The English at the North Pole

  CHAPTER XXVIII

  PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE

  Hatteras would not inform his crew of their situation, for if theyhad known that they had been dragged farther north they would verylikely have given themselves up to the madness of despair. The captainhad hidden his own emotions at his discovery. It was his first happymoment during the long months passed in struggling with the elements.He was a hundred and fifty miles farther north, scarcely eight degreesfrom the Pole! But he hid his delight so profoundly that even thedoctor did not suspect it; he wondered at seeing an unwontedbrilliancy in the captain's eyes; but that was all, and he never oncethought of the reason.

  The _Forward_, by getting nearer the Pole, had got farther away fromthe coal repository observed by Sir Edward Belcher; instead of onehundred, it lay at two hundred and fifty miles farther south. However,after a short discussion about it between Hatteras and Clawbonny,the journey was persisted in. If Belcher had written the truth--andthere was no reason for doubting his veracity--they should find thingsexactly in the same state as he had left them, for no new expeditionhad gone to these extreme continents since 1853. There were few orno Esquimaux to be met with in that latitude. They could not bedisappointed on the coast of New Cornwall as they had been on BeecheyIsland. The low temperature preserves the objects abandoned to itsinfluence for any length of time. All probabilities were thereforein favour of this excursion across the ice. It was calculated thatthe expedition would take, at the most, forty days, and Johnson'spreparations were made in consequence.

  The sledge was his first care; it was in the Greenland style,thirty-five inches wide and twenty-four feet long. The Esquimauxoften make them more than fifty feet long. This one was made of longplanks, bent up front and back, and kept bent like a bow by two thickcords; the form thus given to it gave it increased resistance toshocks; it ran easily on the ice, but when the snow was soft on theground it was put upon a frame; to make it glide more easily it wasrubbed, Esquimaux fashion, with sulphur and snow. Six dogs drew it;notwithstanding their leanness these animals did not appear to sufferfrom the cold; their buckskin harness was in good condition, and theycould draw a weight of two thousand pounds without fatigue. Thematerials for encampment consisted of a tent, should the constructionof a snow-house be impossible, a large piece of mackintosh to spreadover the snow, to prevent it melting in contact with the human body,and lastly, several blankets and buffalo-skins. They took the halkettboat too.

  The provisions consisted of five cases of pemmican, weighing aboutfour hundred and fifty pounds; they counted one pound of pemmicanfor each man and each dog; there were seven dogs including Dick, andfour men. They also took twelve gallons of spirits of wine--that isto say, about one hundred fifty pounds weight--a sufficient quantityof tea and biscuit, a portable kitchen with plenty of wicks, oakum,powder, ammunition, and two double-barrelled guns. They also usedCaptain Parry's invention of indiarubber belts, in which the warmthof the body and the movement of walking keeps coffee, tea, and waterin a liquid state. Johnson was very careful about the snow-shoes;they are a sort of wooden patten, fastened on with leather straps;when the ground was quite hard and frozen they could be replaced bybuckskin moccasins; each traveller had two pairs of both.

  These preparations were important, for any detail omitted mightoccasion the loss of an expedition; they took four whole days. Eachday at noon Hatteras took care to set the position of his ship; theyhad ceased to drift; he was obliged to be certain in order to getback. He next set about choosing the men he should take with him;some of them were not fit either to take or leave, but the captaindecided to take none but sure companions, as the common safetydepended upon the success of the excursion. Shandon was, therefore,excluded, which he did not seem to regret. James Wall was ill in bed.The state of the sick got no worse, however, and as the only thingto do for them was to rub them with lime-juice, and give them dosesof it, the doctor was not obliged to stop, and he made one of thetravellers. Johnson very much wished to accompany the captain in hisperilous enterprise, but Hatteras took him aside, and said, in anaffectionate tone:

  "Johnson, I have confidence in you alone. You are the only officerin whose hands I can leave my ship. I must know that you are thereto overlook Shandon and the others. They are kept prisoners here bythe winter, but I believe them capable of anything. You will befurnished with my formal instructions, which, in case of need, willgive you the command. You will take my place entirely. Our absencewill last four or five weeks at the most. I shall not be anxious,knowing you are where I cannot be. You must have wood, Johnson, Iknow, but, as far as possible, spare my poor ship. Do you understandme, Johnson?"

  "Yes, sir," answered the old sailor, "I'll stop if you wish."

  "Thank you," said Hatteras, shaking his boatswain's hand; "and ifwe don't come back, wait for the next breaking-up time, and try topush forward towards the Pole. But if the others won't go, don't mindus, and take the _Forward_ back to England."

  "Are those your last commands, captain?"

  "Yes, my express commands," answered Hatteras.

  "Very well, sir, they shall be carried out," said Johnson simply.

  The doctor regretted his friend, but he thought Hatteras had actedwisely in leaving him. Their other two travelling companions wereBell the carpenter and Simpson. The former was in good health, braveand devoted, and was the right man to render service during theencampments on the snow; Simpson was not so sure, but he accepteda share in the expedition, and his hunting and fishing capabilitiesmight be of the greatest use. The expedition consisted, therefore,of four men, Hatteras, Clawbonny, Bell, and Simpson, and seven dogs.The provisions had been calculated in consequence. During the firstdays of January the temperature kept at an average of 33 degrees belowzero. Hatteras was very anxious for the weather to change; he oftenconsulted the barometer, but it is of little use in such high latitudes.A clear sky in these regions does not always bring cold, and the snowdoes not make the temperature rise; the barometer is uncertain; itgoes down with the north and east winds; low, it brought fine weather;high, snow or rain. Its indications could not, therefore, be reliedupon.

  At last, on January 5th, the mercury rose to 18 degrees below zero,and Hatteras resolved to start the next day; he could not bear tosee his ship burnt piece by piece before his eyes; all the poop hadgone into the stove. On the 6th, then, in the midst of whirlwindsof snow, the order for departure was given. The doctor gave his lastorders about the sick; Bell and Simpson shook hands silently withtheir companions. Hatteras wished to say his good-byes aloud, buthe saw himself surrounded by evil looks and thought he saw Shandonsmile ironically. He was silent, and perhaps hesitated for an instantabout leaving the _Forward_, but it was too late to turn back; theloaded sledge, with the dogs harnessed to it, awaited him on theice-field. Bell started the first; the others followed.

  Johnson accompanied the travellers for a quarter of a mile, thenHatteras begged him to return on board, and the old sailor went backafter making a long farewell gesture. At that moment Hatteras turneda last look towards the brig, and saw the extremity of her mastsdisappear in the dark clouds of the sky.