Chapter 22 Chapter 22: The Rebellion Begins

Those on board the Forward were taken aback by this unexpected order. ignition!someone said. for what?Others said. We only have two months' worth of coal left!Payne yelled. How do we keep warm in winter?Clifton asked. Shall we, said Gripper, burn the boat all the way to the waterline? Use a mast to stuff it into the furnace pond?Warren replied, from the third sail all the way to the auxiliary yard of the sternsprit? Shandon looked at Wall steadily.The stunned mechanics hesitated whether to descend into the engine room. Did you hear me?cried the captain angrily. Brenton started toward the hatch; but before going down, he stopped.

Don't go, said a voice. Who said that?shouted Hatteras. I!Payne said he walked up to the captain. What did you say?the latter asked. I said I said.Payne replied cursingly, I said we are bored, we are not going any further, we don't want to die of exhaustion and freezing in winter, don't light the fire! Mr. Sandon, Hatteras answered grimly, handcuffing the man. But, Captain, replied Sandon, the man said This man said, replied Hatteras, if you repeat it, I will put you in the cabin and guard you!Arrest this man, do you hear me? Johnson, Bell, Simpson approached the sailor, who was furious.

Who dares to touch me first!he cried, seizing a sled stick and holding it over his head. Hatteras walked towards him. Payne, he said in a calm tone, if you move again, I'll blow your head off! As he spoke, he took a pistol and walked towards the sailor. Someone muttered. Shut up, the rest of you, said Hatteras, or let this man die! At this time, Johnson and Bell handed over Payne's tools, and he stopped resisting, obediently being taken to the bilge. Go, Brenton, Hatteras said. Prover and Warren followed the mechanic down to his station.Hatteras returned to the poop. This Penn is really vile!the doctor said to him.

No one is near death, said the captain succinctly. Soon the engines were getting enough pressure: The March weighed anchor; she headed east, toward Cape Beecher, the bow rail smashing through the new ice floes that had formed. Between Bering Island and Cape Beecher there are a great number of islands stranded in the ice-fields; glaciers crowd the straits in great numbers, and this part of the ocean seems to have been furrowed.At the relatively low temperature they tended to clump together; here and there there were mounds of ice, which were already tighter, denser, more compact, and would soon form an impenetrable mass in the first freeze.

It wasn't without extreme difficulty that the Vampire navigated the course, swirling snowflakes surrounding it.However, the weather in these areas is changeable, with the sun showing its face from time to time; the temperature rises by a few degrees; and as the hot barriers melt, a beautiful stream of water looks fascinating, rushing to where the ice floes used to block the way.The horizon is a majestic orange, and the eyes can rest comfortably from their perpetual whiteness. On Thursday, July 26, the Advance passed Darth Island, and proceeded northward; but it encountered an ice pack, eight or nine feet high, consisting of small icebergs peeling off the coast; it had to Going in a long circle to the west.The incessant cracking of the ice floe and the neighing of the ship formed a miserable sound like sighs and complaints.Finally the ship finds a way and struggles to move forward: a huge ice floe often stops it for hours; fog blocks the navigator's sight; the obstacle can be easily removed by seeing a nautical mile ahead ; but, in the misty snow mass, the eye usually sees no more than a chain away.Big waves are tiring.

At times, the smooth and delicate clouds took on a peculiar spectacle, as if they were reflected on the ice; and for days the yellowish light could not penetrate the thick fog. There are still a lot of birds, and their calls are hoarse; the seals lie lazily on the drifting ice floes, raise their heads, and shake their long necks to the passing boats without much panic; Passing by the residence, the iron pieces on the hull that had been rubbed off were thrown there more than once. At last, after six days of such a long voyage, on August 1st Cape Beecher was cast north; The clear sea that Stuart saw at 76 degrees 20 north latitude on the 30th of the month should not be far away, but as far as Hatteras could see, he saw no ice floes. any sign of polar seas.He went down without saying a word.

Do you believe in unimpeded oceans?Sandon asked the lieutenant. I'm beginning to doubt, James.Wall replied. Have I no reason to regard this so-called discovery as fantasy and hypothesis?People don't want to believe me, and neither do you, Vol, who once stood against me! Everyone will trust you in the future, Shandon. Yes, the latter replied, but it was too late. He went back to his cabin, where he had almost always been shut up since his confrontation with the captain. The south wind blew again in the evening.Hatteras puts the sails out; many days the crew has done the most tiring work, always turning the bow to the wind or drifting with the current, or suddenly reefing and stopping the ship; the mast's brackets are abnormal due to the cold Stiffness, poor running between jammed pulleys, increased fatigue; it took more than a week to reach Barrow Point, and the March did not make thirty nautical miles in ten days.

There the wind returned to the north and the propellers were reactivated.Hatteras still hoped to find an unimpeded ocean north of the seventy-seventh latitude, just as Edward.Bilcher witnessed the same. However, according to Benny's narration, the ocean he is crossing should be unimpeded, because after Benny reached the boundary of the ice floe, he took a small boat to identify the Queen's Strait up to 77 degrees north latitude. Should he regard these connections as unreliable?Or is winter coming earlier in the northern regions? On August 15th, the perennial snow-capped peaks of the Percy Mountains rose in the fog;The next day, the sun set for the first time, ending a long day without setting.People are used to this permanent light; but the animals are hardly affected; the Greenlanders go about their daily routines, and Duck sleeps every night with regularity, as if the darkness encroached on the horizon.

However, the night after the fifteenth of August was not very dark; although the sun had set, it still gave off a certain amount of light by reflection. On August 19th, after careful observation, the ship rounded Cape Franklin on the east coast, and Mrs. Franklin Promontory on the west coast; In gratitude, the willingness to have his faithful wife's name appear opposite his is a touching sign of the narrow compassion that wishes them to be together forever! The doctor was very moved to see the connection and spiritual harmony between the two capes in this remote place. The doctor, following Johnson's advice, had grown accustomed to enduring low temperatures; he was on deck almost all the time, despite the cold, wind, and snow.His body, though thinner, was not yet affected by the harsh climate.He waited, however, for other risks, and even watched with joy for the early signs of winter.

Look, he said to Johnson one day, look at these flocks migrating south!They were literally running away, flapping their wings and screaming goodbye! Yes, Mr. Crawburn, replied Johnson: something told them it was time to go, and they were on their way. More than one of us, Johnson, would, I believe, imitate theirs! These are weak people, Mr. Crawburn; hell!These animals don't have food like we do, they have to look elsewhere!But sailors have a good ship under their feet, and should go to the ends of the world. Do you believe Hatteras' plan will come true? He will, Mr. Croubney. I thought as you did, Johnson, that he would end up with only one loyal follower

We are two people! Yes, Johnson, answered the doctor, shaking the brave sailor's hand. Prince Albert's Land, which the Forward was passing, was also called Grinnell's Land, and though Hatteras, out of hatred of the Yankees, would never agree to call it that, it was usually called that.That's where the two names came from: when Benny the Englishman named him Prince Albert, Lieutenant Haven on the Rescue named him Grinnell Dominion, in honor of his honor in New York. A tribute to the American wholesalers of voyage financing. The boat circled it, through a series of unspeakable difficulties, now with its sails and now with its engine.On 18th August, seeing Bridannia Hill barely discernible through the fog, the next day the March anchored in Northumberland Sound.It is surrounded on all sides.