The first care of Captain Harvey, after getting his brig securely laid
up in her icy cradle for the winter was to remove some of the stores to
the island, where he had them carefully secured in a little hut which
the crew built of loose stones. This relieved the strain on the vessel,
and permitted the free circulation of air. The fitting up of the
interior of the brig was then begun.
The wooden partition between the cabin and the hold was taken down, and
the whole space thrown into one apartment. The stove was put up in the
centre of it, and moss was piled round the walls inside about a foot
thick. Moss was also spread on the deck, and above it the snow was
allowed to gather, for snow, although so cold itself, keeps things that
it covers warm, by not permitting the heat to escape. The brig was
banked up all round with snow, and a regular snowy staircase was built
from the ice to her bulwarks.
They changed their time, now, from what is called sea-time to that which
we follow on land. That is to say, they reckoned the day to commence
just after twelve, midnight, instead of dividing it into watches, as
they were wont to do at sea. Journals were begun, and careful notes
made of everything that occurred, or that might in any way further the
object for which they had gone there. Every man in the ship had his
appointed duty and his post. If the native Eskimos should arrive in a
warlike temper, each man had his cutlass and pistols in readiness. If a
bear should pay them a visit, each could lay hands on his musket in an
instant; and if a fire should break out on board, every man had his
bucket ready and his particular post fixed. Some were to run to the
water-hole, which it was the duty of one man to keep open. Others were
to station themselves from the hole to the ship to pass the buckets,
while the rest were to remain on board to convey them to the point of
danger. Captain Harvey fixed all the arrangements, and superintended
the carrying out of his orders in a general way, making his two officers
and the young doctor responsible for the overseeing of details. Each of
these foremen furnished him with a report every night of what had been
done during the day, and the result was noted down by himself in a
journal. Thus everything went smoothly and pleasantly along during the
first weeks of their sojourn in their frozen home.
In regard to fresh provisions they were fortunate at first, for they
obtained sufficient supplies of deer and other game. This was in the
early part of winter, while there was still plenty of daylight. In Tom
Gregory's journal I find it thus written:
"_September 10th_.--The days are beginning to shorten now, and we are
all busily occupied in preparing for the long, dark winter that is
before us. Sam Baker, who is the best shot among us, brought in a deer
to-day. This is fortunate, for we stand in need of fresh meat. Our
greatest enemy this winter, I fear, will be scurvy. Unless we obtain a
large supply of fresh provisions we cannot hope to escape it. Crofts
brought in two Arctic hares. They are beautiful creatures--pure white--
and each weighs about seven pounds. These, with the four deer shot by
myself last week and the ten hares got by Baker, will keep us going for
some time.
"_September 12th_.--I had an adventure with a polar bear last night,
which has amused the men very much, and given them food for jocularity
for a few days. Some days back Davy Butts set a trap on the island, in
which he has caught a few foxes. Last night his long legs were so tired
that he did not care to visit his trap, so I offered to go instead of
him. It was while I was out on this errand that I happened to meet with
bruin. Our meeting was sudden and unexpected on both sides, I believe.
It was midnight when I set off to the trap, which was not more than half
a mile from the ship, and it was quite dark when I reached it.
"Davy is an ingenious fellow. His trap is made of four blocks of hard
snow, with a sort of wooden trigger that goes off the moment the bait is
touched, and allows a heavy log to fall down on the poor fox's back.
There was no fox there, however, when I reached it. I went down on my
knees and was examining the bait, when I heard a low growl. I leaped
up, and felt for the knife which I usually carried in my belt. It was
not there! In the haste of my departure from the ship I had forgotten
to buckle it on. I had no gun, of course. It was too dark to shoot,
and I had not counted on meeting with any dangerous enemy. I could only
crouch down behind a lump of ice and hope that the bear would go away,
but another growl, much louder than the first, and close at hand, showed
that I had been seen. It was so dark that I could hardly see fifty
yards ahead. There was a great chasm or hole just in front of me. This
was the place where the main body of the sea-ice had been separated from
the shore-ice that was aground. Here every rise and fall of the tide
had broken it afresh, so that the rent was twenty yards wide, and full
of large blocks that had been tossed about in confusion. Across this I
gazed into the gloom, and thought I saw an object that looked like a
large block of rounded ice. Before I could make up my mind how to act,
the block of ice rose up with a furious roar and charged me. The chasm
checked him for a moment. But for this I should have been caught
immediately. While he was scrambling over it I took to my heels, and
ran along the edge of the ice at the top of my speed.
"There was a narrow part of the chasm which I had looked at in daylight,
and wondered whether I might venture to leap across it. I had made up
my mind that it was too wide and dangerous to be attempted. But it is
wonderful how quickly a man changes his mind on such a point when a
polar bear is roaring at his heels. I came to the gap in the ice. It
was ten feet deep and thirteen or fourteen feet across. The jagged
lumps of ice at the bottom lay there in horrible confusion. There was
barely light enough to see where the hole was when I came within ten
yards of it, but I did not hesitate. A rush! a bound! and I went over
like a cat. Not so the bear. He had not measured the place with his
eye in daylight, as I had done. He made a gallant leap, it is true, but
fell short, as I knew from the bursting sound and the growl of rage with
which he came against the edge of the ice, and fell back among the
broken blocks. I did not wait to see how he got out, you may be sure,
but ran as I never ran before in all my life! I reached the brig quite
out of breath. The bear had not followed me up, for I did not see him
that night again. Long Davy laughed at me a good deal, and said he was
sure I had been frightened at a shadow. It gave a wonderfully loud roar
for a shadow! I hope that Davy himself may get a chase before the
winter is over, just to convince him of his error in not believing me!"
The kind wish thus expressed in the young doctor's journal was gratified
sooner than might have been expected.
Only two days after the incident above described, poor Davy Butts met
with the same bear, face to face, and had a run for his life, that
turned the laugh from Tom Gregory to himself.
It was on the afternoon of a clear, cold day, just about sunset. The
men had finished dinner and were smoking their pipes on deck, stamping
their feet and slapping their hands and arms, to keep them warm.
"Hallo, Davy! where are you bound for?" inquired the captain, on
observing that Butts was wrapping himself carefully in his fur-coat,
tightening his belt, and putting on his mittens as if bent on a long
journey.
"I'm only goin' to take a look at my fox-trap, sir, if you'll allow me."
"Certainly, my lad. If you get a fox it's well worth the trouble. And
hark'ee, Davy, take your axe and make one or two more of these
snow-traps of yours. It will be a well-spent hour."
"Why, Butts," exclaimed Gregory, "what do you mean to do with that big
horse-pistol? Surely you are not afraid of bears after laughing so much
at the one that chased me?"
"Oh, no, not _afraid_, you know," replied Davy. "But there's no harm in
being armed."
"Mind you shoot him straight in the eye, or send a bullet up his nose.
Them's the vulnerable parts of him," cried Joe Davis, with a laugh, as
Butts went down the snow-steps and got upon the ice.
"I say," cried Pepper, as he was moving away.
"Well?"
"Bring his tongue aboard with you, and I'll cook it for supper."
"Ah, and a bit of fat to fry it in," added the steward. "There's
nothin' like tongue fried in bear's grease."
"No, no, Dawkins," said Mr Dicey. "Hallo! Davy; bring the 'ams.
Bear's 'ams are considered fustrate heatin'."
"No, _don't_ bring the hams," shouted Jim Croft, "fetch the tongue;
that's the thing for supper of a cold night--fetch the tongue, lad."
"Hold your own tongue," shouted Davy, in reply, as he went off amid the
laughter of his comrades.
The sun sank soon after, and before the ingenious seaman had finished
two new traps the short twilight had gradually deepened into night.
Still there was plenty of light, for the sky was clear, and studded with
a host of stars. In addition to this the Aurora Borealis was sending
its beautiful flashes of pale-green light all across the western sky.
The Aurora--which also goes by the names of "Northern Lights," and
"Streamers," and "Merry-dancers," is seen in great splendour in these
northern skies. When the seaman had finished his traps, and looked up
for a minute or two at the sky, before starting on his return to the
ship, he beheld the Aurora extending over the heavens in the form of an
irregular arch. It was extremely bright, but the brightness was not the
same in all parts. It moved and waved gently about like a band of thin
green fire. Every now and then long tongues or streamers darted up from
it, and these were brighter than the rest. They were yellowish white,
and sometimes became pale pink in colour. The light from this beautiful
object was equal to that of the moon in her quarter, and the stars that
were behind it shone dimly through, as if they were covered with a thin
gauze veil.
While Davy was gazing in wonder at the splendid lights above him, a deep
growl fell upon his ear. If the man had been a Jack-in-the-box he could
not have leaped more quickly round. His pistol was out and cocked in a
moment!
The growl was followed by a roar, which drove all the blood back into
Davy's heart, and seemed to freeze it there--solid.
The man was no coward, as was quite clear, for at first he boldly stood
his ground. But he would have been more than mortal if he had not felt
some strange qualms about his heart when he saw a large white bear
rushing furiously toward him. The animal came this time from the
interior of the small island. The seaman knew well the place over which
young Gregory had jumped when he had been chased. After wavering for a
moment or two he turned and fled. Another tremendous roar helped him
over the ice like a deer, and he took the chasm with a bound like an
India-rubber ball.
It must certainly have been the same animal that chased Gregory, for,
instead of trying to leap the chasm, it went to another part of the rent
and scrambled across. This gave Butts time to increase the distance
between them, but a man is no match for a polar bear in a race. The
monster was soon close up with him, and the ship still far off. The man
knew his danger; he turned, took a quick aim, and fired. He missed, of
course; flung the pistol in desperation in the bear's face, and ran on.
The pistol happened to stick in the snow, with the butt in the air, and
when the bear came up to it he stopped to smell it!
It it well known, nowadays, that polar bears are full of curiosity, and
will stop for a few minutes to examine anything that comes in their way,
even when they are in full chase of a man. Davy Butts knew nothing of
this at the time; but he was a quick-witted fellow. He observed this
stopping of the bear, and determined to give him something more to stop
at.
When bruin was close at his heels he threw down his cap. The bear at
once pulled up, smelt it all round, tossed it into the air with his
snout, pawed it once or twice, then tore it to pieces with one wrench,
and continued the chase. Very little time was lost in this operation.
He was soon up with the man again; then a mitten was thrown down for his
inspection. After that the other mitten went, the cravat followed, and
the axe went next. All that I have just related happened in a very few
minutes. Davy was still a good quarter of a mile from the brig;
everything that he could tear off his person in haste and throw down was
gone, and the bear was once more coming up behind. As a last hope he
pulled off his heavy fur-coat and dropped it. This seemed to be a
subject of great interest to the bear, for it was longer in inspecting
it than the other things. And now poor Butts went tearing along like a
maniac, in his flannel shirt and trousers. He was a miserable and
curious object, for his body, besides being very long, was uncommonly
lanky, and his legs and arms seemed to go like the wings of a windmill.
Never, since the day of his birth, had Davy Butts run at such a pace, in
such light clothing, and in such severe frost!
A long line of low hummocks hid him from the brig. The moment he passed
these he came in sight of her and began to yell.
"Wot on airth is yon?" exclaimed Joe Davis, who chanced to be looking
over the gangway when this remarkable object appeared.
"The wild man o' the North himself, or my name aint Jim," said Crofts,
turning pale.
"Why, it's Davy Butts, I do believe," cried Sam Baker, who came on deck
at that moment.
Just then the bear came tearing round the end of the hummocks in full
chase.
"Hurrah! hallo! ho!" roared the men, who had crowded on deck at the
first note of alarm.
Sam Baker seized a heavy ash handspike about five feet long, and was on
his way to meet his comrade before the others had gained the ice. They
were not slow, however. Some with muskets, some with pistols and
cutlasses, and some with nothing but their fists--all followed Sam, who
was now far ahead.
Baker passed Davy without a remark, and ran straight at the bear, which
stopped on seeing such a big, powerful man running so furiously at him,
and flourishing a bludgeon that would almost have suited the hand of a
giant. But polar bears are not timid. He rose on his hind legs at
once, and paid no attention whatever to the tremendous crack that Sam
dealt him over the skull. The blow broke the handspike in two, and the
fool-hardy seaman would soon have paid for his rashness with his life
had not friendly and steady hands been near. Nothing daunted, he was
about to repeat the blow with the piece of the handspike that was still
in his grasp, and the bear was about to seize him with its claws, each
of which were full two inches long, when the first mate and Gregory came
running toward him, side by side, the first armed with a rifle, the
doctor with pistols.
"Too late," gasped Gregory.
"We must fire," said Mansell, "and risk hitting Sam. Here, doctor, you
are a good shot; take the rifle."
The young man obeyed, dropped on one knee, and took aim, but did not
fire. Sam was between him and the bear. A sudden movement changed
their positions. The side of the monster came into view, and in another
instant it was stretched on the ice with a bullet in his brain.