RETURN SOUTH.
Three hours after this sad dénouement of the adventures of Captain
Hatteras, the whole party were back once more in the grotto.
Clawbonny was asked his opinion as to what was best to be done.
"Well, friends," he said, "we cannot stay longer in this
island; the sea is open, and we have enough provisions. We ought to
start at once, and get back without the least delay to Fort
Providence, where we must winter."
"That is my opinion, too," said Altamont. "The wind is
favourable, so to-morrow we will get to sea."
The day passed in profound dejection. The insanity of the captain
was a bad omen and when they began to talk over the return voyage,
their hearts failed them for fear. They missed the intrepid spirit
of their leader.
However, like brave men, they prepared to battle anew with the
elements and with themselves, if ever they felt inclined to give way.
[Illustration]
Next morning they made all ready to sail, and brought the tent and
all its belongings on board.
But before leaving these rocks, never to return, the Doctor carrying
out the intentions of Hatteras, had a cairn erected on the very spot
where the poor fellow had jumped ashore. It was made of great blocks
placed one on the top of the other, so as to be a landmark perfectly
visible while the eruptions of the volcano left it undisturbed. On
one of the side stones, Bell chiselled the simple inscription—
JOHN HATTERAS.
The duplicate of the document attesting the discovery of the North
Pole was enclosed in a tinned iron cylinder, and deposited in the
cairn, to remain as a silent witness among those desert rocks.
This done, the four men and the captain, a poor body without a soul,
set out on the return voyage, accompanied by the faithful Duk, who
had become sad and downcast. A new sail was manufactured out of the
tent, and about ten o'clock, the little sloop sailed out before
the wind.
She made a quick passage, finding abundance of open water. It was
certainly easier to get away from the Pole than to get to it.
But Hatteras knew nothing that was passing around him. He lay full
length in the boat, perfectly silent, with lifeless eye and folded
arms, and Duk lying at his feet. Clawbonny frequently addressed him,
but could elicit no reply.
On the 15th they sighted Altamont Harbour, but as the sea was open
all along the coast, they determined to go round to Victoria Bay by
water, instead of crossing New America in the sledge.
The voyage was easy and rapid. In a week they accomplished what had
taken a fortnight in the sledge, and on the 23rd they cast anchor in
Victoria Bay.
As soon as the sloop was made fast, they all hastened to Fort
Providence. But what a scene of devastation met their eyes!
Doctor's House, stores, powder-magazine, fortifications, all had
melted away, and the provisions had been ransacked by devouring
animals.
The navigators had almost come to the end of their supplies, and had
been reckoning on replenishing their stores at Fort Providence. The
impossibility of wintering there now was evident, and they decided
to get to Baffin's Bay by the shortest route.
"We have no alternative," said Clawbonny; "Baffin's Bay is
not more than six hundred miles distant. We can sail as long as
there is water enough under our sloop, and get to Jones' Sound,
and then on to the Danish settlements."
"Yes," said Altamont; "let us collect what food remains, and
be off at once."
After a thorough search, a few cases of pemmican were found
scattered here and there, and two barrels of preserved meat,
altogether enough for six weeks, and a good supply of powder. It was
soon collected and brought on board, and the remainder of the day
was employed in caulking the sloop and putting her in good trim.
Next morning they put out once more to sea. The voyage presented no
great difficulties, the drift-ice being easily avoided; but still
the Doctor thought it advisable, in case of possible delays, to
limit the rations to one-half. This was no great hardship, as there
was not much work for anyone to do, and all were in perfect health.
Besides, they found a little shooting, and brought down ducks, and
geese, and guillemots, or sea turtledoves. Water they were able to
supply themselves with in abundance, from the fresh-water icebergs
they constantly fell in with as they kept near the coast, not daring
to venture out to the open sea in so frail a barque.
At that time of the year, the thermometer was already constantly
below freezing point. The frequent rains changed to snow, and the
weather became gloomy. Each day the sun dipped lower below the
horizon, and on the 30th, for a few minutes, he was out of sight
altogether.
However, the little sloop sailed steadily on without stopping an
instant. They knew what fatigues and obstacles a land journey
involved, if they should be forced to adopt it, and no time was to
be lost, for soon the open water would harden to firm ground;
already the young ice had begun to form. In these high latitudes
there is neither spring nor autumn; winter follows close on the
heels of summer.
On the 31st the first stars glimmered overhead, and from that time
forwards there was continual fog, which considerably impeded
navigation.
The Doctor became very uneasy at these multiplied indications of
approaching winter. He knew the difficulties Sir John Ross had to
contend with after he left his ship to try and reach Baffin's Bay,
and how, after all, he was compelled to return and pass a fourth
winter on board. It was bad enough with shelter and food and fuel,
but if any such calamity befell the survivors of the Forward, if
they were obliged to stop or return, they were lost.
[Illustration]
The Doctor said nothing of his anxieties to his companions, but only
urged them to get as far east as possible.
At last, after thirty days' tolerably quick sailing, and after
battling for forty-eight hours against the increasing drift ice, and
risking the frail sloop a hundred times, the navigators saw
themselves blocked in on all sides. Further progress was impossible,
for the sea was frozen in every direction, and the thermometer was
only 15° above zero.
Altamont made a reckoning with scrupulous precision, and found they
were in 77°15' latitude, and 85° 2' longitude.
"This is our exact position then," said the Doctor. "We are in
South Lincoln, just at Cape Eden, and are entering Jones' Sound.
With a little more good luck, we should have found open water right
to Baffin's Bay. But we must not grumble. If my poor Hatteras had
found as navigable a sea at first, he would have soon reached the
Pole. His men would not have deserted him, and his brain would not
have given way under the pressure of terrible trial."
"I suppose, then," said Altamont, "our only course is to leave
the sloop, and get by sledge to the east coast of Lincoln."
"Yes; but I think we should go through Jones' Sound, and get to
South Devon instead of crossing Lincoln."
"Why?"
"Because the nearer we get to Lancaster Sound, the more chance we
have of meeting whalers."
"You are right; but I question whether the ice is firm enough to
make it practicable."
"We'll try," replied Clawbonny.
The little vessel was unloaded, and the sledge put together again.
All the parts were in good condition, so the next day the dogs were
harnessed, and they started off along the coast to reach the
ice-field; but Altamont's opinion proved right. They could not get
through Jones' Sound, and were obliged to follow the coast to
Lincoln.
At last, on the 24th, they set foot on North Devon.
"Now," said Clawbonny, "we have only to cross this, and get to
Cape Warender at the entrance to Lancaster Sound."
But the weather became frightful, and very cold. The snow-storms and
tempests returned with winter violence, and the travellers felt too
weak to contend with them. Their stock of provisions was almost
exhausted, and rations had to be reduced now to a third, that the
dogs might have food enough to keep them in working condition.
The nature of the ground added greatly to the fatigue. North Devon
is extremely wild and rugged, and the path across the Trauter
mountains is through difficult gorges. The whole party—men, and
dogs, and sledge alike—were frequently forced to stop, for they
could not struggle on against the fury of the elements. More than
once despair crept over the brave little band, hardy as they were,
and used to Polar sufferings. Though scarcely aware of it
themselves, they were completely worn out, physically and mentally.
It was not till the 30th of August that they emerged from these wild
mountains into a plain, which seemed to have been upturned and
convulsed by volcanic action at some distant period.
Here it was absolutely necessary to take a few days' rest, for the
travellers could not drag one foot after the other, and two of the
dogs had died from exhaustion. None of the party felt equal to put
up the tent, so they took shelter behind an iceberg.
Provisions were now so reduced, that, notwithstanding their scanty
rations, there was only enough left for one week. Starvation stared
the poor fellows in the face.
[Illustration: "Dead, frozen——"—P.262]
Altamont, who had displayed great unselfishness and devotion to the
others, roused his sinking energies, and determined to go out and
find food for his comrades.
He took his gun, called Duk, and went off almost unnoticed by the
rest.
He had been absent about an hour, and only once during that time had
they heard the report of his gun; and now he was coming back
empty-handed, but running as if terrified.
"What is the matter?" asked the Doctor.
"Down there, under the snow!" said Altamont, speaking as if
scared, and pointing in a particular direction.
"What?"
"A whole party of men!"
"Alive?"
"Dead—frozen—and even—"
He did not finish the sentence, but a look of unspeakable horror
came over his face.
The Doctor and the others were so roused by this incident, that they
managed to get up and drag themselves after Altamont towards the
place he indicated.
They soon arrived, at a narrow part at the bottom of a ravine, and
what a spectacle met their gaze! Dead bodies, already stiff, lay
half-buried in a winding-sheet of snow. A leg visible here, an arm
there, and yonder shrunken hands and rigid faces, stamped with the
expression of rage and despair.
The Doctor stooped down to look at them more closely, but instantly
started back pale and agitated, while Duk barked ominously.
"Horrible, horrible!" he said.
"What is it?" asked Johnson.
"Don't you recognize them?"
"What do you mean?"
"Look and see!"
It was evident this ravine had been but recently the scene of a
fearful struggle with cold, and despair, and starvation, for by
certain horrible remains it was manifest that the poor wretches had
been feeding on human flesh, perhaps while still warm and
palpitating; and among them the Doctor recognized Shandon, Pen, and
the ill-fated crew of the Forward! Their strength had failed;
provisions had come to an end; their boat had been broken, perhaps
by an avalanche or engulphed in some abyss, and they could not take
advantage of the open sea; or perhaps they had lost their way in
wandering over these unknown continents. Moreover, men who set out
under the excitement of a revolt were not likely to remain long
united. The leader of a rebellion has but a doubtful power, and no
doubt Shandon's authority had been soon cast off.
Be that as it might, it was evident the crew had come through
agonies of suffering and despair before this last terrible
catastrophe, but the secret of their miseries is buried with them
beneath the polar snows.
"Come away! come away!" said the Doctor, dragging his companions
from the scene. Horror gave them momentary strength, and they
resumed their march without stopping a minute longer.