CHAPTER IX. ANOTHER LETTER.

 The Polar Circle was crossed at last; on the 30th of April, at midday, the Forward passed by Holsteinborg; picturesque¹ mountains arose in the east. The sea appeared almost free of ice, or, more exactly, the ice could be avoided. The wind was from the southeast, and the brig, under foresail, staysail, and topsails, sailed up Baffin's Bay.

 

That day was exceptionally calm and the crew was able to get some rest; numerous birds were swimming and flying about the ship; among others, the doctor noticed some wild birds which were very like teal, with black neck, wings, and back, and a white breast; they were continually diving, and often remained more than forty seconds under water.

 

This day would not have been marked by any new incident, if the following extraordinary fact had not taken place.

 

At six o'clock in the morning, on returning to his cabin after his watch was over, Richard Shandon found on his table a letter, addressed as follows:—

 

To COMMANDER RICHARD SHANDON,

                On board the Forward,

                                  BAFFIN'S BAY.

 

Shandon could not believe his eyes; but before reading it, he summoned the doctor, James Wall, and the boatswain, and showed them the letter.

 

"It's getting interesting," said Johnson.

 

"It's delightful," thought the doctor.

 

"Well," cried Shandon, "at last we shall know his secret."

 

He tore open the envelope rapidly, and read the following:—

 

 

COMMANDER: The captain of the Forward is satisfied with the coolness, skill, and courage which the crew, officers, and you, yourself, have shown of late; he begs of you to express his thanks to the crew.

 

Be good enough to sail due north towards Melville Bay, and thence try to penetrate² into Smith's Sound.

 

K. Z.,                 

Captain of the Forward.    

    Monday, April 30, OFF CAPE³ WALSINGHAM.

 

 

"And is that all?" cried the doctor.

 

"That's all," answered Shandon.

 

The letter fell from his hands.

 

"Well," said Wall, "this imaginary captain says nothing about coming on board. I don't believe he ever will."

 

"But how did this letter get here?" asked Johnson.

 

Shandon was silent.

 

"Mr. Wall is right," answered the doctor, who had picked up the letter, and who was turning it over with hands as well as in his mind. "The captain won't come on board, and for an excellent reason."

 

"What is it?" asked Shandon, quickly.

 

"Because he's on board now," answered the doctor, simply.

 

"Now!" exclaimed Shandon, "what do you mean?"

 

"How else can you explain the arrival of this letter?"

 

Johnson nodded approvingly.

 

"Impossible!" said Shandon, warmly. "I know all the men in the crew; can he have smuggled⁴ himself into their number since we left? It's impossible, I tell you. For more than two years I've seen every one of them more than a hundred times in Liverpool; so your conjecture⁵, Doctor, is untenable."

 

"Well, what do you admit, Shandon?"

 

"Everything, except that. I admit that the captain or some tool of his, for all I know, may have taken advantage of the darkness, the mist, or whatever you please, to slip on board; we are not far from shore; there are the kayaks of the Esquimaux which could get through the ice without our seeing them; so some one may have come on board the ship, left the letter,—the fog was thick enough to make this possible."

 

"And to prevent them from seeing the brig," answered the doctor; "if we didn't see the intruder slip aboard the Forward, how could he see the Forward in the fog?"

 

"That's true," said Johnson.

 

"So I return to my explanation," said the doctor; "what do you think of it, Shandon?"

 

"Whatever you please," answered Shandon, hotly, "except that the man is on board."

 

"Perhaps," added Wall, "there is some man in the crew who is acting⁶ under his instructions."

 

"Perhaps," said the doctor.

 

"But who can it be?" asked Shandon. "I've known all my men for a long time."

 

"At any rate," resumed Johnson, "if this captain presents himself, whether as man or devil, we shall receive him; but there's something else to be drawn⁷ from this letter."

 

"What is that?" asked Shandon.

 

"It is that we must go not only into Melville Bay, but also into Smith's Sound."

 

"You are right," said the doctor.

 

"Smith's Sound," repeated Shandon, mechanically.

 

"So it's very plain," continued Johnson, "that the Forward is not intended to seek the Northwest Passage, since we leave to the left, the only way towards it, that is to say, Lancaster Sound. This would seem to promise a difficult journey in unknown seas."

 

"Yes, Smith's Sound," replied Shandon; "that's the route Kane, the American, took in 1853, and it was full of dangers. For a long time he was given up for lost. Well, if we must go, we'll go. But how far? To the Pole?"

 

"And why not?" cried the doctor.

 

The mention of such a foolhardy attempt made the boatswain shrug⁸ his shoulders.

 

"Well," said James Wall, "to come back to the captain, if he exists. I don't see that there are any places on the coast of Greenland except Disco and Upernavik, where he can be waiting for us; in a few days that question will be settled."

 

"But," asked the doctor of Shandon, "are you not going to tell the crew about this letter?"

 

"With the commander's permission," answered Johnson, "I should not do so."

 

"And why not?" asked Shandon.

 

"Because everything mysterious and extraordinary tends to discourage the men; they are already very much troubled, as it is, about the nature of the journey. Now, if any supernatural circumstances should become known, it might be harmful, and perhaps at a critical moment we should not be able to count on them. What do you think, Commander?"

 

"And what do you think, Doctor?" asked Shandon.

 

"Boatswain Johnson seems to me to reason well," answered the doctor.

 

"And you, James?"

 

"Having no better opinion, I agree with these gentlemen."

 

Shandon reflected for a few minutes; he reread the letter attentively⁹.

 

"Gentlemen," said he, "your opinion is certainly worthy¹⁰ of respect, but I cannot adopt it."

 

"Why not, Shandon?" asked the doctor.

 

"Because the instructions in this letter are formal; it tells me to give the captain's thanks to the crew; now, hitherto I have strictly¹¹ obeyed his orders, in whatever way they have been given to me, and I cannot—"

 

"Still—" interposed Johnson, who had a warrantable dread¹² of the effect of such communications on the men's spirits.

 

"My dear Johnson," said Shandon, "I understand your objection; your reasons are very good, but read that:—

 

"He begs of you to express his thanks to the crew."

 

"Do as he bids," replied Johnson, who was always a strict disciplinarian. "Shall I assemble the crew on deck?"

 

"Yes," answered Shandon.

 

The news of a message from the captain was immediately whispered throughout the ship. The sailors took their station without delay, and the commander read aloud the mysterious letter.

 

It was received with dead silence; the crew separated under the influence of a thousand suppositions; Clifton had plenty of material for any superstitious¹³ vagaries¹⁴; a great deal was ascribed by him to the dog-captain, and he never failed to salute¹⁵ him every time he met him.

 

"Didn't I tell you," he used to say to the sailors, "that he knew how to write?"

 

No one made any answer, and even Bell, the carpenter, would have found it hard to reply.

 

Nevertheless, it was plain to every one, that if the captain was not on board, his shade or spirit was watching them; henceforth, the wisest kept their opinions to themselves.

 

At midday of May 1st, their observation showed them that they were in latitude¹⁶ 68° and longitude¹⁷ 56° 32'. The temperature had risen, the thermometer standing¹⁸ at 25° above zero.

 

The doctor amused himself with watching the gambols¹⁹ of a she-bear and two cubs²⁰ on some pack-ice near the shore. Accompanied by Wall and Simpson, he tried to chase them in a canoe; but she was in a very peaceful mood, and ran away with her young, so that the doctor had to give up his attempt.

 

 

 

During the night a favorable breeze carried them well to the north, and soon the lofty mountains of Disco were peering above the horizon; Godharn Bay, where the governor of the Danish settlements lived, was left on the right. Shandon did not consider it necessary to land, and he soon passed by the canoes of the Esquimaux, who had put out to meet him.

 

The island of Disco is also called Whale Island; it is from here that, on the 12th of July, 1845, Sir John Franklin wrote to the Admiralty for the last time, and it was also here that Captain MacClintock stopped on his way back, bringing too sure proofs of the loss of that expedition.

 

This coincidence was not unknown to the doctor; the place was one of sad memories, but soon the heights of Disco were lost to view.

 

Fin-backs playing

There were many icebergs²¹ on its shores, which no thaws²² ever melt away; this gives the island a singular appearance from the sea.

 

The next day, at about three o'clock, Sanderson's Hope appeared in the northeast; land lay about fifteen miles to starboard; the mountains appeared of a dusky red hue²³. During the evening many fin-backs were seen playing in the ice, and occasionally blowing.

 

It was in the night of May 3d, that the doctor for the first time saw the sun touch the horizon without setting; since January 31st its orbit had been getting longer every day, and now there was unbroken daylight.

 

For those who were unaccustomed to it, this continuance of the day is a cause of perpetual surprise, and even of weariness; it is difficult to believe how necessary the darkness of the night is for the eyes; the doctor actually suffered from the continual brilliancy, which was increased by the reflection from the ice.

 

May 5th the Forward passed the sixty-second parallel.* Two months later they would have met numerous whalers in these latitudes²⁴; but the straits were not yet free enough to allow easy ingress into Baffin's Bay.

 

The next day, the brig, after passing Woman's Island, came in sight of Upernavik, the northernmost station of Denmark in these lands.

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1 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

2 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

3 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

4 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

5 conjecture   

n./v.推测，猜测

参考例句：

• She felt it no use to conjecture his motives.她觉得猜想他的动机是没有用的。
• This conjecture is not supported by any real evidence.这种推测未被任何确切的证据所证实。

6 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

9 attentively   

adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神

参考例句：

• She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时，她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着，把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

11 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

12 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

13 superstitious   

adj.迷信的

参考例句：

• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
• These superstitious practices should be abolished as soon as possible.这些迷信做法应尽早取消。

14 vagaries   

n.奇想( vagary的名词复数 )；异想天开；异常行为；难以预测的情况

参考例句：

• The vagaries of fortune are indeed curious.\" 命运的变化莫测真是不可思议。” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• The vagaries of inclement weather conditions are avoided to a certain extent. 可以在一定程度上避免变化莫测的恶劣气候影响。 来自辞典例句

15 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。

16 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

17 longitude   

n.经线，经度

参考例句：

• The city is at longitude 21°east.这个城市位于东经21度。
• He noted the latitude and longitude,then made a mark on the admiralty chart.他记下纬度和经度，然后在航海图上做了个标记。

18 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

19 gambols   

v.蹦跳，跳跃，嬉戏( gambol的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

20 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 icebergs   

n.冰山，流冰( iceberg的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The drift of the icebergs in the sea endangers the ships. 海上冰山的漂流危及船只的安全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The icebergs towered above them. 冰山高耸于他们上方。 来自辞典例句

22 thaws   

n.（足以解冻的）暖和天气( thaw的名词复数 )；（敌对国家之间）关系缓和v.（气候）解冻( thaw的第三人称单数 )；（态度、感情等）缓和；（冰、雪及冷冻食物）溶化；软化

参考例句：

• The sun at noon thaws the ice on the road. 中午的阳光很快把路上的冰融化了。 来自辞典例句
• It thaws in March here. 在此地化雪的季节是三月。 来自辞典例句

23 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

24 latitudes   

纬度

参考例句：

• Latitudes are the lines that go from east to west. 纬线是从东到西的线。
• It was the brief Indian Summer of the high latitudes. 这是高纬度地方的那种短暂的晚秋。