The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras
CHAPTER XIII.THE CAPTAIN'S PLANS.
The appearance of this famous person was variously received by thedifferent members of the crew: some allied themselves strongly withhim, moved both by boldness and by avarice; others took renewedinterest in the expedition, but they reserved to themselves the rightof protesting later; besides, at that time, it was hard to make anyresistance to such a man. Hence every man went back to his place. The20th of May was Sunday, and consequently a day of rest for the crew.
The officers took counsel together in the doctor's cabin; there werepresent Hatteras, Shandon, Wall, Johnson, and the doctor.
"Gentlemen," said the captain, with his peculiarly gentle butimpressive voice, "you know my project of going to the Pole; I want toget your opinion of the undertaking. What do you think about it,Shandon?"
"I have not to think, Captain," answered Shandon, coldly; "I have onlyto obey."
Hatteras was not surprised at this answer.
"Richard Shandon," he resumed with equal coldness, "I ask your opinionabout our probable chance of success."
"Well, Captain," answered Shandon, "facts must answer for me; allattempts hitherto have failed; I hope we may be more fortunate."
"We shall be. And, gentlemen, what do you think?"
"As for me," replied the doctor, "I consider your design practicable,Captain; and since there is no doubt but that at some time or otherexplorers will reach the Pole, I don't see why we should not do it."
"There are very good reasons why we should," answered Hatteras, "forwe have taken measures to make it possible, and we shall profit by theexperience of others. And, Shandon, you must accept my thanks for thecare you have given to the equipment of the brig; there are someill-disposed men in the crew, whom I shall soon bring to reason; buton the whole, I can give nothing but praise."
Shandon bowed coldly. His position on the _Forward_, of which he hadthought himself commander, was a false one. Hatteras understood this,and said nothing more about it.
"As for you, gentlemen," he resumed, addressing Wall and Johnson, "Icould not myself have chosen officers more skilled and intrepid."
"On my word, Captain, I am your man," answered Johnson; "and althoughI think your plan a very bold one, you can count on me to the end."
"And on me too," said Wall.
"As for you, Doctor, I know your worth--"
"Well, you know then a great deal more than I do," answered thedoctor, quickly.
"Now, gentlemen," said Hatteras, "it is well that you should know onwhat good grounds I have made up my mind about the accessibility ofthe Pole. In 1817 the _Neptune_, of Aberdeen, went to the north ofSpitzbergen, as far as latitude 82 degrees. In 1826 the celebratedParry, after his third voyage in polar seas, started also from theextremity of Spitzbergen, and on sledges went one hundred and fiftymiles farther north. In 1852, Captain Inglefield reached, throughSmith's Sound, latitude 78 degrees 35 minutes. All these were Englishships, and were commanded by Englishmen, our fellow-countrymen."
Here Hatteras paused.
"I ought to add," he resumed with some formality, and as if he couldhardly bring himself to utter the words,--"I ought to add that in 1854the American, Captain Kane, in the brig _Advance_, went still farthernorth, and that his lieutenant, Morton, journeying over the ice,hoisted the United States flag beyond the eighty-second degree. Havingonce said this, I shall not return to it. Now the main point is thatthe captains of the _Neptune_, the _Enterprise_, the _Isabella_, andthe _Advance_ agree in the statement that beyond these high latitudesthere is an open polar sea, entirely free from ice."
"Free from ice!" cried Shandon, interrupting the captain, "it'simpossible!"
"You will notice, Shandon," observed Hatteras, quietly, while his eyelighted up for an instant, "that I quote both facts and authorities. Imust add that in 1851, when Penny was stationed by the side ofWellington Channel, his lieutenant, Stewart, found himself in thepresence of an open sea, and that his report was confirmed when, in1853, Sir Edward Belcher wintered in Northumberland Bay, in latitude76 degrees 52 minutes, and longitude 99 degrees 20 minutes; thesereports are indisputable, and one must be very incredulous not toadmit them."
"Still, Captain," persisted Shandon, "facts are as contradictory--"
"You're wrong, Shandon, you're wrong!" cried Dr. Clawbonny; "factsnever contradict a scientific statement; the captain will, I trust,excuse me."
"Go on, Doctor!" said Hatteras.
"Well, listen to this, Shandon; it results very clearly fromgeographical facts, and from the study of isothermal lines, that thecoldest spot on the globe is not on the Pole itself; like the magneticpole, it lies a few degrees distant. So the calculations of Brewster,Berghaus, and other physicists prove that in our hemisphere there aretwo poles of extreme cold: one in Asia in latitude 79 degrees 30minutes N., and longitude 120 degrees E.; the other is in America, inlatitude 78 degrees N., and longitude 97 degrees W. This last aloneconcerns us, and you see, Shandon, that it is more than twelve degreesbelow the Pole. Well, I ask you why, then, the sea should not be asfree from ice as it often is in summer in latitude 66 degrees, that isto say, at the southern end of Baffin's Bay?"
"Well put," answered Johnson; "Dr. Clawbonny talks of those thingslike a man who understands them."
"It seems possible," said James Wall.
"Mere conjectures! nothing but hypotheses!" answered Shandon,obstinately.
"Well, Shandon," said Hatteras, "let us consider the two cases; eitherthe sea is free from ice, or it is not, and in neither case will it beimpossible to reach the Pole. If it is free, the _Forward_ will takeus there without difficulty; if it is frozen, we must try to reach itover the ice by our sledges. You will confess that it is notimpracticable; having once come with our brig to latitude 83 degrees,we shall have only about six hundred miles between us and the Pole."
"And what are six hundred miles," said the doctor, briskly, "when itis proved that a Cossack, Alexis Markoff, went along the frozen sea,north of Russia, on sledges drawn by dogs, for a distance of eighthundred miles, in twenty-four days?"
"You hear him, Shandon," answered Hatteras, "and will you say that anEnglishman cannot do as much as a Cossack?"
"Never!" cried the enthusiastic doctor.
"Never!" repeated the boatswain.
"Well, Shandon?" asked the captain.
"Captain," answered Shandon, coldly, "I can only repeat what I havesaid,--I shall obey you."
"Well. Now," continued Hatteras, "let us consider our presentsituation; we are caught in the ice, and it seems to me impossible forus to reach Smith's Sound this year. This is what we must do."
Hatteras unfolded on the table one of the excellent charts publishedin 1859 by the order of the Admiralty.
"Be good enough to look here. If Smith's Sound is closed, LancasterSound is not, to the west of Baffin's Bay; in my opinion, we ought togo up this sound as far as Barrow Strait, and thence to BeecheyIsland. This has been done a hundred times by sailing-vessels; weshall have no difficulty, going under steam. Once at Beechey Island,we shall follow Wellington Sound as far northward as possible, towhere it meets the channel, connecting it with Queen's Sound, at theplace where the open sea was seen. It is now only the 20th of May; ifnothing happens, we shall be there in a month, and from there we shallstart for the Pole. What do you say to that, gentlemen?"
"Evidently," said Johnson, "it's the only way open to us."
"Well, we shall take it, and to-morrow. Let Sunday be a day of rest;you will see, Shandon, that the Bible is read as usual; the religiousexercises do the men good, and a sailor more than any one ought to puthis trust in God."
"Very well, Captain," answered Shandon, who went away with the secondofficer and the boatswain.
"Doctor," said Hatteras, pointing at Shandon, "there's an offendedman, whose pride has ruined him; I can no longer depend upon him."
Early the next day the captain had the launch lowered; he went toreconnoitre the icebergs about the basin, of which the diameter washardly more t
han two hundred yards. He noticed that by the gradualpressure of the ice, this space threatened to grow smaller; hence itbecame necessary to make a breach somewhere, to save the ship frombeing crushed; by the means he employed, it was easy to see that JohnHatteras was an energetic man.
In the first place he had steps cut, by which he climbed to the top ofan iceberg; from that point he saw it would be easy to open a path tothe southwest; by his orders an opening was made in the middle of aniceberg, a task which was completed by Monday evening.
Hatteras could not depend on his blasting-cylinders of eight or tenpounds of powder, whose action would have been insignificant againstsuch large masses; they were only of use to break the field-ice; hencehe placed in the opening a thousand pounds of powder, carefully layingit where it should be of the utmost service. This chamber, to whichran a long fuse, surrounded by gutta-percha, opened on the outside.The gallery, leading thereto, was filled with snow and lumps of ice,to which the cold of the next night gave the consistency of granite.In fact, the temperature, under the influence of the east-wind, fellto 12 degrees.
The next day at seven o'clock the _Forward_ was under steam, ready toseize any chance of escape. Johnson was charged with lighting themine; the fuse was calculated to burn half an hour before explodingthe powder. Hence Johnson had plenty of time to get back to the ship;indeed, within ten minutes he was at his post.
The crew were all on deck; the day was dry and tolerably clear; thesnow was no longer falling; Hatteras, standing on the deck withShandon and the doctor, counted the minutes on his watch.
At thirty-five minutes after eight a dull explosion was heard, muchless deafening than had been anticipated. The outline of the mountainswas suddenly changed, as by an earthquake; a dense white smoke rosehigh in the air, and long cracks appeared in the side of the iceberg,of which the upper part was hurled to a great distance, and fell infragments about the _Forward_.
But the way was by no means free yet; huge lumps of ice were suspendedupon the neighboring icebergs, and their fall threatened to close theexit.
Hatteras saw their situation in a flash of the eye.
"Wolston!" he shouted.
The gunner hastened to him.
"Captain!" he said.
"Put a triple charge in the forward gun, and ram it in as hard aspossible!"
"Are we going to batter the iceberg down with cannon-balls?" asked thedoctor.
"No," answered Hatteras. "That would do no good. No balls, Wolston,but a triple charge of powder. Be quick!"
In a few moments the gun was loaded.
"What is he going to do without a ball?" muttered Shandon between histeeth.
"We'll soon see," answered the doctor.
"We are all ready, Captain," cried Wolston.
"Well," answered Hatteras. "Brunton!" he shouted to the engineer,"make ready! Forward a little!"
Brunton opened the valves, and the screw began to move; the _Forward_drew near the blown-up iceberg.
"Aim carefully at the passage!" cried the captain to the gunner.
He obeyed; when the brig was only half a cable-length distant,Hatteras gave the order,--
"Fire!"
A loud report followed, and the fragments of ice, detached by thecommotion of the air, fell suddenly into the sea. The simpleconcussion had been enough.
"Put on full steam, Brunton!" shouted Hatteras. "Straight for thepassage, Johnson!"
Johnson was at the helm; the brig, driven by the screw, which tossedthe water freely, entered easily the open passage. It was time. The_Forward_ had hardly passed through the opening, before it closedbehind it.
It was an exciting moment, and the only calm and collected man onboard was the captain. So the crew, amazed at the success of thisdevice, could not help shouting,--
"Hurrah for John Hatteras!"