CHAPTER XXVII
CHRISTMAS
There was then a movement of despair. The thought of death, and deathfrom cold, appeared in all its horror; the last piece of coal burntaway as quickly as the rest, and the temperature of the room loweredsensibly. But Johnson went to fetch some lumps of the new fuel whichthe marine animals had furnished him with, and he stuffed it intothe stove; he added some oakum, impregnated with frozen oil, and soonobtained enough heat. The smell of the grease was abominable, buthow could they get rid of it? They were obliged to get used to it.Johnson agreed that his expedient left much to wish for, and wouldhave no success in a Liverpool house.
"However," added he, "the smell may have one good result."
"What's that?" asked the carpenter.
"It will attract the bears; they are very fond of the stink."
"And what do we want with bears?" added Bell.
"You know, Bell, we can't depend on the seals; they've disappearedfor a good while to come; if the bears don't come to be turned intofuel too, I don't know what will become of us."
"There would be only one thing left; but I don't see how----"
"The captain would never consent; but perhaps we shall be obliged."
Johnson shook his head sadly, and fell into a silent reverie, whichBell did not interrupt. He knew that their stock of grease would notlast more than a week with the strictest economy.
The boatswain was not mistaken. Several bears, attracted by the fetidexhalations, were signalled to the windward; the healthy men gavechase to them, but they are extraordinarily quick, and did not allowthemselves to be approached, and the most skilful shots could nottouch them. The ship's crew was seriously menaced with death fromcold; it was impossible to resist such a temperature more thanforty-eight hours, and every one feared the end of the fuel. Thedreaded moment arrived at three o'clock p.m. on the 20th of December.The fire went out; the sailors looked at each other with haggard eyes.Hatteras remained immovable in his corner. The doctor as usual marchedup and down in agitation; he was at his wits' end. The temperatureof the room fell suddenly to 7 degrees below zero. But if the doctordid not know what to do, some of the others did. Shandon, calm andresolute, and Pen with anger in his eyes, and two or three of theircomrades, who could still walk, went up to Hatteras.
"Captain!" said Shandon.
Hatteras, absorbed in thought, did not hear him.
"Captain!" repeated Shandon, touching his hand.
Hatteras drew himself up.
"What is it?" he said.
"Our fire is out!"
"What then?" answered Hatteras.
"If you mean to kill us with cold, you had better say so," said Shandonironically.
"I mean," said Hatteras gravely, "to require every man to do his dutyto the end."
"There's something higher than duty, captain--there's the right toone's own preservation. I repeat that the fire is out, and if it isnot relighted, not one of us will be alive in two days."
"I have no fuel," answered Hatteras, with a hollow voice.
"Very well," cried Pen violently, "if you have no fuel, we must takeit where we can!"
Hatteras grew pale with anger.
"Where?" said he.
"On board," answered the sailor insolently.
"On board!" echoed the captain, his fists closed, his eyes sparkling.
He had seized an axe, and he now raised it over Pen's head.
"Wretch!" he cried.
The doctor rushed between the captain and Pen; the axe fell to theground, its sharp edge sinking into the flooring. Johnson, Bell, andSimpson were grouped round Hatteras, and appeared determined to givehim their support. But lamentable and plaintive voices came from thebeds.
"Some fire! Give us some fire!" cried the poor fellows.
Hatteras made an effort, and said calmly:
"If we destroy the brig, how shall we get back to England?"
"We might burn some of the rigging and the gunwale, sir," said Johnson.
"Besides, we should still have the boats left," answered Shandon;"and we could build a smaller vessel with the remains of the old one!"
"Never!" answered Hatteras.
"But----" began several sailors, raising their voices.
"We have a great quantity of spirits of wine," answered Hatteras;"burn that to the last drop."
"Ah, we didn't think of that!" said Johnson, with affectedcheerfulness, and by the help of large wicks steeped in spirits hesucceeded in raising the temperature a few degrees.
During the days that followed this melancholy scene the wind wentround to the south, and the thermometer went up. Some of the men couldleave the vessel during the least damp part of the day; but ophthalmiaand scurvy kept the greater number on board; besides, neither fishingnor hunting was practicable. But it was only a short respite fromthe dreadful cold, and on the 25th, after an unexpected change inthe wind, the mercury again froze; they were then obliged to haverecourse to the spirits of wine thermometer, which never freezes.The doctor found, to his horror, that it marked 66 degrees below zero;men had never been able to support such a temperature. The ice spreaditself in long tarnished mirrors on the floor; a thick fog invadedthe common room; the damp fell in thick snow; they could no longersee one another; the extremities became blue as the heat of the bodyleft them; a circle of iron seemed to be clasping their heads, andmade them nearly delirious. A still more fearful symptom was thattheir tongues could no longer articulate a word.
From the day they had threatened to burn his ship, Hatteras pacedthe deck for hours. He was guarding his treasures; the wood of theship was his own flesh, and whoever cut a piece off cut off one ofhis limbs. He was armed, and mounted guard, insensible to the cold,the snow, and the ice, which stiffened his garments and envelopedhim in granite armour. His faithful Dick accompanied him, and seemedto understand why he was there.
However, on Christmas Day he went down to the common room. The doctor,taking advantage of what energy he had left, went straight to him,and said--
"Hatteras, we shall all die if we get no fuel."
"Never!" said Hatteras, knowing what was coming.
"We must," said the doctor gently.
"Never!" repeated Hatteras with more emphasis still. "I will neverconsent! They can disobey me if they like!"
Johnson and Bell took advantage of the half-permission, and rushedon deck. Hatteras heard the wood crack under the axe. He wept. Whata Christmas Day for Englishmen was that on board the _Forward_! Thethought of the great difference between their position and that ofthe happy English families who rejoiced in their roast beef, plumpudding, and mince pies added another pang to the miseries of theunfortunate crew. However, the fire put a little hope and confidenceinto the men; the boiling of coffee and tea did them good, and thenext week passed less miserably, ending the dreadful year 1860; itsearly winter had defeated all Hatteras's plans.
On the 1st of January, 1861, the doctor made a discovery. It was notquite so cold, and he had resumed his interrupted studies; he wasreading Sir Edward Belcher's account of his expedition to the PolarSeas; all at once a passage struck him; he read it again and again.It was where Sir Edward Belcher relates that after reaching theextremity of Queen's Channel he had discovered important traces ofthe passage and residence of men. "They were," said he, "very superiorhabitations to those which might be attributed to the wanderingEsquimaux. The walls had foundations, the floors of the interior hadbeen covered with a thick layer of fine gravel, and were paved.Reindeer, seal, and walrus bones were seen in great quantities. _Wefound some coal._" At the last words the doctor was struck with anidea; he carried the book to Hatteras and showed him the passage.
"They could not have found coal on this deserted coast," saidHatteras; "it is not possible!"
"Why should we doubt what Belcher says? He would not have recordedsuch a fact unless he had been certain and had seen it with his owneyes."
"And what then, doctor?"
"We aren't a hundred miles from the coast where
Belcher saw the coal,and what is a hundred miles' excursion? Nothing. Longer ones thanthat have often been made across the ice."
"We will go," said Hatteras.
Johnson was immediately told of their resolution, of which he stronglyapproved; he told his companions about it: some were glad, othersindifferent.
"Coal on these coasts!" said Wall, stretched on his bed of pain.
"Let them go," answered Shandon mysteriously.
But before Hatteras began his preparations for the journey, he wishedto be exactly certain of the _Forward's_ position. He was obligedto be mathematically accurate as to her whereabouts, because offinding her again. His task was very difficult; he went upon deckand took at different moments several lunar distances and the meridianheights of the principal stars. These observations were hard to make,for the glass and mirrors of the instrument were covered with icefrom Hatteras's breath; he burnt his eyelashes more than once bytouching the brass of the glasses. However, he obtained exact basesfor his calculations, and came down to make them in the room. Whenhis work was over, he raised his head in astonishment, took his map,pricked it, and looked at the doctor.
"What is it?" asked the latter.
"In what latitude were we at the beginning of our wintering?"
"We were in latitude 78 degrees 15 minutes, by longitude 95 degrees35 minutes; exactly at the Frozen Pole."
"Well," said Hatteras, in a low tone, "our ice-field has beendrifting! We are two degrees farther north and farther west, and threehundred miles at least from your store of coal!"
"And those poor fellows don't know," said the doctor.
"Hush!" said Hatteras, putting his finger on his lips.