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The Waif of the "Cynthia"
CHAPTER XV.
THE SHORTEST ROUTE.
Night was closing in when Erik summoned his three friends and
counselors to hold a serious consultation.
"I have reflected a great deal," he said to them, "upon the
circumstances which have made our voyage memorable since we left
Stockholm. I have been forced to arrive at one conclusion, which is
that we must expect to meet with obstacles or accidents during our
voyage. Perhaps they may befall us at Gibraltar or at Malta. If we are
not destroyed, it appears to me certain that we shall be delayed. In
that case we can not reach Behring's Straits during the summer, which
is the only season when it is practicable to navigate the polar sea!"
"That is also the conclusion which I formed some time ago," declared
Mr. Bredejord: "but I kept it to myself, as I did not wish to dampen
your hopes, my dear boy. But I am sure that we must give up the idea
of reaching Behring's Strait in three months!"
"That is also my opinion," said the doctor.
Mr. Malarius on his part indicated by a motion of his head that he
agreed with them all.
"Well!" said Erik, "having settled that point, what line of conduct
now remains for us to adopt?"
"There is one right course which it is our duty to take," answered Mr.
Bredejord, "it is to renounce an enterprise which we see clearly is
impracticable and return to Stockholm. You understand this fact, my
child, and I congratulate you upon being able to look the situation
calmly in the face!"
"You pay me a compliment which I can not accept," said Erik smiling,
"for I do not merit it. No--I have no thoughts of abandoning the
expedition, for I am far from regarding it as impracticable. I only
think that it is best for us all to baffle the machinations of that
scoundrel who is lying in wait for us, and the first thing to do is to
change our route."
"Such a change would only complicate our difficulties," replied the
doctor, "since we have adopted the shortest one. If it would be
difficult to reach Behring's Straits by the Mediterranean and the Suez
Canal, it would be impossible by the Cape of Good Hope, or Cape Horn,
for either of these routes would necessarily take five or six months."
"There is another way which would shorten our voyage, instead of
lengthening it, and where we would be sure not to meet Tudor Brown,"
said Erik.
"Another way?" answered Dr. Schwaryencrona; "upon my word I do not
know of any unless you are thinking of the way of Panama. But it is
not yet practicable for vessels, and it will not be yet for several
years."
"I am not thinking of Panama, nor of Cape Horn, nor of the Cape of
Good Hope," answered the young captain of the "Alaska." "The route I
propose is the only one by which we can reach Behring's Strait in
three months: it is to go by way of the Arctic Ocean, the north-west
passage."
Then seeing that his friends were stupefied by this unexpected
announcement, Erik proceeded to develop his plans.
"The north-west passage now is no longer what it was formerly,
frightful to navigators--it is intermittent, since it is only open for
eight or ten weeks every year, but it is now well known, marked out
upon excellent charts, and frequented by hundreds of whaling-vessels.
It is rarely taken by any vessel going from the Atlantic to the
Pacific Ocean, I must admit. Most of them who enter it from either
side only traverse it partially. It might even happen, if
circumstances were not favorable, that we might find the passage
closed, or that it might not be open at the precise time when we
desired to enter it. It is a risk that one must take. But I think
there are many reasons to make us hopeful of success if we take this
route, whilst as far as I can see there is none, if we take any of the
others. This being the state of affairs, I think it is our duty--a
duty which we owe to those who have fitted out the expedition--to take
the shortest way of reaching Behring's Strait. An ordinary vessel
equipped for navigating tropical waters might hesitate before deciding
upon such a course, but with a vessel like the 'Alaska' fitted out
especially for polar navigation, we need not hesitate. For my part I
declare that I will not return to Stockholm before having attempted to
find Nordenskiold."
Erik's reasoning was so sound that nobody tried to contradict it.
What objections could the doctor, Mr. Bredejord, and Mr. Malarius
raise?
They saw the difficulties which beset the new plan. But it was
possible that these difficulties might not prove insurmountable,
whilst, if they pursued any other course, they must abandon all hopes
of success. Besides, they did not hesitate to agree with Erik that it
would be more glorious, in any case, to make the attempt, than to
return to Stockholm and acknowledge themselves conquered.
"I see but one serious objection, for my part," said Dr.
Schwaryencrona, after he had remained for a few moments lost in
reflection. "It is the difficulty of procuring coal in the arctic
regions. For without coal, adieu to the possibility of making the
north-west passage, and of profiting by the time, often very short,
during which it is practicable."
"I have foreseen this difficulty, which is in fact the only one,"
answered Erik, "and I do not think it is insurmountable. In place of
going to Malta or Gibraltar, where we might doubtless expect new
machinations on the part of Tudor Brown, I propose that we go to
London; from there I can send, by transatlantic cable, a dispatch to a
house in Montreal, to send without delay a boat loaded with coal to
wait for us in Baffin's Bay, and to a house in San Francisco to send
to Behring's Strait. We have the necessary funds at our disposal, and,
besides, we will not require as much as we would have done if we had
gone by the way of Asia, for our new route is a much shorter one. It
is useless for us to reach Baffin's Bay before the end of May, and we
can not hope to reach Behring's Strait before the end of June. Our
correspondents in Montreal and San Francisco will therefore have
plenty of time to execute our orders, which will be covered by funds
deposited with bankers in London. This accomplished, we shall only
have to find out whether the north-west passage is practicable, and
that evidently depends upon ourselves. But, if we find the passage
closed, at least we shall have the consolation of knowing that we have
neglected nothing that could have insured our success."
"It is evident!" said Mr. Malarius, "that your arguments are
unanswerable!"
"Gently, gently," said Mr. Bredejord. "Do not let us go too fast. I
have another objection. Do you think, my dear Erik, that the 'Alaska'
can pass unnoticed through these waters? No, it is not possible. The
newspapers would mention our arrival. The telegraph companies would
make it known. Tudor Brown would know it. He would know that we had
changed our plans. What would prevent him from altering his? Do you
think, for example, that it would be very difficult to prevent our
boat with coals from reaching us?--and without it we could do
nothing!"
"That is true," answered Erik, "and it proves that we must think of
everything. We must not go to London. We must put into Lisbon as if we
were _en route_ to Gibraltar and Suez. Then one of us must go
_incognito_ to Madrid, and without explaining why, or for whom it is
intended, must open telegraphic communications with Montreal and San
Francisco, to order the supply of coal. The crews of these boats must
not know for whom the coal is destined, but remain at designated
points at the disposition of a captain who will carry an order to them
previously agreed upon!"
"A perfect arrangement. It will be almost impossible for Tudor Brown
to track us."
"You mean to track me, for I hope that you do not think of
accompanying me to these arctic regions," said Erik.
"Indeed that is my intention!" answered the doctor. "It shall not be
said that that rascal, Tudor Brown, made me turn back!"
"Nor me either," cried Mr. Bredejord and Mr. Malarius together.
The young captain tried to combat this resolution, and explained to
his friends the dangers and monotony of the voyage which they proposed
to take with him. But he could not alter their decision. The perils
which they had already encountered, made them feel it a duty to keep
together; for the only way of rendering such a voyage acceptable to
them all was not to separate. Every precaution had been taken to
protect the persons on board the "Alaska" from suffering unduly from
cold; and neither Swedes nor Norwegians fear frost.
Erik was obliged to yield to their wishes, only stipulating that their
change of route should not be made known to the crew of the vessel.
The first part of their voyage was quickly accomplished.
On the 2d of April the "Alaska" reached Lisbon. Before the newspapers
had given notice of their arrival, Mr. Bredejord had gone to Madrid,
and by means of a banking-house opened communications with two large
firms, one in Montreal and one in San Francisco.
He had arranged to have two boat-loads of coal sent to two designated
points, and had given the sign by which Erik was to make himself
known.
This sign was the words found upon him when he was discovered
floating, tied to the buoy of the "Cynthia," "Semper idem."
Finally these arrangements having all been happily concluded, on the
9th of April Mr. Bredejord returned to Lisbon, and the "Alaska"
resumed her voyage.
On the twenty-fifth of the same month, having crossed the Atlantic and
reached Montreal, where they took in coal, and Erik was assured that
his orders had been punctually fulfilled, they left the waters of the
St. Lawrence and Straits of Belle Isle, which separate Labrador from
Newfoundland. On the 10th of May they reached the coast of Greenland
and found the vessel with their coal, it having arrived before them.
Erik knew very well that at this early date it would be useless to
attempt to force his way through the Arctic Ocean, which was still
firmly frozen over the largest part of his route. But he counted upon
obtaining on these shores, which were much frequented by
whaling-vessels, precise information as to the best charts, and he was
not mistaken. He was also able to buy, although at a high price, a
dozen dogs, who with Kaas could draw their sledges if necessary.
Among the Danish stations on the coast of Greenland, he found
Godhaven, which is only a poor village, and is used as a depot by
dealers in oil and the furs of the country. At this time of the year
the cold is not more severe than at Stockholm or Noroe. But Erik and
his friends beheld with surprise the great difference between the two
countries, both situated at the same distance from the pole. Godhaven
is in precisely the same latitude as Bergen. But whilst the southern
port of Norway is in April covered with green forests and fruit trees,
and even cultivated vines trained upon trellises above green meadows,
Greenland is still in May covered with ice and snow, without a tree to
enliven the monotony. The shape of the Norwegian coast, deeply
indented by forests and sheltered by chains of islands, which
contribute almost as much as the warmth of the Gulf Stream to raise
the temperature of the country. Greenland, on the contrary, has a low
regular coast and receives the full shock of the cold blasts from the
pole, consequently she is enveloped almost to the middle of the island
by fields of ice several feet in thickness.
They spent fifteen days in the harbor and then the "Alaska" mounted
Davis' Straits, and keeping along the coast of Greenland, gained the
polar sea.
On the 28th of May for the first time they encountered floating ice in
70 15' of north latitude, with a temperature two degrees below zero.
These first icebergs, it is true, were in a crumbling condition,
rapidly breaking up into small fragments. But soon they became more
dense, and frequently they had to break their way through them.
Navigation, although difficult, was not as yet dangerous. By a
thousand signs they perceived, however, that they were in a new world.
All objects at a little distance appeared to be colorless, and almost
without form; the eye could find no place to repose in this
perpetually changing horizon, which every minute assumed a new aspect.
"Who can describe," says an eye-witness, "these melancholy
surroundings, the roaring of the waves beating beneath the floating
ice, the singular noise made by the snow as it falls suddenly into the
abyss of waters? Who can imagine the beauty of the cascades which gush
out on all sides, the sea of foam produced by their fall, the fright
of the sea-birds who, having fallen asleep on a pyramid of ice,
suddenly find their resting-place overturned and themselves obliged to
fly to some other spot? And in the morning, when the sun bursts
through the fog, at first only a little of the blue sky is visible,
but it gradually widens, until the view is only limited by the
horizon."
These spectacles, presented by the polar sea, Erik and his friends
were able to contemplate at their leisure as they left the coast of
Greenland, to which they had kept close until they had reached
Uppernavik. Then they sailed westward across Baffin's Bay. Here
navigation became more difficult, for this sea is the ordinary course
of the polar icebergs which are drawn in by the innumerable currents
which traverse it. Sometimes they found their course checked by
insurmountable barriers of ice, which it was impossible to break, and
therefore they were compelled to turn aside. The "Alaska" was obliged
continually to break her way through immense fields of ice. Sometimes
a tempest of snow assailed them which covered the deck and the masts
with a thick coat. Sometimes they were assailed by ice dashed over
them by the wind, which threatened to sink the vessel by its weight.
Sometimes they found themselves in a sort of lake, surrounded on all
sides by fields of ice apparently firm and impassable, and from which
they had great difficulty to extricate themselves and gain the open
sea. Then they had to exercise great vigilance to escape some enormous
iceberg sailing down from the north with incredible swiftness, a
frightful mass, which could have crushed the "Alaska" like a walnut.
But a greater danger still was the submarine ice, which could injure
her and act like a battering-ram.
The "Alaska" lost her two large boats. One must experience the dangers
which polar navigation presents at every moment to have any just
appreciation of them.
After one or two weeks of such experience the most intrepid crew
become exhausted, and repose is necessary for them.
Sometimes, although surrounded by all these dangers, they made rapid
progress; at others they made scarcely any; but at length, on the 11th
of June, they came in sight of land again, and cast anchor at the
entrance to Lancaster Sound.
Erik had expected to be obliged to wait some days before being able to
enter the sound; but, to his surprise and joy, he found it open, at
least at the entrance. He entered resolutely, but only to find the
next day his passage impeded by ice, which held them prisoners for
three days; but, thanks to the violent currents which sweep through
this Arctic canal, he at last was able to free his vessel and continue
his route as the whalers of Godhaven had told him he would be able to
do.
On the seventeenth he arrived at Barrow's Straits, and made all the
speed he could; but on the nineteenth, as he was about to enter
Melville Sound, he was again blocked in by the ice.
At first he patiently accepted the situation, waiting for it to break
up; but day succeeded to day and still this did not happen.
There were, however, many sources of amusement open to the voyagers.
They were near the coast and supplied with everything that could
render their life comfortable in that latitude. They could take
sleigh-rides and see in the distance the whales enjoying their
diversions. The summer solstice was approaching. Since the fifteenth
the occupants of the "Alaska" had beheld a new and astonishing
spectacle, even for Norwegians and the natives of southern Sweden; it
was the sun at midnight touching the horizon without disappearing and
then mounting again in the sky. In these high latitudes and desolate
coasts the star of day describes in twenty-four hours a complete
circle in space. The light, it is true, is pale and languishing,
objects lose their perfect shape, and all nature has a shadowy
appearance. One realizes profoundly how far he is removed from the
world, and how near he is to the pole. The cold, however, was not
extreme. The temperature did not fall more than four or five degrees
below zero, and the air was sometimes so mild that they could hardly
believe that they were in the center of the arctic zone.
But those novel surrounding were not sufficient to satisfy Erik, or
make him lose sight of the supreme object which had brought them
there. He had not come to herbalize like Mr. Malarius, who returned
every evening more and more delighted with his explorations, both of
the country and of its unknown plants, which he added to his
collection; nor to enjoy with Dr. Schwaryencrona and Mr. Bredejord the
novelty of the sights which nature offered to them in these polar
regions. He wanted to find Nordenskiold and Patrick O'Donoghan--to
fulfill a sacred duty while he discovered, perhaps, the secret of his
birth. This was why he sought untiringly to break the circle of ice
which hemmed them in. He made excursions with his sleigh and on his
snow-shoes, reconnoitered in every direction for ten days, but it was
all in vain. At the west, as well as the north and east, the banks of
ice remained firm.
It was the 20th of June, and they were still far from the Siberian
Sea.
Must he confess himself vanquished? Erik could not make up his mind to
do this. Repeated soundings had revealed that under the ice there was
a swift current running toward Franklin's Strait, that is to say
toward the south; he told himself that some effort might suffice to
break up the ice, and he resolved to attempt it.
For the length of seven marine miles he had hollowed in the ice a
series of chambers, and in each of them was placed a kilogramme of
dynamite. These were connected by a copper wire inclosed in gutta
percha.
On the 30th of June, at eight o'clock in the morning, Erik from the
deck of the "Alaska" pressed the button of the electrical machine, and
a formidable explosion took place. The field of ice shook and
trembled, and clouds of frightened sea-birds hovered around uttering
discordant cries. When silence was restored, a long black train cut
into innumerable fissures met their anxious gaze. The explosion of the
terrible agent had broken up the ice field. There was, so to speak, a
moment of hesitation, and then the ice acted as if it had only been
waiting for some signal to move. Cracking in all parts it yielded to
the action of the current, and they beheld here and there whole
continents, as it were, gradually moving away from them. Some
portions, however, were more slow to move; they seemed to be
protesting against such violence. The next day the passage was clear,
and the "Alaska" rekindled her fires.
Erik and his dynamite had done what it would probably have taken the
pale arctic sun a month longer to accomplish.
On the 2d of July, the expedition arrived at Banks' Straits; on the
fourth, she issued from the Arctic Sea properly speaking. From this
time the route was open notwithstanding icebergs, fogs, and
snow-storms. On the twelfth, the "Alaska" doubled Ice Cape; on the
thirteenth, Cape Lisburne, and on the fourteenth she entered the Gulf
of Kotzebue to the north of Behring's Straits and found there,
according to instructions, the boat loaded with coal which had been
sent from San Francisco.
Thus in two months and sixteen days they had accomplished the
programme arranged by Erik before they left the coast of France.
The "Alaska" had hardly ceased to move, when Erik rushed into a small
boat and hurried off to accost the officer who had charge of the boat
loaded with coal.
"_Semper idem!_" said he, as he approached.
"Lisbon!" answered the Yankee.
"How long have you been waiting here for me?"
"Five weeks--we left San Francisco one month after the arrival of your
dispatch."
"Have you heard any news of Nordenskiold?"
"At San Francisco they had not received any reliable information about
him. But since I have been here I have spoken to several captains of
whaling-vessels, who said that they had heard from the natives of
Serdze-Kamen that an European vessel had been frozen in by the ice for
nine or ten months; they thought it was the 'Vega.'"
"Indeed!" said Erik, with a joy which we can easily understand. "And
do you believe that it has not yet succeeded in getting through the
straits?"
"I am sure of it--not a vessel has passed us for the last five weeks,
which I have not seen and spoken to."
"God be praised--our troubles will not be without recompense, if we
succeed in finding Nordenskiold."
"You will not be the first who has done so!" said the Yankee, with an
ironical smile--"an American yacht has preceded you. It passed here
three days ago, and like you was inquiring for Nordenskiold."
"An American yacht?" repeated Erik, half stupefied.
"Yes--the 'Albatross,' Captain Tudor Brown, from Vancouver's Island. I
told him what I had heard, and he immediately started for Cape
Serdze-Kamen."