BEECHEY ISLAND
On the 25th of June the _Forward_ arrived in sight of Cape Dundas
at the north-western extremity of Prince of Wales's Land. There the
difficulty of navigating amongst the ice grew greater. The sea is
narrower there, and the line made by Crozier, Young, Day, Lowther,
and Garret Islands, like a chain of forts before a roadstead, forced
the ice-streams to accumulate in this strait. The brig took from the
25th to the 30th of June to make as much way as she would have done
in one day under any other circumstances; she stopped, retraced her
steps, waiting for a favourable occasion so as not to miss Beechey
Island, using a great deal of coal, as the fires were only moderated
when she had to halt, but were never put out, so that she might be
under pressure day and night. Hatteras knew the extent of his coal
provision as well as Shandon, but as he was certain of getting his
provision renewed at Beechey Island he would not lose a minute for
the sake of economy; he had been much delayed by his forced march
southward, and although he had taken the precaution of leaving England
before the month of April, he did not find himself more advanced than
preceding expeditions had been at the same epoch. On the 30th they
sighted Cape Walker at the north-eastern extremity of Prince of
Wales's Land; it was the extreme point that Kennedy and Bellot
perceived on the 3rd of May, 1852, after an excursion across the whole
of North Somerset. Before that, in 1851, Captain Ommaney, of the
Austin expedition, had the good luck to revictual his detachments
there. This cape is very high, and remarkable for its reddish-brown
colour; from there, when the weather is clear, the view stretches
as far as the entrance to Wellington Channel. Towards evening they
saw Cape Bellot, separated from Cape Walker by McLeon Bay. Cape Bellot
was so named in the presence of the young French officer, for whom
the English expedition gave three cheers. At this spot the coast is
made of yellowish limestone, presenting a very rugged outline; it
is defended by enormous icebergs which the north winds pile up there
in a most imposing way. It was soon lost to sight by the _Forward_
as she opened a passage amongst the ice to get to Beechey Island
through Barrow Strait. Hatteras resolved to go straight on, and, so
as not to be drifted further than the island, scarcely quitted his
post during the following days; he often went to the masthead to look
out for the most advantageous channels. All that pluck, skill, and
genius could do he did while they were crossing the strait. Fortune
did not favour him, for the sea is generally more open at this epoch.
But at last, by dint of sparing neither his steam, his crew, nor
himself, he attained his end.
On the 3rd of July, at 11 o'clock in the morning, the ice-master
signalled land to the north. After taking an observation Hatteras
recognised Beechey Island, that general meeting-place of Arctic
navigators. Almost all ships that adventure in these seas stop there.
Franklin wintered there for the first time before getting into
Wellington Strait, and Creswell, with Lieutenant McClure, after
having cleared 170 miles on the ice, rejoined the _Phoenix_ and
returned to England. The last ship which anchored at Beechey Island
before the _Forward_ was the _Fox_; McClintock revictualled there
the 11th of August, 1858, and repaired the habitations and magazines;
only two years had elapsed since then, and Hatteras knew all these
details. The boatswain's heart beat with emotion at the sight of this
island; when he had visited it he was quartermaster on board the
_Phoenix_; Hatteras questioned him about the coast line, the
facilities for anchoring, how far they could go inland, &c.; the
weather was magnificent, and the temperature kept at 57 degrees.
"Well, Johnson," said the captain, "do you know where you are?"
"Yes, sir, that is Beechey Island; only you must let us get further
north--the coast is more easy of access."
"But where are the habitations and the magazines?" said Hatteras.
"Oh, you can't see them till you land; they are sheltered behind those
little hills you see yonder."
"And is that where you transported a considerable quantity of
provisions?"
"Yes, sir; the Admiralty sent us here in 1853, under the command of
Captain Inglefield, with the steamer _Phoenix_ and a transport ship,
the _Breadalbane_, loaded with provisions; we brought enough with
us to revictual a whole expedition."
"But the commander of the _Fox_ took a lot of them in 1858," said
Hatteras.
"That doesn't matter, sir; there'll be plenty left for you; the cold
preserves them wonderfully, and we shall find them as fresh and in
as good a state of preservation as the first day."
"What I want is coal," said Hatteras; "I have enough provisions for
several years."
"We left more than a thousand tons there, so you can make your mind
easy."
"Are we getting near?" said Hatteras, who, telescope in hand, was
watching the coast.
"You see that point?" continued Johnson. "When we have doubled it
we shall be very near where we drop anchor. It was from that place
that we started for England with Lieutenant Creswell and the twelve
invalids from the _Investigator_. We were fortunate enough to bring
back McClure's lieutenant, but the officer Bellot, who accompanied
us on board the _Phoenix_, never saw his country again! It is a painful
thing to think about. But, captain, I think we ought to drop anchor
here."
"Very well," answered Hatteras, and he gave his orders in consequence.
The _Forward_ was in a little bay naturally sheltered on the north,
east, and south, and at about a cable's length from the coast.
"Mr. Wall," said Hatteras, "have the long boat got ready to transport
the coal on board. I shall land in the pirogue with the doctor and
the boatswain. Will you accompany us, Mr. Shandon?"
"As you please," answered Shandon.
A few minutes later the doctor, armed as a sportsman and a _savant_,
took his place in the pirogue along with his companions; in ten minutes
they landed on a low and rocky coast.
"Lead the way, Johnson," said Hatteras. "You know it, I suppose?"
"Perfectly, sir; only there's a monument here that I did not expect
to find!"
"That!" cried the doctor; "I know what it is; let us go up to it;
the stone itself will tell us."
The four men advanced, and the doctor said, after taking off his hat--
"This, my friends, is a monument in memory of Franklin and his
companions."
Lady Franklin had, in 1855, confided a black marble tablet to Doctor
Kane, and in 1858 she gave a second to McClintock to be raised on
Beechey Island. McClintock accomplished this duty religiously, and
placed the stone near a funeral monument erected to the memory of
Bellot by Sir John Barrow.
The tablet bore the following inscription:
"TO THE MEMORY OF
FRANKLIN, CROZIER, FITZ-JAMES,
AND ALL THEIR VALIANT BRETHREN
OFFICERS AND FAITHFUL COMPANIONS
who suffered for the cause of science and for their country's glory.
"This stone is erected near the place where they passed their first
Arctic winter, and from whence they departed to conquer obstacles
or to die.
"It perpetuates the regret of their countrymen and friends who admire
them, and the anguish, conquered by Faith, of her who lost in the
chief of the expedition the most devoted and most affectionate of
husbands.
"It is thus that He led them to the supreme haven where all men take
their rest.
"1855."
This stone, on a forlorn coast of these far-off regions, appealed
mournfully to the heart; the doctor, in presence of these touching
regrets, felt his eyes fill with tears. At the very same place which
Franklin and his companions passed full of energy and hope, there
only remained a block of marble in remembrance! And notwithstanding
this sombre warning of destiny, the _Forward_ was going to follow
in the track of the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_. Hatteras was the first
to rouse himself from the perilous contemplation, and quickly climbed
a rather steep hill, almost entirely bare of snow.
"Captain," said Johnson, following him, "we shall see the magazines
from here."
Shandon and the doctor joined them on the summit. But from there the
eye contemplated the vast plains, on which there remained no vestige
of a habitation.
"That is singular!" cried the boatswain.
"Well, and where are the magazines?" said Hatteras quickly.
"I don't know--I don't see----" stammered Johnson.
"You have mistaken the way," said the doctor.
"It seemed to me that this was the very place," continued Johnson.
"Well," said Hatteras, impatiently "where are we to go now?"
"We had better go down, for I may be mistaken. I may have forgotten
the exact locality in seven years!"
"Especially when the country is so uniformly monotonous!" added the
doctor.
"And yet----" murmured Johnson.
Shandon had not spoken a word. After walking for a few minutes, Johnson
stopped.
"But no," he cried, "I am not mistaken!"
"Well?" said Hatteras, looking round him.
"Do you see that swell of the ground?" asked the boatswain, pointing
to a sort of mound with three distinct swells on it.
"What do you conclude from that?" asked the doctor.
"Those are the three graves of Franklin's sailors. I am sure now that
I am not mistaken; the habitations ought to be about a hundred feet
from here, and if they are not, they----"
He dared not finish his sentence; Hatteras had rushed forward, a prey
to violent despair. There, where the wished-for stores on which he
had counted ought to have been, there ruin, pillage and destruction
had been before him. Who had done it? Animals would only have attacked
the provisions, and there did not remain a single rag from the tent,
a piece of wood or iron, and, more terrible still, not a fragment
of coal! It was evident that the Esquimaux had learnt the value of
these objects from their frequent relations with Europeans; since
the departure of the _Fox_ they had fetched everything away, and had
not left a trace even of their passage. A slight coating of snow
covered the ground. Hatteras was confounded. The doctor looked and
shook his head. Shandon still said nothing, but an attentive observer
would have noticed his lips curl with a cruel smile. At this moment
the men sent by Lieutenant Wall came up; they soon saw the state of
affairs. Shandon advanced towards the captain, and said:
"Mr. Hatteras, we need not despair; happily we are near the entrance
to Barrow Strait, which will take us back to Baffin's Sea!"
"Mr. Shandon," answered Hatteras, "happily we are near the entrance
to Wellington Strait, and that will take us north!"
"But how shall we get along, captain?"
"With the sails, sir. We have two months' firing left, and that is
enough for our wintering."
"But allow me to tell you----" added Shandon.
"I will allow you to follow me on board my ship, sir," answered
Hatteras, and turning his back on his second, he returned to the brig
and shut himself up in his cabin. For the next two days the wind was
contrary, and the captain did not show up on deck. The doctor profited
by the forced sojourn to go over Beechey Island; he gathered some
plants, which the temperature, relatively high, allowed to grow here
and there on the rocks that the snow had left, some heaths, a few
lichens, a sort of yellow ranunculus, a sort of plant something like
sorrel, with wider leaves and more veins, and some pretty vigorous
saxifrages. He found the fauna of this country much richer than the
flora; he perceived long flocks of geese and cranes going northward,
partridges, eider ducks of a bluish black, sandpipers, a sort of
wading bird of the scolopax class, northern divers, plungers with
very long bodies, numerous ptarmites, a sort of bird very good to
eat, dovekies with black bodies, wings spotted with white, feet and
beak red as coral; noisy bands of kittywakes and fat loons with white
breasts, represented the ornithology of the island. The doctor was
fortunate enough to kill a few grey hares, which had not yet put on
their white winter fur, and a blue fox which Dick ran down skilfully.
Some bears, evidently accustomed to dread the presence of men, would
not allow themselves to be got at, and the seals were extremely timid,
doubtless for the same reason as their enemies the bears. The class
of articulated animals was represented by a single mosquito, which
the doctor caught to his great delight, though not till it had stung
him. As a conchologist he was less favoured, and only found a sort
of mussel and some bivalve shells.