Chapter 33 [Part 2] The first chapter of the ice and snow, the doctor's inventory

Captain Hatteras had a daring plan to go north, and leave to England, his native country, the honor of discovering the North Pole of the earth.This brave sailor has just done all that is within the reach of human power.During these nine months, he fought against the tide, fought against the storm, smashed the iceberg, broke through the ice pack, and fought against the unprecedented severe winter in the extreme north. He inherited the achievements of his predecessors' expedition and wrote Going so far as to rewrite the history of the discoveries of the Polar Regions, take the Vampire to the outer reaches of the proverbial oceans, and finally complete half of his mission, only to see his great plans come to naught!The treachery, or rather frustration, of his ill-tested crew, and the criminal madness of several instigators put him in a dire situation: Eighteen were on board, and four remained. , left behind, with no resources, no ships, and 2,500 nautical miles from their country!

The Forward had just exploded right in front of them, taking their last chance for survival. But Hatteras did not lose his nerve in the face of this dreadful calamity.And he has companions, and these are the best crew, heroic men.What he needed to accomplish his career was the perseverance and knowledge of Dr. Crawford, the loyalty of Johnson and Bell, and his own conviction that he dared to speak of liberty in this desperate situation; his brave companions listened to him , these men's steadfast past foretells their future courage. After listening to the captain's firm and forceful words, the doctor wanted to have a clear understanding of the situation. He left his companion who was standing 500 steps away from the ship and walked towards the scene of the accident.

Nothing remains of the Marching, a ship so costly to build, a ship so precious; disfigured icebergs, grotesque, blackened, burnt remnants; twisted iron rods, lengths of cable It was burning like the ignition rod of a cannon. In the distance, swirling smoke spread everywhere on the ice field, showing how powerful the explosion was.The cannon on the front forecastle was thrown a few meters away and rested on an iceberg that looked like a cannon mount.The ground was strewn with all sorts of remnants, some two hundred meters long; the keel of the ship lingered on a heap of ice; part of the iceberg had been melted by the action of the fire, and became as hard as granite again.

The doctor thought of his ruined cabin, of his lost collection, of the precious broken instruments, of the books that were torn to pieces and turned to ashes, and how much wealth was lost!He gazed at this huge catastrophe with wet eyes, thinking not of the future, but of the irreparable pain that hit him directly. Johnson soon followed; the old sailor's face bore the marks of recent suffering; he had no doubt fought with his rebel companions.To protect the ships entrusted to his care. The doctor held out his hand to him, and the bosun took it sadly. What will happen to us, my friend?The doctor said.

Who knows?Johnson said. In short, the doctor said again, we can't despair, we have to look like a man! Yes, Mr. Crawburn, said the old sailor again, you have a point; great decisions are made only in times of catastrophe; we are in a difficult position; we must get out of it. Poor ship!The Doctor sighed: I am bound to it; I love it as I love my home, the home I have spent my life in, and yet not a single recognizable fragment remains! Who would believe, Mr. Croubney, that this pile of beams and planks is so haunting to our hearts! So, what about the dinghy?The doctor said, looking around, did it not escape the fate of destruction?

No, Mr. Croubney.Sandon and his men, leave us behind, and go with the boat! What about canoes? Smashed to pieces!Look, these pieces of tinplate are still hot, that's what's left. Do we only have steamboats? Yes, thank you for thinking of taking it away when you went on an expedition. That's minimal, the doctor said. Those dastardly traitors are on the run!May God punish them, cried Johnson, for what they deserve! Johnson, replied the doctor mildly, don't forget how much they have suffered!Only the strongest know how to maintain good virtue in the midst of suffering, while those who are weak break down!We should sympathize with our companions for their bad luck, don't curse them!

After saying this, the doctor was silent for a while, watching this place with anxious eyes. What has become of the sled?Johnson asked. It's one nautical mile away. Simpson watching? No!my friend.Simpson, poor Simpson is exhausted. died!cried the boatswain. died!The doctor answered. unfortunate people!Johnson said, who knows, should we envy his fate? But we leave a dead man behind, said the doctor, and bring back a dying man. a dying person? Yes, Captain Altamon. In a few words the doctor related to the boatswain how they had met. an American!Johnson said he thought about it.

Yes, everything leads us to believe that this man is a citizen of the United States.But apparently something had happened to the Perboise. What was she doing in these areas? It came to die, said Johnson: it sent the crew to die, as all daring men do in like circumstances!But, at least, Mr. Croubney, the purpose of your journey has been accomplished? coal mine!The doctor answered. Yes, Johnson said. The doctor shook his head sadly. Nothing?said the old sailor. Nothing!We are short of supplies and we are dying of exhaustion on the road!We even Edward.None of the coasts that Bilcher had designated had been reached!

So, continued the old sailor, no fuel? No! No groceries? No! No boat back to England! The doctor and Johnson fell silent.What courage it takes to face such a dire situation. In short, said the bosun, at least our situation is clear, and we know what to do!Let's do the most urgent work; the temperature is freezing; a snow house should be built. Yes, answered the doctor, with Bell's help, it's easy; and then we'll go find the sledge, we'll bring the American back, and we'll consult with Hatteras. Poor captain!Johnson said he was completely absorbed in it; how miserable he must have been!

The doctor and the bosun approached their companions. Hatteras stood there, motionless, with his arms folded as usual, without saying a word, watching the future in the sky.His face regained its former determination.What is this strange man thinking?Was he thinking of a desperate situation or a disillusioned plan?In the end, what he thought was whether to retreat, because of people and various factors, all of which were against his efforts! No one can know his thoughts.It doesn't show.His faithful Dak stayed by his side, braving the freezing temperatures that dropped to minus thirty-six degrees Celsius.

Bell is lying on the ice, motionless; he looks lifeless; his indifference will kill him; he is in danger of being frozen into a block of ice. Johnson shook him vigorously, rubbed him with snow, and with great effort woke him from his torpor. Now, Bell, take courage!He said to him: Don't lie down; stand up; let's discuss the situation together, we need a shelter!Have you forgotten how to build an igloo?Come help me, Bell!Here's an iceberg just to chip away!Let's work!In this way, we will have everything here, show courage, show confidence! Bell, moved by these words, did as the old sailor said. In the meantime, said the latter, Mr. Crawford would kindly go to the sledge, and bring back the sledge and the dogs. I was about to leave, and the doctor replied: I will be back in an hour. Will you go with him, captain?Johnson said as he walked towards Hatteras. The latter, though lost in thought, still heard the bosun's proposal, for he replied in a gentle voice: No, my friend, a decision should be made by today if the doctor is willing to take the trouble to do so, and I will be left alone to think.Go ahead and do what you feel you should do right now.I think about the future. Johnson turned to the doctor. This is incredible, he said to the doctor, it seems the captain has forgotten all anger, and I have never found his voice so friendly. good!The doctor replied, and he regained his sanity.Believe me, Johnson, this man can save us! After saying these words, the doctor put on the hood as best he could, and with the iron rod in his hand, he went back to the sleigh through the mist shining brightly in the moonlight. Johnson and Bell set to work at once; the old sailor spoke encouragingly to the silent carpenter; there was nothing to build but a large iceberg; the ice was so hard that the knife was hard to use; but on the contrary, this solidity made the house stronger; Soon Johnson and Bell were working in the hole, throwing out what they had cut from the ice. Hatteras, pacing up and down now and then, stopped suddenly; evidently he did not want to go where the unfortunate ship had wrecked. He returned at once, as the doctor had promised; he brought Altamon lying on the sled, wrapped in a tent; and the Greenlanders, emaciated, tired, and hungry, could hardly pull the sled, and gnawed at their leashes; It was time for the whole procession, beast and man, to eat and rest. As the igloo dug deeper and deeper, the doctor rummaged here and there, and luckily found a small furnace almost intact from the explosion, whose deformed ducts could be easily straightened; The expression took it back.In three hours the igloo was ready for occupancy; they put the stove in; they stuffed wood chips into the stove; The American was carried into the house, and fell asleep under the covers; the four Englishmen took positions by the fire.The last supplies on the sled, some biscuits and hot tea, cheered them up somewhat.Hatteras did not speak, and everyone respected his silence. After eating, the doctor gestured to Johnson to follow outside. Now, he said to the boatswain, we'll take stock of what we have left.We should have a definite idea of ​​the state of our property; they are everywhere; they must be brought together; snow may fall at any moment, and we may well never find a single piece of the boat again. Don't waste our time, Johnson replied: Food and wood, that's what we need right now. Well, let's split up, the doctor said, so we can go all over the blast site; we'll start in the middle; then we'll go around. The two companions hurried to the ice rink that the Vampire had once occupied; each carefully examined the wreck of the ship in the dim moonlight.This is a real hunt.Infused with great enthusiasm, and with more than the hunter's joy, the Doctor's heart beat fast when he found a few chests almost intact; but most of them were empty, and their remains heaped ice rink. The force of the explosion was so great that many things turned to dust.Large parts of the machine were here and there, twisted or shattered; the blades of the propeller were thrown forty meters from the ship; The cracks, the broken rigging hanging from above, had not been half broken under the pressure of the huge iceberg; nails, hooks, shackles, horseshoes of the rudder, iron sheets of the metal shell, all the metal of the ship was piled in the distance. , like broken iron used as cannonballs. But the iron, though a sign of wealth among the Eskimo tribes, is of no use in the present case; the first things to be found are household items, and the doctor has little to gain in this respect. Not going well, he thought, apparently the pantry next to the powder pods had been blown to nothing.What was not burned was probably in pieces.It's bad, and if things weren't better for Johnson than mine, I don't dare say what would have happened to us. He extended his search, however, and found what was left of the patty, about fifteen pounds, and four stoneware jars, flung far away over the still soft snow, to escape doom, There were five or six pints of alcohol in it. Farther on, he found two packets of seeds; this just made up for the loss of lemon juice, which was just right for scurvy. Two hours later, the doctor and Johnson met.They told each other of their discoveries; unfortunately very little in terms of household supplies; only a few pieces of dried meat, more than fifty pounds of dried meatloaf, three cases of biscuits, a small amount of chocolate and spirits, and about two pounds or so of coffee, which They were picked one by one on the ice. There were no quilts, no hammocks, no clothes; apparently the fire had destroyed them all. In short, the doctor's and bosun's supplies were, in the most economical case, only enough for three weeks; and very little to satisfy the needs of those who were exhausted.It would appear that, in such harsh conditions, Hatteras saw that food was also on the verge of scarcity, in addition to lack of coal. At least what remained of the ship as fuel, the masts and fragments of the submerged part of the ship, would last about three weeks; but the doctor wanted to see if Johnson could use these fragments before using them for the igloo. Not everything to build a boat, or even a boat. No, Mr. Crawburn, replied the bosun, never mind, no whole log can be used; these will only serve us for heating for a few days, and then Then?The doctor said. It depends on God's arrangement!said the Honest Sailor. When the counting was done, the Doctor and Johnson came back to look for the sledges; and they pulled them, whether the poor weary dogs liked it or not, back to the scene of the explosion, and took what was left of their cargo, so rare and so precious, to the next to the igloo; and then, dragging their frozen bodies, they lay beside their unfortunate companions.