CHAPTER VI.THE PORPOISE.
March 24th was Palm Sunday,--that day when the streets of the townsand villages of Europe are filled with flowers and leaves; bells areringing, and the air is filled with rich perfumes. But here, in thisdesolate country, what sadness and silence! The wind was keen andbitter; not a leaf of foliage was to be seen! But still, this Sundaywas a day of rejoicing for our travellers, for at last they were aboutto find supplies which would save them from certain death. Theyhastened their steps; the dogs drew the sledge briskly, Duke barkedjoyously, and they all soon reached the American ship. The _Porpoise_was wholly buried beneath the snow; there was no sign of mast, yard,or rigging; all had been lost at the time of the shipwreck; the shiplay on a bed of rocks now completely hidden. The _Porpoise_ wascareened to one side by the violence of the shock, her bottom was tornopen, so that the ship seemed uninhabitable. This was soon seen by thecaptain, the doctor, and Johnson, after they had entered the vessel;they had to cut away fifteen feet of ice to get to the hatchway; butto their great joy they saw that the animals, many traces of whichwere to be seen, had spared the supplies.
"If we have here," said Johnson, "plenty of food and fuel, this hulldoes not seem inhabitable."
"Well, we must build a snow-house," answered Hatteras, "and makeourselves as comfortable as possible on the mainland."
"Without doubt," continued the doctor; "but don't let us hurry; let usdo things carefully; if need be we can fit out some quarters in theship; meanwhile we can build a strong house, capable of protecting usagainst the cold and wild beasts. I am willing to be the architect,and you'll see what I can do."
"I don't doubt your skill, Doctor," answered Johnson; "we'll makeourselves as comfortable as possible here, and we'll make an inventoryof all that the ship contains; unfortunately, I don't see any launch,or boat, and these ruins are in too bad a state to permit of ourmaking a small boat."
"Who can say?" answered the doctor. "With time and thought a greatdeal can be done; now we have not to trouble ourselves aboutnavigation, but about a house to live in; I propose not to form anyother plans, and to let everything have its turn."
"That is wise," answered Hatteras; "let us begin with the beginning."
The three companions left the ship, returned to the sledge, andannounced their determination to Bell and the American; Bell said hewas ready to work; the American shook his head, on learning thatnothing could be done with his ship; but since all discussion wouldhave been idle, they determined at first to take refuge in the_Porpoise_, and to build a large building on the shore.
At four o'clock in the afternoon the five travellers were installed ascomfortably as possible between decks; by means of spars and fragmentsof masts, Bell had made a nearly level floor; there they placedcoverings stiffened by the frost, which the heat of the stove soonbrought back to their natural state; Altamont, leaning on the doctor,was able to make his way to the corner which had been set aside forhim; on setting foot on his ship, he had sighed with a feeling ofrelief, which did not encourage the boatswain.
"He feels at home," the old sailor thought, "and one would say that hehad invited us here."
The rest of the day was devoted to repose; the weather threatened tochange under the influence of the westerly winds; the thermometeroutside stood at -26 degrees. In fact, the _Porpoise_ lay beyond thepole of cold, at a latitude relatively less severe, though farther tothe north. On that day they finished the bear, with some biscuits theyfound on the ship, and a few cups of tea; then fatigue overcame them,and each one sank into a sound sleep.
The next morning they all awoke rather late; they soon recalled thedifference in their situation; they were no longer perplexed withuncertainty about the morrow; they only thought of establishingthemselves comfortably. These castaways looked at themselves ascolonists who had reached their destination, and, forgetting thesufferings of their long march, they had no other thought than that ofsecuring a comfortable future.
"These castaways looked at themselves as colonists whohad reached their destination."]
"Well," said the doctor, stretching his arms, "it's something not tohave to wonder where one will sleep to-night and what one will have toeat to-morrow."
"Let us first make an inventory of the ship," answered Johnson.
The _Porpoise_ had been carefully equipped for a long voyage.
The inventory, when complete, indicated the following supplies:--
6,150 lbs. of flour, fat and raisins for puddings; 2,000 " " beef and salt pork; 1,500 " " pemmican; 700 " " sugar; 700 " " chocolate; 500 " " rice; 1-1/2 chests of tea, weighing 87 lbs;many barrels of canned fruits and vegetables, lime-juice in abundance,cochlearia, sorrel and water-cresses, and three hundred gallons of rumand brandy; in the hold there was a large supply of ammunition; therewas plenty of coal and wood. The doctor collected carefully thenautical instruments, and he also found a Bunsen's Pile, which hadbeen carried for electrical tests and experiments. In short, they hadsupplies enough to keep five men on whole rations for two years; allfear of starving or freezing to death was hence wholly removed.
"Our means of living are certain," said the doctor to the captain,"and there is nothing to prevent our reaching the Pole."
"The Pole!" answered Hatteras, trembling with excitement.
"Certainly," continued the doctor; "what's to prevent our pushing onduring the summer across the land?"
"Across the land! true! But how about the sea?"
"Can't we build a small boat out of the timber of the _Porpoise_?"
"An American boat, you mean," answered Hatteras, scornfully, "andcommanded by this American!"
The doctor understood the captain's repugnance, and judged it best tochange the conversation.
"Now that we know what our supplies are," he went on, "we must buildsome safe place for them, and a house for ourselves. We have plenty ofmaterial, and we can settle ourselves very comfortably. I hope, Bell,"he added, turning to the carpenter, "that you are going to distinguishyourself; I may be able to help you too, I trust."
"I'm ready, Doctor," answered Bell; "if it were necessary I couldeasily build a whole city with houses and streets out of these blocksof ice--"
"We sha'n't need as much as that; let us follow the example of theagents of the Hudson's Bay Company; they build forts which protectthem from the wild beasts and the Indians; that is all we need; let usmake it no larger than necessary; on one side the dwelling, on theother the stores, with a sort of curtain, and two bastions. I'll tryto rub up what I know about fortification."
"Upon my word, Doctor," said Johnson, "I don't doubt that we shallmake something very fine under your direction."
"Well, my friends, we must first choose a site; a good engineer shouldfirst study the lay of the land. Will you come with me, Hatteras?"
"I shall trust to you, Doctor," answered the captain. "You see aboutthat, while I explore the coast."
Altamont, who was still too feeble to get to work, was left on boardof his ship, and the two Englishmen set foot on the mainland. Theweather was thick and stormy; at noon the thermometer stood at -11degrees, but, there being no wind, that temperature was comfortable.Judging from the outline of the shore, a large sea, at that timewholly frozen, stretched out farther than eye could reach in the west;on the east it was limited by a rounded coast, cut into by numerousestuaries, and rising suddenly about two hundred yards from the shore;it formed a large bay, full of dangerous rocks, on which the_Porpoise_ had been wrecked; far off on the land rose a mountain,which the doctor conjectured to be about three thousand feet high.Towards the north a promontory ran into the sea, after hiding a partof the bay. An island of moderate size rose from the field of ice,three miles from the mainland, so that it offered a safe anchorage toany ship that could enter the bay. In a hollow cut of the shore was alittle inlet, easily reached by ships, if this part of the arctic seaswas ever open. Yet, according to the accounts of Beecher and Penny,this whole sea was open in the summer months.
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In the middle of the coast the doctor noticed a sort of plateau abouttwo hundred feet in diameter; on three sides it was open to the bay;the fourth was enclosed by an elevation about a hundred and twentyfeet high; this could be ascended only by steps cut in the ice. Thisseemed a proper place for a solid building, and it could be easilyfortified; nature had adapted it for the purpose; it was onlynecessary to make use of the place. The doctor, Bell, and Johnsonreached this place by means of steps cut in the ice. As soon as thedoctor saw the excellence of the place, he determined to dig away theten feet of hardened snow which covered it; the buildings had to bebuilt on a solid foundation.
During Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, work went on withoutrelaxation; at last the ground appeared; it consisted of a hard, densegranite, with the angles as sharp as glass; it contained, moreover,garnets and large crystals of feldspar, against which the pickaxestruck fire.
The doctor then gave them the dimensions and plan of the snow-house;it was to be forty feet long, twenty broad, and ten deep; it wasdivided into three rooms, a sitting-room, a bedroom, and a kitchen;more was not needed. To the left was the kitchen, to the right thebedroom, in the middle the sitting-room. For five days they workedbusily. There was no lack of material; the ice walls were thick enoughto resist thawing, for they could not risk being wholly withoutprotection, even in summer. In proportion as the house rose, it becameagreeable to see; there were four front windows, two in thesitting-room, one in the kitchen, another in the bedroom; for panes ofglass they substituted large sheets of ice, in the Esquimaux fashion,which served as well as unpolished glass for the passage of light. Infront of the sitting-room, between two windows, there ran a long entrylike a tunnel, which gave admission to the house; a solid door,brought from the _Porpoise_, closed it hermetically. When the housewas finished, the doctor was delighted with his handiwork; it wouldhave been impossible to say to what school of architecture thebuilding belonged, although the architect would have avowed hispreferences for the Saxon Gothic, so common in England; but the mainpoint was, that it should be solid; therefore the doctor placed on thefront short uprights; on top a sloping roof rested against the granitewall. This served to support the stove-pipes, which carried the smokeaway. When the task was completed, they began to arrange the interior.They carried into the bedroom the sleeping-accommodations from the_Porpoise_; they were arranged in a circle about a large stove.Benches, chairs, sofas, tables, wardrobes, were arranged in thesitting-room, which was also used as a dining-room; the kitchenreceived the cooking-stoves of the ship, and the various utensils.Sails, stretched on the floor, formed the carpet, and also served ashangings to the inner doors, which had no other way of closing. Thewalls of the house averaged five feet in thickness, and the recessesfor the windows looked like embrasures in a fort. It was all builtwith great solidity; what more was to be desired? Ah, if they hadlistened to the doctor, there is no knowing what they would not havemade of this ice and snow, which can be so easily manipulated! He allday long would ponder over plans which he never hoped to bring about,but he thereby lightened the dull work of all by the ingenuity of hissuggestions. Besides, he had come across, in his wide reading, arather rare book by one Kraft, entitled "Detailed Description of theSnow-Palace built at St. Petersburg, in January, 1740, and of all theObjects it contained." The recollection of this book impressed him.One evening he gave his companions a full account of the wonders ofthat snow-palace.
"Why couldn't we do here," he asked, "what they did at St. Petersburg?What do we need? Nothing, not even imagination!"
"So it was very handsome?" said Johnson.
"It was fairy-like, my friend. The house, built by order of theEmpress Anna, and in which she had celebrated the marriage of one ofher buffoons in 1740, was nearly as large as ours; but in front stoodsix cannons of ice; they were often fired without bursting; there werealso mortars to hold sixty-pound shells; so we could have someformidable artillery; the bronze is handy, and falls even from heaven.But the triumph of taste and art was on the front of the palace, whichwas adorned with handsome statues; the steps were garnished with vasesof flowers of the same material; on the right stood an enormouselephant, who played water through his trunk by day, and burningnaphtha by night. What a menagerie we might have if we only wantedto!"
"As for animals," answered Johnson, "we sha'n't lack them, I fancy,and they won't be any the less interesting for not being made of ice."
"Well," said the doctor, "we shall be able to defend ourselves againsttheir attacks; but to return to the palace, I should add that insidethere were mirrors, candelabra, beds, mattresses, pillows, curtains,clocks, chairs, playing-cards, wardrobes well furnished, and all cutout of ice; in fact, nothing was lacking."
"It was then a true palace?" said Bell.
"A splendid palace, worthy of a sovereign! Ice! It was kind ofProvidence to invent it, since it lends itself to so many miracles andaccommodates so readily to the needs of castaways!"
It took them until March 31st to get the house ready; this was EasterSunday, and the day was set aside for rest; the whole day was spent inthe sitting-room, where divine service was read, and each was able tojudge of the excellent arrangements of the snow-house.
The next morning they set about building stores and a magazine; thistook them about a week, including the time employed for emptying the_Porpoise_, which was not done without difficulty, for the lowtemperature did not permit them to work very long. At last, April 8th,provisions, food, and supplies were safely sheltered on land; thestores were placed to the north, and the powder-house to the south,about sixty feet from the end of the house; a sort of dog-kennel wasbuilt near the stores; it was destined for the Greenland dogs, and thedoctor honored it with the title of "Dog-Palace." Duke partook of thecommon quarters.
Then the doctor passed to the means of defence of the place. Under hisdirection the plateau was surrounded by a real fortification of icewhich secured it against every invasion; its height made a naturalprotection, and as there was no salient, it was equally strong on allsides. The doctor's system of defence recalled strongly the method ofSterne's Uncle Toby, whose gentleness and good-humor he also shared.He was a pleasant sight when he was calculating the inclination of theplatform and the breadth of the causeway; but this task was so easywith the snow, that he enjoyed it, and he was able to make the wallseven feet thick; besides the plateau overlooking the bay, he had tobuild neither counterscarp nor glacis; the parapet of snow, afterfollowing the outlines of the plateau, joined the rock on the otherside. The work of fortification was finished April 15th. The fort wascompleted, and the doctor seemed very proud of his work.
The fort was completed.]
In truth, this fortified enclosure could have withstood for a longtime against a tribe of Esquimaux, if such enemies were met under thatlatitude; but there was no trace of human beings there; Hatteras, inmaking out the outline of the bay, did not see any ruins of the hutswhich are so commonly found in the places resorted to by Greenlandtribes; the castaways of the _Forward_ and the _Porpoise_ appeared tobe the first ever to set foot on this unknown shore. But if they neednot fear men, animals were to be dreaded, and the fort, thus defended,would have to protect the little garrison against their attacks.