Bell, with Altamont's aid, ran to the sledge; he brought one of the
uprights, stood it up on the floe for a mast, making it fast with
ropes; the tent was torn up for a sail. The wind was fair; the poor
castaways put out to sea on this frail raft.
Two hours later, after unheard-of efforts, the last men of the
-Forward- were taken aboard the Danish whaler -Hans Christian-, which
was sailing to Davis Strait. The captain received kindly these
spectres who had lost their semblance to human beings; when he saw
their sufferings he understood their history; he gave them every
attention, and managed to save their lives. Ten days later, Clawbonny,
Johnson, Bell, Altamont, and Captain Hatteras landed at Korsoeur, in
Zeeland, in Denmark; a steamboat carried them to Kiel; thence, -via-
Altona and Hamburg, they reached London the 13th of the same month,
hardly recovered from their long sufferings.
[Illustration: "Two hours later, after unheard-of efforts, the last
men of the -Forward- were taken aboard the Danish whaler -Hans
Christian-."]
[Illustration: "A steamboat carried them to Kiel."]
The first thought of the doctor was to ask permission of the Royal
Geographical Society of London to lay a communication before it; he
was admitted to the meeting of July 15th. The astonishment of the
learned assembly, and its enthusiastic cheers after reading Hatteras's
document, may be imagined.
This journey, the only one of its kind, went over all the discoveries
that had been made in the regions about the Pole; it brought together
the expeditions of Parry, Ross, Franklin, MacClure; it completed the
chart between the one hundredth and one hundred and fifteenth
meridians; and, finally, it ended with the point of the globe hitherto
inaccessible, with the Pole itself.
Never had news so unexpected burst upon astonished England.
The English take great interest in geographical facts; they are proud
of them, lord and cockney, from the merchant prince to the workman in
the docks.
The news of this great discovery was telegraphed over the United
Kingdom with great rapidity; the papers printed the name of Hatteras
at the head of their columns as that of a martyr, and England glowed
with pride.
The doctor and his companions were feasted everywhere; they were
formally presented to her Majesty by the Lord High Chancellor.
The government confirmed the name of Queen's Island for the rock at
the North Pole, of Mount Hatteras for the mountain itself, and of
Altamont Harbor for the port in New America.
Altamont did not part from those whose misery and glory he had shared,
and who were now his friends. He followed the doctor, Johnson, and
Bell to Liverpool, where they were warmly received, after they had
been thought to be long dead, and buried in the eternal ice.
But Dr. Clawbonny always gave the glory to the man who most deserved
it. In his account of the journey entitled "The English at the North
Pole," published the next year by the Royal Geographical Society, he
made John Hatteras equal to the greatest explorers, the rival of those
bold men who sacrifice everything to science.
But the sad victim of a lofty passion lived peacefully at the asylum
of Starr Cottage near Liverpool, where the doctor had placed him. His
madness was of a gentle kind, but he never spoke, he understood
nothing, his power of speech seemed to have gone with his reason. A
single feeling seemed to unite him to the outer world, his love for
Duke, who was not separated from him.
This disease, this "polar madness," pursued its course quietly,
presenting no particular symptom, when Dr. Clawbonny, who often
visited his poor patient, was struck by his singular manner.
For some time Captain Hatteras, followed by his faithful dog, that
used to gaze at him sadly, would walk for hours every day; but he
always walked in one way, in the direction of a certain path. When he
had reached the end, he would return, walking backwards. If any one
stopped him, he would point his finger at a portion of the sky. If any
one tried to make him turn round, he grew angry, and Duke would show
his anger and bark furiously.
The doctor observed carefully this odd mania; he understood the motive
of this strange obstinacy; he guessed the reason of this walk always
in the same direction, and, so to speak, under the influence of a
magnetic force.
Captain John Hatteras was always walking towards the north.
FINIS.
University Press, Cambridge: Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co.
Transcriber's notes on inconsistencies, errors and corrections.
Table of Contents: Part II., Chapter X., "The Pleasure of
Winter-Quarters" is corrected to "The Pleasures of Winter-Quarters" to
match the chapter title.
Part I.
Chapter 2: The letter says the large Danish dog will arrive on the
15th of February. In chapter 3 the dog arrives on the 15th of March
"as the captain's letter had said." Other versions have the same
inconsistency.
Chapter 5: In the discussion of steamers, the doctor observes of the
-Fox- that MacClintock "succeeded in making his way more easily and
more directly than all his successors." Other translations say
"predecessors" which makes more sense.
Chapter 5: On April 14 the longitude given is 22 degrees 37 minutes.
Other versions give 22 degrees 58 minutes. Other versions agree that
the latitude is 51 degrees--which hardly seems possible for a ship
leaving Ireland at nearly 56 degrees latitude and sailing northwest.
57 degrees seems more likely. A few days later the latitude is further
confused during the discussion of iceberg sightings. The doctor states
that they are two degrees further north than a sighting of icebergs
occurring at 42 degrees latitude, apparently confusing the -Forward's-
latitude with that of the -Ann Poole-.
Chapter 6: In the remembrance of Parry's expedition into Lancaster
Sound, mention is made of the prize for crossing a meridian at higher
than the seventy-seventh parallel. Here the specific meridian is left
out, which is not very informative. In the French version, it is the
170th meridian, which is clearly wrong. The Ward and Lock translation
changes it to the 117th meridian. Historically, the prize was for the
110th meridian.
Chapter 8: On Saturday, the temperature is stated to have fallen to 8
degrees above zero. The French and Routledge translation state 8
degrees below zero. This makes more sense since the previous
temperature cited, from which it had fallen, was 6 degrees above zero.
Chapter 8: The block of ice which turns upside down is stated to be
800 feet high. This appears to be a mistranslation of the French;
other translations have it as at least a hundred feet high.
Chapter 9: According to this translation, the -Forward- crosses the
62nd parallel on May 5. This is clearly incorrect since the ship is
north of its May 1 latitude of 68 degrees. Other versions have this as
the 72nd parallel. This agrees with the accompanying map.
Chapter 10: Although "the Governor was born on the island of Disco,
and he has never left the place," the landing party meets him at
Upernavik which is well north of the island of Disco.
Chapter 12: The captain declares their latitude to be at 72 degrees
when they are actually at 74 degrees. The promise of 1000 pounds for
each degree beyond 72 is continued throughout the book.
Chapter 12: Names of several English explorers have been garbled in
this translation:
"Stuart" = Charles Sturt
"McDougall Stuart" = John McDouall Stuart
"Wells" = William John Wills
"Havnoan" = ??--Haouran (French version) is a place in Syria.
Chapter 15: "During the day two whalers were seen making toward the
south;" should be "During the day two whales were seen" etc. to agree
with other translations and the French version. Finding whalers in
this area would contradict the spirit of the adventure.
Chapter 16: "the barometer fell to 29°" should be "the barometer fell
to 29 inches" to agree with the French version and the measurement
scale of barometers.
Chapter 16: "Friday, June 7th" should be "Friday, June 8th" to agree
with the French version and the timing since the previous date of June
6.
Chapter 16: "found a declination of only 89 degrees 50 minutes,"
should be "89 degrees 59 minutes'" to agree with other translations
and the French version and to make sense of the following statement of
being within a minute of the magnetic pole.
Chapter 18: "'The way west is easier than the way north.'" agrees with
the French, but has been changed to "'The way east'" in other
translations. Baffin's Bay is, in fact, east of Melville Bay.
Chapter 18: Clifton's counting of the crew at sixteen is faulty since
Garry turned into Hatteras and would no longer be counted. The per
degree rate should be 62 pounds not 72 pounds to agree with all other
versions and actual calculation.
Chapter 18: On June 19th, Point Minto is said by all versions to be at
72 degrees latitude. It is actually at 73 degrees. The next paragraph
immediately proceeds to 74 degrees latitude at Melville Bay.
Chapter 20: Creswell's march to Beechey Island was 470 miles in the
French version and in later discussions in Part II, Chapter 15.
Chapter 21: The year of Lieutenant Bellot's first expedition in search
of Franklin is corrected from "18 0" to "1850."
Chapter 23: The large white masses gathering "indicated an approaching
thaw" is translated in another version as "an approaching frost" which
agrees with the French version and makes more sense.
Chapter 25: Clifton's anticipated fortune is said to be
"hardly-earned" when "hard-earned" would be more appropriate.
Chapter 29: The temperature on January 15 of -22 should be -32 degrees
to agree with the French version and the other translations.
Chapter 31: The doctor's ophthalmia should not lead to "deafness" but
to "blindness" as in other translations.
Chapter 33: In the final sentence of the chapter the latitude of the
-Forward- should be "eightieth degree" not "eighty-fourth degree."
Eighty-fourth is clearly wrong since in chapter 2 of part II, their
latitude is stated as eighty degrees fifteen minutes.
Part II.
Chapter 1: The count of "eighteen men who had sailed in the brig"
continues to ignore that there were only seventeen men and that
Hatteras and Garry are one and the same person.
Chapter 2: Johnson's question, "how far are we from the nearest sea to
the west?" should be "how far are we from the nearest sea to the
east?" The disorientation continues with Bell's suggestion to travel
south or west. Baffin's Bay, the only place they can hope for rescue
is south and east of their current position.
Chapter 3: The date of the day the doctor killed the seal is stated as
the 18th and should be the 15th. The date mentioned two paragraphs
previously was the 14th, and the date mentioned as the next day in the
next paragraph is the 16th.
Chapter 5: "Hatteras loaded the gun with the last charge of powder"
should be "the doctor loaded the gun with the last charge of powder"
to agree with the French and the sense of the paragraph.
Chapter 5: Altamont comments that his ship is less than four degrees
from the Pole when it actually is not, but is within seven degrees.
Chapter 9: The author's intention for the outside temperature here is
uncertain. The -31 degrees of this translation does not agree with the
French in which it is -73 degrees (-31 degrees Centigrade). The latter
two are not equivalent temperatures. Later in this chapter it is
stated that the outside temperature can never exist lower than -72
degrees. If the author intended -31 degrees Centigrade, this would
convert to -24 degrees Fahrenheit.
Chapter 9: "The temperature of Englishmen is generally 101 degrees" is
a incorrect conversion of the more accurate 37 degrees Celsius in the
French version. The correct temperature should be 98.6 degrees.
Chapter 9: The mention of "Hadley" concerning a comet collision should
be "Halley" as in the French version.
Chapter 19: "-Uredo vivalis-" should be "-Uredo nivalis-" as in the
French version.
Chapter 20: In this translation as in the French version, Altamont
Harbor is said to be at longitude 118 degrees 35 minutes E. of
Greenwich, whereas it should be W. of Greenwich.
Chapter 22: The spelling of the name "Penn" is corrected to "Pen" as a
typographical error.
Chapter 23: "With a scrap of wood to hold him up," should be "without
a scrap of wood to hold him up," as found in the French version and
required by the sense of the sentence.
Chapter 23: The doctor "uttered an explanation which it is impossible
to render," should be "uttered an exclamation which it is impossible
to render," as found in the French version and required by the sense
of the sentence.
Chapter 24: The doctors comparison "it would take seventy-five moons
to make the sun," should be "it would take seventy-five moons to make
the earth," as in the French version.
Chapter 24: The motion of the Pole "describes a circle in about
twenty-six years" should be "describes a circle in about twenty-six
thousand years" as in the French version.
Chapter 26: "The American durst not not finish his sentence," is
corrected to "The American durst not finish his sentence," as a
typographical error.
Chapter 26: The spelling of the name "Penn" is corrected to "Pen" as a
typographical error.
Chapter 27: The timeline of the concluding chapter is odd. September
9, 1861 the party is at the end of North Devon. The next day
(September 10) they are picked up by the Danish whaler. Ten days later
(September 20) they arrive in Denmark. The 13th of the same month
(September 13? October 13?) they reach London. July 15 (1862?)
Clawbonny attends the Royal Geographical Society of London meeting.
For this to astonish the learned assembly it would need to be two days
after their arrival in London rather than 9 months.
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