Chapter II: Part II: The Desert of Ice

I. THE DOCTOR'S INVENTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

II. ALTAMONT'S FIRST WORDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

III. SEVENTEEN DAYS OF LAND JOURNEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

IV. THE LAST CHARGE OF POWDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

V. THE SEAL AND THE BEAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

VI. THE PORPOISE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

VII. A DISCUSSION ABOUT CHARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

VIII. EXCURSION TO THE NORTH OF VICTORIA BAY . . . . . . . . . 291

IX. COLD AND HEAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

X. THE PLEASURES OF WINTER-QUARTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

XI. DISQUIETING TRACES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

XII. THE ICE PRISON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

XIII. THE MINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

XIV. THE POLAR SPRING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

XV. THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

XVI. NORTHERN ARCADIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

XVII. ALTAMONT'S REVENGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

XVIII. THE LAST PREPARATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

XIX. THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

XX. FOOTPRINTS ON THE SNOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

XXI. THE OPEN SEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

XXII. THE APPROACH TO THE POLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

XXIII. THE ENGLISH FLAG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

XXIV. POLAR COSMOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

XXV. MOUNT HATTERAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420

XXVI. RETURN TO THE SOUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

XXVII. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE
"JOHNSON KNEW ALL THE SAILORS IN LIVERPOOL, AND IMMEDIATELY SET
ABOUT ENGAGING A CREW" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

"EVERYTHING WAS ENVELOPED IN ONE OF THE ORDINARY FOGS OF THAT
REGION" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

"THIS SPACE OF SIX FEET SQUARE CONTAINED INCALCULABLE WEALTH" . . 23

"THE NEWS SPEAD IMMEDIATELY THROUGHOUT THE CITY, AND A GREAT
CONCOURSE OF SPECTATORS THRONGED THE PIERS" . . . . . . . . . 27

"TOWARDS EVENING THE BRIG DOUBLED THE CALF OF MAN" . . . . . . . 29

"WOULD ONE NOT SAY IT WAS A FOREIGN CITY, AN EASTERN CITY, WITH
MINARETS AND MOSQUES IN THE MOONLIGHT" . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

"FORTUNATELY THE OPENING OF THESE HUTS WAS TOO SMALL, AND THE
ENTHUSIASTIC DOCTOR COULD NOT GET THROUGH" . . . . . . . . . . 71

"A STRANGE ANIMAL WAS BOUNDING ALONG WITHIN A CABLE'S LENGTH FROM
THE SHIP" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

"JOHN HATTERAS" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

"HE CAUGHT A LARGE NUMBER OF WHITE FOXES; HE HAD PUT ON THEIR
NECKS COPPER COLLARS" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

"ALL THESE POOR FELLOWS HAD DIED OF MISERY, SUFFERING, AND
STARVATION" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

"THE BRIG WAS TOSSED ABOUT LIKE A CHILD'S TOY" (_Frontispiece_) . 134

"THE WHALE SWAM AWAY FROM THE BRIG AND HASTENED TOWARDS THE
MOVING ICEBERGS" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

"THE FORWARD IN WELLINGTON CHANNEL" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

HATTERAS MADE USE OF A DEVICE WHICH WHALERS EMPLOY . . . . . . . 153

"A CRASH WAS HEARD, AND AS IT CAME AGAINST THE STARBOARD-QUARTER,
PART OF THE RAIL HAD GIVEN WAY" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

"THE MOON SHONE WITH INCOMPARABLE PURITY, GLISTENING ON THE LEAST
ROUGHNESS IN THE ICE" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

"ALMOST EVERY NIGHT THE DOCTOR COULD OBSERVE THE MAGNIFICENT
AURORAS" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

"HE WAS ARMED, AND HE KEPT CONSTANT GUARD, WITHOUT MINDING THE
COLD, THE SNOW, OR THE ICE" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

"THE LITTLE BAND MADE THEIR WAY TOWARDS THE SOUTHEAST" . . . . . 202

"THE DOCTOR HAD ENERGY ENOUGH TO ASCEND AN ICE-MOUNTAIN WHILE THE
SNOW-HUT WAS BUILDING" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

"'FIRE!' SHOUTED THE CAPTAIN, DISCHARGING HIS PIECE" . . . . . . 211

"THEY COULD ONLY THINK OF THEIR PERILOUS POSITION" . . . . . . . 218

"SUDDENLY, WITH A LAST EFFORT, HE HALF ROSE" . . . . . . . . . . 223

"THEN A TERRIBLE EXPLOSION WAS HEARD" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

"THE LARGE PIECES OF THE ENGINE LAY HERE AND THERE, TWISTED OUT
OF SHAPE" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

"THEY HARNESSED THE TIRED DOGS" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

JOHNSON'S STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

"'YES!' SAID THE AMERICAN" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

"THE DOCTOR WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO FIND A SEAL" . . . . . . . . 258

"AT THE END OF TWO HOURS THEY FELL, EXHAUSTED" . . . . . . . . . 263

"HE PLUNGED HIS KNIFE INTO THE BEAST'S THROAT" . . . . . . . . . 269

"THESE CASTAWAYS LOOKED AT THEMSELVES AS COLONISTS WHO HAD
REACHED THEIR DESTINATION" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

THE FORT WAS COMPLETED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

"I AM NOT AWARE THAT IT BEARS ANY NAME ON THE MOST RECENT MAPS" . 288

"THE DOCTOR REACHED THE SUMMIT WITH SOME LITTLE DIFFICULTY" . . . 291

"THEY ADVANCED IN FULL ILLUMINATION, AND THEIR SHARPLY CUT
SHADOWS RAN OUT BEHIND THEM OVER THE SNOW" . . . . . . . . . . 299

"HE DID HIS BEST TO INSTRUCT AND INTEREST HIS COMPANIONS" . . . . 308

"HATTERAS COULD ONLY KEEP HIS DISTANCE FROM THE ANIMALS BY
THROWING AWAY HIS CAP, HATCHET, AND EVEN HIS GUN" . . . . . . 326

"THE BEARS HEAPED THE ICE IN SUCH A WAY AS TO RENDER FLIGHT
IMPOSSIBLE" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

"AN ENORMOUS BLACK BODY APPEARED IN THE GLOOM OF THE ROOM.
ALTAMONT RAISED HIS HAND TO STRIKE IT" . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

"A LOUD EXPLOSION FOLLOWED" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

"THE CARPENTER SET TO WORK AT ONCE" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

"A HARD STRUGGLE WITH THE ICEBERGS" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

"MACCLURE SAW A MAN RUNNING AND GESTICULATING" . . . . . . . . . 355

"THE DOCTOR, JOHNSON, AND BELL INTERVENED. IT WAS TIME; THE TWO
ENEMIES WERE GAZING AT ONE ANOTHER" . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

"THEY WERE A CURIOUS AND TOUCHING SIGHT, FLYING ABOUT WITHOUT
FEAR, RESTING ON CLAWBONNY'S SHOULDERS," ETC. . . . . . . . . 364

"GAVE HIM A TERRIBLE BLOW WITH A HATCHET ON THE HEAD" . . . . . . 369

"WELL, I'VE BROUGHT BACK TWO BROTHERS" . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

"THE SEAL STRUGGLED FOR A FEW SECONDS, AND WAS THEN SUFFOCATED ON
THE BREAST OF HIS ADVERSARY" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

"THEY LEFT AT SIX O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING" . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

"ON THE 29TH BELL SHOT A FOX, AND ALTAMONT A MEDIUM-SIZED
MUSK-OX" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

"THE MASSES OF ICE TOOK THE FORMS OF HUMMOCKS AND ICEBERGS" . . . 384

"ON ALL SIDES RESOUNDED THE CRACKING OF THE ICE AMID THE ROAR OF
THE AVALANCHES" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

"'WE OUGHT,' ANSWERED BELL, 'TO LIGHT TORCHES, AS IS DONE AT
LONDON AND LIVERPOOL'" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

THE HUT WAS PITCHED IN A RAVINE FOR SHELTER . . . . . . . . . . . 390

"THEY CLIMBED A HILL WHICH COMMANDED A WIDE VIEW" . . . . . . . . 392

"THREE HOURS LATER THEY REACHED THE COAST. 'THE SEA! THE SEA!'
THEY ALL SHOUTED" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

"THE LAUNCH WAS ROCKING GENTLY IN HER LITTLE HARBOR" . . . . . . 393

"AQUATIC BIRDS OF ALL SORTS WERE THERE" . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

"THEN THE EYE GLANCING DOWN INTO THE TRANSPARENT WATER, THE SIGHT
WAS EQUALLY STRANGE" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

"'IT'S A VOLCANO!' HE CRIED" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

"THE LAUNCH TOSSED HELPLESSLY ABOUT" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

"THE FOG, WITHOUT LIFTING, WAS VERY BRIGHT" . . . . . . . . . . . 405

"THIS DRIFTING FLOE WAS COVERED WITH WHITE BEARS, CROWDED
TOGETHER" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

"HER SAIL FLEW AWAY LIKE A HUGE WHITE BIRD; A WHIRLPOOL, A NEW
MAELSTROM, FORMED AMONG THE WAVES" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

"THE MOUNTAIN WAS IN FULL ERUPTION" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

"THEY NOTICED A LITTLE FIORD" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

"ALTAMONT SOON FOUND A GROTTO IN THE ROCKS" . . . . . . . . . . . 412

"THEY WERE ALL READY TO LISTEN TO THE DOCTOR" . . . . . . . . . . 413

"THEY SAW THE CAPTAIN STANDING ON A ROCK" . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

"HATTERAS APPEARED TO WAKE FROM HIS REVERY" . . . . . . . . . . . 421

"THE DOCTOR PUT UP A CAIRN" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

"DEAD--FROZEN" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435

"BUT HATTERAS DID NOT LOOK BACK. HE HAD MADE USE OF HIS STAFF AS
A POLE ON WHICH TO FASTEN THE ENGLISH FLAG" . . . . . . . . . 437

"TWO HOURS LATER, AFTER UNHEARD-OF EFFORTS, THE LAST MEN OF THE
FORWARD WERE TAKEN ABOARD THE DANISH WHALER HANS CHRISTIAN" . 438

"A STEAMBOAT CARRIED THEM TO KIEL" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

PART I. THE ENGLISH AT THE NORTH POLE.