CHRISTMAS
There was then a movement of despair. The thought of death, and death
from cold, appeared in all its horror; the last piece of coal burnt
away as quickly as the rest, and the temperature of the room lowered
sensibly. But Johnson went to fetch some lumps of the new fuel which
the marine animals had furnished him with, and he stuffed it into
the stove; he added some oakum, impregnated with frozen oil, and soon
obtained enough heat. The smell of the grease was abominable, but
how could they get rid of it? They were obliged to get used to it.
Johnson agreed that his expedient left much to wish for, and would
have no success in a Liverpool house.
"However," added he, "the smell may have one good result."
"What's that?" asked the carpenter.
"It will attract the bears; they are very fond of the stink."
"And what do we want with bears?" added Bell.
"You know, Bell, we can't depend on the seals; they've disappeared
for a good while to come; if the bears don't come to be turned into
fuel too, I don't know what will become of us."
"There would be only one thing left; but I don't see how----"
"The captain would never consent; but perhaps we shall be obliged."
Johnson shook his head sadly, and fell into a silent reverie, which
Bell did not interrupt. He knew that their stock of grease would not
last more than a week with the strictest economy.
The boatswain was not mistaken. Several bears, attracted by the fetid
exhalations, were signalled to the windward; the healthy men gave
chase to them, but they are extraordinarily quick, and did not allow
themselves to be approached, and the most skilful shots could not
touch them. The ship's crew was seriously menaced with death from
cold; it was impossible to resist such a temperature more than
forty-eight hours, and every one feared the end of the fuel. The
dreaded moment arrived at three o'clock p.m. on the 20th of December.
The fire went out; the sailors looked at each other with haggard eyes.
Hatteras remained immovable in his corner. The doctor as usual marched
up and down in agitation; he was at his wits' end. The temperature
of the room fell suddenly to 7 degrees below zero. But if the doctor
did not know what to do, some of the others did. Shandon, calm and
resolute, and Pen with anger in his eyes, and two or three of their
comrades, who could still walk, went up to Hatteras.
"Captain!" said Shandon.
Hatteras, absorbed in thought, did not hear him.
"Captain!" repeated Shandon, touching his hand.
Hatteras drew himself up.
"What is it?" he said.
"Our fire is out!"
"What then?" answered Hatteras.
"If you mean to kill us with cold, you had better say so," said Shandon
ironically.
"I mean," said Hatteras gravely, "to require every man to do his duty
to the end."
"There's something higher than duty, captain--there's the right to
one's own preservation. I repeat that the fire is out, and if it is
not relighted, not one of us will be alive in two days."
"I have no fuel," answered Hatteras, with a hollow voice.
"Very well," cried Pen violently, "if you have no fuel, we must take
it where we can!"
Hatteras grew pale with anger.
"Where?" said he.
"On board," answered the sailor insolently.
"On board!" echoed the captain, his fists closed, his eyes sparkling.
He had seized an axe, and he now raised it over Pen's head.
"Wretch!" he cried.
The doctor rushed between the captain and Pen; the axe fell to the
ground, its sharp edge sinking into the flooring. Johnson, Bell, and
Simpson were grouped round Hatteras, and appeared determined to give
him their support. But lamentable and plaintive voices came from the
beds.
"Some fire! Give us some fire!" cried the poor fellows.
Hatteras made an effort, and said calmly:
"If we destroy the brig, how shall we get back to England?"
"We might burn some of the rigging and the gunwale, sir," said Johnson.
"Besides, we should still have the boats left," answered Shandon;
"and we could build a smaller vessel with the remains of the old one!"
"Never!" answered Hatteras.
"But----" began several sailors, raising their voices.
"We have a great quantity of spirits of wine," answered Hatteras;
"burn that to the last drop."
"Ah, we didn't think of that!" said Johnson, with affected
cheerfulness, and by the help of large wicks steeped in spirits he
succeeded in raising the temperature a few degrees.
During the days that followed this melancholy scene the wind went
round to the south, and the thermometer went up. Some of the men could
leave the vessel during the least damp part of the day; but ophthalmia
and scurvy kept the greater number on board; besides, neither fishing
nor hunting was practicable. But it was only a short respite from
the dreadful cold, and on the 25th, after an unexpected change in
the wind, the mercury again froze; they were then obliged to have
recourse to the spirits of wine thermometer, which never freezes.
The doctor found, to his horror, that it marked 66 degrees below zero;
men had never been able to support such a temperature. The ice spread
itself in long tarnished mirrors on the floor; a thick fog invaded
the common room; the damp fell in thick snow; they could no longer
see one another; the extremities became blue as the heat of the body
left them; a circle of iron seemed to be clasping their heads, and
made them nearly delirious. A still more fearful symptom was that
their tongues could no longer articulate a word.
From the day they had threatened to burn his ship, Hatteras paced
the deck for hours. He was guarding his treasures; the wood of the
ship was his own flesh, and whoever cut a piece off cut off one of
his limbs. He was armed, and mounted guard, insensible to the cold,
the snow, and the ice, which stiffened his garments and enveloped
him in granite armour. His faithful Dick accompanied him, and seemed
to understand why he was there.
However, on Christmas Day he went down to the common room. The doctor,
taking advantage of what energy he had left, went straight to him,
and said--
"Hatteras, we shall all die if we get no fuel."
"Never!" said Hatteras, knowing what was coming.
"We must," said the doctor gently.
"Never!" repeated Hatteras with more emphasis still. "I will never
consent! They can disobey me if they like!"
Johnson and Bell took advantage of the half-permission, and rushed
on deck. Hatteras heard the wood crack under the axe. He wept. What
a Christmas Day for Englishmen was that on board the _Forward_! The
thought of the great difference between their position and that of
the happy English families who rejoiced in their roast beef, plum
pudding, and mince pies added another pang to the miseries of the
unfortunate crew. However, the fire put a little hope and confidence
into the men; the boiling of coffee and tea did them good, and the
next week passed less miserably, ending the dreadful year 1860; its
early winter had defeated all Hatteras's plans.
On the 1st of January, 1861, the doctor made a discovery. It was not
quite so cold, and he had resumed his interrupted studies; he was
reading Sir Edward Belcher's account of his expedition to the Polar
Seas; all at once a passage struck him; he read it again and again.
It was where Sir Edward Belcher relates that after reaching the
extremity of Queen's Channel he had discovered important traces of
the passage and residence of men. "They were," said he, "very superior
habitations to those which might be attributed to the wandering
Esquimaux. The walls had foundations, the floors of the interior had
been covered with a thick layer of fine gravel, and were paved.
Reindeer, seal, and walrus bones were seen in great quantities. _We
found some coal._" At the last words the doctor was struck with an
idea; he carried the book to Hatteras and showed him the passage.
"They could not have found coal on this deserted coast," said
Hatteras; "it is not possible!"
"Why should we doubt what Belcher says? He would not have recorded
such a fact unless he had been certain and had seen it with his own
eyes."
"And what then, doctor?"
"We aren't a hundred miles from the coast where Belcher saw the coal,
and what is a hundred miles' excursion? Nothing. Longer ones than
that have often been made across the ice."
"We will go," said Hatteras.
Johnson was immediately told of their resolution, of which he strongly
approved; he told his companions about it: some were glad, others
indifferent.
"Coal on these coasts!" said Wall, stretched on his bed of pain.
"Let them go," answered Shandon mysteriously.
But before Hatteras began his preparations for the journey, he wished
to be exactly certain of the _Forward's_ position. He was obliged
to be mathematically accurate as to her whereabouts, because of
finding her again. His task was very difficult; he went upon deck
and took at different moments several lunar distances and the meridian
heights of the principal stars. These observations were hard to make,
for the glass and mirrors of the instrument were covered with ice
from Hatteras's breath; he burnt his eyelashes more than once by
touching the brass of the glasses. However, he obtained exact bases
for his calculations, and came down to make them in the room. When
his work was over, he raised his head in astonishment, took his map,
pricked it, and looked at the doctor.
"What is it?" asked the latter.
"In what latitude were we at the beginning of our wintering?"
"We were in latitude 78 degrees 15 minutes, by longitude 95 degrees
35 minutes; exactly at the Frozen Pole."
"Well," said Hatteras, in a low tone, "our ice-field has been
drifting! We are two degrees farther north and farther west, and three
hundred miles at least from your store of coal!"
"And those poor fellows don't know," said the doctor.
"Hush!" said Hatteras, putting his finger on his lips.