PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE
Hatteras would not inform his crew of their situation, for if they
had known that they had been dragged farther north they would very
likely have given themselves up to the madness of despair. The captain
had hidden his own emotions at his discovery. It was his first happy
moment during the long months passed in struggling with the elements.
He was a hundred and fifty miles farther north, scarcely eight degrees
from the Pole! But he hid his delight so profoundly that even the
doctor did not suspect it; he wondered at seeing an unwonted
brilliancy in the captain's eyes; but that was all, and he never once
thought of the reason.
The _Forward_, by getting nearer the Pole, had got farther away from
the coal repository observed by Sir Edward Belcher; instead of one
hundred, it lay at two hundred and fifty miles farther south. However,
after a short discussion about it between Hatteras and Clawbonny,
the journey was persisted in. If Belcher had written the truth--and
there was no reason for doubting his veracity--they should find things
exactly in the same state as he had left them, for no new expedition
had gone to these extreme continents since 1853. There were few or
no Esquimaux to be met with in that latitude. They could not be
disappointed on the coast of New Cornwall as they had been on Beechey
Island. The low temperature preserves the objects abandoned to its
influence for any length of time. All probabilities were therefore
in favour of this excursion across the ice. It was calculated that
the expedition would take, at the most, forty days, and Johnson's
preparations were made in consequence.
The sledge was his first care; it was in the Greenland style,
thirty-five inches wide and twenty-four feet long. The Esquimaux
often make them more than fifty feet long. This one was made of long
planks, bent up front and back, and kept bent like a bow by two thick
cords; the form thus given to it gave it increased resistance to
shocks; it ran easily on the ice, but when the snow was soft on the
ground it was put upon a frame; to make it glide more easily it was
rubbed, Esquimaux fashion, with sulphur and snow. Six dogs drew it;
notwithstanding their leanness these animals did not appear to suffer
from the cold; their buckskin harness was in good condition, and they
could draw a weight of two thousand pounds without fatigue. The
materials for encampment consisted of a tent, should the construction
of a snow-house be impossible, a large piece of mackintosh to spread
over the snow, to prevent it melting in contact with the human body,
and lastly, several blankets and buffalo-skins. They took the halkett
boat too.
The provisions consisted of five cases of pemmican, weighing about
four hundred and fifty pounds; they counted one pound of pemmican
for each man and each dog; there were seven dogs including Dick, and
four men. They also took twelve gallons of spirits of wine--that is
to say, about one hundred fifty pounds weight--a sufficient quantity
of tea and biscuit, a portable kitchen with plenty of wicks, oakum,
powder, ammunition, and two double-barrelled guns. They also used
Captain Parry's invention of indiarubber belts, in which the warmth
of the body and the movement of walking keeps coffee, tea, and water
in a liquid state. Johnson was very careful about the snow-shoes;
they are a sort of wooden patten, fastened on with leather straps;
when the ground was quite hard and frozen they could be replaced by
buckskin moccasins; each traveller had two pairs of both.
These preparations were important, for any detail omitted might
occasion the loss of an expedition; they took four whole days. Each
day at noon Hatteras took care to set the position of his ship; they
had ceased to drift; he was obliged to be certain in order to get
back. He next set about choosing the men he should take with him;
some of them were not fit either to take or leave, but the captain
decided to take none but sure companions, as the common safety
depended upon the success of the excursion. Shandon was, therefore,
excluded, which he did not seem to regret. James Wall was ill in bed.
The state of the sick got no worse, however, and as the only thing
to do for them was to rub them with lime-juice, and give them doses
of it, the doctor was not obliged to stop, and he made one of the
travellers. Johnson very much wished to accompany the captain in his
perilous enterprise, but Hatteras took him aside, and said, in an
affectionate tone:
"Johnson, I have confidence in you alone. You are the only officer
in whose hands I can leave my ship. I must know that you are there
to overlook Shandon and the others. They are kept prisoners here by
the winter, but I believe them capable of anything. You will be
furnished with my formal instructions, which, in case of need, will
give you the command. You will take my place entirely. Our absence
will last four or five weeks at the most. I shall not be anxious,
knowing you are where I cannot be. You must have wood, Johnson, I
know, but, as far as possible, spare my poor ship. Do you understand
me, Johnson?"
"Yes, sir," answered the old sailor, "I'll stop if you wish."
"Thank you," said Hatteras, shaking his boatswain's hand; "and if
we don't come back, wait for the next breaking-up time, and try to
push forward towards the Pole. But if the others won't go, don't mind
us, and take the _Forward_ back to England."
"Are those your last commands, captain?"
"Yes, my express commands," answered Hatteras.
"Very well, sir, they shall be carried out," said Johnson simply.
The doctor regretted his friend, but he thought Hatteras had acted
wisely in leaving him. Their other two travelling companions were
Bell the carpenter and Simpson. The former was in good health, brave
and devoted, and was the right man to render service during the
encampments on the snow; Simpson was not so sure, but he accepted
a share in the expedition, and his hunting and fishing capabilities
might be of the greatest use. The expedition consisted, therefore,
of four men, Hatteras, Clawbonny, Bell, and Simpson, and seven dogs.
The provisions had been calculated in consequence. During the first
days of January the temperature kept at an average of 33 degrees below
zero. Hatteras was very anxious for the weather to change; he often
consulted the barometer, but it is of little use in such high latitudes.
A clear sky in these regions does not always bring cold, and the snow
does not make the temperature rise; the barometer is uncertain; it
goes down with the north and east winds; low, it brought fine weather;
high, snow or rain. Its indications could not, therefore, be relied
upon.
At last, on January 5th, the mercury rose to 18 degrees below zero,
and Hatteras resolved to start the next day; he could not bear to
see his ship burnt piece by piece before his eyes; all the poop had
gone into the stove. On the 6th, then, in the midst of whirlwinds
of snow, the order for departure was given. The doctor gave his last
orders about the sick; Bell and Simpson shook hands silently with
their companions. Hatteras wished to say his good-byes aloud, but
he saw himself surrounded by evil looks and thought he saw Shandon
smile ironically. He was silent, and perhaps hesitated for an instant
about leaving the _Forward_, but it was too late to turn back; the
loaded sledge, with the dogs harnessed to it, awaited him on the
ice-field. Bell started the first; the others followed.
Johnson accompanied the travellers for a quarter of a mile, then
Hatteras begged him to return on board, and the old sailor went back
after making a long farewell gesture. At that moment Hatteras turned
a last look towards the brig, and saw the extremity of her masts
disappear in the dark clouds of the sky.