The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras Part 34

Still, on the 19th, Simpson succeeded in getting one four hundred yards distant from the s.h.i.+p; he had taken the precaution to close its hole in the ice, so that it could not escape from its pursuers. He fought for a long time, and died only after receiving many bullets. He was nine feet long; his bull-dog head, the sixteen teeth in his jaw, his large pectoral fins shaped like little wings, his little tail with another pair of fins, made him an excellent specimen. The doctor wished to preserve his head for his collection of natural history, and his skin for future contingences, hence he prepared both by a rapid and economical process. He plunged the body in the hole, and thousands of little prawns removed the flesh in small pieces; at the end of half a day the work was half finished, and the most skilful of the honorable corporation of tanners at Liverpool could not have done better.

When the sun had pa.s.sed the autumn equinox, that is to say, September 23d, the winter fairly begins in the arctic regions. The sun, having gradually sunk to the horizon, disappeared at last, October 23d, lighting up merely the tops of the mountains with its oblique rays.

The doctor gave it his last farewell. He could not see it again till the month of February.

Still the darkness was not complete during this long absence of the sun; the moon did its best to replace it; the stars were exceedingly brilliant, the auroras were very frequent, and the refractions peculiar to the snowy horizons; besides, the sun at the time of its greatest southern declension, December 21st, approaches within thirteen degrees of the polar horizon; hence, every day there was a certain twilight for a few hours. Only the mist and snow-storms often plunged these regions in the deepest obscurity.

Still, up to this time the weather was very favorable; the partridges and hares alone had reason to complain, for the hunters gave them no rest; a great many traps were set for foxes, but these crafty animals could not be caught; very often they sc.r.a.ped the snow away beneath the trap and took the bait without running any risk; the doctor cursed them, being very averse to making them such a present.

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October 25th, the thermometer fell as low as -4. A violent hurricane raged; the air was filled with thick snow, which permitted no ray of light to reach the _Forward_. For several hours there was some anxiety about the fate of Bell and Simpson, who had gone some distance away hunting; they did not reach the s.h.i.+p till the next day, having rested for a whole day wrapped up in their furs, while the hurricane swept over them and buried them under five feet of snow. They were nearly frozen, and the doctor found it very hard to restore their circulation.

The tempest lasted eight days without interruption. No one could set foot outside. In a single day there were variations in the temperature of fifteen or twenty degrees.

During this enforced leisure every one kept to himself, some sleeping, others smoking, others again talking in a low tone and stopping at the approach of Johnson or the doctor; there was no moral tie between the men of the crew; they only met at evening prayers and at Sunday services.

Clifton knew perfectly well that when the seventy-eighth parallel was pa.s.sed, his share of the pay would amount to three hundred and seventy-five pounds; he thought it a good round sum, and his ambition did not go any further. His opinion was generally shared, and all looked forward to the day when they should enjoy this hardly-earned fortune.

Hatteras kept almost entirely out of sight. He never took part in the hunts or the walks from the s.h.i.+p. He took no interest in the meteorological phenomena which kept the doctor in a constant state of admiration. He lived with but a single idea; it consisted of three words,--The North Pole. He only thought of when the _Forward_, free at last, should resume her bold course.

In fact, the general feeling on board was one of gloom. Nothing was so sad as the sight of this captive vessel, no longer resting in its natural element, but with its shape hidden beneath thick layers of ice; it looks like nothing; it cannot stir, though made for motion; it is turned into a wooden storehouse, a sedentary dwelling, this s.h.i.+p which knows how to breast the wind and the storms. This anomaly, this false situation, filled their hearts with an indefinable feeling of disquiet and regret.

During these idle hours the doctor arranged the notes he had taken, from which this book is made up; he was never out of spirits, and never lost his cheerfulness. Yet he was glad to see the end of the storm, and prepared to resume his hunting.

November 3d, at six o'clock in the morning, with a temperature of -5, he set off in company with Johnson and Bell; the expanse of ice was unbroken; all the snow which had fallen so abundantly during the preceding days was hardened by the frost, and made good walking; the air was keen and piercing; the moon shone with incomparable purity, glistening on the least roughness in the ice; their footprints glowed like an illuminated trail, and their long shadows stood out almost black against the brilliant ice.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "The moon shone with incomparable purity, glistening on the least roughness in the ice."]

The doctor had taken Duke with him; he preferred him to the Greenland dogs to hunt game, and he was right; for they are of very little use under such circ.u.mstances, and they did not appear to possess the sacred fire of the race of the temperate zone. Duke ran along with his nose on the ground, and he often stopped on the recent marks of bears.

Still, in spite of his skill, the hunters did not find even a hare in two hours' walking.

"Has all the game felt it necessary to go south?" said the doctor, stopping at the foot of a hummock.

"I should fancy it must be so, Doctor," answered the carpenter.

"I don't think so," said Johnson; "the hares, foxes, and bears are accustomed to this climate; I think this last storm must have driven them away; but they will come back with the south-winds. Ah, if you were to talk about reindeer and musk-deer, that might be different!"

"And yet at Melville Island numberless animals of this sort are found," resumed the doctor; "it lies farther south, it is true, and during the winters he spent there Parry always had plenty of this magnificent game."

"We have much poorer luck," answered Bell; "if we could only get enough bear's meat, we would do very well."

"The difficulty is," said the doctor, "the bears seem to me very rare and very wild; they are not civilized enough to come within gun-shot."

"Bell is talking about the flesh of the bear," said Johnson, "but his grease is more useful than his flesh or his fur."

"You are right, Johnson," answered Bell; "you are always thinking of the fuel."

"How can I help it? Even with the strictest economy, we have only enough for three weeks!"

"Yes," resumed the doctor, "that is the real danger, for we are now only at the beginning of November, and February is the coldest month in the frigid zone; still, if we can't get bear's grease, there's no lack of seal's grease."

"But not for a very long time, Doctor," answered Johnson; "they will soon leave us; whether from cold or fright, soon they won't come upon the ice any more."

"Then," continued the doctor, "we shall have to fall back on the bear, and I confess the bear is the most useful animal to be found in these countries, for he furnishes food, clothing, light, and fuel to men. Do you hear, Duke?" he said, patting the dog's head, "we want some bears, my friend, bears! bears!"

Duke, who was sniffing at the ice at that time, aroused by the voices, and caresses of the doctor, started off suddenly with the speed of an arrow. He barked violently and, far off as he was, his loud barks reached the hunters' ears.

The extreme distance to which sound is carried when the temperature is low is an astonis.h.i.+ng fact; it is only equalled by the brilliancy of the constellations in the northern skies; the waves of light and sound are transmitted to great distances, especially in the dry cold of the nights.

The hunters, guided by his distant barking, hastened after him; they had to run a mile, and they got there all out of breath, which happens very soon in such an atmosphere. Duke stood pointing about fifty feet from an enormous ma.s.s which was rolling about on the top of a small iceberg.

"Just what we wanted!" shouted the doctor, c.o.c.king his gun.

"A fine bear!" said Bell, following the doctor's example.

"A curious bear!" said Johnson, who intended to fire after his companions.

Duke barked furiously. Bell advanced about twenty feet, and fired; but the animal seemed untouched, for he continued rolling his head slowly.

Johnson came forward, and, after taking careful aim, he pulled the trigger.

"Good!" said the doctor; "nothing yet! Ah, this cursed refraction! We are too far off; we shall never get used to it! That bear is more than a mile away."

"Come on!" answered Bell.

The three companions hastened toward the animal, which had not been alarmed by the firing; he seemed to be very large, but, without weighing the danger, they gave themselves up already to the joy of victory. Having got within a reasonable distance, they fired; the bear leaped into the air and fell, mortally wounded, on the level ice below.

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Duke rushed towards him.

"That's a bear," said the doctor, "which was easily conquered."

"Only three shots," said Bell with some scorn, "and he's down!"

"That's odd," remarked Johnson.

"Unless we got here just as he was going to die of old age," continued the doctor, laughing.

"Well, young or old," added Bell, "he's a good capture."

Talking in this way they reached the small iceberg, and, to their great surprise, they found Duke growling over the body of a white fox.

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"Upon my word," said Bell, "that's too much!"

"Well," said the doctor, "we've fired at a bear, and killed a fox!"