THE PORPOISE
It was the 24th of March, and Palm Sunday, a bright, joyous day in
many a town and village of the Old World, but in this desolate
region what mournful silence prevailed! No willow branches here with
their silvery blossom—not even a single withered leaf to be seen
—not a blade of grass!
Yet this was a glad day to the travellers, for it promised them
speedy deliverance from the death that had seemed so inevitable.
They hastened onward, the dogs put forth renewed energy, and Duk
barked his loudest, till, before long, they arrived at the ship. The
Porpoise was completely buried under the snow. All her masts and
rigging had been destroyed in the shipwreck, and she was lying on a
bed of rocks so entirely on her side that her hull was uppermost.
They had to knock away fifteen feet of ice before they could even
catch a glimpse of her, and it was not without great difficulty that
they managed to get on board, and made the welcome discovery that
the provision stores had not been visited by any four-footed
marauders. It was quite evident, however, that the ship was not
habitable.
"Never mind!" said Hatteras, "we must build a snow-house, and
make ourselves comfortable on land."
"Yes, but we need not hurry over it," said the Doctor; "let us
do it well while we're about it, and for a time we can make shift
on board; for we must build a good, substantial house, that will
protect us from the bears as well as the cold. I'll undertake to
be the architect, and you shall see what a first-rate job I'll
make of it."
"I don't doubt your talents, Mr. Clawbonny," replied Johnson;
"but, meantime, let us see about taking up our abode here, and
making an inventory of the stores we find. There does not seem a
boat visible of any description, and I fear these timbers are in too
bad a condition to build a new ship out of them."
"I don't know that," returned Clawbonny, "time and thought
do wonders; but our first business is to build a house, and not a
ship; one thing at a time, I propose."
"And quite right too," said Hatteras; "so we'll go ashore
again."
They returned to the sledge, to communicate the result of their
investigation to Bell and Altamont; and about four in the afternoon
the five men installed themselves as well as they could on the
wreck. Bell had managed to make a tolerably level floor with planks
and spars; the stiffened cushions and hammocks were placed round the
stove to thaw, and were soon fit for use. Altamont, with the
Doctor's assistance, got on board without much trouble, and a sigh
of satisfaction escaped him as if he felt himself once more at
home—a sigh which to Johnson's ear boded no good.
The rest of the day was given to repose, and they wound up with a
good supper off the remains of the bear, backed by a plentiful
supply of biscuit and hot tea.
[Illustration: The poor fellows felt like colonists safely arrived
at their destination—P.57]
It was late next morning before Hatteras and his companions woke,
for their minds were not burdened now with any solicitudes about the
morrow, and they might sleep as long as they pleased. The poor
fellows felt like colonists safely arrived at their destination, who
had forgotten all the sufferings of the voyage, and thought only of
the new life that lay before them.
"Well, it is something at all events," said the Doctor, rousing
himself and stretching his arms, "for a fellow not to need to ask
where he is going to find his next bed and breakfast."
"Let us see what there is on board before we say much," said
Johnson.
The Porpoise has been thoroughly equipped and provisioned for a long
voyage, and, on making an inventory of what stores remained, they
found 6150 lbs. of flour, fat, and raisins; 2000 lbs. of salt beef
and pork, 1500 lbs. of pemmican; 700 lbs. of sugar, and the same of
chocolate; a chest and a half of tea, weighing 96 lbs.; 500 lbs. of
rice; several barrels of preserved fruits and vegetables; a quantity
of lime-juice, with all sorts of medicines, and 300 gallons of rum
and brandy. There was also a large supply of gunpowder, ball, and
shot, and coal and wood in abundance.
Altogether, there was enough to last those five men for more than
two years, and all fear of death from starvation or cold was at an
end.
"Well, Hatteras, we're sure of enough to live on now," said
the Doctor, "and there is nothing to hinder us reaching the
Pole."
"The Pole!" echoed Hatteras.
"Yes, why not? Can't we push our way overland in the summer
months?"
"We might overland; but how could we cross water?"
"Perhaps we may be able to build a boat out of some of the
ship's planks."
"Out of an American ship!" exclaimed the captain, contemptuously.
Clawbonny was prudent enough to make no reply, and presently changed
the conversation by saying—
"Well, now we have seen what we have to depend upon, we must begin
our house and store-rooms. We have materials enough at hand; and,
Bell, I hope you are going to distinguish yourself," he added.
"I am ready, Mr. Clawbonny," replied Bell; "and, as for
material, there is enough for a town here with houses and streets."
"We don't require that; we'll content ourselves with imitating
the Hudson's Bay Company. They entrench themselves in fortresses
against the Indians and wild beasts. That's all we need—a house
one side and stores the other, with a wall and two bastions. I must
try to make a plan."
"Ah! Doctor, if you undertake it," said Johnson, "I am sure
you'll make a good thing of it."
"Well, the first part of the business is to go and choose the
ground. Will you come with us Hatteras?"
"I'll trust all that to you, Doctor," replied the captain.
"I'm going to look along the coast."
Altamont was too feeble yet to take part in any work, so he remained
on the ship, while the others commenced to explore the unknown
continent.
On examining the coast, they found that the Porpoise was in a sort
of bay bristling with dangerous rocks, and that to the west, far as
the eye could reach, the sea extended, entirely frozen now, though
if Belcher and Penny were to be believed, open during the summer
months. Towards the north, a promontory stretched out into the sea,
and about three miles away was an island of moderate size. The
roadstead thus formed would have afforded safe anchorage to ships,
but for the difficulty of entering it. A considerable distance
inland there was a solitary mountain, about 3000 feet high, by the
Doctor's reckoning; and half-way up the steep rocky cliffs that
rose from the shore, they noticed a circular plateau, open on three
sides to the bay and sheltered on the fourth by a precipitous wall,
120 feet high.
This seemed to the Doctor the very place for this house, from its
naturally fortified situation. By cutting steps in the ice, they
managed to climb up and examine it more closely.
[Illustration]
They were soon convinced they could not have a better foundation,
and resolved to commence operations forthwith, by removing the hard
snow more than ten feet deep, which covered the ground, as both
dwelling and storehouses must have a solid foundation.
This preparatory work occupied the whole of Monday, Tuesday, and
Wednesday. At last they came to hard granite close in grain, and
containing garnets and felspar crystals, which flew out with every
stroke of the pickaxe.
[Illustration]
The dimensions and plan of the snow-house were then settled by the
Doctor. It was to be divided into three rooms, as all they needed
was a bed-room, sitting-room and kitchen. The sitting-room was to be
in the middle, the kitchen to the left, and the bed-room to the
right.
For five days they toiled unremittingly. There was plenty of
material, and the walls required to be thick enough to resist summer
thaws. Already the house began to present an imposing appearance.
There were four windows in front, made of splendid sheets of ice, in
Esquimaux fashion, through which the light came softly in as if
through frosted glass.
Outside there was a long covered passage between the two windows of
the sitting-room. This was the entrance hall, and it was shut in by
a strong door taken from the cabin of the Porpoise. The Doctor was
highly delighted with his performance when all was finished, for
though it would have been difficult to say to what style of
architecture it belonged, it was strong, and that was the chief
thing.
The next business was to move in all the furniture of the Porpoise.
The beds were brought first and laid down round the large stove in
the sleeping room; then came chairs, tables, arm-chairs, cupboards,
and benches for the sitting-room, and finally the ship furnaces and
cooking utensils for the kitchen. Sails spread on the ground did
duty for carpets, and also served for inner doors.
[Illustration]
The walls of the house were over five feet thick, and the windows
resembled port-holes for cannon. Every part was as solid as
possible, and what more was wanted? Yet if the Doctor could have had
his way, he would have made all manner of ornamental additions, in
humble imitation of the Ice Palace built in St. Petersburgh in
January, 1740, of which he had read an account. He amused his
companions after work in the evening by describing its grandeur, the
cannons in front, and statues of exquisite beauty, and the wonderful
elephant that spouted water out of his trunk by day and flaming
naphtha by night—all cut out of ice. He also depicted the
interior, with tables, and toilette tables, mirrors, candelabra,
tapers, beds, mattresses, pillows, curtains, time-pieces, chairs,
playing-cards, wardrobes, completely fitted up—in fact, everything
in the way of furniture that could be mentioned, and the whole
entirely composed of ice.
It was on Easter Sunday, the 31st of March, when the travellers
installed themselves in their new abode and after holding divine
service in the sitting-room, they devoted the remainder of the day
to rest.
Next morning they set about building the storehouses and powder
magazine. This took a whole week longer, including the time spent in
unloading the vessel, which was a task of considerable difficulty,
as the temperature was so low, that they could not work for many
hours at a time. At length on the 8th of April, provisions, fuel,
and ammunition were all safe on terra firma, and deposited in their
respective places. A sort of kennel was constructed a little
distance from the house for the Greenland dogs, which the Doctor
dignified by the name of "Dog Palace." Duk shared his master's
quarters.
All that now remained to be done was to put a parapet right round
the plateau by way of fortification.
[Illustration]
By the 15th this was also completed, and the snow-house might bid
defiance to a whole tribe of Esquimaux, or any other hostile
invaders, if indeed any human beings whatever were to be found on
this unknown continent, for Hatteras, who had minutely examined the
bay and the surrounding coast, had not been able to discover the
least vestiges of the huts that are generally met with on shores
frequented by Greenland tribes. The shipwrecked sailors of the
Porpoise and Forward seemed to be the first whose feet had ever trod
this lone region.