The Collected Works of Jules Verne: 36 Novels and Short Stories (Unexpurgated Edition) (Halcyon Classics)

by Jules Verne

It seemed to rise gradually out of the water as the boat got nearer. There was no trace of vegetation, indeed there was no shore; the rock ran straight down to the sea.

  "Can we land?" said the Doctor.

  "The wind is carrying us right to it," said Altamont. "But I don’t see an inch of land to set our foot upon."

  "It seems so at this distance," said Johnson; "but we shall be sure to find some place to run in our boat at, and that is all we want."

  "Let us go on, then," said Clawbonny, dejectedly.

  He had no heart now for anything. The North Pole was indeed before his eyes, but not the man who had discovered it.

  As they got nearer the island, which was not more than eight or ten miles in circumference, the navigators noticed a tiny fiord, just large enough to harbour their boat, and made towards it immediately. They feared their captain’s dead body would meet their eyes on the coast, and yet it seemed difficult for a corpse to lie on it, for there was no shore, and the sea broke on steep rocks, which were covered with cinders above watermark.

  At last the little sloop glided gently into the narrow opening between two sandbanks just visible above the water, where she would be safe from the violence of the breakers; but before she could be moored, Duk began howling and barking again in the most piteous manner, as if calling on the cruel sea and stony rocks to yield up his lost master. The Doctor tried to calm him by caresses, but in vain. The faithful beast, as if he would represent the captain, sprang on shore with a tremendous bound, sending a cloud of cinders after him.

  "Duk! Duk!" called Clawbonny.

  But Duk had already disappeared.

  [Illustration: ]

  After the sloop was made fast, they all got out and went after him. Altamont was just going to climb to the top of a pile of stones, when the Doctor exclaimed, "Listen!"

  Duk was barking vehemently some distance off, but his bark seemed full of grief rather than fury.

  "Has he come on the track of some animal, do you think? " asked Johnson.

  "No, no!" said Clawbonny, shuddering. "His bark is too sorrowful; it is the dog’s tear. He has found the body of Hatteras."

  They all four rushed forward, in spite of the blinding cinder-dust, and came to the far-end of a fiord, where they discovered the dog barking round a corpse wrapped in the British flag!

  "Hatteras! Hatteras!" cried the Doctor, throwing himself on the body of his friend. But next minute he started up with an indescribable cry, and shouted, "Alive! alive!"

  "Yes!" said a feeble voice; "yes, alive at the North Pole, on Queen’s Island."

  "Hurrah for England!" shouted all with one accord.

  "And for America!" added Clawbonny, holding out one hand to Hatteras and the other to Altamont.

  Duk was not behind with his hurrah, which was worth quite as much as the others.

  For a few minutes the joy of recovery of their captain filled all their hearts, and the poor fellows could not restrain their tears.

  The Doctor found, on examination, that he was not seriously hurt. The wind threw him on the coast where landing was perilous work, but, after being driven back more than once into the sea, the hardy sailor had managed to scramble on to a rock, and gradually to hoist himself above the waves.

  Then he must have become insensible, for he remembered nothing more except rolling himself in his flag. He only awoke to consciousness with the loud barking and caresses of his faithful Duk.

  After a little, Hatteras was able to stand up supported by the Doctor, and tried to get back to the sloop.

  He kept exclaiming, "The Pole! the North Pole!"

  "You are happy now?" said his friend.

  "Yes, happy! And are not you? Isn’t it joy to find yourself here! The ground we tread is round the Pole! The air we breathe is the air that blows round the Pole! The sea we have crossed is the sea which washes the Pole! Oh! the North Pole! the North Pole!"

  He had become quite delirious with excitement, and fever burned in his veins. His eyes shone with unnatural brilliancy, and his brain seemed on fire. Perfect rest was what he most needed, for the Doctor found it impossible to quiet him.

  A place of encampment must therefore be fixed upon immediately.

  [Illustration: Altamont speedily discovered a grotto composed of rocks.—P.234]

  Altamont speedily discovered a grotto composed of rocks, which had so fallen as to form a sort of cave. Johnson and Bell carried in provisions, and gave the dogs their liberty.

  About eleven o’clock, breakfast, or rather dinner, was ready, consisting of pemmican, salt meat, and smoking-hot tea and coffee.

  But Hatteras would do nothing till the exact position of the island was ascertained; so the Doctor and Altamont set to work with their instruments, and found that the exact latitude of the grotto was 89° 59’ 15". The longitude was of little importance, for all the meridians blended a few hundred feet higher.

  The 90° of lat. was then only about three quarters of a mile off, or just about the summit of the volcano.

  When the result was communicated to Hatteras, he desired that a formal document might be drawn up to attest the fact, and two copies made, one of which should be deposited on a cairn on the island.

  Clawbonny was the scribe, and indited the following document, a copy of which is now among the archives of the Royal Geographical Society of London:—

  "On this 11th day of July, 1861, in North latitude 89° 59’ 15" was discovered Queen’s Island at the North Pole, by Captain Hatteras, Commander of the brig Forward of Liverpool, who signs this, as also all his companions.

  "Whoever may find this document is requested to forward it to the Admiralty.

  "(Signed) JOHN HATTERAS, Commander

  of the Forward

  "DR. CLAWBONNY

  "ALTAMONT, Commander of the Porpoise

  "JOHNSON, Boatswain

  "BELL, Carpenter."

  "And now, friends, come to table," said the Doctor, merrily.

  Coming to table was just squatting on the ground.

  "But who," said Clawbonny, "would not give all the tables and dining-rooms in the world to dine at 89" 59’ and 15" N. lat.?"

  It was an exciting occasion this first meal at the Pole! What neither ancients nor moderns, neither Europeans, nor Americans, nor Asiatics had been able to accomplish was now achieved, and all past sufferings and perils were forgotten in the glow of success.

  "But, after all," said Johnson, after toasts to Hatteras and the North Pole had been enthusiastically drunk, "what is there so very special about the North Pole? Will you tell me, Mr. Clawbonny?"

  "Just this, my good Johnson. It is the only point of the globe that is motionless; all the other points are revolving with extreme rapidity."

  "But I don’t see that we are any more motionless here than at Liverpool."

  "Because in both cases you are a party concerned, both in the motion and the rest; but the fact is certain."

  Clawbonny then went on to describe the diurnal and annual motions of the earth—the one round its own axis, the extremities of which are the poles, which is accomplished in twenty-four hours, and the other round the sun, which takes a whole year.

  Bell and Johnson listened half incredulously, and

  [Illustration: ]

  couldn’t see why the earth could not have been allowed to keep still, till Altamont informed them that they would then have had neither day nor night, nor spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

  "Ay, and worse still," said Clawbonny, "if the motion chanced to be interrupted, we should fall right into the sun in sixty-four and a half days."

  "What! take sixty-four and a half days, to fall?" exclaimed Johnson.

  "Yes, we are ninety-five millions of miles off. But when I say the Pole is motionless, it is not strictly true; it is only so in comparison with the rest of the globe, for it has a certain movement of its own, and completes a circle in about twenty-six thousand years. This comes from the precession of the equinoxes."

  A long and learned
talk was started on this subject between Altamont and the Doctor, simplified, however, as much as possible for the benefit of Bell and Johnson.

  Hatteras took no part in it, and even when they went on to speculate about the earth’s centre, and discussed several of the theories that had been advanced respecting it, he seemed not to hear; it was evident his thoughts were far away.

  Among other opinions put forth was one in our own days, which greatly excited Altamont’s surprise. It was held that there was an immense opening at the poles which led into the heart of the earth, and that it was out of the opening that the light of the Aurora Borealis streamed. This was gravely stated, and Captain Synness, a countryman of our own, actually proposed that Sir Humphrey Davy, Humboldt, and Arago should undertake an expedition through it, but they refused."

  "And quite right too," said Altamont.

  "So say I; but you see, my friends, what absurdities imagination has conjured up about these regions, and how, sooner or later, the simple reality comes to light."

  CHAPTER XXIV.

  MOUNT HATTERAS.

  After this conversation they all made themselves as comfortable as they could, and lay down to sleep.

  All, except Hatteras; and why could this extraordinary man not sleep like the others?

  Was not the purpose of his life attained now? Had he not realized his most daring project? Why could he not rest? Indeed, might not one have supposed that, after the strain his nervous system had undergone, he would long for rest?

  But no, he grew more and more excited, and it was not the thought of returning that so affected him. Was he bent on going farther still? Had his passion for travel no limits? Was the world too small for him now he had circumnavigated it.

  Whatever might be the cause, he could not sleep; yet this first night at the Pole was clear and calm. The isle was absolutely uninhabited—not a bird was to be seen in this burning atmosphere, not an animal on these scoriae-covered rocks, not a fish in these seething waters. Next morning, when Altamont, and the others awoke, Hatteras was gone. Feeling uneasy at his absence, they hurried out of the grotto in search of him.

  [Illustration: There he was standing on a rock, gazing fixedly at the top of the mountain.—P.242]

  There he was standing on a rock, gazing fixedly at the top of the mountain. His instruments were in his hand, and he was evidently calculating the exact longitude and latitude.

  The Doctor went towards him and spoke, but it was long before he could rouse him from his absorbing contemplations. At last the captain seemed to understand, and Clawbonny said, while he examined him with a keen scrutinizing glance—

  "Let us go round the island. Here we are, all ready for our last excursion."

  "The last!" repeated Hatteras, as if in a dream. "Yes!, the last truly, but," he added, with more animation, "the most wonderful."

  He pressed both hands on his brow as he spoke, as if to calm the inward tumult.

  Just then Altamont and the others came up, and their appearance seemed to dispel the hallucinations under which he was labouring.

  "My friends," he said, in a voice full of emotion, "thanks for your courage, thanks for your perseverance, thanks for your superhuman efforts, through which we are permitted to set our feet on this soil."

  "Captain," said Johnson, "we have only obeyed orders to you alone belongs the honour."

  "No, no!" exclaimed Hatteras, with a violent outburst of emotion, "to all of you as much as to me! To Altamont as much as any of us, as much as the Doctor himself! Oh, let my heart break in your hands, it cannot contain its joy and gratitude any longer."

  He grasped the hands of his brave companions as he spoke, and paced up and down as if he had lost all self-control.

  "We have only done our duty as Englishmen," said Bell.

  "And as friends," added Clawbonny.

  "Yes, but all did not do it," replied Hatteras "some gave way. However, we must pardon them—pardon both the traitors and those who were led away by them. Poor fellows! I forgive them. You hear me, Doctor?"

  "Yes," replied Clawbonny, beginning to be seriously uneasy at his friend’s excitement.

  "I have no wish, therefore," continued the captain, "that they should lose the little fortune they came so far to seek. No, the original agreement is to remain unaltered, and they shall be rich—if they ever see England again."

  It would have been difficult not to have been touched by the pathetic tone of voice in which Hatteras said this.

  "But, captain," interrupted Johnson, trying to joke, "one would think you were making your will!"

  "Perhaps I am," said Hatteras, gravely.

  "And yet you have a long bright career of glory before you!"

  "Who knows?" was the reply.

  No one answered, and the Doctor did not dare to guess his meaning; but Hatteras soon made them understand it, for presently he said, in a hurried, agitated manner, as if he could scarcely command himself—

  "Friends, listen to me. We have done much already, but much yet remains to be done."

  His companions heard him with profound astonishment.

  "Yes," he resumed, "we are close to the Pole, but we are not on it."

  "How do you make that out," said Altamont.

  "Yes," replied Hatteras, with vehemence, "I said an Englishman should plant his foot on the Pole of the world! I said it, and an Englishman shall."

  "What!" cried Clawbonny.

  "We are still 45" from the unknown point," resumed Hatteras, with increasing animation, "and to that point I shall go."

  "But it is on the summit of the volcano," said the Doctor.

  "I shall go."

  "It is an inaccessible cone!"

  "I shall go."

  "But it is a yawning fiery crater!"

  "I shall go."

  The tone of absolute determination in which Hatteras pronounced these words it is impossible to describe.

  His friends were stupefied, and gazed in terror at the blazing mountain.

  At last the Doctor recovered himself, and began to urge and entreat Hatteras to renounce his project. He tried every means his heart dictated, from humble supplications to friendly threats; but he could gain nothing—a sort of frenzy had come over the captain, an absolute monomania about the Pole.

  Nothing but violent measures would keep him back from destruction, but the Doctor was unwilling to employ these unless driven to extremity.

  He trusted, moreover, that physical impossibilities, insuperable obstacles would bar his further progress, and meantime finding all protestations were useless, he simply said—

  "Very well, since you are bent on it, we’ll go too."

  "Yes," replied Hatteras, "half-way up the mountain, but not a step beyond. You know you have to carry back to England the duplicate of the document in the cairn——"

  "Yes; but——"

  "It is settled," said Hatteras, in an imperious tone; "and since the prayers of a friend will not suffice, the captain commands."

  The Doctor did not insist longer, and a few minutes after the little band set out, accompanied by Duk.

  It was about eight o’clock when they commenced their difficult ascent; the sky was splendid, and the thermometer stood at 52°.

  Hatteras and his dog went first, closely followed by the others.

  "I am afraid," said Johnson to the Doctor.

  "No, no, there’s nothing to be afraid of; we are here."

  This singular little island appeared to be of recent formation, and was evidently the product of successive volcanic eruptions. The rocks were all lying loose on the top of each other, and it was a marvel how they preserved their equilibrium. Strictly speaking, the mountain was only a heap of stones thrown down from a height, and the mass of rocks which composed the island had evidently come out of the bowels of the earth.

  The earth, indeed, may be compared to a vast cauldron of spherical form, in which, under the influence of a central fire, immense quantities of vapours are generated, which would explode
the globe but for the safety-valves outside.

  These safety-valves are volcanoes, when one closes another opens; and at the Poles where the crust of the earth is thinner, owing to its being flattened, it is not surprising that a volcano should be suddenly formed by the upheaving of some part of the ocean-bed.

  The Doctor, while following Hatteras, was closely following all the peculiarities of the island, and he was further confirmed in his opinion as to its recent formation by the absence of water. Had it existed for centuries, the thermal springs would have flowed from its bosom.

  As they got higher, the ascent became more and more difficult, for the flanks of the mountain were almost perpendicular, and it required the utmost care to keep them from falling. Clouds of scoriæ and ashes would whirl round them repeatedly, threatening them with asphyxia, or torrents of lava would bar their passage. In parts where these torrents ran horizontally, the outside had become hardened; while underneath was the boiling lava, and every step the travellers took had first to be tested with the iron-tipped staff to avoid being suddenly plunged into the scalding liquid.

  At intervals large fragments of red-hot rock were thrown up from the crater, and burst in the air like bomb-shells, scattering the debris to enormous distances in all directions.

  Hatteras, however, climbed up the steepest ascents with surprising agility, disdaining the help of his staff.

  He arrived before long at a circular rock, a sort of plateau about ten feet wide. A river of boiling lava surrounded it, except in one part, where it forked away to a higher rock, leaving a narrow passage, through which Hatteras fearlessly passed.

  Here he stopped, and his companions managed to rejoin him. He seemed to be measuring with his eye the distance he had yet to get over. Horizontally, he was not more than two hundred yards from the top of the crater, but vertically he had nearly three times that distance to traverse.

  The ascent had occupied three hours already. Hatteras showed no signs of fatigue, while the others were almost spent.

  The summit of the volcano appeared inaccessible, and the Doctor determined at any price to prevent Hatteras from attempting to proceed. He tried gentle means first, but the captain’s excitement was fast becoming delirium. During their ascent, symptoms of insanity had become more and more marked, and no one could be surprised who knew anything of his previous history.