Arctic Adventures
Page 13
one hand, then the other, and while heclung tightly to it, with considerable exertion, I managed to draw himup out of the water. His rifle, when he fell, he had thrown from him,so that except for the discomfort of being wet and the ill effects whichmight arise, he was not the worse for the accident. Unwilling to losethe bear, we continued our pursuit after it. If it had been in theneighbourhood it had taken itself off, and we could nowhere discover it.
We accordingly pushed on in the direction Sandy had taken, keeping atthe same time a look out for the bear, examining the nature of the iceas we went along, to avoid another tumble through it. There had been aslight fall of snow which enabled us to follow in his track, which wefortunately discovered when at length reaching a hummock, we climbed tothe top to look out and ascertain how far he had got from us.
"I see a black spot on the ice. It must be a man. Can anything havehappened to the others?" exclaimed Ewen. "He is coming this way."
We descended and ran on to meet him. It was one of the men who had beensent back, he said, to look for us, as the boatswain had become anxiousat our non-appearance. When he saw Ewen's condition, he advised that weshould go back to the ship, as it might be dangerous for him to remainin his wet clothes. Ewen, however, insisted on going forward, declaringthat as long as he was in exercise he did not feel the cold.
On crossing another hummock, we caught sight of Sandy with hiscompanions. They were bending over a hole in the ice, Sandy with hisharpoon prepared to strike at some object in the water. One of the menmade a signal to us to keep back. We guessed at once that Sandyexpected to find either a seal or a walrus rise to the surface, and waseagerly waiting to harpoon it. We accordingly halted to see what wouldhappen. Presently Sandy stood up, holding his weapon ready to strike;then down it came, and he and his companions seized the end of the lineand held fast. We rushed forward to their assistance, and arrived justin time to prevent their being drawn into the water-hole or having tolet go the line. "Hold on, lads, hold on!" cried Sandy. "It's a bigbull walrus I suspect from the way the fellow tugs." Taking a spear headvanced to the edge of the hole, when he plunged it into the body of anobject invisible to us; he then sprang back, and in another instant ahuge head and shoulders, with an enormous pair of tusks and flappers,appeared above the surface.
"Haul away, lads, haul away," he shouted, putting his hand to the ropeto give us his assistance, when out came, with a loud flop, a largewalrus. The creature on seeing us endeavoured to work its way on,opening wide its jaws and threatening us with its tusks; but as itadvanced we ran back, until Sandy, taking the third spear, sprangtowards its side, into which he deeply buried the weapon, almost pinningthe animal to the ice. It still struggled violently, and as we had nomore spears I advanced towards it with my rifle, and shot it through thehead, when it rolled over perfectly dead. It was a prize worth having.The difficulty would be to get it back to the ship. We rolled the bodyon the sleigh, to which we secured it.
We got on very well over the smooth ice, but when we arrived at ahummock we had to exert all our strength to get the carcase up to thetop. We then let it roll down again to the opposite side. As we had agood many hummocks to pass, our progress was slow, and the day waswaning when we caught sight of the ship. Sandy asked Ewen and me to goforward and obtain assistance. This we very gladly did, for all theparty were pretty well worn out, and we felt that we could haul nolonger.
I was also particularly anxious to get Ewen into his bed, as hisunderclothing was still wet. On our arrival the doctor took charge ofhim; and I volunteered to lead back four of the men, whom the Captainhad directed to go and assist Sandy. There was no time to be lost. Thesky had become overcast, and there was every appearance that we shouldhave a heavy snow storm. We little knew, however, what was coming.Tired as I was, I set off with the men to try to find Sandy. I feltpretty sure that I could steer a course to the spot where I had lefthim, from having taken the exact bearings of the ship. Though we hadseen the ship in the distance, it was not so easy to distinguish threemen surrounded by hummocky ice. In a short time after we had set out,the expected snow began to fall, and very heavily it came down. I wasafraid that, although we might find Sandy, we should be unable to dragback the body of the walrus. This would be provoking after theexertions we had already made. I was truly thankful when we at lengthcaught sight of our shipmates amid the falling snow. They gave a cheeras we approached. The ship was no longer to be seen, and they, notwithout reason, feared that they might have missed her; and they wereindeed, when we found them, steering a course which would have carriedthem some way to the westward of her. It was a lesson to us in futurenot to go far from home, unless in the finest weather, without acompass. All hands immediately tackled on to the sledge, and we set offas fast as we could move. I went ahead trying to make out the ship, butthe thickening gloom and the fast falling snow concealed her from sight.At last I thought of firing off my rifle. No reply came. I firedagain and again.
At length I heard the report of a musket followed by the boom of a biggun. Both appeared much farther off than I expected, though I thought Icould judge the direction from which they came. I waited until mycompanions approached and then led them on. I fired again and wasreplied to from the ship.
I was thankful when we got alongside and our prize was hoisted on deck.Coarse as was the meat it was eaten with as much gusto as if it had beensome delicate luxury.
While we were in the act of stowing away the blubber, the ship began tomove and the ice round us to heave. Every instant the motion increased,and the scene I have before described was enacted but in a more fearfuldegree. The ship groaned and strained, and the masts quivered as ifabout to fall. The masses of ice on the outer floe began to break up,and in a few seconds rushed over the more level parts, some remainingwith their edges towards the sky, others falling with tremendous crashesand shivering into pieces. We could see some through the gloom risinghigh above our decks, and we knew at any moment that they might cometoppling down upon us and crush the stout ship. Our sense of hearing,indeed, told us more clearly than our eyes what was taking place. Thecaptain, in a calm voice, ordered the crew to make preparations forquitting the ship. The boats were swung out on the davits, so that theycould be lowered in a moment, with sails, provisions, and tools ready toput into them, while the men brought up their bags and blankets, and puton their warm clothing. The doctor got his medicine chest ready; thearmourer opened the magazine and divided the arms and ammunition. Sacksfor sleeping in were added to the articles, and all stood waiting forthe order we expected every moment to receive to quit the ship. Westamped about the decks in vain attempting to keep ourselves warm, forno fires had been lighted, lest the stoves being overturned might setthe ship in flames.
All night long the fearful uproar continued, the ice pressing withgreater and greater force against the sides of the ship. The carpenterwas ordered to sound the well. He reported that the water was rushingin through unseen leaks.
Should the ship sink our fate would be sealed. Our hope was that shemight be pressed up on the ice, and that the wreck might preserve usduring the winter. At daylight the pressure ceased, but out hope ofsaving the ship was gone. On examination it was found that many of herstout ribs were broken and her planks forced in, while she herself waslifted several feet above the level of the ice. This made it probablethat instead of sinking, should a further pressure ensue, she would beforced up altogether our of the water. We spent the rest of thatanxious day in making further preparations for quitting the ship. Yetanother night we remained on board, when in the middle watch we werearoused by the boatswain's voice, summoning the men to leave the ship.The fearful commotion of the ice showed that there was no time to lose.The boats were lowered and dragged off towards the centre of the floe.Every man knew what he had to do and worked steadily, and the articleswhich had been prepared were placed near the boats. The crew workedlike a party of ants toiling backwards and forwards, struggling on withloads on their backs, which un
der ordinary circumstances they couldscarcely have attempted to carry. Our fear was that the masts mightfall before our task was accomplished. Mercifully, time was given us.Nothing of absolute necessity remained, and we were engaged in settingup a couple of tents which might afford us shelter until we could erectice houses.
As day broke we saw the masts of our ship swaying to and fro, while thehuge hull, as if by some mighty force below, was lifted up, and thendown they came, the foremast first, dragging the mainmast and mizenmast, and the vessel lay a forlorn wreck on the top of the ice.
"It is far better to have her so, than at the bottom of the sea, lads,"exclaimed Sandy, "so don't let us despair; though she'll not carry ushome, she'll give us stuff to build a house, and enough firewood to lastus through the winter. We're a precious deal better off than many poorfellows have been."
Not allowing the men a