CHAPTER EIGHT.
PROCEEDING ON AGAINST MANY DIFFICULTIES.--ARCHY AND HIS COMPANIONS ATLAST DISCOVER LAND AHEAD, AND CAMP IN A SNOW-HUT.--AT DAYBREAK, SEEINGNO TRACES OF THE MUTINEERS, THEY PUSH ON, AND ARRIVE AT THE EDGE OF THEFLOE. CROSS A CHANNEL AND GETTING ON AN OPPOSITE FLOE, BUILD ASNOW-HUT; BUT THE WATER RISING, LEAVE IT, AND BUILD ANOTHER, WHICH ALSOIS WASHED AWAY. BUILD A THIRD, AND ARE AWOKE BY A BEAR.--TWO MEN FROSTBITTEN ARE LEFT BEHIND.
As the sun was about to set, a shout escaped Archy's lips. "Land,land!" he cried out. All gazed eagerly in the direction to which hepointed. There appeared a range of snowy mountains far higher than anyicebergs. They were clear and well defined, and Andrew and Foubisterdeclared that they could not be, as some of the rest supposed, a bank ofclouds. They remained visible till the sun sunk beneath the horizon.The discovery somewhat cheered their spirits, but still many days mustelapse before they could reach the shore, and even when there, noinhabitants might be found to assist them, or food to enable them toexist during the coming winter. Their present condition indeed was verytrying. The tents were on the sledges, and they had only sufficientfuel in the boat to keep a fire alight for one night; while theirprovisions, with the utmost economy, would last them but a fortnight orthree weeks at the furthest.
"If the cold goes on increasing, we shall be frozen to death before themorning," exclaimed several of the men.
"Not so, mates," said Andrew. "I have seen the natives build a snow-hutin the course of an hour, and have been as warm as I could wish withinit during the hardest frost. They call it an igloo, and they fashion itmuch after the way the seals make their houses, so that it is wellsuited to the climate. We may depend on that, as God himself taught theseals. Now turn to and clear a space down to the ice, while thecarpenter and I saw out some blocks of snow." His companions followedAndrew's directions; and while Foubister sawed out the blocks, whichwere about three feet long, and half as wide, he placed them in a circleon the space which had been cleared. He then put on another tier,gradually sloping inwards till a dome was formed, and lastly thekeystone of the arch was dropped into its place. Archy, who was helpingAndrew, remained with him inside, and were thus completely walled in.The carpenter, with his saw, then cut a hole to serve as a doorway, onthe lee side of the hut.
"We have yet got to form a bed and fire-places. Hand in more blocks,mates," said Andrew.
With these he and Archy quickly built up a raised place on either sideof the hut, with a circular one in the centre. Some of the provisions,with a portion of the fuel, and all the bedding and blankets, were thenbrought inside, when Andrew stopped up the doorway with some blocks ofsnow, which he had retained for the purpose.
"Now, mates," he said, "you will soon see that we can be warm enough,but we must keep up as small a fire as can be made to burn. Look herenow; this log will last us all night if we chop it into chips, and justput on three or four at a time."
Andrew's plan was found to answer perfectly. The fire was sufficient tomelt the snow in a saucepan, and to enable them to enjoy some hot tea,and the hut soon became so warm that they were glad to throw off theirgreat coats. Their only regret was that Andrew had not thought beforeof building a snow-hut.
"Better late than never. It will not be the last by many that we shallhave to build," he answered.
They were all so comfortable that Andrew had great difficulty in rousingthem in the morning to encounter the biting wind blowing across thefloe. Having enjoyed a warm breakfast, and put on their outer clothing,they cut their way out of their burrow, and once more proceededeastward. They did not fail to look out for their companions, but not amoving object was to be discerned in any direction across the wideice-field.
After travelling all day, they were convinced that they saw the landahead, though it appeared no nearer than before.
"May be it will not appear nearer to-morrow or next day," said Andrew."But that must not disappoint us. It will be nearer notwithstanding.That we know for a certainty, and if we persevere we shall reach it atlast."
As they advanced, several cracks and broad fissures were found in theice, and in one place there was a wide pool or lake only thinly coveredover, to avoid which they had to make a circuit.
"We are not far off the open water, mates," said Andrew, "and we may bethankful that we have the boat, though I fear our poor shipmates will bein a sad plight."
Making their way onwards, the ice being tolerably smooth, they arrivedsooner than Andrew had expected at the edge of the floe. The channelwhich divided it from the opposite floe was upwards of a couple of mileswide, a long distance to traverse in their battered boat. The wind hadgone down, and the sea was tolerably calm, it was therefore important tocross while it remained so. Andrew, however, was very unwilling tocross without waiting for their missing shipmates.
"Just think, mates, how we should feel if we had been with the sledgeshad they crossed and left us to our fate on the floe?"
"But they deserted us, and we may lose our lives if we wait for them,"argued the other men.
At last Andrew persuaded them to remain, while he and Archy set off toclimb to the top of a small iceberg, a little way to the north, fromwhence they hoped to obtain a view over a considerable portion of thefloe. They lost no time in starting, but the distance was much greaterthan they had expected.
"It seems to me as if the iceberg were moving away from us," exclaimedArchy. "We have been walking on for the last half hour, and appear nonearer."
"The berg is a good deal larger than I had fancied," answered Andrew."But never fear, we shall get up to it at last, and if we can manage toclimb to the top, we shall have a wider view over the plain, and abetter chance of seeing the poor fellows. It goes to my heart to leavethem to perish, and yet perish they must if they do not soon reach themainland. We must forget that they intended to desert us, and even ifthey did, it is our duty to return good for evil, so come along Archy."
The iceberg was at length gained. Then came the difficulty of climbingto the top. After walking nearly round it, they found a portion meltedand broken by the summer sun which afforded them footing. With the aidof a boat-hook, and a coil of rope which Andrew had brought, they atlast reached one of the highest points. Hence they could see the edgeof the floe extending for a considerable way to the north, while theireyes ranged over a wide extent of level ice, but all was one whitewaste. Not the smallest dark spot could be seen upon it.
"I am afraid, Archy, we must give them up," sighed Andrew. "We shouldrisk the loss of our own lives if we were longer to wait for them."
Descending the iceberg, Andrew and Archy made their way back to theboat. The boat was at once launched, and though she leaked slightly,one hand bailing could keep her free. They all therefore, embarked, andtowing the runners, they made their way across to the floe. As theyfound themselves once more gliding smoothly over the water, theirspirits rose, and some were anxious to try and make their way south inthe boat. Andrew and the carpenter, however, strongly objected to doingthis.
"The ice may close upon us, and we may run short of provisions longbefore we can reach the Danish settlements," he observed. "Let us gethold of the land first."
It was nearly dark by the time they reached the edge of the oppositeice, and having unloaded their boat, they hauled her up, and proceededon to a hummock at a little distance. Here, without loss of time, theybuild an igloo in which to shelter themselves for the night.
The first part passed quietly away, but about midnight Archy was awokeby the sound of the crashing of ice, and a loud dashing of waves. Hearoused his companions, they listened for a few seconds.
"The sea is breaking up the ice close to us," exclaimed Andrew. "Put onyour clothes, lads, or we may be drowned in our den."
In another minute the whole party made their way out of the hut,carrying their bedding under their arms. The sea was already close upto the stern of the boat. Fortunately she had been placed on therunners. They had just time to seize her,
and drag her along, beforethe ice, on which she had been resting, gave way. On they went as fastas they could drag the boat, but even then it seemed doubtful whetherthey could escape from the fast following sea. Their hut and thehummock, near which it had been built, quickly disappeared. The windblew with fearful violence; the ice beneath their feet rose and fell asthey passed over it. Whenever they halted, the crashing ice behind themwarned them to push on again. At last a berg in the floe appearedahead, they made their way towards it, hoping that they might obtainshelter under its lee till the gale had ceased. The men were sofatigued that they would have thrown themselves down under shelter ofthe boat to rest had not Andrew persuaded them to build another igloo.Here they once more sought shelter, hoping to remain undisturbed for theremainder of the night. Andrew and Foubister, however, agreed to keepwatch and watch, and Archy begged to take his turn.
"No, no," said Andrew, "you were the means of saving our lives. Youwant sleep more than we do."
Two hours passed away, when, as Andrew listened, he heard again the sameterrific sound which had before awakened them. Once more all werearoused, and hastening out as before, they found the sea stillencroaching on them. Complaining bitterly of their hard fate, the mendragged on their boat, still the sea pursued them. Scarcely had theygot a hundred yards from the berg beneath which they had taken shelter,when it crashed away through the broken ice. No one now felt inclinedto stop. The raging sea tore up the ice behind them, the vast slabscrashing together with a terrific sound, urging them to greater speed.
On they went till day dawned, when they found themselves near a lowiceberg. They now declared that they could go no further, and Andrewand Foubister agreed, that even should the ice overtake them, they mightfind refuge on the slope of the berg, up which they could withoutdifficulty haul the boat. Having placed her, as they hoped, in safety,they built another snow-hut, where they proposed remaining till thestorm had ceased. As they had now become expert architects, they werenot long in constructing the igloo, and all thankfully crept in torecruit their strength. Even Andrew felt that he could not have heldout much longer.
The crashing sounds of the breaking ice had ceased, and no longerfearing having again to take to flight, the whole party fell asleep.They had not closed the doorway, as was their custom at night, onaccount of the heat which was soon generated in so confined a space.Archy was the first to awake, as he did so he heard a scraping sound,and directly afterwards he caught sight of the white snout of a hugeanimal poked in at the opening. A few smouldering chips alone remainedof the fire in the centre of the hut. His first impulse was to seizeone and throw it at the intruder, shouting out to his companions at thesame time. They quickly sprung to their feet. The carpenter seized anaxe.
"A bear, a bear," he cried out, as he made a blow at the nose of theanimal, who, uttering fierce growls, quickly beat a retreat.
They all rushed out, when the bear was seen at a short distance sittingon his haunches examining its wounded nose. Andrew hurried to the boat.Happily the bear had not attacked their provisions. The rifle wasloaded, his only fear was that the bear would make off before he couldget near enough to wound it mortally. The creature was, however,evidently meditating an attack. It advanced, he fired, and it rolledover on the snow. His companions uttered a shout of joy, as they had nolonger any fear of suffering for want of food for some time to come.The bear was cut up, and returning to their hut, they were soon employedin cooking steaks over their rekindled fire.
"I suspect those fellows never venture far from land," observed Andrew;"so we may now feel pretty sure, mates, that we shall be able to reachit without having another channel to cross."
The whole party were, however, too much knocked up to make another moveduring that day, and even Andrew and Foubister, who were most anxious toproceed on their journey, consented to remain till the followingmorning. The day and night were passed between sleeping and eating, foras soon as the men woke up, they relighted their fire and cooked morebear's steaks, in spite of Andrew's warnings that they would soonexhaust all their fuel.
"Never fear, old man," was the answer, "we shall get enough when wereach the shore, and let us enjoy ourselves while we can. The nativesmanage to live, why should not we?"
"The natives know how to catch the seal and the walrus, and unless wecan prove ourselves as good hunters as they are, we may chance tostarve," answered Andrew.
His warnings, however, had no effect, and when the next morning theycame to examine the contents of the boat, they found they had onlysufficient fuel to last them another night.
Once more they were on their journey. The carcase of the bear addedconsiderably to their load, the ice too was rough and broken, and theymade but slow progress. The land was seen clearly ahead, but aftertoiling all day it seemed almost as far off as when they started. Thedays too were becoming shorter and shorter, while the cold rapidlyincreased, and once more they were compelled to encamp on the open floe.That night the remainder of their fuel was consumed. Two of the menhad been complaining during the day of pains in their feet, and whenthey pulled off their boots, to their dismay they discovered that theywere perfectly black. In vain their companions rubbed them to restorethe circulation. Their groans were piteous to hear, and when themorning came they were utterly unable to rise. Andrew proposed to placethem in the boat, and to drag them along to the shore. When, however,morning came, the ice ahead appeared even rougher than that which theyhad passed over on the previous day, and in spite of his desire topreserve their lives, it was found that with their diminished strengththis would be impossible. It was therefore agreed that the poor fellowsshould be left in the hut, and that should any Esquimaux be met with,they should be sent with their sledges and dogs to their relief. Withsad hearts the rest of the party closed the hut, which they felt wouldtoo probably prove the tomb of their companions.