Works of Jules Verne/Adventures of Captain Hatteras/The English at the North Pole/Chapter 29
CHAPTER XXIX
THE CAIRN
This peculiar phenomenon of the Arctic regions lasted about three-quarters of an hour, so that the bears and foxes had time to regale themselves comfortably. The supply was most opportune for the poor starving animals, and they had not been backward in profiting by it, for the marks of their sharp claws were all over the sledge. Cases of pemmican were broken open and emptied, bags of biscuits devoured, tea strewn among the snow, and one keg of spirits of wine smashed to pieces, and all the contents lost; blankets, and skins, and coverings tossed here and there in all directions—nothing had been left untouched by the famished and voracious beasts.
"This is a bad job for us," said Bell, contemplating the scene of desolation.
"One that can't be remedied, I fear," added Simpson.
"We had better see what mischief has been done first, and then talk about it afterwards, I think," said the Doctor.
Hatteras made no remark, but busied himself silently in collecting the scattered bags and cases. The loss of any of the spirits of wine was most vexatious, for without it there would be an end to tea and coffee, or any warm beverage whatever. After picking what biscuits and pemmican were still eatable, the Doctor made an estimate of the damage done, and found that 200 pounds of pemmican and 150 pounds of biscuits had disappeared; so that if the journey was to be continued, they must be content with half the usual rations.
It became a question, therefore, whether to go on or return to the ship, and recommence the expedition. But to return would be to lose 150 miles already gained, and, moreover, to return without the coal would have a most disastrous effect on the crew!
All but Simpson decided in favor of going on, even at the price of the hardest privations. The poor fellow's health had begun to give away, and he was anxious to be back on board ship; but, finding he stood alone in his opinion, he yielded to the others, and resumed his place beside the sledge.
The monotonous journey went on much as usual, unmarked by any fresh event till the 17th of January, when the whole aspect of the region suddenly changed. A great number of sharp towering peaks, like pointed pyramids, appeared on the horizon, and the soil in certain places rose above the snow. It was composed apparently of gneiss, schist, and quartz, with some admixture of chalky rock. The travelers had reached firm land once more, and this land could be none other than New Cornwall.
The Doctor congratulated himself on being off the treacherous ice, and only a hundred miles from Cape Belcher; but, strangely enough, the difficulties of the journey increased rather than diminished, and they soon had cause to regret the smooth, almost unbroken ice over which the sledge could glide with comparative ease, for the road was rugged in the extreme, full of sharp rocks, and precipices, and crevices. They were obliged to make a circuitous course towards the interior, to get to the top of the steep cliffs on the coast, and across tremendous gorges, where the snow was piled up thirty or forty feet high.
It was hard work to drag the sledge along, for the dogs were exhausted, and the men had to harness themselves and help. Several times everything had to be taken out of it before they could get to the top of some steep hill, the glassy sides of which afforded no foothold for man or beast.
On the evening of the second day after their arrival on the coast of New Cornwall, the men were so completely exhausted that they were unable to erect their usual snow-hut. They passed the night under the tent, wrapped in their buffalo skins, and tried to dry their wet stockings by the heat of their own bodies. Before morning the thermometer fell to 44° and the mercury froze.
The inevitable consequences of such exposure followed. Simpson's health was shaken alarmingly; an obstinate cold clung to him, and violent rheumatic pains, which obliged him to lie all day on the sledge. Bell had to take his place in guiding the dogs, for though he was far from well, he was not unable to keep about. The Doctor also suffered considerably, but he never complained; he held out bravely, and went first to act as scout. Hatteras, impassible, impenetrable, and hard as ever, was as strong as the first day, and walked silently behind the sledge.
On the 20th of January the temperature was so low that the slightest exertion was followed by complete prostration; and yet the road was so rugged and difficult that the Doctor, and Bell, and Hatteras, too, had to harness themselves to the sledge with the dogs. Constantly jolting over the uneven ground had broken the front part, and it was necessary to stop and repair it. Delays like these soon became frequent.
The three men were jogging along through a deep ravine, where the snow was up to their waists, and the perspiration was streaming from every pore in spite of the intense cold, when Bell, who was nearest the Doctor, looked at him in alarm, and, without saying a word, caught up a handful of snow, and began rubbing his worthy friend's face as vigorously as possible, to the great bewilderment of the Doctor, who tried to push him off, exclaiming:
"What now, Bell?"
But Bell still went on rubbing, till the little man's eyes, nose, and mouth were all full of snow, and he called out again:
"I say, Bell, what's all this? Are you mad? What do you mean?"
"I mean this, that you have me to thank for it if you still have a nose."
"A nose?" replied the Doctor, putting up his hand to his face.
"Yes, Mr. Clawbonny, you were completely frost-bitten. Your nose was quite white when I looked at you, and without my rough treatment you would have lost an ornament that is very necessary in life, though rather inconvenient in traveling."
Bell was right. A few minutes longer, and the Doctor's nose would have been gone, but, happily, friction had restored the circulation, and the danger was past.
"Thanks, Bell; I'll do as much for you some day, perhaps."
"I quite reckon on it, and Heaven grant we may have no worse misfortunes to come!" replied the carpenter.
"Ah! you refer to Simpson; the poor fellow is in great pain."
"Have you any fear for him?" asked Hatteras, quickly.
"I have captain."
"What is it you apprehend, Doctor?"
"A violent attack of scurvy. His legs are swelling already, and his gums are affected. There he lies wrapped up in the blankets, half-frozen, and these constant jolts aggravate his sufferings. I pity him, Hatteras, but I can do nothing for him!"
"Poor Simpson!" murmured Bell.
"Perhaps we might rest a day or two," suggested the Doctor.
"Rest a day or two!" cried Hatteras, "when the lives of eighteen men hang on our return!"
"Still———" began the Doctor.
"Clawbonny, Bell, listen to me. We have only food enough for twenty days! Can we afford to waste an instant?"
Neither the Doctor nor Bell made any reply, and the sledge went on.
In the evening the little cavalcade stopped at the foot of an ice-hill, in which Bell soon cut out a cave to shelter them for the night.
The Doctor stayed up with Simpson, while the others slept, for the scurvy had made frightful ravages on the poor man's frame already, and he moaned piteously with pain.
"Ah! Mr. Clawbonny," he said.
"Come, cheer up, my lad!" replied the Doctor.
"I shall never go back! I feel it! I can go no farther; I would rather die."
The Doctor only replied by redoubling his attentions. Forgetting his own fatigue, he busied himself in preparing some soothing draught for his suffering patient, for lime-juice and friction were now powerless.
When morning came, the unfortunate man had to be replaced on the sledge, though he entreated to be left behind to die in peace. The weary march was resumed, amid increasing difficulties, for icy fogs pierced the travelers to the very marrow, and hail and snow lashed their faces with merciless severity.
Duk, like his master, seemed to feel nothing, and showed wonderful sagacity in finding out the best road.
On the morning of the 23rd, when it was nearly quite dark, as there was a new moon, Duk was suddenly missing. He had been out of sight for several hours, and Hatteras grew uneasy, for the tracks of bears were pretty numerous. He was just considering what was best to be done, when he caught the soud of loud, furious barking in the distance, and, urging the sledge forward, soon came up to his faithful beast at the bottom of a ravine.
Duk was standing motionless in front of a sort of cairn, and barking violently.
"This time it is a cairn, at all events," said the Doctor.
"What's that to us?" asked Hatteras.
"Hatteras, if it is a cairn, it may contain some valuable document for us, or perhaps it is a depot of provisions, and that is worth our while to look at."
"And what European can have been this way?" said the captain, shrugging his shoulders.
"But though no European has been, may not the Esquimaux have been here and made a hiding-place for the spoils of their hunting and fishing? It is quite in keeping with their habits."
"Well, well, Clawbonny, examine it if you choose, but I question if you get anything for your pains."
By the help of mattocks the cairn was soon demolished, and a box was discovered, inside which was a paper quite damp with moisture. The Doctor seized it with a beating heart, and handed it to Hatteras, who read as follows:—
"Altam—, Porpoise 13 Dec. 1860 12° longitude, S 55° lat."
"The Porpoise!" said the Doctor.
"The Porpoise!" repeated Hatteras. "I know no vessel of that name that has been in these seas."
"It is quite evident that whatever vessel she is, her crew, or possibly some of her shipwrecked men, passed this way less than two months ago," replied Clawbonny.
"That is quite certain," added Bell.
"What shall we do?" asked the Doctor.
"Continue our journey," replied Hatteras, coldly. "I know nothing of the Porpoise, but I know that the brig Forward is waiting our return."