The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras Read online

  CHAPTER VI.THE GREAT POLAR CURRENT.

  Soon more numerous flocks of birds, petrels, puffins, and others whichinhabit those barren shores, gave token of their approach toGreenland. The _Forward_ was moving rapidly northward, leaving behindher a long line of dark smoke.

  Tuesday, the 17th of April, the ice-master caught the first sight ofthe _blink_[1] of the ice. It was visible at least twenty miles off tothe north-northwest. In spite of some tolerably thick clouds itlighted up brilliantly all the air near the horizon. No one of thoseon board who had ever seen this phenomenon before could fail torecognize it, and they felt assured from its whiteness that this blinkwas due to a vast field of ice lying about thirty miles farther thanthey could see, and that it came from the reflection of its luminousrays.

  [Footnote 1: A peculiar and brilliant color of the air above a largeexpanse of ice.]

  Towards evening the wind shifted to the south, and became favorable;Shandon was able to carry sail, and as a measure of economy theyextinguished the furnace fires. The _Forward_ under her topsails, jib,and foresail, sailed on towards Cape Farewell.

  At three o'clock on the 18th they made out an ice-stream, which, likea narrow but brilliant band, divided the lines of the water and sky.It was evidently descending rather from the coast of Greenland thanfrom Davis Strait, for the ice tended to keep on the western side ofBaffin's Bay. An hour later, and the _Forward_ was passing through thedetached fragments of the ice-stream, and in the thickest part thepieces of ice, although closely welded together, were rising andfalling with the waves.

  At daybreak the next morning the watch saw a sail; it was the_Valkyria_, a Danish corvette, sailing towards the _Forward_, bound toNewfoundland. The current from the strait became perceptible, andShandon had to set more sail to overcome it.

  At that moment the commander, the doctor, James Wall, and Johnson wereall together on the poop-deck, observing the force and direction ofthe current. The doctor asked if it were proved that this current wasfelt throughout Baffin's Bay.

  "There's no doubt of it," answered Shandon; "and sailing-vessels havehard work in making headway against it."

  "And it's so much the harder," added James Wall, "because it's met onthe eastern coast of America, as well as on the western coast ofGreenland."

  "Well," said the doctor, "that serves to confirm those who seek aNorthwest Passage. The current moves at the rate of about five milesan hour, and it is hard to imagine that it rises at the bottom of agulf."

  "That is very likely, Doctor," answered Shandon, "because, while thiscurrent flows from north to south, there is a contrary current inBehring Strait, which flows from south to north, and which must be thecause of this one."

  "Hence," said the doctor, "you must admit that America is completelyseparated from the polar regions, and that the water from the Pacificskirts its whole northern coast, until it reaches the Atlantic.Besides, the greater elevation of the water of the Pacific is anotherreason for its flowing towards the European seas."

  "But," said Shandon, "there must be some facts which support thistheory; and if there are," he added with gentle irony, "our learnedfriend must be familiar with them."

  "Well," answered the latter, complacently, "if it interests you at allI can tell you that whales, wounded in Davis Strait, have been foundafterwards on the coast of Tartary, still carrying a European harpoonin their side."

  "And unless they doubled Cape Horn, or the Cape of Good Hope,"answered Shandon, "they must have gone around the northern coast ofAmerica. There can be no doubt of that, Doctor."

  "And if you were not convinced, my dear Shandon," said the doctor,smiling, "I could produce still other evidence, such as the floatingwood with which Davis Strait is filled, larch, aspen, and othersouthern kinds. Now we know that the Gulf Stream could not carry theminto the strait; and if they come out from it they must have got inthrough Behring Strait."

  "I am perfectly convinced, Doctor, and I must say it would be hard tomaintain the other side against you."

  "See there," said Johnson, "there's something that will throw light onthis discussion. It's a large piece of wood floating on the water; ifthe commander will give us leave, we can put a rope about it, hoist iton board, and ask it the name of its country."

  "That's the way!" said the doctor; "after the rule we have theexample."

  Shandon gave the necessary orders; the brig was turned towards thepiece of wood, and soon the crew were hoisting it aboard, although notwithout considerable trouble.

  It was the trunk of a mahogany-tree, eaten to its centre by worms,which fact alone made it light enough to float.

  "This is a real triumph," exclaimed the doctor, enthusiastically,"for, since the Atlantic currents could not have brought it into DavisStrait, since it could not have reached the polar waters from therivers of North America, as the tree grows under the equator, it isevident that it must have come direct from Behring Strait. Andbesides, see those sea-worms which have eaten it; they belong to warmlatitudes."

  "It certainly gives the lie to those who deny the existence of aNorthwest Passage."

  "It fairly kills them," answered the doctor. "See here, I'll give youthe route of this mahogany-tree: it was carried to the Pacific Oceanby some river of the Isthmus of Panama or of Guatemala; thence thecurrent carried it along the coast of America as far as BehringStrait, and so it was forced into the polar waters; it is neither soold nor so completely water-logged that we cannot set its departure atsome recent date; it escaped all the obstacles of the many straitscoming into Baffin's Bay, and being quickly seized by the arcticcurrent it came through Davis Strait to be hoisted on board the_Forward_ for the great joy of Dr. Clawbonny, who asks the commander'spermission to keep a piece as a memorial."

  "Of course," answered Shandon; "but let me tell you in my turn thatyou will not be the only possessor of such a waif. The Danish governorof the island of Disco--"

  "On the coast of Greenland," continued the doctor, "has a mahoganytable, made from a tree found in the same way; I know it, my dearShandon. Very well; I don't grudge him his table, for if there wereroom enough on board, I could easily make a sleeping-room out ofthis."

  On the night of Wednesday the wind blew with extreme violence;drift-wood was frequently seen; the approach to the coast became moredangerous at a time when icebergs are numerous; hence the commanderordered sail to be shortened, and the _Forward_ went on under merelyher foresail and forestay-sail.

  The thermometer fell below the freezing-point. Shandon distributedamong the crew suitable clothing, woollen trousers and jackets,flannel shirts, and thick woollen stockings, such as are worn byNorwegian peasants. Every man received in addition a pair ofwater-proof boots.

  As for Captain, he seemed contented with his fur; he appearedindifferent to the changes of temperature, as if he were thoroughlyaccustomed to such a life; and besides, a Danish dog was unlikely tobe very tender. The men seldom laid eyes on him, for he generally kepthimself concealed in the darkest parts of the vessel.

  Towards evening, through a rift in the fog, the coast of Greenlandcould be seen in longitude 37 degrees 2 minutes 7 seconds. Through hisglass the doctor was able to distinguish mountains separated by hugeglaciers; but the fog soon cut out this view, like the curtain of atheatre falling at the most interesting part of a play.

  On the morning of the 20th of April, the _Forward_ found itself insight of an iceberg one hundred and fifty feet high, aground in thisplace from time immemorial; the thaws have had no effect upon it, andleave its strange shape unaltered. Snow saw it; in 1829 James Rosstook an exact drawing of it; and in 1851 the French lieutenant,Bellot, on board of the _Prince Albert_, observed it. Naturally thedoctor wanted to preserve a memorial of the famous mountain, and hemade a very successful sketch of it.

  It is not strange that such masses should run aground, and inconsequence become immovably fixed to the spot; as for every footabove the surface of the water they have nearly two beneath, whichwould give to this one a total height of about four hundred
feet.

  At last with a temperature at noon as low as 12 degrees, under asnowy, misty sky, they sighted Cape Farewell. The _Forward_ arrived atthe appointed day; the unknown captain, if he cared to assume hisplace in such gloomy weather, would have no need to complain.

  "Then," said the doctor to himself, "there is this famous cape, withits appropriate name! Many have passed it, as we do, who were destinednever to see it again! Is it an eternal farewell to one's friends inEurope? You have all passed it, Frobisher, Knight, Barlow, Vaughan,Scroggs, Barentz, Hudson, Blosseville, Franklin, Crozier, Bellot,destined never to return home; and for you this cape was well namedCape Farewell!"

  It was towards the year 970 that voyagers, setting out from Iceland,discovered Greenland. Sebastian Cabot, in 1498, went as high aslatitude 56 degrees; Gaspard and Michel Cotreal, from 1500 to 1502,reached latitude 60 degrees; and in 1576 Martin Frobisher reached theinlet which bears his name.

  To John Davis belongs the honor of having discovered the strait, in1585; and two years later in a third voyage this hardy sailor, thisgreat whaler, reached the sixty-third parallel, twenty-seven degreesfrom the Pole.

  Barentz in 1596, Weymouth in 1602, James Hall in 1605 and 1607,Hudson, whose name was given to the large bay which runs so far backinto the continent of America, James Poole in 1611, went more or lessfar into the straits, seeking the Northwest Passage, the discovery ofwhich would have greatly shortened the route between the two worlds.

  Baffin, in 1616, found in the bay of that name Lancaster Sound; he wasfollowed in 1619 by James Monk, and in 1719 by Knight, Barlow,Vaughan, and Scroggs, who were never heard of again.

  In 1776, Lieutenant Pickersgill, sent to meet Captain Cook, who triedto make his way through Behring Strait, reached latitude 68 degrees;the next year, Young, on the same errand, went as far as Woman'sIsland.

  Then came James Ross, who in 1818 sailed all around the shores ofBaffin's Bay, and corrected the errors on the charts of hispredecessors.

  Finally, in 1819 and 1820, the famous Parry made his way intoLancaster Sound. In spite of numberless difficulties he reachedMelville Island, and won the prize of five thousand pounds offered byact of Parliament to the English sailors who should cross the meridianat a latitude higher than the seventy-seventh parallel.

  In 1826, Beechey touched at Chamisso Island; James Ross wintered, from1829 to 1833, in Prince Regent's Inlet, and, among other importantservices, discovered the magnetic pole.

  During this time Franklin, by a land-journey, defined the northerncoast of America, from Mackenzie River to Turnagain Point; CaptainBack followed the same route from 1823 to 1835; and these explorationswere completed in 1839 by Dease, Simpson, and Dr. Rae.

  At last, Sir John Franklin, anxious to discover the Northwest Passage,left England in 1845, with the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_; he enteredBaffin's Bay, and since his leaving Disco Island there has been nonews of his expedition.

  His disappearance started numerous search-expeditions, which haveeffected the discovery of the passage, and given the world definiteinformation about the rugged coasts of the polar lands. The boldestsailors of England, France, and the United States hastened to theseterrible latitudes; and, thanks to their exertions, the tortuous,complicated map of these regions has at last been placed in thearchives of the Royal Geographical Society of London.

  The strange history of these lands crowded on the imagination of thedoctor, as he stood leaning on the rail, and gazing on the long trackof the brig. The names of those bold sailors thronged into his memory,and it seemed to him that beneath the frozen arches of the ice hecould see the pale ghosts of those who never returned.