CHAPTER XLV.
THE VOYAGES OF THE "MERCURY" AND THE "AURORA BOREALIS."
"It was a most fortunate thing that any of the men could live untilthey reached civilization," I said, when Captain Adams had finishedhis reading of Dunbar's story in the paper.
"It was solely due to that fact that we are here at present, admiral,"replied Captain Adams. "No sooner was the story published than thegreatest possible excitement arose both in America and Europe. TheUnited States and Britain felt chagrined that a private citizen hadbeen able to achieve what the greatest nations on earth, withunlimited men and money, were unable to accomplish. To satisfy popularclamor the United States, Great Britain, Russia, France, Germany,Italy and Spain each fitted out separate expeditions to follow in thewake of the _Polar King_. These were manned with former Arcticnavigators, and were in each case commissioned and fitted outregardless of cost to explore the interior world and lay thefoundation of future conquest and commerce. The Secretary of theUnited States Navy, at Washington, sent for Dunbar and Henderson, andforthwith employed both as pilots for the _Mercury_ expedition undermy command."
"How did the English people receive the news?" I inquired of Sir JohnForbes.
"It is useless to say, admiral," he replied, "that the story of the_Polar King_ was the sole topic of conversation for weeks throughoutthe United Kingdom. The Royal Geographical Society, the RoyalAstronomical Society, and the Travellers' Club, all sent specialdeputations to the government, asking for the fitting out of a ship toundertake British research, which might possibly accompany the UnitedStates vessel having the pilots Dunbar and Henderson on board, andthus partake of the advantage these guides would naturally give theUnited States vessel.
"The British Government," continued Sir John, with a smile in his eye,"saw at once that British interests in the interior world must beprotected at all hazards, and gave the Lords of the Admiralty fullpower to act.
"My fame as an Arctic navigator and as the discoverer of the bones ofthe great Irish Arctic hero, Montgomery, and those of his men, in acabin on Prince Albert's Island, caused the Lords of the Admiralty toplace at my command the frigate _Aurora Borealis_, manned byexperienced Arctic sailors.
"Negotiations were opened with the United States Government, wherebythe _Aurora Borealis_, by proceeding up the northwest passage alongthe route followed by the Montgomery expedition, might meet the_Mercury_, who would enter the Arctic Sea by way of Behring Strait. Itwas arranged, as Captain Adams is aware, that each vessel shouldproceed direct to latitude 75 N., longitude 140 W., and there awaitthe other vessel."
"You are right," said Captain Adams, "for my instructions were of thesame nature. The _Mercury_ was fitted out in Brooklyn Navy Yard, andas soon as her complement of two hundred and fifty officers,explorers, scientists, press correspondents and seamen was enrolled,and her stores fully shipped, I was instructed to proceed by way ofthe Nicaragua Canal to San Francisco for further orders and stores.Leaving San Francisco I next touched Victoria, B.C., and finally atSitka, Alaska, for final orders. The entire winter had been consumedin getting ready, and by May 1 I cleared for Behring Strait, steeringstraight for the rendezvous in the Arctic Sea where we had arranged tomeet by June 1. I was first on the spot, and had the good fortune ofonly having to wait a week before we sighted the _Aurora Borealis_."
"And then," said Sir John, "began the real work of the voyage. All hadbeen plain sailing so far, but it was clearly impossible for anyvessel to reach the Polar Gulf unless a lead was discovered in the icebarrier similar to that so fortunately discovered by the _Polar King_.It was here that the services of Dunbar as pilot came intorequisition. Captain Adams had got him to mark on the chart as near aspossible the location of the chasm in the ice mountain discovered bythe _Polar King_. That once rediscovered, we could succeed infollowing the _Polar King_; but should we fail in our quest, allfurther progress would be impossible. I often said to Captain Adamsthat I considered Lexington White as one of the most fortunate of men.It was nothing short of the miraculous that you should discover anewly-rent passage through the barrier of ice that for ages hasguarded the sublime secret of the pole. Only once in all the eternityof the past did the gate of that thrilling Arctic zone open itself tohumanity, and by a miracle of fortune you were on the spot at theright moment, ready to enter that open door. That fact alone emblazonsyou with glory. But to my story. How were we to discover the same or asimilar lead to the north? On the mere chance of discovering such apassage both vessels had encountered the dangers and terrors of theArctic desolations. Dunbar located the chasm in latitude 78.6 N.,longitude 125 W., and thither we sailed.
"As for the expeditions sent out by the other governments of Europe,jealous of American prowess, we have not seen or heard of any of them.Their vessels followed the direction of the Gulf Stream, and theinstructions given their commanders were to first make Spitzbergen,and thence proceed due north, and if possible find there a passage tothe pole. For ourselves, I will let Captain Adams tell how we gotthrough the ice barrier."
"That," said Captain Adams, "is a simple enough story, but the actualexperiences were not so simple as the recital of them. We found thatDunbar's estimate of the location of the passage was within fiftymiles of the exact spot. We found the passage after some days'searching, about fifty miles beyond Dunbar's location on the chart.The veritable passage was there, but, as was expected, instead of openwater there was a mass of solid ice of unknown thickness, butfortunately having a smooth surface.
"There was but one thing to do to overcome such an obstacle, and thatwas to haul the ships on runners on top of the ice, right through thegap formed by nature in the icy barrier. Our labors in making such apassage were simply superhuman. Both crews were employed for more thana week in sloping the ice-foot up which the vessels were to bedragged. Then an enormous cradle had to be constructed of massivebeams of wood securely bolted together, large and strong enough tocarry either vessel. There was fortunately lumber enough for thispurpose, as among the stores of both ships timbers for building Arctichuts had been included. The cradle was first secured to the hull ofthe _Mercury_, and the crews of both vessels took hold of the ropesmade fast to her decks. She was drawn close to the ice, but utterlyrefused to leave the water. We tried fixing anchors in the ice ahead,to which were attached a system of blocks and ropes. Thesesupplemented the strength of the men by the hoisting engine, but eventhis was of no avail. We next rigged up a large drum, vertically overthe shaft of the propeller, and connected it therewith by means ofright-angled cog-wheels. To this was fastened an immense cable, to theother end of which were attached the ropes rove through blocks heldfirmly a quarter-of a mile ahead by thirty anchors imbedded in theice. We started the engines, and, sure enough, the bows of the vesselbegan to rise out of the water. The _Mercury_ would have been liftedhigh and dry on the ice were it not that at that moment several of thesmaller cables in the blocks snapped asunder, and thus our thirdeffort failed. At this juncture, Sir John Forbes proposed to plant afew more anchors in the ice, and through the additional blocks work acable leading from the bows of the _Mercury_ to the stern of the_Aurora Borealis_. This being done, he would steam ahead off the iceand add the power of his ship to that of the _Mercury's_ engine, andthus relieve the strain on the _Mercury's_ cables. It was a capitalidea, and we immediately put it into execution. The result was aperfect success. The combined energies of the English ship and hercrew, together with those of our own vessel and men, drew the_Mercury_ up the slide of ice, and placed her erect and dry upon thelevel surface of the lead. It was now comparatively easy work to drawthe ship along the ice. Her own engines were equal to the task; but itwas impossible for the _Mercury_ to go ahead, as, without herassistance, the _Aurora Borealis_ would be unable to leave the water.Then, again, there was only the material for but one cradle for bothships. The difficulty was solved by cutting away one-fourth of thecradle from beneath both bow and stern of the _Mercury_, and, joiningthese parts, we furnished the _Aurora Borealis_ with a sledge as largeas
that of our own ship, and strong enough to keep her in an uprightposition while being dragged over the ice. After infinite trouble, andin obedience to the aggregated energies of the engines of both shipsand the hauling of the combined crews, the English ship was drawn upupon the ice beside the American vessel. This double feat of skill anddetermination was duly saluted by a roar of guns and the cheers of thesailors.
"The ice proved so smooth and hard that the crews of each ship,assisted by the engines, were able to work their respective vessels ingood order through the entire chasm, a distance of seventy miles.Arriving at the open floe beyond the northern ice-foot, we bevelledoff the ice as before, and the ships were finally launched upon thepolar sea."
I congratulated Sir John Forbes and Captain Adams on their successfulmanoeuvre, which resulted in getting their ships across the ice. Itwas a feat of engineering skill rarely possible of accomplishment, andin their case nature had seconded their efforts by providing a smoothand solid floor to operate upon, otherwise all human endeavor wouldhave been fruitless.
"And now, gentlemen," I said, "what do you say surprised you most inyour voyage hither from the ice barrier?"
"I think, admiral," said Captain Adams, "that the grandest sight onearth is the full view of the Polar Gulf, with its suspended abyss ofwaters surrounding the ship. The colossal flux and reflux of watersproduces a feeling of terrible sublimity. It is an awful scene."
"But that scene," said Sir John Forbes, "belongs to the outer world.This aspect of the interior world of Plutusia is ten thousand timesmore magnificent. What grander glory ever fell on human eyes than thisColosseum of oceans, continents, kingdoms, islands and seas spreadupon the vast interior vault surrounding us, and all lit up by theinternal sun! The human imagination never conceived anything equal tothis. Here nature surpasses the wildest dreams of fancy. We areastounded with the splendor of such a world!"
"You are right, Sir John," said Captain Adams; "this interior spheresurpasses anything hitherto discovered in heaven or earth. And then tothink of its enormous riches! The royal fleet of Atvatabar, platedwith solid gold, proves the extraordinary profusion of the preciousmetal."