THE LAST LUMP OF COAL
It seemed certain that no bears were to be had; several seals were
killed during the days of the 4th, 5th, and 6th of November; then
the wind changed, and the thermometer went up several degrees; but
the snow-drifts began again with great violence. It became impossible
to leave the vessel, and the greatest precaution was needed to keep
out the damp. At the end of the week there were several bushels of
ice in the condensers. The weather changed again on the 15th of
November, and the thermometer, under the influence of certain
atmospherical conditions, went down to 24 degrees below zero. It was
the lowest temperature observed up till then. This cold would have
been bearable in a quiet atmosphere, but there was a strong wind which
seemed to fill the atmosphere with sharp blades. The doctor was vexed
at being kept prisoner, for the ground was covered with snow, made
hard by the wind, and was easy to walk upon; he wanted to attempt
some long excursion.
It is very difficult to work when it is so cold, because of the
shortness of breath it causes. A man can only do a quarter of his
accustomed work; iron implements become impossible to touch; if one
is taken up without precaution, it causes a pain as bad as a burn,
and pieces of skin are left on it. The crew, confined to the ship,
were obliged to walk for two hours on the covered deck, where they
were allowed to smoke, which was not allowed in the common room. There,
directly the fire got low, the ice invaded the walls and the joins
in the flooring; every bolt, nail, or metal plate became immediately
covered with a layer of ice. The doctor was amazed at the instantaneity
of the phenomenon. The breath of the men condensed in the air, and
passing quickly from a fluid to a solid state, fell round them in
snow. At a few feet only from the stoves the cold was intense, and
the men stood near the fire in a compact group. The doctor advised
them to accustom their skin to the temperature, which would certainly
get worse, and he himself set the example; but most of them were too
idle or too benumbed to follow his advice, and preferred remaining
in the unhealthy heat. However, according to the doctor, there was
no danger in the abrupt changes of temperature in going from the warm
room into the cold. It is only dangerous for people in perspiration;
but the doctor's lessons were thrown away on the greater part of the
crew.
As to Hatteras, he did not seem to feel the influence of the
temperature. He walked silently about at his ordinary pace. Had the
cold no empire over his strong constitution, or did he possess in
a supreme degree the natural heat he wished his sailors to have? Was
he so armed in his one idea as to be insensible to exterior
impressions? His men were profoundly astonished at seeing him facing
the 24 degrees below zero; he left the ship for hours, and came back
without his face betraying the slightest mark of cold.
"He is a strange man," said the doctor to Johnson; "he even astonishes
me. He is one of the most powerful natures I have ever studied in
my life."
"The fact is," answered Johnson, "that he comes and goes in the open
air without clothing himself more warmly than in the month of June."
"Oh! the question of clothes is not of much consequence," replied
the doctor; "it is of no use clothing people who do not produce heat
naturally. It is the same as if we tried to warm a piece of ice by
wrapping it up in a blanket! Hatteras does not want that; he is
constituted so, and I should not be surprised if being by his side
were as good as being beside a stove."
Johnson had the job of clearing the water-hole the next day, and
remarked that the ice was more than ten feet thick. The doctor could
observe magnificent aurora borealis almost every night; from four
till eight p.m. the sky became slightly coloured in the north; then
this colouring took the regular form of a pale yellow border, whose
extremities seemed to buttress on to the ice-field. Little by little
the brilliant zone rose in the sky, following the magnetic meridian,
and appeared striated with blackish bands; jets of some luminous
matter, augmenting and diminishing, shot out lengthways; the meteor,
arrived at its zenith, was often composed of several bows, bathed
in floods of red, yellow, or green light. It was a dazzling spectacle.
Soon the different curves all joined in one point, and formed boreal
crowns of a heavenly richness. At last the bows joined, the splendid
aurora faded, the intense rays melted into pale, vague, undetermined
shades, and the marvellous phenomenon, feeble, and almost
extinguished, fainted insensibly into the dark southern clouds.
Nothing can equal the wonders of such a spectacle under the high
latitudes less than eight degrees from the Pole; the aurora borealis
perceived in temperate regions gives no idea of them--not even a
feeble one; it seems as if Providence wished to reserve its most
astonishing marvels for these climates.
During the duration of the moon several images of her are seen in
the sky, increasing her brilliancy; often simple lunar halos surround
her, and she shines from the centre of her luminous circle with a
splendid intensity.
On the 26th of November there was a high tide, and the water escaped
with violence from the water-hole; the thick layer of ice was shaken
by the rising of the sea, and sinister crackings announced the
submarine struggle; happily the ship kept firm in her bed, and her
chains only were disturbed. Hatteras had had them fastened in
anticipation of the event. The following days were still colder; there
was a penetrating fog, and the wind scattered the piled-up snow; it
became difficult to see whether the whirlwinds began in the air or
on the ice-fields; confusion reigned.
The crew were occupied in different works on board, the principal
of which consisted in preparing the grease and oil produced by the
seals; they had become blocks of ice, which had to be broken with
axes into little bits, and ten barrels were thus preserved.
All sorts of vessels were useless, and the liquid they contained would
only have broken them when the temperature changed. On the 28th the
thermometer went down to 32 degrees below zero; there was only coal
enough left for ten days, and everyone looked forward to its
disappearance with dread. Hatteras had the poop stove put out for
economy's sake, and from that time Shandon, the doctor, and he stayed
in the common room. Hatteras was thus brought into closer contact
with the men, who threw ferocious and stupefied looks at him. He heard
their reproaches, their recriminations, and even their threats, and
he could not punish them. But he seemed to be deaf to everything.
He did not claim the place nearest the fire, but stopped in a corner,
his arms folded, never speaking.
In spite of the doctor's recommendations, Pen and his friends refused
to take the least exercise; they passed whole days leaning against
the stove or lying under the blankets of their hammocks. Their health
soon began to suffer; they could not bear up against the fatal
influence of the climate, and the terrible scurvy made its appearance
on board. The doctor had, however, begun, some time ago, to distribute
limejuice and lime pastilles every morning; but these preservatives,
generally so efficacious, had very little effect on the malady, which
soon presented the most horrible symptoms. The sight of the poor
fellows, whose nerves and muscles contracted with pain, was pitiable.
Their legs swelled in an extraordinary fashion, and were covered with
large blackish blue spots; their bloody gums and ulcerated lips only
gave passage to inarticulate sounds; the vitiated blood no longer
went to the extremities.
Clifton was the first attacked; then Gripper, Brunton, and Strong
took to their hammocks. Those that the malady still spared could not
lose sight of their sufferings; they were obliged to stay there, and
it was soon transformed into a hospital, for out of eighteen sailors
of the _Forward_, thirteen were attacked in a few days. Pen seemed
destined to escape contagion; his vigorous nature preserved him from
it. Shandon felt the first symptoms, but they did not go further,
and exercise kept the two in pretty good health.
The doctor nursed the invalids with the greatest care, and it made
him miserable to see the sufferings he could not alleviate. He did
all he could to keep his companions in good spirits; he talked to
them, read to them, and told them tales, which his astonishing memory
made it easy for him to do. He was often interrupted by the complaints
and groans of the invalids, and he stopped his talk to become once
more the attentive and devoted doctor. His health kept up well; he
did not get thinner, and he used to say that it was a good thing for
him that he was dressed like a seal or a whale, who, thanks to its
thick layer of fat, easily supports the Arctic atmosphere. Hatteras
felt nothing, either physically or morally. Even the sufferings of
his crew did not seem to touch him. Perhaps it was because he would
not let his face betray his emotions; but an attentive observer would
have remarked that a man's heart beat beneath the iron envelope. The
doctor analysed him, studied him, but did not succeed in classifying
so strange an organisation, a temperament so supernatural. The
thermometer lowered again; the walk on deck was deserted; the
Esquimaux dogs alone frequented it, howling lamentably.
There was always one man on guard near the stove to keep up the fire;
it was important not to let it go out. As soon as the fire got lower,
the cold glided into the room; ice covered the walls, and the humidity,
rapidly condensed, fell in snow on the unfortunate inhabitants of
the brig. It was in the midst of these unutterable tortures that the
8th of December was reached. That morning the doctor went as usual
to consult the exterior thermometer. He found the mercury completely
frozen.
"Forty-four degrees below zero!" he cried with terror. And that day
they threw the last lump of coal into the stove.