The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras
CHAPTER III.SEVENTEEN DAYS OF LAND JOURNEY.
This new incident, these first words which Altamont uttered, hadcompletely altered the situation of the castaways; but just now theyhad been far from any possible aid, without a reasonable chance ofreaching Baffin's Bay, threatened with starvation on a journey toolong for their wearied bodies, and now, within four hundred miles fromtheir snow-house, there was a ship which offered them bounteoussupplies, and perhaps the means of continuing their bold course to thePole. Hatteras, the doctor, Johnson, and Bell, all began to take heartafter having been so near despair; they were nearly wild with joy.
But Altamont's account was still incomplete, and, after a few moments'repose, the doctor resumed his talk with him; he framed his questionsin such a way that a simple sign of the head or a motion of the eyeswould suffice for an answer.
Soon he made out that the _Porpoise_ was an American bark from NewYork, that it had been caught in the ice with a large supply of foodand fuel; and, although she lay on her beam-ends, she must havewithstood the ice, and it would be possible to save her cargo.
Two months before, Altamont and the crew had abandoned her, carryingthe launch upon a sledge; they wanted to get to Smith's Sound, find awhaling-vessel, and be carried in her to America; but graduallyfatigue and disease had fallen upon them, and they fell aside on theway. At last only the captain and two sailors were left of a crew ofthirty men, and Altamont's life was the result of what was really amiracle.
Hatteras wanted to find out from the American what he was doing inthese high latitudes.
Altamont managed to make him understand that he had been caught in theice and carried by it without possibility of resisting it.
Hatteras asked him anxiously for what purpose he was sailing.
Altamont gave them to understand that he had been trying the NorthwestPassage.
Hatteras did not persist, and asked no other question of the sort.
The doctor then began to speak.
"Now," he said, "all our efforts should be directed to finding the_Porpoise_; instead of struggling to Baffin's Bay, we may, by means ofa journey only two thirds as long, reach a ship which will offer usall the resources necessary for wintering."
"There's nothing more to be done," said Bell.
"I should add," said the boatswain, "that we should not lose a moment;we should calculate the length of our journey by the amount of oursupplies, instead of the other and usual way, and be off as soon aspossible."
"You are right, Johnson," said the doctor; "if we leave to-morrow,Tuesday, February 26th, we ought to reach the _Porpoise_ March 15th,at the risk of starving to death. What do you think of that,Hatteras?"
"Let us make our preparations at once," said the captain, "and be off.Perhaps we shall find the way longer than we suppose."
"Why so?" asked the doctor. "This man seemed certain of the situationof his ship."
"But," answered Hatteras, "supposing the _Porpoise_ has been driftingas the _Forward_ did?"
"True," said the doctor, "that's not unlikely."
Johnson and Bell had nothing to urge against the possibility of adrift of which they had themselves been victims.
But Altamont, who was listening to the conversation, gave the doctorto understand that he wished to speak. After an effort of about aquarter of an hour, Clawbonny made out that the _Porpoise_ was lyingon a bed of rocks, and so could not have drifted away. Thisinformation calmed the anxiety of the Englishmen; still it deprivedthem of their hope of returning to Europe, unless Bell should be ableto build a small boat out of the timbers of the _Porpoise_. Howeverthat might be, it was now of the utmost importance that they shouldreach the wreck.
The doctor put one more question to the American, namely, whether hehad found an open sea at latitude 83 degrees.
"No," answered Altamont.
There the conversation stopped. They began at once to prepare fordeparture; Bell and Johnson first began to see about the sledge, whichneeded complete repairing. Since they had plenty of wood, they madethe uprights stronger, availing themselves of the experience of theirsouthern trip. They had learned the dangers of this mode of transport,and since they expected to find plenty of deep snow, the runners weremade higher.
On the inside Bell made a sort of bed, covered with the canvas of thetent, for the American; the provisions, which were unfortunatelyscanty, would not materially augment the weight of the sledge, butstill they made up for that by loading it with all the wood it couldcarry.
The doctor, as he packed all the provisions, made out a very carefullist of their amount; he calculated that each man could have threequarters of a ration for a journey of three weeks. A whole ration wasset aside for the four dogs which should draw it. If Duke aided them,he was to have a whole ration.
These preparations were interrupted by the need of sleep and rest,which they felt at seven o'clock in the evening; but before going tobed they gathered around the stove, which was well filled with fuel,and these poor men luxuriated in more warmth than they had enjoyed fora long time; some pemmican, a few biscuits, and several cups of coffeesoon put them in good-humor, especially when their hopes had been sounexpectedly lighted up. At seven in the morning they resumed work,and finished it at three in the afternoon. It was already growingdark. Since January 31st the sun had appeared above the horizon, butit gave only a pale and brief light; fortunately the moon would riseat half past six, and with this clear sky it would make their pathplain. The temperature, which had been growing lower for several days,fell at last to -33 degrees.
The time for leaving came. Altamont received the order with joy,although the jolting of the sledge would increase his sufferings; hetold the doctor that medicine against the scurvy would be found onboard of the _Porpoise_. He was carried to the sledge and placed thereas comfortably as possible; the dogs, including Duke, were harnessedin; the travellers cast one last glance at the spot where the_Forward_ had lain. A glow of rage passed over Hatteras's face, but hecontrolled it at once, and the little band set out with the air verydry at first, although soon a mist came over them.
Each one took his accustomed place, Bell ahead pointing out the way,the doctor and Johnson by the sides of the sledge, watching andlending their aid when it was necessary, and Hatteras behind,correcting the line of march.
They went along tolerably quickly; now that the temperature was solow, the ice was hard and smooth for travel; the five dogs easily drewthe sledge, which weighed hardly more than nine hundred pounds. Still,men and beasts panted heavily, and often they had to stop to takebreath.
Towards seven o'clock in the evening, the moon peered through mist onthe horizon. Its rays threw out a light which was reflected from theice; towards the northwest the ice-field looked like a perfectlysmooth plain; not a hummock was to be seen. This part of the seaseemed to have frozen smooth like a lake.
It was an immense, monotonous desert.
Such was the impression that this spectacle made on the doctor's mind,and he spoke of it to his companion.
"You are right, Doctor," answered Johnson; "it is a desert, but weneed not fear dying of thirst."
"A decided advantage," continued the doctor; "still, this immensityproves one thing to me, and that is that we are far distant from anyland; in general, the proximity of land is indicated by a number oficebergs, and not one is to be seen near us."
"We can't see very far for the fog," said Johnson.
"Without doubt; but since we started we have crossed a smooth field ofwhich we cannot see the end."
"Do you know, Doctor, it's a dangerous walk we are taking! We get usedto it and don't think of it, but we are walking over fathomlessdepths."
"You are right, my friend, but we need not fear being swallowed; withsuch cold as this the ice is very strong. Besides, it has a constanttendency to get thicker, for snow falls nine days out of ten, even inApril, May, and June, and I fancy it must be something like thirty orforty feet thick."
"That is a comfort," said Johnson.
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p; "In fact, we are very much better off than those who skate on theSerpentine, and who are in constant dread of falling through; we haveno such fear."
"Has the resistance of ice been calculated?" asked the old sailor, whowas always seeking information from the doctor.
"Yes," the latter answered: "everything almost that can be measured isnow known, except human ambition! and is it not that which is carryingus towards the North Pole? But to return to your question, my answeris this. Ice two inches thick will bear a man; three and a half inchesthick, a horse and rider; five inches thick, an eight-pound cannon;eight inches, a fully harnessed artillery-piece; and ten inches, anarmy, any number of men! Where we are now, the Liverpool Custom Houseor the Halls of Parliament in London could be built."
"One can hardly imagine such strength," said Johnson; "but just now,Doctor, you spoke of snow falling nine days out of ten; that is true,but where does all the snow come from? The sea is all frozen, and Idon't see how the vapor can rise to form the clouds."
"A very keen observation, Johnson; but, in my opinion, the greatestpart of the snow or rain which we receive in the polar regions isformed from the water of the seas in the temperate zones. One flakearose into the air under the form of vapor from some river in Europe,it helped make a cloud, and finally came here to be condensed; it isnot impossible that we who drink it may be quenching our thirst at therivers of our own country."
"That is true," answered Johnson.
At that moment Hatteras's voice was heard directing their steps andinterrupting their conversation. The fog was growing thicker, andmaking a straight line hard to follow.
Finally the little band halted at about eight o'clock in the evening,after walking nearly fifteen miles; the weather was dry; the tent wasraised, the fire lighted, supper cooked, and all rested peacefully.
Hatteras and his companions were really favored by the weather. Thefollowing days brought no new difficulties, although the cold becameextremely severe and the mercury remained frozen in the thermometer.If the wind had risen, no one could have withstood the temperature.The doctor was able to corroborate Parry's observations, which he madeduring his journey to Melville Island; he said that a man comfortablydressed could walk safely in the open air exposed to great cold, ifthe air were only calm; but as soon as the slightest wind arose, asharp pain was felt in the face, and an extreme headache which is soonfollowed by death. The doctor was very anxious, for a slight windwould have frozen the marrow in their bones.
March 5th he observed a phenomenon peculiar to these latitudes: thesky was clear and thick with stars, and thick snow began to fallwithout any cloud being visible; the constellations shone through theflakes which fell regularly on the ice-field. This went on for abouttwo hours, and stopped before the doctor had found a satisfactoryexplanation of its fall.
The last quarter of the moon had then disappeared; total darknessreigned for seventeen hours out of the twenty-four; the travellers hadto tie themselves together by a long cord, to avoid being separated;it was almost impossible for them to go in a straight line.
Still, these bold men, although animated by an iron will, began togrow weary; their halts were more frequent, and yet they ought not tolose an hour, for their supplies were rapidly diminishing. Hatteraswould often ascertain their position by observation of the moon andstars. As he saw the days pass by and the destination appear as remoteas before, he would ask himself sometimes if the _Porpoise_ reallyexisted, whether the American's brain might not have been deranged byhis sufferings, or whether, through hate of the English, and seeinghimself without resources, he did not wish to drag them with him tocertain death.
He expressed his fears to the doctor, who discouraged them greatly,but he readily understood the lamentable rivalry which existed betweenthe American and English captains.
"They are two men whom it will be hard to make agree," he said tohimself.
March 14th, after journeying for sixteen days, they had only reachedlatitude 82 degrees; their strength was exhausted, and they were stilla hundred miles from the ship; to add to their sufferings, they had tobring the men down to a quarter-ration, in order to give the dogstheir full supply.
They could not depend on their shooting for food, for they had leftonly seven charges of powder and six balls; they had in vain fired atsome white hares and foxes, which besides were very rare. None hadbeen hit.
Nevertheless, on the 18th, the doctor was fortunate enough to find aseal lying on the ice; he wounded him with several balls; the animal,not being able to escape through his hole in the ice, was soon slain.He was of very good size. Johnson cut him up skilfully, but he was sovery thin that he was of but little use to the men, who could not makeup their minds to drink his oil, like the Esquimaux. Still the doctorboldly tried to drink the slimy fluid, but he could not do it. Hepreserved the skin of the animal, for no special reason, by a sort ofhunter's instinct, and placed it on the sledge.
"The doctor was fortunate enough to find a seal."]
The next day, the 16th, they saw a few icebergs on the horizon. Was ita sign of a neighboring shore, or simply a disturbance of the ice? Itwas hard to say.
When they had reached one of these hummocks, they dug in it with asnow-knife a more comfortable retreat than that afforded by the tent,and after three hours of exertion they were able to rest about theirglowing stove.