The return of darkness during the night gave us notice that we were
advancing towards the south, and that the short arctic summer was
drawing to a close. We could no longer continue our course, hour after
hour without intermission, as before, the officers relieving each other
in the crow's-nest, and one watch following the other through one
long-protracted day.
It was impossible with any safety to proceed through that icy sea when
darkness came on, and therefore each night we were obliged to make the
ship fast to a floe till the return of daylight. But those nights were
sometimes such as are not to be found in another realm. The bright moon
floated in an atmosphere the most clear and brilliant that can be
conceived, while the silvery masses of ice lay sparkling beneath it, as
they floated on the calm and majestic ocean.
Then the sun at setting bathed the sea, the sky, the rugged mountains,
the pinnacles of the icebergs, and the lower floes with colours and
tints more beautiful and varied than the imagination can picture, far
more than words can describe. But I should not dwell on such scenes,
except that I wish to observe that God distributes His bounties
throughout the globe with an equal hand; and that, barren and
inhospitable as is that land, no less than in southern realms are His
power and goodness displayed.
For about four days we had proceeded south, our course interrupted
whenever we met with a whale; and if she was killed, we made fast to a
floe till we had flensed and made off. Some of the smaller whalers had
got full ships, and, with joyous shouts and light hearts on board, they
passed us on their way home; and others, unwilling to wait, returned not
full, so that we were nearly the last ship.
The weather continued beautifully fine, though now growing cold and
chilly. We also had nearly a full ship, and were congratulating
ourselves on soon being able to follow those which had preceded us; but,
till we were quite full, we could not think of doing so while the ice
continued open, and there was a chance of a fish. Consequently we were
all on the look-out, and more eager than ever to secure our prey.
One afternoon, while we were under weigh, the cheering sound of "A fish,
a fish! see, she blows!" from the crow's-nest, roused us all to
activity. Two boats were immediately equipped and sent in chase. I was
in one of them. While we were yet close to the ship, another whale was
espied to the southward, at a very great distance. The prospect of
getting two fish at a fall was more than could be resisted; and, while
we were killing our fish, the master made sail to come up with the
other. We were successful; and, with less difficulty than usual, killed
the whale at the edge of a floe connected with the land, towards which
it had gone for shelter. The whale was killed, and made fast to the
floe, waiting for the return of the ship.
While we were all engaged in the chase and capture, no one had noticed
the change in the weather. From a fresh breeze, sufficiently to the
eastward to enable the ship to stand back towards us, it had fallen a
flat calm: the sea lay stretched out before us like a dark shining
glass, while an ominous stillness reigned through the air.
Andrew, who was line-manager in the boat to which I belonged, was the
first to observe it, as we were assembled on the floe busily engaged in
hauling in the lines. He said nothing; but I saw him look up, and,
after glancing around for some moments, put his hand over his brow, and
gaze earnestly forth in the direction the ship had gone. The anxious
expression his countenance instantly assumed alarmed me; and, though he
at once resumed his task of coiling away the lines, I saw that all was
not right. I then cast my eyes seaward, to see whereabouts the ship
was. I need scarcely say that I felt a very natural alarm, when I
discovered that she was almost hull down.
Andrew again looked up. The anxious expression on his face had in no
way diminished; but he was not a man to alarm or unnerve his companions
by any unnecessary exclamation.
"Bear a hand, lads," he at length said. "The sooner we get in our
lines, and tow the fish alongside, the better."
"I was thinking the same," said old David. "And I say the sooner the
ship stands back to pick us up, the better for us. We couldn't get the
fish alongside till long after dark, if she comes no nearer to us; and
how she's to do that, without a breeze springs up, I don't know."
These few remarks scarcely interrupted the task in hand. When it was
accomplished, however, and we had time to look round us, we all began to
consider more about the difficulty of our position. I must explain that
there were two boats, with a crew of five men each, so that we were ten
in all. We had with us a few provisions and a cooking apparatus, with
our pea-jackets to put on while waiting after our heating exercise.
The harpooners and the elder men now began to consult what was best to
be done. David gave it as his opinion that the other boats had been led
a long chase after a fish, and that the ship had followed thus far to
the southward to pick them up, with the intention of returning
immediately to us, when the calm so unexpectedly came on.
"There's no doubt about what has happened, mates; but I want to know
what those who have had experience in these seas think is about to
happen," said Andrew. "There's something in the look of the sky and
sea, and the feel of the air, which makes me think a change is about to
take place. I therefore ask whether we shall stay by the fish, or leave
her secured to the floe, and get aboard as fast as we can."
In answer to this proposal, which was certainly wise, and perfectly
justifiable, several opinions were given. Some were for getting on
board without delay, others were for towing the fish towards the ship,
and several were for remaining by till the ship should return, though
the majority were for going back in the boats alone.
A more mighty Power than ours decided what was to be done; for, while we
were still speaking, a sudden gust of wind came blowing along the edge
of the ice from the northward, and throwing up the sea in so
extraordinary a manner, that, had the boats been exposed to it, they
could scarcely have lived. Then the wind as suddenly fell, and again
all was calm as before.
"Now's your time, lads; we must get on board as quick as we can,"
shouted old David. While, accordingly, we were with additional care
securing the whale to the floe, the sky, which was already overclouded,
began to send down dense showers of snow, which so obscured the
atmosphere, that the sharpest eye amongst us could no longer distinguish
the ship. To attempt to get on board under these circumstances, would
be more dangerous than remaining where we were; so, putting on our
Flushing jackets, we got into the boats, and drew a sail over our
shoulders, to shelter ourselves as much as possible from the storm.
The snow, which had begun to fall in flakes, now changed to a powder, so
dense that it appeared as if night had already come on.
"It's very dark, Andrew," I remarked; "what can be going to happen?"
"Why, I'll tell you, Peter," answered David, who heard my question.
"There's going to be a harder gale of wind than we've had since you came
on board; and if the old ship don't stand up to her canvas, and fetch us
before night, there are few who would wish to change places with us,
that's all."
I did not by any means like this announcement, for I felt that this time
old David was not joking with me. However, our only course was to
remain where we were. If the gale did come on, we were safer on the ice
than on the sea; and if it passed off, the ship would not fail to come
and take us on board.
In the meantime, we were continually putting our heads from under our
shelter, to cast anxious glances towards where we supposed the ship to
be, and in every other direction, to discover if there was any opening
in the thick cloud of snow which dropped around us. I say dropped, for
I never before saw snow fall so perpendicularly, and in such minute
powdery particles. The peculiar and oppressive gloominess which filled
the air, made one feel that something unusual was approaching, otherwise
I could scarcely fancy that in so perfect a calm any danger could be at
hand.
For two hours we sat cramped up in the boat, and, in spite of our warm
clothing, suffering not a little from the cold, which was greater than
for some time past we had experienced. Suddenly the snow ceased, and
with eager haste, Andrew, David, and some others jumped out of the boat
and climbed to the top of the nearest hummock, from whence they could
get a wider look-out than on the flat ice.
With feelings which it were vain to attempt to describe, we looked for
the ship, and could nowhere see her. To the southward there was a thick
mist, caused by the snow falling in that direction, and in this she was
probably shrouded.
On looking to the north, we perceived in the horizon a bright luminous
appearance, something like the ice-blink, but brighter, and which seemed
to increase in height. David looked at it for an instant, and then
shouted out, "Bear a hand, my lads, and haul up the boats--the gale is
upon us!"
Suiting the action to the word, he rushed down from the hummock,
accompanied by the rest of us, and we commenced hauling one of the boats
up on the ice. While all hands were engaged at this work, and before it
was completely accomplished, down came the gale upon us with terrific
violence, almost lifting us off our legs, and hurling us into the now
foaming and hissing sea. The snow, which lay thick on the ice, was
lifted up and blown in clouds over us; the ocean, which before lay so
tranquil, was now lashed into fury.
"Haul away, my lads, and run the boat up," shouted Andrew, his voice
scarcely heard amid the tumult. We had taken out most of the things
from the other boat, and, having secured the first, were about to haul
her up, when a heavy sea, striking the ice, broke off a piece to which
she was secured, and carried her and the harpooner belonging to her, who
was standing near her, far beyond our reach. To have attempted to
launch the boat to go to his rescue would have been madness. One loud,
hopeless shriek was heard, and he sunk for ever.
We had little time to mourn for our poor messmate--our own condition
occupied all our thoughts. At the same moment that the boat was carried
away, the sea broke the whale from the lashings which secured her to the
ice, and, without our having any power to preserve our prize, it was
driven down along the edge of the floe, from which it gradually floated
away.
"What's to be done now?" I asked, with several others, in a voice of
despair.
"Trust in God," answered Andrew in a solemn voice. "Peter, remember we
have been in a worse position before, and He saved us. He may, if He
wills it, save us again."
"But how are we ever to get back to the ship, with only one boat to
carry us?" asked some one.
"Captain Rendall is not a man likely to desert his people," observed
David. "The ship will come back and take us off, when the gale is
over--no fear of that, mates."
Notwithstanding the tone of confidence with which he spoke, I suspected
that he did not feel quite as much at his ease as he pretended to be.
Our position was indeed, I felt, most critical, though I did not express
my fears. The gale might continue for days, and our ship, if she
escaped shipwreck, which too probably would be her lot, would be at all
events driven so far to the south, that she would find it utterly
impossible to return. The ice, even, on which we stood, might any
instant break up from the force of the waves; and if we could not
retreat farther back in time, our destruction would be almost certain.
We had a boat; but even in smooth water she could scarcely do more than
contain us all, and in such a sea as was likely to be running for some
time she could not live ten minutes. We could have no hope, therefore,
of regaining the ship in her; and should we be compelled, therefore, to
quit the ice, she could afford us no refuge.
We had a small quantity of provisions,--enough, with economy, to sustain
life for two or three days, though not more than was intended to supply
a couple of good meals, should we have been kept away from the ship a
sufficient time to require them. We had some boats' sails, a cooking
apparatus, two harpoons, spears, and two fowling-pieces, brought by the
harpooners to kill a few dovekies for our messes. Several things, with
a set of lines and harpoons, had been lost in the other boat.
For some time after the fatal catastrophe I have described, we stood
looking out seaward, undecided what steps to take. The wrenching
asunder of some huge masses of the ice, which the sea drove up close to
the boat, and the violent heaving to which the whole body was subjected,
showed us that we must rouse ourselves to further exertion. We had no
need of consultation to judge that we must without delay get farther
away from the sea; and, having laden our boat with all our stores, we
began to work her along the ice towards the shore, which lay bleak and
frowning some ten miles or so from us.
Our progress was slow; for the ice, though thick, was much rotted from
the heat of the whole summer, and in some places it was very rough,
while shallow pools of water constantly appeared in our path, and
compelled us to make a circuit round them. When we had accomplished
nearly two miles, it was proposed that we should wait there to see if
any change took place in the weather. There was no longer a motion in
the ice, and Andrew and David gave it as their opinion that there was
consequently no danger of its breaking up so far from the edge, and that
we might remain there in safety. Night was now fast approaching; and
the gale, instead of abating, blew with greater fury than at first.
The exertion had somewhat warmed us; but the moment we stopped, the cold
wind whistled through our clothing, and showed us that we must prepare
some shelter for the night, if we would avoid being frozen to death.
Another point we also discovered was, that we required some one to take
the lead, and to act as chief officer among us. The remaining harpooner
would, by right, have taken command; but, though expert in the use of
his weapon, he was not a man by character or knowledge well fitted to
command the respect of the rest of us. This we all felt, as he probably
did also, as he raised no objection when David proposed that we should
elect an officer whom we should be bound to obey, till we could regain
our ship, should we ever be so fortunate so to do.
Three were first proposed, but Andrew Thompson was finally selected;
for, though he was known not to have so much practical experience as
several of the others, his firmness, sagacity, and high moral character
were acknowledged by all.
"And now, my lads," he said, when he had modestly accepted the office,
"the first thing we must do is to build a snow-wall, to shelter us from
the wind; and as soon as the wind moderates, we'll have up a flagstaff
on the top of the highest hummock, to show our friends where to look for
us."
According to this advice, we set to work to collect the snow, which did
not lay more than three inches thick on the ice. We first made it into
cakes, about four times the size of an ordinary brick, and then piled
them up in a semicircular form, the convex side being turned to the
wind. Over the top we spread a boat's sail, which was kept down by
lumps of snow being placed on the top of it. The canvas was also
allowed to hang over a couple of lances lashed together in front, so
that we had a very tolerable shelter. The snow was scraped away from
the interior; and such spars and planks as we could get out of the boat
were spread at the bottom, with a sail over them, to form our bed.
These arrangements were accomplished as the long twilight turned into
total darkness. We lay down, and prepared to pass the dreary hours till
the sun rose again as best we could. I thought of the time I had spent
on the iceberg, and, remembering Andrew's words, I did not despair. I
slept, as did my companions, many of them with the careless indifference
to danger which has become the characteristic of most British seamen.
I was awoke by the excessive cold, though we kept as close together
within our shelter as we could, for the sake of the warmth. My
companions were still asleep, and I was afraid if I moved of arousing
them. The storm still raged furiously without, and I could not again
compose myself to sleep for the noise it made.
I lay awake, listening to its whistling sound as it blew over the ice,
when I fancied that I heard a low grumbling noise, like a person with a
gruff voice talking to himself. At last this idea grew so strong on me,
that I crept quietly to the curtain in front of our hut, and, lifting up
a corner, looked out. The stars were shining forth from the sky, and
there was a thin crescent moon, by the light of which I saw a white
monster leaning over the gunwale of our boat, examining, it appeared to
me, the things in her. I was not long in recognising the visitor to be
a large, white, shaggy polar bear. He first took up one thing, and,
smelling it and turning it over on every side, replaced it. When,
however, he came to a piece of beef, or anything eatable, he without
ceremony appropriated it, and was thus rapidly consuming our slender
store of provisions. "This will never do," I thought to myself. "If
this goes on, we shall be to a certainty starved."
We had fortunately brought the two guns into the hut, that they might
run no risk of getting damp. They were both loaded; and, drawing back,
I got hold of one, hoping to shoot the bear before he was disturbed. If
I aroused my companions first, they to a certainty would make some
noise, which would probably frighten away our visitor, and we should
lose both the bear and the provisions.
When I again put my head from under the sail, he was still at work. I
was on my knees, and had got the gun to my shoulder, when he saw me. He
was fortunately on the other side of the boat; for no sooner did his eye
fall on me, than he began slowly to walk along the side, holding on by
the gunwale, evidently intending to get close to me. "My best chance is
to hit him in the eyes," I thought, "and blind him. If he once gets
hold of me, he'll give me a squeeze I shall not like."
Before he had moved many steps I fired full in his face. The report of
the gun, and the loud growl of rage and pain uttered by the brute,
instantly awakened my companions. They started to their feet, but had
some difficulty to understand what had happened. The bear, on being
wounded, nearly fell headlong into the boat; but, recovering himself, he
endeavoured to find his way round to the spot where he had seen me.
"A bear, a bear!" I sung out. "Get your lances ready and run him
through." Most fortunately I had hit the monster so directly in the
eyes, that he could not see his way, and this prevented him from rushing
directly on me; for though I might have leaped out of his way round the
back of the hut, he would in all probability have seized upon one of my
half-awake companions.
This momentary delay gave time to Andrew to spring to his feet, and to
draw out a lance from under the sail. He appeared at the entrance of
the hut, just as the bear, slightly recovering himself, was rushing
forward, with his mouth open and covered with foam, and a stream, which
I could see even in that light, trickling down his face. His paws were
stretched out, and in another instant he would have had me in his deadly
clutch, when Andrew dashed at him with his spear. The bear seized the
handle, and endeavoured to wrench it from his assailant; but the iron
had entered his breast, and, in his attempt to rush on, it pierced him
to the heart.
The rest of the party were by this time awake, and, armed with whatever
they could first seize, and seeing what had happened, they all set up a
shout of triumph, every one of us forgetting entirely for the moment the
very precarious position in which we were placed.
We had several reasons to be satisfied with having killed the bear. In
the first place, had he put his snout into our hut while we were all
asleep, he might have killed some of us; secondly, we had saved most of
our provisions by our discovering him; and what he had taken was amply
repaid by the sustenance his flesh would afford us, and the use to which
we might turn his skin, for bedding or clothing, should we have to
remain any time on the ice.
"Our friend there has given us a lesson to keep a better look-out in
future," remarked Andrew. "If it had not been for Peter, he might have
carried off every bit of our food; so we must take it by turns to keep
watch. I'll stand the first."
"And I the second, willingly," I exclaimed. "I've no inclination to
sleep, and if I did, I should be fancying all the time that the bear had
me in his grasp."
So it was arranged each man should take an hour at a time, as near as
could be guessed, and thus all would have plenty of rest, and be fit for
work in the daytime.
Before the rest turned in again, we drew the carcase of the bear close
up to the hut, so that, if any of his fellows should come near him, they
might to a certainty be seen, and shot without difficulty.
Extraordinary as it may seem, the rest of the people were very soon
asleep again. Andrew and I were the only two awake. The gun which had
been fired was reloaded, and, having placed the two close at hand, we
sat down just inside the curtain, leaving only a small aperture on
either side of it, through which to look out. We also placed a couple
of lances within our reach, that, should any more bears visit us, as we
hoped they might, we might have a better chance of killing them; for
their flesh, though rank, is not unwholesome, and, at all events, it
would enable us to support life as long as it lasted, independently of
the value of their skins.
After we had made our preparations, Andrew advised me to lie down and to
try to sleep; but I told him that I was too much excited, and that it
was impossible, and that, if he would allow me, I would much rather sit
up and watch with him; or, if he liked, I would watch while he slept,
and would call him if anything occurred.
"Neither can I sleep, Peter," he answered: "You and the rest have chosen
me to guide you, and I doubly feel the responsibility of my office; for
I need not tell you that I think our position very bad. From the first
time I saw you, I found that you were well educated, and I since have
had reason to place confidence in you. Now, Peter, I am afraid that,
when we are surrounded with far greater difficulties than we have yet
met with, some of these poor fellows will lose heart, and sink under
them, unless their spirits are kept up, and a good example is set them.
I therefore rely upon you to assist me, by showing that, young as you
are, you do not shrink from danger, and that you place a firm reliance
on the power of God to deliver us, notwithstanding all the appearance to
the contrary."
I told Andrew that I thanked him for the confidence he placed in me, and
that I hoped I should not disappoint his expectations.
"I know you will not, Peter; but I tell you that our courage will be
severely tried," he answered.
"Why, don't you think the ship will be able to take us off?" I asked.
"I do not think she will, Peter," he replied. "Before the gale is over,
she will have been driven very far to the south; and it will take her so
many days to beat back, if the wind should continue foul, that Captain
Rendall will consider we must have perished, and that the attempt would
be useless, and that he should not be justified in thus risking the
safety of his ship."
"What hope, then, have we?" I asked.
"My greatest hope is, that we may be seen by some other ship passing
after the gale has moderated," he answered. "If that fails to us, we
must endeavour to pass the winter on shore. Others have done so before
now; and I do not see why we should not manage to live as well as the
ignorant natives who inhabit this country."
"If we had powder, and shot, and fuel, and timber to build a house with,
I should say we might do it," I answered; "but as we have none of these
things, I am afraid we shall be frozen to death as soon as the cold sets
in."
"The natives live, and we must try to find out how they contrive to do
it," was the tenor of his answer.
Miserable as the night was, and slow as the hours seemed to drag along,
they at last passed away. We had no further visits from the bears, nor
were we otherwise disturbed. When daylight came, there was nothing in
the prospect to cheer our hearts. On one side there was a sheet of ice
covered with snow, with high rocky cliffs beyond; and, on the other, the
wide expanse of ocean, still tossing and foaming with the fierce storm
which raged over it.