The English at the North Pole Read online

  CHAPTER VII

  DAVIS'S STRAITS

  During that day the _Forward_ cut out an easy road amongst thehalf-broken ice; the wind was good, but the temperature very low;the currents of air blowing across the ice-fields brought with themtheir penetrating cold. The night required the severest attention;the floating icebergs drew together in that narrow pass; a hundredat once were often counted on the horizon; they broke off from theelevated coasts under the teeth of the grinding waves and theinfluence of the spring season, in order to go and melt or to beswallowed up in the depths of the ocean. Long rafts of wood, withwhich it was necessary to escape collision, kept the crew on the alert;the crow's nest was put in its place on the mizenmast; it consistedof a cask, in which the ice-master was partly hidden to protect himfrom the cold winds while he kept watch over the sea and the icebergsin view, and from which he signalled danger and sometimes gave ordersto the crew. The nights were short; the sun had reappeared since the31st of January in consequence of the refraction, and seemed to gethigher and higher above the horizon. But the snow impeded the view,and if it did not cause complete obscurity it rendered navigationlaborious.

  On the 21st of April Desolation Cape appeared in the midst of thickmists; the crew were tired out with the constant strain on theirenergies rendered necessary ever since they had got amongst theicebergs; the sailors had not had a minute's rest; it was soonnecessary to have recourse to steam to cut a way through the heaped-upblocks. The doctor and Johnson were talking together on the stern,whilst Shandon was snatching a few hours' sleep in his cabin.Clawbonny was getting information from the old sailor, whose numerousvoyages had given him an interesting and sensible education. Thedoctor felt much friendship for him, and the boatswain repaid it withinterest.

  "You see, Mr. Clawbonny," Johnson used to say, "this country is notlike all others; they call it _Green_land, but there are very fewweeks in the year when it justifies its name."

  "Who knows if in the tenth century this land did not justify its name?"added the doctor. "More than one revolution of this kind has beenproduced upon our globe, and I daresay I should astonish you if Iwere to tell you that according to Icelandic chronicles two thousandvillages flourished upon this continent about eight or nine hundredyears ago."

  "You would so much astonish me, Mr. Clawbonny, that I should havesome difficulty in believing you, for it is a miserable country."

  "However miserable it may be, it still offers a sufficient retreatto its inhabitants, and even to civilised Europeans."

  "Without doubt! We met men at Disko and Uppernawik who consented tolive in such climates; but my ideas upon the matter were that theylived there by compulsion and not by choice."

  "I daresay you are right, though men get accustomed to everything,and the Greenlanders do not appear to me so unfortunate as the workmenof our large towns; they may be unfortunate, but they are certainlynot unhappy. I say unhappy, but the word does not translate my thought,for if these people have not the comforts of temperate countries,they are formed for a rude climate, and find pleasures in it whichwe are not able to conceive."

  "I suppose we must think so, as Heaven is just. Many, many voyageshave brought me upon these coasts, and my heart always shrinks atthe sight of these wretched solitudes; but they ought to have cheeredup these capes, promontories, and bays with more engaging names, forFarewell Cape and Desolation Cape are not names made to attractnavigators."

  "I have also remarked that," replied the doctor, "but these nameshave a geographical interest that we must not overlook. They describethe adventures of those who gave them those names. Next to the namesof Davis, Baffin, Hudson, Ross, Parry, Franklin, and Bellot, if Imeet with Cape Desolation I soon find Mercy Bay; Cape Providence isa companion to Port Anxiety; Repulsion Bay brings me back to CapeEden, and leaving Turnagain Point I take refuge in Refuge Bay. I havethere under my eyes an unceasing succession of perils, misfortunes,obstacles, successes, despairs, and issues, mixed with great namesof my country, and, like a series of old-fashioned medals, thatnomenclature retraces in my mind the whole history of these seas."

  "You are quite right, Mr. Clawbonny, and I hope we shall meet withmore Success Bays than Despair Capes in our voyage."

  "I hope so too, Johnson; but, I say, is the crew come round a littlefrom its terrors?"

  "Yes, a little; but since we got into the Straits they have begunto talk about the fantastic captain; more than one of them expectedto see him appear at the extremity of Greenland; but between you andme, doctor, doesn't it astonish you a little too?"

  "It does indeed, Johnson."

  "Do you believe in the captain's existence?"

  "Of course I do."

  "But what can be his reasons for acting in that manner?"

  "If I really must tell you the whole of my thoughts, Johnson, I believethat the captain wished to entice the crew far enough out to preventthem being able to come back. Now if he had been on board when westarted they would all have wanted to know our destination, and hemight have been embarrassed."

  "But why so?"

  "Suppose he should wish to attempt some superhuman enterprise, andto penetrate where others have never been able to reach, do you believeif the crew knew it they would ever have enlisted? As it is, havinggot so far, going farther becomes a necessity."

  "That's very probable, Mr. Clawbonny. I have known more than oneintrepid adventurer whose name alone was a terror, and who would neverhave found any one to accompany him in his perilous expeditions----"

  "Excepting me," ventured the doctor.

  "And me, after you," answered Johnson, "and to follow you; I canventure to affirm that our captain is amongst the number of suchadventurers. No matter, we shall soon see; I suppose the unknown willcome as captain on board from the coast of Uppernawik or MelvilleBay, and will tell us at last where it is his good pleasure to conductthe ship."

  "I am of your opinion, Johnson, but the difficulty will be to getas far as Melville Bay. See how the icebergs encircle us from everypoint! They scarcely leave a passage for the _Forward_. Just examinethat immense plain over there."

  "The whalers call that in our language an ice-field, that is to saya continued surface of ice the limits of which cannot be perceived."

  "And on that side, that broken field, those long pieces of ice moreor less joined at their edges?"

  "That is a pack; if it was of a circular form we should call it apatch; and, if the form was longer, a stream."

  "And there, those floating icebergs?"

  "Those are drift-ice; if they were a little higher they would beicebergs or hills; their contact with vessels is dangerous, and mustbe carefully avoided. Here, look over there: on that ice-field thereis a protuberance produced by the pressure of the icebergs; we callthat a hummock; if that protuberance was submerged to its base weshould call it a calf. It was very necessary to give names to allthose forms in order to recognise them."

  "It is truly a marvellous spectacle!" exclaimed the doctor,contemplating the wonders of the Boreal Seas; "there is a field forthe imagination in such pictures!"

  "Yes," answered Johnson, "ice often takes fantastic shapes, and ourmen are not behindhand in explaining them according to their ownnotions."

  "Isn't that assemblage of ice-blocks admirable? Doesn't it look likea foreign town, an Eastern town, with its minarets and mosques underthe pale glare of the moon? Further on there is a long series of Gothicvaults, reminding one of Henry the Seventh's chapel or the Housesof Parliament."

  "They would be houses and towns very dangerous to inhabit, and wemust not sail too close to them. Some of those minarets yonder totteron their base, and the least of them would crush a vessel like the_Forward_."

  "And yet sailors dared to venture into these seas before they hadsteam at their command! How ever could a sailing vessel be steeredamongst these moving rocks?"

  "Nevertheless, it has been accomplished, Mr. Clawbonny. When the windbecame contrary--and that has happened to me more than once--wequietly anchored to one of thos
e blocks, and we drifted more or lesswith it and waited for a favourable moment to set sail again. I mustacknowledge that such a manner of voyaging required months, whilstwith a little good fortune we shall only want a few days."

  "It seems to me," said the doctor, "that the temperature has a tendencyto get lower."

  "That would be a pity," answered Johnson, "for a thaw is necessaryto break up these masses and drive them away into the Atlantic; besides,they are more numerous in Davis's Straits, for the sea gets narrowerbetween Capes Walsingham and Holsteinborg; but on the other side ofthe 67th degree we shall find the seas more navigable during the monthsof May and June."

  "Yes; but first of all we must get to the other side."

  "Yes, we must get there, Mr. Clawbonny. In June and July we shouldhave found an open passage, like the whalers do, but our orders wereprecise; we were to be here in April. I am very much mistaken if ourcaptain has not his reasons for getting us out here so early."

  The doctor was right in stating that the temperature was lowering;the thermometer at noon only indicated 6 degrees, and a north-westbreeze was getting up, which, although it cleared the sky, assistedthe current in precipitating the floating masses of ice into the pathof the _Forward_. All of them did not obey the same impulsion, andit was not uncommon to encounter some of the highest masses driftingin an opposite direction, seized at their base by an undercurrent.

  It is easy to understand the difficulties of this kind of navigation;the engineers had not a minute's rest; the engines were worked fromthe deck by means of levers, which opened, stopped, and reversed themaccording to the orders of the officers on watch. Sometimes the brighad to hasten through an opening in the ice-fields, sometimes tostruggle against the swiftness of an iceberg which threatened to closethe only practicable issue, or, again, some block, suddenlyoverthrown, compelled the brig to back quickly so as not to be crushedto pieces. This mass of ice, carried along, broken up and amalgamatedby the northern current, crushed up the passage, and if seized bythe frost would oppose an impassable barrier to the passage of the_Forward_.

  Birds were found in innumerable quantities on these coasts, petrelsand other sea-birds fluttered about here and there with deafeningcries, a great number of big-headed, short-necked sea-gulls wereamongst them; they spread out their long wings and braved in theirplay the snow whipped by the hurricane. This animation of the wingedtribe made the landscape more lively.

  Numerous pieces of wood were floating to leeway, clashing with noise;a few enormous, bloated-headed sharks approached the vessel, butthere was no question of chasing them, although Simpson, the harpooner,was longing to have a hit at them. Towards evening several seals madetheir appearance, nose above water, swimming between the blocks.

  On the 22nd the temperature again lowered; the _Forward_ put on allsteam to catch the favourable passes: the wind was decidedly fixedin the north-west; all sails were furled.

  During that day, which was Sunday, the sailors had little to do. Afterthe reading of Divine service, which was conducted by Shandon, thecrew gave chase to sea-birds, of which they caught a great number.They were suitably prepared according to the doctor's method, andfurnished an agreeable increase of provisions to the tables of theofficers and crew.

  At three o'clock in the afternoon the _Forward_ had attained Thinde Sael, Sukkertop Mountain; the sea was very rough; from time totime a vast and inopportune fog fell from the grey sky; however, atnoon an exact observation could be taken. The vessel was in 65 degrees20 minutes latitude by 54 degrees 22 minutes longitude. It wasnecessary to attain two degrees more in order to meet with freer andmore favourable navigation.

  During the three following days, the 24th, 25th, and 26th of April,the _Forward_ had a continual struggle with the ice; the working ofthe machines became very fatiguing. The steam was turned off quicklyor got up again at a moment's notice, and escaped whistling from itsvalves. During the thick mist the nearing of icebergs was only knownby dull thundering produced by the avalanches; the brig was instantlyveered; it ran the risk of being crushed against the heaps offresh-water ice, remarkable for its crystal transparency, and as hardas a rock.

  Richard Shandon never missed completing his provision of water byembarking several tons of ice every day. The doctor could not accustomhimself to the optical delusions that refraction produces on thesecoasts. An iceberg sometimes appeared to him like a small white lumpwithin reach, when it was at least at ten or twelve miles' distance.He endeavoured to accustom his eyesight to this singular phenomenon,so that he might be able to correct its errors rapidly.

  At last the crew were completely worn out by their labours in haulingthe vessel alongside of the ice-fields and by keeping it free fromthe most menacing blocks by the aid of long perches. Nevertheless,the _Forward_ was still held back in the impassable limits of thePolar Circle on Friday, the 27th of April.