THE ICE DESERT

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"THE ENGLISH AT THE NORTH POLE"

BY JULES VERNE

AUTHOR OF U A JOURNEY INTO THE rNTERIOR OF THE EA.RTH.·' H THE ENGLISH AT THE NORTH POLE," "FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON/' ETC., ETC.

LONDON, E.C. RICHARD BUTTERWORTH & CO. 16-17 DEVONSHIRE SQUARE

THE ICE DESERT

CHAPTER r. THE DOCTOR'S INVENTORY. CAPTAIN HATTERAS'S design was a bold one; he had meant that England should have the glory of the discovery of the world's boreal Pole. He had done all that human power could do. After having struggled for nine months with currents and tempests; after breaking up icebergs and getting through ice-banks in the most terrible winter ever experienced in these hyperborean latitudes; after having confirmed the discoveries or his predecessors, and taken his brig, the Forward, on beyond the known seas-in short, after having accomplished half his task, he saw his great scheme crushed! The treason, or rather the discomage­ ment, of his crew, worn by their trials and the criminal folly of their leaders, left him in a frightful position; out of eighteen men only four remained, and these four were abandoned without supplies, without a ship, at more than 2,500 miles from their country! The explosion of the Forward, which had just taken place before their eyes, took away their last means of existence. However, the courage of Hatteras did not give way a 4 THE ICE DESERT in presence of this terrible catastrophe. The com­ panions that remained with him were the best of the crew; heroes. He appealed to the energy and science of Dr. Clawbonny, to the devotedness of Johnson and Bell, to hiB own faith in his scheme; he dared to speak of hope in that desperate situation; his brave comrades heard him, and the past of such men answered for their future courage. After the captain's energetic words the doctor wished to examine the situation, and leaving his com­ panions at five hundred steps from the brig, he directed his steps towards the scene of the catastrophe. There remained nothing of the brig Forward, constructed with so much care. Ice torn up, black and calcined ruins, pieces of cable still burning like firebrands, twisted bars of iron, and, in the distance, a few columns of smoke, crawling about the ice-field, showed the violence of the explosion. The cannon, thrown several cables off, rested upon an ice-block as if it were on its carriage. The soil was covered with fragments of every sort for hundreds of yards round; the brig's keel lay on a heap of ice; the icebergs, partly melted by the heat of the conflagration, had already recovered their granite hardness. The doctor then began to think of his devastated cabin, of his lost collections, his precious instruments broken to pieces, and his burnt book. So much wealth destroyed! He stood with a tear in his eye, not thinking of the future, but of the irreparable misfortune which touched him so directly. He was soon rejoined by Johnson, whose face bore traces of the sufferings he had undergone in struggling with his revolted companions. The doctor held out his hand which the boatswain pressed sadly. ' THE DOCTOR'S INVENTORY 5 "What is to become of us, my friend?" said the doctor. "Who can say ? ~ auswered Johnson. "Above all, don't let us give ourselves up to despair; we must be men,'- said the doctor. . "Yes, doctor, we are in an awkward situatiOn, and the best thing we can do is to think how to getQut of it as soon as possible." "Poor ship!" said the doctor, sighing; "I had become quite fond of it, and I feel as though they had burnt down my paternal home. But where's the long­ boat," continued the doctor, looking round. "Is that destroyed, too?" " No; Shandon took it with him." "And the pirogue? " " Broken into a thousand pieces' See, these few tin plates are all that remain of it." "Then there's only the halkett-boat left?" " Yes, and it's a good thing you took it with you." " It is not much," said the doctor. " I hope Heaven will punish those wretched scoundrels as they deserve!" cried Johnson. "Johnson," answered the doctor, gently, "we must not forget how much they suffered ! Very few of us know how to remain wise in misfortune. We must pity and not curse them." After these words the doctor remained silent, looking uneasily around him. "What's become of the sledge?" asked Johnson. "It is about a mile away." "In Simpson's charge, I suppose? " " No, my friend, poor Simpson has perished from fatigue." 6 THE ICE DESERT " Dead 1" cried the boatswain. " Yes," answered the doctor. "Poor fellow!" said Johnson, "but who knows if we ought not to envy his lot!" " Yes, we left a dead man, and we bring back a dying man. " " A dying man? " "Yes' Captain Altamont." The doctor told the boat­ swain in a few words about their adventure. " An American!" said Johnson, pensively. "Yes, everything makes us think so. But what was the shipwrecked Porpoise doing in these seas? " "It came to perish," answered Johnson; "it took its crew to destruction, as all others have done in such a climate. But at least, Mr. Claw bonny, you've got what you W'ent for?" The doctor shook his head sadly. " Nothing?" asked the old sailor. "Nothing! Our provisions failed us, and we were worn out with fatigue' We did not even reach the coast signalled by Sir Edward Belcher I " "Then we've no fuel?" "No!" " And no provisions?" "No!" " And no ship to take us back to England?" The doctor and Johnson remained silent. It required superhuman courage to look the terrible situation in the face. " Well," said Johnson at last, "we know the worst. Now we must set to work to build a snow-house." " Yes," answered the doctor; "with Bell's help that will be easy; then we must go and fetch the sledge, THE DOCTOR'S INVENTORY 7 bring back the American, and hold a council with Hatteras." "Poor captain!" said Johnson, who found means to forget himself, " how he must suffer!" The doctor and the boatswain returned to their com­ panions. Hatteras was standing unmoved, his arms crossed as usual, mute and looking forward into vacancy. His habitual firmness had returned to his face. Wha t was the extraordinary man thinking of? Was he pre-occupied with his desperate situation or his crushed schemes? Did he think of going back, as both men and elements conspired agaillst him ? No one could guess his thoughts. His faithful Dick remained near him, braving, at his side, a. temperatura fallen to 32° below zero. Bell lay on the ice, and Beemed to have lost all consciousness; his insensibility might cost him his life; he ran the risk of being frozen in a lump. Johnson shook him vigorously, rubbed him with snow, and at last succeeded in arousing him from his lethargy. " Come, Bell, don't give way like that, man; get up; we want to talk to you about what is to be done, aud we must have a shelter. Come, you haven't forgotten how to make a snow-house! Come and help me to find a good block! " Bell allowed his friend to drag him along. "While we are making it, Mr. Clawbonny will take the trouble to go as far as the sledge, and will bring it here with the dogs." "I'm ready to start," said the doctor, "and in less than an hour I shall be back again.' "Shall you go with him, captain?" said Johnson, going towards Hatteras, who, though seemingly in deep thought. had heard his boatswain's remark. 8 THE ICE DESERT " No, my friend; if the doctor will be kind enough. Some resolution must be taken before the day is over, and I want to be alone to reflect. Go and do what you think best for the present. I will decide for the fuLure." Johnson came back to the doctor. "It is singular," he said to him," the captain seems to have forgotten all about his anger; his voice has never seemed to me so kind." " I believe that man capable of saving us yet!" said the doctor, as he fastened on his hood, and, with his iron stock in hand, set out for the sledge in the midst of the mist that the moon made almost luminous. Johnson and Bell set to work at once; the old sailor tried to cheer up Bell, who worked away in silence; they had not to build but to hollow out a large block; the ic