half an hour he would change his tone,"observed Sandy to me; "the doggies will get along well enough in a fewdays."
"In a few days!" I exclaimed, "I thought that we should get to theshore by night-fall."
"Many a night will fall before we reach it," answered Sandy. "If wecould go in a straight line over smooth ice, at a jog trot, the casewould be different. We shall have to make our way in and out among thebergs and hummocks, and maybe to take a long circumbendibus to avoid anywaterholes in our course; we are very likely to fall in with some, solidas the ice appears hereabouts."
I soon found that Sandy was perfectly correct in his prognostications.For the early part of the first day we got on well enough. We had ourchoice of climbing over numerous ridges from ten to twenty feet inheight, or going round until we could find a passage between them. Wehad thus made less than three miles when the night closed in on us. Wethen put up our tent, lighted our lamp, and crept into our sleepingsacks. Though our quarters were rather close, we were more comfortablethan I could have supposed possible. We had a long night, and with thefirst streaks of dawn, having breakfasted inside our tent on coffeeboiled over the lamp, we again proceeded. Our dogs, I should have said,slept outside, and they formed a sufficient guard to give us noticeshould any bears approach.
The next day we made even less progress than on the first, though we metwith no accident to hinder us. Sometimes we dragged the sledge over thehummocks, and sometimes we went round them, the dogs preferring theformer method, as while we toiled they sat up on their tails watchingour proceedings with infinite satisfaction.
The next night I was awakened by hearing a rustling sound, which Iguessed was snow falling, but I soon dropped asleep again forgetting allabout it. In the morning I saw that the sides of the tent wereconsiderably pressed in, and on drawing aside the curtain which closedthe front, a mass of snow fell inside. Looking out, what was our dismayto find that we were entirely surrounded. Travelling which was beforedifficult would now be doubly so. However, on further examination wefound that, having chosen a sheltered spot under a hummock, the snow haddrifted round us.
We easily, therefore, forced our way out, roused up the half-burieddogs, whose noses showed their whereabouts, and having taken our morningmeal doubled up our tent and then trudged forward, Sandy leading. Wefollowed in line, thus making a path for the dogs who without difficultykept up with us. Before long we came to a berg from which extendednorth and south a line of hummocks. It seemed to bar further progress.To ascertain which course to pursue, we agreed to climb to the top ofthe berg, leaving Ewen and Croil to take charge of the sledge. Themate, Sandy, and I, at once commenced the ascent. It was no easy work,and we ran great risk of slipping down again and breaking our limbs.Still, by persevering, the top at length was gained. We could see theland very clearly to the westward, and between it and us the iceappeared far more level than any we had hitherto passed over. To thenorth it was utterly impracticable. To the southward we discovered apassage which we hoped to reach in the course of the day. The mate'sbelief was that we were close upon the land-ice, and that by pushing onwe could reach it by nightfall.
Having made these observations we prepared to descend, but we found thatthe chance of falling when doing so would be far greater than whenascending. It appeared, however, from where we stood, that there was aslope on the southern side where we might get down with comparativeease. There was, however, a projecting ledge which must be knocked awaybefore we could reach the slope. We had brought ropes with us, andSandy passing one round his waist, begged the mate and me to hold it atthe other end while he advanced with his staff at the point of which hehad secured a huge lump of ice. Using this us a sledge hammer, he beganknocking away at the ledge, and after a few blows the whole mass givingway went thundering down the slope.
"It's just as well to clear that off," he observed, "or it might havecome down on our heads."
This was the more likely when he told us that he had observed a deepcrack, which had induced him to make the attempt to knock the ledgeaway.
We now descended and rejoined Ewen and his companions, who had beengreatly alarmed at seeing the mass of ice come rattling down, supposingthat some accident had happened to us, while they had with difficultyrestrained the dogs from galloping away from them.
We now directed our course southward, and were not disappointed infinding a passage through the hummocks, which enabled us to get on thesmoother land-ice. We had, however, soon to camp. To render our tentwarm, having cleared away the snow, we built a wall round it whichsheltered us from the wind.
On the evening of the second day after this, we reached the shore, whichrose bleak and barren before us. Yet it was a satisfaction to set ourfeet on firm ground. We landed in a small bay, the shore for a shortdistance shelving up to the foot of the cliffs, which--as they extendedround to the east--would, we agreed, afford us shelter from the morebitter blasts of winter. The rocks were bare and rugged. Here andthere a few lichens appeared, which to our eyes, long unaccustomed toanything of a green tint, seemed very pleasant.
"This will do!" cried the mate, "if our shipmates can reach this, we maypass the winter far better than we should have done on the open floe."
As we had but a few more minutes of daylight, we hurriedly pitched ourtent on a level spot close under the rocks, piling up the snow around itas before.
The mate was anxious to return at once with the news of our success, andto guide the party to the shore. He hoped, with a good night's rest, tobe able to set off early in the morning, and to perform a great part ofthe distance before night-fall.
Sandy suggested, that it would be as well if some of us remained, as itwould be necessary to carry but few articles on the sledge, and the dogswould the more easily perform the journey. He offered to go with Ewenand Croil, but to this the mate would not agree, and announced hisintention to set off with Croil, leaving the rest of us to build a snowhut for the reception of the party.
We had brought, I should have said, a couple of lamps with sufficientoil. We were therefore provided with one of the chief necessaries oflife. We hoped also to shoot a bear, or perhaps some birds, to increaseour stock of provisions.
When morning returned, however, a storm was blowing outside the bay,though within we were tolerably sheltered from its fury. To haveattempted to cross the ice while it continued would have been madness.
The mate and Sandy therefore assisted us in putting up a hut. We hadabundance of snow from a drift collected on the opposite side of thebay, though we soon exhausted that which lay immediately round us. Thestorm, however, increased to such an extent that we were compelled totake shelter within our tent, which, had it not been surrounded by asnow wall, would inevitably have been blown down. As we sat crowdedtogether in our tent, waiting for the cessation of the storm, thehowling and roaring of the wind among the rocks in no way served toraise our spirits, but rather increased the gloomy forebodings of evilwhich stole over us.
The mate announced his intention of taking a look round, to see whatprospect there was of the weather clearing.
"Stay here, lads," he said, taking up his gun, "there's no reason whyyou should be exposed to the cold. I'm more accustomed to it than youare."
"Not more than me, sir," said Sandy; "I'll go with you, if you like."
"No, no, boatswain. You stay and look after the others. You are olderthan I am, at all events, and require more rest."
Saying this the mate went out and closed the door of the tent.
Ewen, Croil, and the seaman were asleep. Sandy and I talked on for sometime.
"Wonder the mate doesn't come back," said the boatswain. "I'm afraidsomething has happened to him. He can't have lost his way on the ice,but he may have slipped over a rock, or into a seal hole, if any are tobe found close in shore."
We waited a little longer, and at length Sandy, starting up, exclaimed,"We must go and look for him."
Just then our ears were saluted by a loud roar, which made the r
est ofthe party jump up. We all hastened out. No one was to be seen.
"Where did the sound come from?" asked Sandy. "I thought it was quitenear."
"From the other side of the rock," I answered.
We hastened towards the spot, in the direction to which I pointed. Weall had our guns in our hands ready for an encounter with a bear, whichwe expected to see. What was my horror on getting round the rock todiscover the mate on the ground, a huge shaggy monster standing overhim. We crept on, afraid, should we shout, that the bear might carryoff his victim. Whether the mate was dead or alive, we could not tell,but he lay perfectly still. Sandy was leading, but he was not afirst-rate shot, and I would rather have trusted to my own rifle. Atlast the bear made a movement, and Sandy, thinking he was going to bitethe mate, fired, but he only wounded the animal in the back.
Arctic Adventures Page 15
