The hunters, and among them the doctor, James Wall, Simpson, Johnson, and Bell, kept them supplied with fresh meat. The birds had disappeared, seeking a milder climate in the south. The ptarmigans alone, a sort of rock-partridge peculiar5 to this latitude6, did not flee the winter; it was easy to kill them, and there were enough to promise a perpetual supply of game.
Hares, foxes, wolves, ermines, and bears were plentiful7; a French, English, or Norwegian hunter would have had no right to complain; but they were so shy that it was hard to approach them; besides, it was hard to distinguish them on the white plain, they being white themselves, for in winter they acquire that colored fur. In opposition8 to the opinions of some naturalists9, the doctor held that this change was not due to the lowering of the temperature, since it took place before October; hence it was not due to any physical cause, but rather providential foresight10, to secure these animals against the severity of an arctic winter.
Often, too, they saw sea-cows and sea-dogs, animals included under the name of seals; all the hunters were specially11 recommended to shoot them, as much for their skins as for their fat, which was very good fuel. Besides, their liver made a very good article of food; they could be counted by hundreds, and two or three miles north of the ship the ice was continually perforated by these huge animals; only they avoided the hunter with remarkable12 instinct, and many were wounded who easily escaped by diving under the ice.
Still, on the 19th, Simpson succeeded in getting one four hundred yards distant from the ship; 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 jaw13, his large pectoral fins14 shaped like little wings, his little tail with another pair of fins, made him an excellent specimen15. 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 plunged16 the body in the hole, and thousands of little prawns17 removed the flesh in small pieces; at the end of half a day the work was half finished, and the most skilful18 of the honorable corporation of tanners at Liverpool could not have done better.
When the sun had passed 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, lighting19 up merely the tops of the mountains with its oblique20 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 twilight21 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 crafty22 animals could not be caught; very often they scraped the snow away beneath the trap and took the bait without running any risk; the doctor cursed them, being very averse23 to making them such a present.
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 ship 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 perfectly24 well that when the seventy-eighth parallel was passed, 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 entirely25 out of sight. He never took part in the hunts or the walks from the ship. He took no interest in the meteorological phenomena26 which kept the doctor in a constant state of admiration27. 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 vessel28, 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 dwelling29, this ship which knows how to breast the wind and the storms. This anomaly, this false situation, filled their hearts with an indefinable feeling of disquiet30 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, glistening31 on the least roughness in the ice; their footprints glowed like an illuminated32 trail, and their long shadows stood out almost black against the brilliant ice.
The moon shone with incomparable purity
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 circumstances, and they did not appear to possess the sacred fire of the race of the temperate33 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 hummock34.
"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 reindeer35 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 civilized36 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 frigid37 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 sniffing38 at the ice at that time, aroused by the voices, and caresses39 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 astonishing fact; it is only equalled by the brilliancy of the constellations40 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 mass which was rolling about on the top of a small iceberg2.
"Just what we wanted!" shouted the doctor, cocking 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.
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.
"Upon my word," said Bell, "that's too much!"
"Well," said the doctor, "we've fired at a bear, and killed a fox!"
Johnson did not know what to say.
"Well," said the doctor with a burst of laughter in which there was a trace of disappointment, "that refraction again! It's always deceiving us."
"What do you mean, Doctor?" asked the carpenter.
"Yes, my friend; it deceived us with respect to its size as well as the distance! It made us see a bear in a fox's skin! Such a mistake is not uncommon42 under similar circumstances! Well, our imagination alone was wrong!"
"At any rate," answered Johnson, "bear or fox, he's good eating. Let's carry him off."
But as the boatswain was lifting him to his shoulders:—
"That's odd," he said.
"What is it?" asked the doctor.
"See there, Doctor, he's got a collar around his neck."
"A collar?" asked the doctor again, examining the fox.
In fact, a half-worn-out copper43 collar appeared under his white fur; the doctor thought he saw letters engraved44 upon it; he unfastened it from the animal's neck, about which it seemed to have been for a long time.
"What does that mean?" asked Johnson.
"That means," said the doctor, "that we have just killed a fox more than twelve years old,—a fox who was caught by James Ross in 1848."
"Is it possible?" said Bell.
"There's no doubt about it. I'm sorry we killed him! While he was in winter-quarters, James Ross thought of trapping a large number of white foxes; he fastened on their necks copper collars on which was engraved the position of his ships, the Enterprise and Investigator45, as well as where the supplies were left. These animals run over immense distances in search of food, and James Ross hoped that one of them might fall into the hands of one of the men of the Franklin expedition. That's the simple explanation; and this poor beast, who might have saved the life of two crews, has fallen uselessly beneath our guns."
"Well, we won't eat it," said Johnson, "especially if it's twelve years old. But we shall keep the skin as a memento46."
Johnson raised it to his shoulders. The hunters made their way to the ship, guiding themselves by the stars; their expedition was not wholly without result; they were able to bring back several ptarmigans.
An hour before reaching the Forward, there was a singular phenomenon which greatly interested the doctor. It was a real shower of shooting-stars; they could be counted by thousands, flying over the heavens like rockets; they dimmed the light of the moon. For hours they could have stood gazing at this beautiful sight. A similar phenomenon was observed in Greenland in 1799, by the Moravians. It looked like an exhibition of fireworks. The doctor after his return to the ship spent the whole night gazing at the sight, which lasted till seven o'clock in the morning, while the air was perfectly silent.
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1
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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iceberg
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| n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人 | |
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icebergs
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| n.冰山，流冰( iceberg的名词复数 ) | |
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4
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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5
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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7
plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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8
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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9
naturalists
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| n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 )；（文学艺术的）自然主义者 | |
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foresight
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| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
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11
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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12
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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14
fins
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| [医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌 | |
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15
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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16
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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17
prawns
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| n.对虾，明虾( prawn的名词复数 ) | |
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18
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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19
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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20
oblique
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| adj.斜的，倾斜的，无诚意的，不坦率的 | |
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21
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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22
crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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23
averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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24
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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28
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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29
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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30
disquiet
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| n.担心，焦虑 | |
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31
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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32
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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33
temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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34
hummock
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| n.小丘 | |
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reindeer
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| n.驯鹿 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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frigid
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| adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的 | |
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38
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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39
caresses
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| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
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40
constellations
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| n.星座( constellation的名词复数 )；一群杰出人物；一系列（相关的想法、事物）；一群（相关的人） | |
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41
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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42
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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43
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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44
engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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45
investigator
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| n.研究者，调查者，审查者 | |
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46
memento
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| n.纪念品，令人回忆的东西 | |
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