the more frequented latitudes of Behring Sea. There was no longer any
danger that they would be drifted to the north, and all they had to do
was to watch the displacement of the island, and to estimate the speed
of its motion, which would probably be very unequal, on account of
the obstacles in its path. Hobson most carefully noted every incident,
taking alternately solar and stellar altitudes, and the next day, April
16th, after ascertaining the bearings, he calculated that if its present
speed were maintained, Victoria Island would reach the Arctic Circle,
from which it was now separated at the most by four degrees of latitude,
towards the beginning of May.
It was probable that, when the island reached the narrowest portion of
the strait, it would remain stationary until the thaw broke it up, the
boat would then be launched, and the colonists would set sail for the
American continent.
Everything was ready for an immediate embarkation, and the inhabitants
of the island waited with greater patience and confidence than ever.
They felt, poor things, that the end of their trials was surely near at
last, and that nothing could prevent their landing on one side or the
other of the strait in a few days.
This prospect cheered them up wonderfully, and the gaiety natural to
them all, which they had lost in the terrible anxiety they had so long
endured, was restored. The common meals were quite festal, as there
was no need for economising the stores under present circumstances. The
influence of the spring became more and more sensibly felt, and every
one enjoyed the balmy air, and breathed more freely than before.
During the next few days, several excursions were made to the interior
of the island and along the coast. Everywhere the furred animals, &c.,
still abounded, for even now they could not cross to the continent,
the connection between it and the ice-field being broken, and their
continued presence was a fresh proof that the island was no longer
stationary.
No change had taken place on the island at Cape Esquimaux, Cape Michael,
along the coast, or on the wooded heights of the interior, and the banks
of the lagoon. The large gulf which had opened near Cape Michael during
the storm had closed in the winter, and there was no other fissure on
the surface of the soil.
During these excursions, bands of wolves were seen scudding across parts
of the island. Of all the animals these fierce carnivorous beasts were
the only ones which the feeling of a common danger had not tamed.
Kalumah’s preserver was seen several times. This worthy bear paced to
and fro on the deserted plains in melancholy mood, pausing in his walk
as the explorers passed, and sometimes following them to the fort,
knowing well that he had nothing to fear from them.
On the 20th April Lieutenant Hobson ascertained that the wandering
island was still drifting to the south. All that remained of the
ice-wall, that is to say, the southern portion of the icebergs, followed
it, but as there were no bench marks, the changes of position could only
be estimated by astronomical observations.
Hobson took several soundings in different parts of the ground,
especially at the foot of Cape Bathurst, and on the shores of the
lagoon. He was anxious to ascertain the thickness of the layer of ice
supporting the earth and sand, and found that it had not increased
during the winter, and that the general level of the island did not
appear to have risen higher above that of the sea. The conclusion he
drew from these facts was, that no time should be lost in getting away
from the fragile island, which would rapidly break up and dissolve in
the warmer waters of the Pacific.
About the 25th April the bearing of the island was again changed, the
whole ice-field had moved round from east to west twelve points, so
that Cape Bathurst pointed to the north-west. The last remains of the
ice-wall now shut in the northern horizon, so that there could be no
doubt that the ice-field was moving freely in the strait, and that it
nowhere touched any land.
The fatal moment was approaching. Diurnal or nocturnal observations gave
the exact position of the island, and consequently of the ice-field. On
the 30th of April, both were together drifting across Kotzebue Sound,
a large triangular gulf running some distance inland on the American
coast, and bounded on the south by Cape Prince of Wales, which might,
perhaps, arrest the course of the island if it should deviate in the
very least from the middle of the narrow pass.
The weather was now pretty fine, and the column of mercury often marked
50° Fahrenheit. The colonists had left off their winter garments some
weeks before, and held themselves in constant readiness to leave the
island. Thomas Black had already transported his instruments and books
into the boat, which was waiting on the beach. A good many provisions
had also been embarked and some of the most valuable furs.
On the 2d of May a very carefully taken observation showed that Victoria
Island had a tendency to drift towards the east, and consequently to
reach the American continent. This was fortunate, as they were now out
of danger of being taken any farther by the Kamtchatka Current, which,
as is well known, runs along the coast of Asia. At last the tide was
turning in favour of the colonists!
“I think our bad fortune is at last at an end,” observed Sergeant
Long to Mrs Barnett, “and that our misfortunes are really over; I
don’t suppose there are any more dangers to be feared now.”
“I quite agree with you,” replied Mrs Barnett, “and it is very
fortunate that we had to give up our journey across the ice-field a few
months ago; we ought to be very thankful that it was impassible!”
Mrs Barnett was certainly justified in speaking as she did, for what
fearful fatigues and sufferings they would all have had to undergo in
crossing five hundred miles of ice in the darkness of the Polar night!
On the 5th May, Hobson announced that Victoria Island had just
crossed the Arctic Circle. It had at last re-entered that zone of the
terrestrial sphere in which at one period of the year the sun does not
set. The poor people all felt that they were returning to the inhabited
globe.
The event of crossing the Arctic Circle was celebrated in much the same
way as crossing the Equator for the first time would be on board ship,
and many a glass of spirits was drank in honour of the event.
There was now nothing left to do but to wait till the broken and
half-melted ice should allow of the passage of the boat, which was to
bear the whole colony to the land.
During the 7th May the island turned round to the extent of another
quarter of its circumference. Cape Bathurst now pointed due north, and
those masses of the old chain of icebergs which still remained standing
were now above it, so that it occupied much the same position as that
assigned to it in maps when it was united to the American continent.
The island had gradually turned completely round, and the sun had risen
successively on every point of its shores.
The observations of the 8th May showed that the island had become
stationary near the middle of the passage, at least forty miles from
Cape Prince of Wales, so that land was now at a comparatively short
distance from it, and the safety of all seemed to be secured.
In the evening a good supper was served in the large room, and the
healths of Mrs Barnett and of Lieutenant Hobson were proposed.
The same night the Lieutenant determined to go and see if any changes
had taken place in the ice-field on the south, hoping that a practicable
passage might have been opened.
Mrs Barnett was anxious to accompany him, but he persuaded her to rest a
little instead, and started off, accompanied only by Sergeant Long.
Mrs Barnett, Madge, and Kalumah returned to the principal house after
seeing them off, and the soldiers and women had already gone to bed in
the different apartments assigned to them.
It was a fine night, there was no moon, but the stars shone very
brightly, and as the ice-field vividly reflected their light, it was
possible to see for a considerable distance.
It was nine o’clock when the two explorers left the fort and turned
towards that part of the coast between Port Barnett and Cape Michael.
They followed the beach for about two miles, and found the ice-field in
a state of positive chaos. The sea was one vast aggregation of crystals
of every size, it looked as if it had been petrified suddenly when
tossing in a tempest, and, alas, there was even now no free passage
between the ice-masses—it would be impossible for a boat to pass yet.
Hobson and Long remained on the ice-field talking and looking about them
until midnight, and then seeing that there was still nothing to do but
to wait, they decided to go back to Fort Hope and rest for a few hours.
They had gone some hundred paces, and had reached the dried-up bed of
Paulina River, when an unexpected noise arrested them. It was a distant
rumbling from the northern part of the ice-field, and it became louder
and louder until it was almost deafening. Something dreadful was going
on in the quarter from which it came, and Hobson fancied he felt the ice
beneath his feet trembling, which was certainly far from reassuring.
“The noise comes from the chain of icebergs,” exclaimed Long,
“what can be going on there?”
Hobson did not answer, but feeling dreadfully anxious he rushed towards
the fort dragging his companion after him.
“To the fort! to the fort.” he cried at last, “the ice may have
opened, we may be able to launch our boat on the sea!”
And the two ran as fast as ever they could towards Fort Hope by the
shortest way.
A thousand conjectures crowded upon them. From what new phenomenon did
the unexpected noise proceed? Did the sleeping inhabitants of the fort
know what was going on? They must certainly have heard the noise, for,
in vulgar language, it was loud enough to wake the dead.
Hobson and Long crossed the two miles between them and Fort Hope in
twenty minutes, but before they reached the enceinte they saw the men
and women they had left asleep hurrying away in terrified disorder,
uttering cries of despair.
The carpenter Mac-Nab, seeing the Lieutenant, ran towards him with his
little boy in his arms.
“Look, sir, look!” he cried, drawing his master towards a little
hill which rose a few yards behind the fort.
Hobson obeyed, and saw that part of the ice-wall, which, when he left,
was two or three miles off in the offing, had fallen upon the coast of
the island. Cape Bathurst no longer existed, the mass of earth and
sand of which it was composed had been swept away by the icebergs and
scattered over the palisades. The principal house and all the buildings
connected with it on the north were buried beneath the avalanche. Masses
of ice were crowding upon each other and tumbling over with an awful
crash, crushing everything beneath them. It was like an army of icebergs
taking possession of the island.
The boat which had been built at the foot of the cape was completely
destroyed. The last hope of the unfortunate colonists was gone!
As they stood watching the awful scene, the buildings, formerly occupied
by the soldiers and women, and from which they had escaped in time,
gave way beneath an immense block of ice which fell upon them. A cry of
despair burst from the lips of the houseless outcasts.
“And the others, where are they?” cried the Lieutenant in
heart-rending tones.
“There!” replied Mac-Nab, pointing to the heap of sand, earth, and
ice, beneath which the principal house had entirely disappeared.
Yes, the illustrious lady traveller, Madge, Kalumah, and Thomas Black,
were buried beneath the avalanche which had surprised them in their
sleep!