of July, at 11 o'clock in the morning, the ice-master
signalled land to the north. After taking an observation Hatteras
recognised Beechey Island, that general meeting-place of Arctic
navigators. Almost all ships that adventure in these seas stop there.
Franklin wintered there for the first time before getting into
Wellington Strait, and Creswell, with Lieutenant McClure, after
having cleared 170 miles on the ice, rejoined the -Phoenix- and
returned to England. The last ship which anchored at Beechey Island
before the -Forward- was the -Fox-; McClintock revictualled there
the 11th of August, 1858, and repaired the habitations and magazines;
only two years had elapsed since then, and Hatteras knew all these
details. The boatswain's heart beat with emotion at the sight of this
island; when he had visited it he was quartermaster on board the
-Phoenix-; Hatteras questioned him about the coast line, the
facilities for anchoring, how far they could go inland, &c.; the
weather was magnificent, and the temperature kept at 57 degrees.
"Well, Johnson," said the captain, "do you know where you are?"
"Yes, sir, that is Beechey Island; only you must let us get further
north--the coast is more easy of access."
"But where are the habitations and the magazines?" said Hatteras.
"Oh, you can't see them till you land; they are sheltered behind those
little hills you see yonder."
"And is that where you transported a considerable quantity of
provisions?"
"Yes, sir; the Admiralty sent us here in 1853, under the command of
Captain Inglefield, with the steamer -Phoenix- and a transport ship,
the -Breadalbane-, loaded with provisions; we brought enough with
us to revictual a whole expedition."
"But the commander of the -Fox- took a lot of them in 1858," said
Hatteras.
"That doesn't matter, sir; there'll be plenty left for you; the cold
preserves them wonderfully, and we shall find them as fresh and in
as good a state of preservation as the first day."
"What I want is coal," said Hatteras; "I have enough provisions for
several years."
"We left more than a thousand tons there, so you can make your mind
easy."
"Are we getting near?" said Hatteras, who, telescope in hand, was
watching the coast.
"You see that point?" continued Johnson. "When we have doubled it
we shall be very near where we drop anchor. It was from that place
that we started for England with Lieutenant Creswell and the twelve
invalids from the -Investigator-. We were fortunate enough to bring
back McClure's lieutenant, but the officer Bellot, who accompanied
us on board the -Phoenix-, never saw his country again! It is a painful
thing to think about. But, captain, I think we ought to drop anchor
here."
"Very well," answered Hatteras, and he gave his orders in consequence.
The -Forward- was in a little bay naturally sheltered on the north,
east, and south, and at about a cable's length from the coast.
"Mr. Wall," said Hatteras, "have the long boat got ready to transport
the coal on board. I shall land in the pirogue with the doctor and
the boatswain. Will you accompany us, Mr. Shandon?"
"As you please," answered Shandon.
A few minutes later the doctor, armed as a sportsman and a -savant-,
took his place in the pirogue along with his companions; in ten minutes
they landed on a low and rocky coast.
"Lead the way, Johnson," said Hatteras. "You know it, I suppose?"
"Perfectly, sir; only there's a monument here that I did not expect
to find!"
"That!" cried the doctor; "I know what it is; let us go up to it;
the stone itself will tell us."
The four men advanced, and the doctor said, after taking off his hat--
"This, my friends, is a monument in memory of Franklin and his
companions."
Lady Franklin had, in 1855, confided a black marble tablet to Doctor
Kane, and in 1858 she gave a second to McClintock to be raised on
Beechey Island. McClintock accomplished this duty religiously, and
placed the stone near a funeral monument erected to the memory of
Bellot by Sir John Barrow.
The tablet bore the following inscription:
"TO THE MEMORY OF
FRANKLIN, CROZIER, FITZ-JAMES,
AND ALL THEIR VALIANT BRETHREN
OFFICERS AND FAITHFUL COMPANIONS
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