The Monikins

by James Fenimore Cooper

  CHAPTER XIV. HOW TO STEER SMALL--HOW TO RUN THE GAUNTLET WITH ASHIP--HOW TO GO CLEAR--A NEW-FASHIONED SCREW--DOCK, AND CERTAINMILE-STONES.

  Captain Poke no longer deliberated about the course we were to steer.With his pumpkin for a chart, his instinct for an observation, and hisnose for a compass, the sturdy sealer stood boldly to the southward; or,at least, he ran dead before a stiff gale, which, as he more than onceaffirmed, was as true a norther as if bred and born in the Canadas.

  After coursing over the billows at a tremendous rate for a day and anight, the captain appeared on deck, with a face of unusual meaning,and a mind loaded with its own reflections, as was proved by his winkingknowingly whenever he delivered himself of a sentiment; a habit thathe had most probably contracted, in early youth, at Stunin'tun, for itseemed to be quite as inveterate as it was thoroughbred.

  "We shall soon know, Sir John," he observed, hitching the sea-lion skininto symmetry, "whether it is sink or swim!"

  "Pray explain yourself, Mr. Poke," cried I, in a little alarm. "Ifanything serious is to happen, you are bound to give timely notice."

  "Death is always untimely to some critturs, Sir John."

  "Am I to understand, sir, that you mean to cast away the ship?"

  "Not if I can help it, Sir John; but a craft that is foreordained to bea wrack, will be a wrack, in spite of reefing and bracing. Look ahead,you Dick Lion--ay, there you have it!"

  There we had it, sure enough! I can only compare the scene which now metmy eyes, to a sudden view of the range of the Oberland Alps, when thespectator is unexpectedly placed on the verge of the precipice of theWeissenstein. There he would see before him a boundless barrierof glittering ice, broken into the glorious and fantastic forms ofpinnacles, walls, and valleys; while here, we saw all that was sublimein such a view heightened by the fearful action of the boisterous ocean,which beat upon the impassable boundary in ceaseless violence.

  "Good God! Captain Poke," I exclaimed, the instant I caught a glimpseof the formidable danger that menaced us, "you surely do not mean tocontinue madly on, with such a warning of the consequences in plainview?"

  "What would you have, Sir John? Leaphigh lies on the t'other side ofthese ice-islands!"

  "But you need not run the ship against them--why not go round them?"

  "Because they go round the 'arth, in this latitude. Now is the timeto speak, Sir John. If we are bound to Leaphigh, we have the choice ofthree pretty desperate chances; to go through, to go under, or to goover that there ice. If we are to put back, there is not a moment tolose, for it may be even now questioned whether the ship would claw off,as we are, with a sending sea, and this heavy norther."

  I believe I would, at that moment, gladly have given up all my socialstakes to be well rid of the adventure. Still pride, that substitutefor so many virtues, the greatest and the most potent of all hypocrites,forbade my betraying the desire to retreat. I deliberated, while theship flew; and when, at length, I turned to the captain to suggest adoubt that might, at an earlier notice, possibly have changed the wholeaspect of affairs, he bluntly told me it was too late. It was safer toproceed than to return, if indeed, return were possible, in the presentstate of the winds and waves. Making a merit of necessity, I braced mynerves to meet the crisis, and remained a submissive, and, apparently, acalm spectator of that which followed.

  The Walrus (such was the name of our good ship) by this time was undereasy canvas, and yet, urged by the gale, she rolled down with alarmingvelocity towards the boundary of foam where the congealed and the stillliquid element held their strife. The summits of the frozen crags wavedin their glittering glory in a way just to show that they were afloat;and I remembered to have heard that, at times, as their bases melted,entire mountains had been known to roll over, engulfing all that laybeneath. To me it seemed but a moment, before the ship was fairlyovershadowed by these shining cliffs, which, gently undulating, wavedtheir frozen summits nearly a thousand feet in air. I looked at Noah,in alarm, for it appeared to me that he intentionally precipitated usto destruction. But, just as I was about to remonstrate, he made a signwith his hand, and the vessel was brought to the wind. Still retreat wasimpossible; for the heave of the sea was too powerful, and the wind tooheavy, to leave us any hope of long keeping the Walrus from driftingdown upon the ragged peaks that bristled in icy glory to leeward. Nordid Captain Poke himself seem to entertain any such design; for, insteadof hugging the gale, in order to haul off from the danger, he had causedthe yards to be laid perfectly square, and we were now running, at agreat rate, in a line nearly parallel with the frozen coast, thoughgradually setting upon it.

  "Keep full! Let her go through water, you Jim Tiger," said the oldsealer, whose professional ardor was fairly aroused. "Now, Sir John,unluckily, we are on the wrong side of these ice mountains, for theplain reason that Leaphigh lies to the south'ard of them. We must bestirring, therefore, for no craft that was ever launched could keep offthese crags with such a gale driving home upon them, for more than anhour or two. Our great concern, at present, is to look out for a hole torun into."

  "Why have you come so close to the danger, with your knowledge of theconsequences?"

  "To own the truth, Sir John, natur' is natur', and I'm getting to be alittle near-sighted as I grow old; besides, I'm not so sartain that thedanger is the more dangerous, for taking a good, steady look plump inits face."

  Noah raised his hand, as much as to say he wished no answer, and bothof us were immediately occupied in gazing anxiously to leeward. Theship was just opening a small cove in the ice, which might have been acable's length in depth, and a quarter of a mile across its outer, orthe widest part. Its form was regular, being that of a semicircle; but,at its bottom, the ice, instead of forming a continued barrier, like allthe rest we had yet passed, was separated by a narrow opening, thatwas bounded on each side by a frowning precipice. The two bergs wereevidently drawing nearer to each other, but there was still a strait, ora watery gorge between them, of some two hundred feet in width. As theship plunged onward, the pass was opened, and we caught a glimpse of thedistant view to leeward. It was merely a glimpse--the impatient Walrusallowing us but a moment for examination--but it appeared sufficient forthe purposes of the old sealer. We were already across the mouth of thecove, and within a cable's length of the ice again; for as we drew nearwhat may be called the little cape, we found ourselves once more incloser proximity to the menacing mountain. It was a moment when alldepended on decision; and fortunately, our sealer, who was so wary andprocrastinating in a bargain, never had occasion to make two draftson his thoughts, in situations of emergency. As the ship cleared thepromontory on the eastern side of the cove, we again opened a curvatureof the ice, which gave a little more water to leeward. Tacking wasimpossible, and the helm was put hard aweather. The bow of the Walrusfell off, and as she rose on the next wave, I thought its send wouldcarry us helplessly down upon the berg. But the good craft, obedient toher rudder, whirled round, as if sensible herself of the danger, and, inless time than I had ever before known her to wear, we felt the wind onthe other quarter. Our cats and dogs bestirred themselves, for there wasno one there, Captain Noah Poke excepted, whose heart did not beat quickand hard. In much less time than usual, the yards were braced up on theother tack, and the ship was ploughing heavily against the sea, with herhead to the westward. It is impossible to give one who has never beenin such a situation, a just idea of the feverish impatience, the sinkingand mounting of hope, as we watch the crablike movement of a vessel thatis clawing off a lee-shore, in a gale. In the present case, it beingwell known that the sea was fathomless, we had run so near the dangerthat not even the smallest of its horrors was veiled from sight.

  While the ship labored along, I saw the clouds fast shutting in towindward, by the interposition of the promontory of ice--the certainsign that our drift was rapid--and, as we drew nearer to the point,breathing became labored and even audible. Here Noah took a chew oftobacco, I presume on the principle of enjoying a last quid, sho
uld theelements prove fatal; and then he went to the wheel in person.

  "Let her go through the water," he said, easing the helm a little--"lether jog ahead, or we shall lose command of her in this devil's-pot!"

  The vessel felt the slight change, and drew faster through the foamingbrine, bringing us, with increasing velocity, nearer to the dreadedpoint. As we came up to the promontory the water fell back in spray onthe decks, and there was an instant when it appeared as if the wind wasabout to desert us. Happily the ship had drawn so far ahead as to feelthe good effects of a slight change of current that was caused by theair rushing obliquely into the cove; and, as Noah, by easing thehelm still more, had anticipated this alteration, which had been feltadversely but a moment before, while struggling to the eastward ofthe promontory, we drew swiftly past the icy cape, opening the covehandsomely, with the ship's head falling off fast towards the gorge.

  There was but a minute or two, for squaring the yards and obtaining theproper position to windward of the narrow strait. Instead of runningdown in a direct line for the latter, Captain Poke kept the ship on sucha course as to lay it well open, before her head was pointed towardsthe passage. By this time, the two bergs had drawn so near each other asactually to form an arch across its mouth; and this, too, at a part solow as to render it questionable whether there was sufficient elevationto permit the Walrus to pass beneath. But retreat was impossible, thegale urging the ship furiously onwards. The width of the passage was nowbut little more than a hundred feet, and it actually required the niceststeerage to keep our yard-arms clear of the opposite precipices, as thevessel dashed, with foaming bows, into the gorge. The wind drew throughthe opening with tremendous violence, fairly howling as if in delight atdiscovering a passage by which it might continue its furious career. Wemay have been aided by the sucking of the wind and the waves, both ofwhich were irresistibly drawn towards the pass, or it is quite probablethat the skill of Captain Poke did us good service on this awfuloccasion; but, owing to the one or the other, or to the two causesunited, the Walrus shot into the gorge so accurately as to avoidtouching either of the lateral margins of the ice. We were not sofortunate, however, with the loftier spars; for scarcely was thevessel beneath the arch, when she lifted on a swell, and hermain-top-gallant-mast snapped off in the cap. The ice groaned andcracked over our heads, and large fragments fell both ahead and asternof us, several of them even tumbling upon our decks. One large piececame down within an inch of the extremity of Dr. Reasono's tail, justescaping the dire calamity of knocking out the brains of that profoundand philo-monikin philosopher. In another instant the ship was throughthe pass, which completely closed, with the crash of an earthquake, assoon as possible afterwards.

  Still driven by the gale, we ran rapidly towards the south, along achannel less than a quarter of a mile in width, the bergs evidentlyclosing on each side of us, and the ship, as if conscious of herjeopardy, doing her utmost, with Captain Poke still at the wheel. In alittle more than an hour, the worst was over--the Walrus issuing into anopen basin of several leagues in extent, which was, however, completelyencircled by the frozen mountains. Here Noah took a look at the pumpkin,after which he made no ceremony in plumply telling Dr. Reasono thathe had been greatly mistaken in laying down the position of CaptivityIsland, as he himself had named the spot where the amiable strangers hadfallen into human hands. The philosopher was a little tenacious ofhis opinion; but what is argument in the face of facts? Here was thepumpkin, and there were the blue waters! The captain now quite franklydeclared that he had great doubts whether there was any such place asLeaphigh at all; and as the ship had a capital position for such anobject, he bluntly, though privately proposed to me, that we shouldthrow all the monikins overboard, project the entire polar basin onhis chart as being entirely free from islands, and then go a-sealing. Irejected the propositions, firstly, as premature; secondly, as inhuman;thirdly, as inhospitable; fourthly, as inconvenient; and lastly, asimpracticable.

  There might have arisen a disagreeable controversy between us on thispoint; for Mr. Poke had begun to warm, and to swear that one good seal,of the true quality of fur, was worth a hundred monkeys; when mosthappily the panther at the masthead cried out that two of the largestmountains, to the southward of us, were separating, and that he coulddiscern a passage into another basin. Hereupon Captain Poke concentratedhis oaths, which he caused to explode like a bomb, and instantly madesail again in the proper direction. By three o'clock, P.M., we had runthe gauntlet of the bergs a second time, and were at least a degreenearer the pole, in the basin just alluded to.

  The mountains had now entirely disappeared in the southern board; butthe sea was covered, far as the eye could reach, with field-ice. Noahstood on, without apprehension; for the water had been smooth ever sincewe entered the first opening, the wind not having rake enough toknock up a swell. When about a mile from the margin of the frozen andseemingly interminable plain, the ship was brought to the wind, andhove-to.

  Ever since the vessel left the docks, there had been six sets of sparsof a form so singular, lying among the booms, that they had often beenthe subject of conversation between the mates and myself, neither ofthe former being able to tell their uses. These sticks were of no greatlength, some fifteen feet at the most, of sound English oak. Two orthree pairs were alike, for they were in pairs, each pair having one ofthe sides of a shape resembling different parts of the ship's bottom,with the exception that they were chiefly concave, while the bottom of avessel is mainly convex. At one extremity each pair was firmly connectedby a short, massive, iron link, of about two feet in length; and, at itsopposite end, a large eye-bolt was driven into each stick, where it wassecurely forelocked. When the Walrus was stationary, we learned, forthe first time, the uses of these unusual preparations. A pair of thetimbers, which were of great solidity and strength, were dropped overthe stern, and, sinking beneath the keel, their upper extremities wereseparated by means of lanyards turned into the eye-bolts. The lanyardswere then brought forward to the bilge of the vessel, where, by the helpof tackles, the timbers were rowsed up in such a manner that the linkscame close to the false keel, and the timbers themselves were laid snugagainst each side of the ship. As great care had been taken, by means ofmarks on the vessel, as well as in forming the skids themselves, the fitwas perfect. No less than five pairs were secured in and near the bilge,and as many more were distributed forwards and aft, according to theshape of the bottom. Fore-and-aft pieces, that reached from one skid tothe other, were then placed between those about the bilge of the ship,each of them having a certain number of short ribs, extending upwardsand downwards. These fore-and-aft pieces were laid along the waterline,their ends entering the skids by means of mortices and tenons, wherethey were snugly bolted. The result of the entire arrangement was, togive the vessel an exterior protection against the field-ice, bymeans of a sort of network of timber, the whole of which had been soaccurately fitted in the dock, as to bear equally on her frame. Thesepreparations were not fairly completed before ten o'clock on thefollowing morning, when Noah stood directly for an opening in the icebefore us, which just about that time began to be apparent.

  "We sha'nt go so fast for our armor," observed the cautious old sealer;"but what we want in heels, we'll make up in bottom."

  For the whole of that day we worked our devious course, by great laborand at uncertain intervals, to the southward; and at night we fastenedthe Walrus to a floe, in waiting for the return of light. Just as theday dawned, however, I heard a tremendous grating sound against theside of the vessel; and rushing on deck, I found that we were completelycaught between two immense fields, which seemed to be attracted towardseach other for no other apparent purpose than to crush us. Here it wasthat the expedient of Captain Poke made manifest its merits. Protectedby the massive timbers and false ribs, the bilge of the ship resistedthe pressure; and as, under such circumstances, something must yield,luckily nothing but the attraction of gravitation was overcome. Theskids, through their inclination, acted as wedges
, the links pressingagainst the keel; and in the course of an hour the Walrus wasgradually lifted out of the water, maintaining her upright position,in consequence of the powerful nip of the floes. No sooner was thisexperiment handsomely effected, than Mr. Poke jumped upon the ice, andcommenced an examination of the ship's bottom.

  "Here's a dry-dock for you, Sir John!" exclaimed the old sealer,chuckling. "I'll have a patent for this, the moment I put foot ag'in inStunin'tun."

  A feeling of security, to which I had been a stranger ever since weentered the ice, was created by the composure of Noah, and by hisself-congratulation at what he called his project to get a look at theWalrus's bottom. Notwithstanding all the fine declarations of exultationand success, however, that he flourished among us who were not mariners,I was much disposed to think that, like other men of extraordinarygenius, he had blundered on the grand result of his "ice-screws," andthat it was not foreseen and calculated. Let this be as it may, however,all hands were soon on the floe, with brooms, scrapers, hammers, andnails, and the opportunity of repairing and cleaning was thoroughlyimproved.

  For four-and-twenty hours the ship remained in the same attitude, stillas a church, and some of us began to entertain apprehensions that shemight be kept on her frozen blocks forever. The accident had happened,according to the statements of Captain Poke, in lat. 78 degrees 13'26"--although I never knew in what manner he ascertained the importantparticular of our precise situation. Thinking it might be well to getsome more accurate ideas on this subject, after so long and ticklish arun, I procured the quadrant from Bob Ape, and brought it down upon theice, where I made it a point, as an especial favor, the weather beingfavorable and the proper hour near, that our commander would correct hisinstinct by a solar observation. Noah protested that your old seaman,especially if a sealer and a Stunin'tunner, had no occasion for suchgeometry operations, as he termed them; that it might be well enough,perhaps necessary, for your counting-house, silk-gloved captains, whorun between New York and Liverpool, to be rubbing up their glasses andpolishing their sextants, for they hardly ever knew where they were,except at such times; but as for himself, he had little need of turningstar-gazer at his time of life, and that as he had already told me, hewas getting to be near-sighted, and had some doubts whether he coulddiscern an object like the sun, that was known to be so many thousandsof millions of miles from the earth. These scruples, however, wereovercome by my cleaning the glasses, preparing a barrel for him to standon, that he might be at the customary elevation above his horizon, andputting the instrument into his hands, the mates standing near, ready tomake the calculations when he gave the sun's declination.

  "We are drifting south'ard, I know," said Mr. Poke before he commencedhis sight--"I feel it in my bones. We are at this moment in 79 degrees36' 14."--having made a southerly drift of more than eighty miles sinceyesterday noon. Now mind my words, and see what the sun will say aboutit."

  When the calculations were made, our latitude was found to be 79 degrees35' 47". Noah was somewhat puzzled by the difference, for which he couldin no plausible way account, as the observation had been unusually goodand certain. But an opinionated and an ingenious man is seldom at aloss to find a sufficient reason to establish his own correctness, or toprove the mistakes of others.

  "Ay, I see how it is," he said, after a little cogitation, "the sun mustbe wrong--it should be no wonder if the sun did get a little out of histrack in these high, cold latitudes. Yes, yes; the sun must be wrong."

  I was too much delighted at being certain we were going on our courseto dispute the point, and the great luminary was abandoned to theimputation of sometimes being in error. Dr. Reasono took occasionto say, in my private ear, that there was a sect of philosophers inLeaphigh, who had long distrusted the accuracy of the planetarysystem, and who had even thrown out hints that the earth, In its annualrevolution, moved in a direction absolutely contrary to that whichnature had contemplated when she gave the original polar impulse; butthat, as regarded himself, he thought very little of these opinions,as he had frequent occasion to observe that there was a large class ofmonikins whose ideas always went uphill.

  For two more days and as many nights, we continued to drift with thefloes to the southward, or as near as might be, towards the haven ofour wishes. On the fourth morning, there was a suitable change in theweather; both thermometer and barometer rose; the air became more bland,and most of our cats and dogs, notwithstanding we were still surroundedby the ice, began to cast their skins. Dr. Reasono noted these signs,and stepping on the floe, he brought back with him a considerablefragment of the frozen element. This was carried to the camboose, whereit was subjected to the action of fire, which, within a given number ofminutes, pretty much as a matter of course, as I thought, caused it tomelt. The whole process was watched with an anxiety the most intense, bythe whole of the monikins, however; and when the result was announced,the amiable and lovely Chatterissa clapped her pretty little patteswith joy, and gave all the other natural indications of delight, whichcharacterize the emotions of that gentle sex of which she was so brightan ornament. Dr. Reasono was not backwards in explaining the cause ofso much unusual exhilaration, for hitherto her manner had beencharacterized by the well-bred and sophisticated restraint whichmarks high training. The experiment had shown, by the infallible andscientific tests of monikin chemistry, that we were now within theinfluence of a steam-climate, and there could no longer be any rationaldoubt of our eventual arrival in the polar basin.

  The result proved that the philosopher was right. About noon thefloes, which all that day had begun to assume what is termed a "sloppycharacter," suddenly gave way, and the Walrus settled down into herproper element, with great equanimity and propriety. Captain Poke lostno time in unshipping the skids; and a smacking breeze, that was wellsaturated with steam, springing up from the westward, we made sail. Ourcourse was due south, without regard to the ice, which yielded beforeour bows like so much thick water, and just as the sun set, we enteredthe open sea, rioting in the luxuriance of its genial climate, intriumph.

  Sail was carried on the ship all that night; and just as the day dawned,we made the first mile-stone, a proof, not to be mistaken, that we werenow actually within the monikin region. Dr. Reasono had the goodness toexplain to us the history of these aquatic phenomena. It would seem thatwhen the earth exploded, its entire crust, throughout the whole of thispart of the world, was started upwards in such a way as to give a veryuniform depth to the sea, which in no place exceeds four fathoms. Itfollows, as a consequence, that no prevalence of northerly windscan force the icebergs beyond 78 degrees of south latitude, as theyinvariably ground on reaching the outer edge of the polar bank. Thefloes, being thin, are melted of course; and thus, by this beneficentprevention, the monikin world is kept entirely free from the very dangerto which a vulgar mind would be the most apt to believe it is the mostexposed.

  A congress of nations had been held, about five centuries since, whichwas called the Holy-philo-marine-safety-and-find-the-way Alliance. Atthis congress the high contracting parties agreed to name a commissionto make provision, generally, for the secure navigation of the seas. Oneof the expedients of this commission, which, by the way, is said to havebeen composed of very illustrious monikins, was to cause massive blocksof stone to be laid down, at measured distances, throughout the whole ofthe basin, and in which other stone uprights were secured. The necessaryinscriptions were graved on proper tablets, and as we approached theone already named, I observed that it had the image of a monikin, carvedalso in stone, with his tail extended in a right line, pointing, as Mr.Poke assured me, S. and by W. half W. I had made sufficient progressin the monikin language to read, as we glided past this watermark--"ToLeaphigh,--15 miles." One monikin mile, however, we were next told, wasequal to nine English statute miles; and, consequently, we were not sonear our port as was at first supposed. I expressed great satisfactionat finding ourselves so fairly on the road, however, and paid Dr.Reasono some well-merited compliments on the high state of civ
ilizationto which his species had evidently arrived. The day was not distant,I added, when it was reasonable to suppose, our own seas would havefloating restaurants and cafes, with suitable pot-houses for themariners; though I did not well see how we were to provide a substitutefor their own excellent organization of mile-stones. The Doctor receivedmy compliments with becoming modesty, saying that he had no doubtmankind would do all that lay in their power to have good eating anddrinking-houses, whereever they could be established; but as to themarine milestones, he agreed with me, that there was little hope oftheir being planted, until the crust of the earth should be drivenupwards, so as to rise within four fathoms of the surface of the water.On the other hand, Captain Poke held this latter improvement very cheap.He affirmed it was no sign of civilization at all, for, as a man becamecivilized, he had less need of primers and finger-boards; and, as forLeaphigh, any tolerable navigator could see it bore S. by W. half W.allowing for variation, distant 135 English miles. To these objectionsI was silent, for I had frequent occasion to observe that men very oftenunderrate any advantage of which they have come into the enjoyment by aprovidential interposition.

  Just as the sun was in the meridian, the cry of "land ahead" was heardfrom aloft. The monikins were all smiles and gratitude; the crew wereexcited by admiration and wonder; and as for myself, I was literallyready to jump out of my skin, not only with delight, but, in somemeasure also, from the exceeding warmth of the atmosphere. Our catsand dogs began to uncase; Bob was obliged to unmask his most exposedfrontier, by removing the union-jack; and Noah himself fairly appearedon deck in his shirt and night-cap. The amiable strangers were too muchoccupied to be particular, and I slipped into my state-room to change mytoilet to a dress of thin silk, that was painted to resemble the skin ofa polar bear--a contradiction between things that is much too common inour species ever to be deemed out of fashion.

  We neared the land with great rapidity, impelled by a steam-breeze, andjust as the sun sank in the horizon our anchor was let go, in the outerharbor of the city of Aggregation.