Works of Jules Verne/Adventures of Captain Hatteras/The English at the North Pole/Chapter 20
CHAPTER XX
HEAVY WORK
On the 3rd and 4th of July the thermometer stood at 57°, and it never rose higher than this during the whole time of the expedition. But on Thursday, the 5th, the wind shifted to S. E., and became very violent, accompanied by whirling eddies of snow. The temperature fell the night before 23°. Hatteras, without caring about the ill-humor of the crew, gave orders to weigh anchor. For thirteen days, that is to say, since leaving Cape Dundas, the Forward had not made one degree farther north. This did not satisfy the money-loving Clifton party at all; and, for the time being at least, they were quite as willing as the captain to try and push their way through Wellington Channel.
This channel was first fully explored in 1851, by Captain Penny, on the whalers Lady Franklin and Sophia; and it was one of his officers, Lieutenant Stewart, who succeeded in getting as far as Cape Beecher, in latitude 76° 20", and made the discovery of an open sea. An open sea! This was the hope which inspired Hatteras.
"What Stewart found, I shall find too," he said to the Doctor; "and then we can sail easy enough to the Pole."
"But have you no misgivings about the crew?" asked the Doctor.
"My crew!" repeated Hatteras, bitterly; but he added presently, in a low voice, as if speaking to himself, "Poor fellows!" The Doctor was amazed, for it was the first time he had betrayed the least kindly feeling. But he had hardly time to recover his surprise before the old hardness came back, and Hatteras exclaimed vehemently: "No! they must and shall go with me!"
The Forward found no great difficulty in getting through the ice, for the ice-streams were pretty far apart; but still she made little progress, owing to contrary winds. It was not till the 10th that she passed at length the 75th parallel, to the great joy of Clifton.
They had now reached the very point where the Advance and the Rescue, two American vessels in Dr. Kane's expedition, had met with such terrible disasters. Shandon took care to rehearse the whole story of suffering and danger to the crew, with what dispiriting effect may be imagined.
The ice-packs were now very numerous, and navigation became exceedingly difficult. Hatteras endeavored vainly to get past Isle Hamilton, but the wind was contrary. Then he tried to glide the brig in between Isle Hamilton and Isle Cornwallis, and again he failed, after wasting five precious days in the attempt. The temperature was constantly getting lower, and on the 19th of July fell to 26°. It rose somewhat the next day; but this premonition of an Arctic winter's approach was not lost on Hatteras. The wind was inclined to keep steadily in the west, dead against the ship, while he was all impatience to reach the latitude where Stewart had discovered the open sea. On the 19th he determined to go up the channel, come what might. By working the screw, the brig could fight her way against the rough gales of wind and driving snow; but, above all things, the scanty store of fuel must be husbanded. On the other hand, the channel was too wide to permit of "tracking," as it is called in Arctic language—that is, towing with ropes along a margin of ice. Hatteras, therefore, had recourse to a method sometimes adopted by whalers in similar circumstances. Without giving a moment's consideration to the fatigue of his crew, he ordered the boats to be lowered to the level of the water, so as just to touch the surface, though without detaching them from the sides of the ship, to which they were then firmly fastened fore and aft. In these boats the men had to seat themselves in turn, with oars in hand, and row vigorously to drag the vessel forward against the wind.
It was slow work, and one can imagine the labor it was for the crew. But at length, after four days' sailing in this fashion, the Forward emerged into Queen's Channel, and reached Baring's Island.
The wind was still adverse; but the crew could do no more. Their health was too much shaken, and the Doctor feared he could detect in several the first indications of scurvy. He lost no time in combating the terrible malady, for he had lime juice and lime pastilles, in abundance.
Hatteras knew well enough he could no longer count on his men. Mildness and persuasions were of no avail now: he resolved to conquer by severity, and even to show himself pitiless on occasion. Richard Shandon he especially mistrusted, and he had his doubts about James Wall too. Dr. Clawbonny, Johnson, Bell, and Simpson, he knew were devoted to him, body and soul. Pen, Gripper, Clifton, and Warren, he was quite aware were only waiting their time to break out in open mutiny, and drag the brig back to England; and the others were ready to take either side at any moment.
Meanwhile, what was to be done? The crew were not only badly disposed, but so exhausted that they could not possibly continue such fatiguing efforts, and for twenty-four hours they had remained absolutely stationary in sight of Isle Baring. And yet the temperature was always getting lower, for it was far on now in July. On the 24th the thermometer fell to 22°. Young ice formed during the night of considerable thickness, and should snow come down, it would soon be firm enough to bear a man's weight. There was a gray, dirty look about the sea already which betokened the commencement of the process of crystallization.
There was no mistaking these alarming symptoms. Should the leads close, Hatteras would be obliged to winter here without having gained his object, or even caught a glimpse of the open basin which was so close at hand, if the reports of his predecessors had been correct. He determined to push forward at all risks, and as he could not use the oars in the present wornout state of his men, nor the sails, for the wind was contrary, he gave orders to kindle the furnaces.