Chapter 55 Chapter 23 The Union Jack

After the first moment of astonishment, the four of them let out a cry of surprise at the same time. Hatteras?The doctor calls. gone!Johnson and Bell screamed. disappeared! They searched around.Nothing appeared on the rough sea.Duck barked in a desperate tone as he tried to charge into the waves, and Bell had a hard time keeping him steady. Altamon, go to the helm, commanded the doctor, and try to find our unfortunate captain in every corner! Johnson and Bell resumed their seats.Altamon held the handle, and the floating boat headed towards the sea again against the wind. Johnson and Bell jumped into the water and swam powerfully for an hour without leaving the scene of the accident.Everyone looked everywhere, but in vain!Poor Hatteras, swept away by the hurricane, disappeared.

Missing!So close to the North Pole!So close to your desired goal! The Doctor yelled and yelled and yelled, and Duck, and his dog barked plaintively, but nothing came back to the captain's two friends.A deep prick seized Crowburne, and his head sank in his hands, and his companions heard him cry. In fact, at such a distance from the shore, without an oar and a block of wood to support it, it was almost impossible for Hatteras to make it to the shore alive.If there was anything left in the ground he so longed to touch, it might be his battered and bloated body. After an hour of searching, the road to the North Pole must be resumed, battling a raging storm.

At five o'clock in the morning, July 11th, the wind died down, the waves receded, the sky returned to the arctic light, and the land, less than three miles off the coast, presented a magnificent view. The new continent was nothing more than an island, or rather a volcano standing in the Arctic like a navigation light. The active volcano continuously spews out a large group of hot stones and a large number of hot rocks, just like the breath of a giant is constantly agitating. Nearby, fiery snakes dive among smoking rocks; In the distance, scorching waterfalls hang down in a purple mist; Below, a river of fire branches into countless streams, rushing to the sea through the scorching mouth .

The volcano seems to have only one eruption port, and the pillar of fire shot out from there draws out horizontal lightning bolts in the air. It can be said that electricity contributes to this majestic natural scene. Above the blazing flames floated plumes of thick black smoke, red at the bottom and jet black at the top.It rose with incomparable majesty, and then spread into wisps of smoke. The upper part of the sky was covered with a layer of gray and white. During the storm, the darkness that even the doctor did not realize was caused by the spreading of the gray fog column, like an insurmountable curtain, covering the sky under the sun.He could not help recalling a similar incident in Barbados in 1812.It was noon, and the island of Barbados under the scorching sun was submerged in the dense darkness brought by the large group of ash ejected from the crater of St. Vincent Island.

This huge volcanic reef standing upright in the Arctic Ocean is about a thousand meters high, which is close to the altitude of Hekla Mountain. The straight line formed by the peak and bottom of the volcanic island is inclined at an angle of about eleven degrees to the horizon. The boat seemed to be gradually sailing out of the center of the waves and approaching the volcanic island.The vegetation on the island is barren.Lacking even a coast, its flanks plunge straight into the sea. Can we land?the doctor asked. The wind carries us, Altamon replied.Moreover, there is not even a sandy beach where you can settle down!

Maybe not far away, Johnson replied, as long as we can find a place to moor the boat, that will be enough. Take action!Croubney replied gloomily. The doctor has no interest in the new land in front of him.The North Pole is right there, but its owner doesn't know where it is. Five hundred feet from the rocky reef, the sea was boiling and churning under the action of underground magma.The islands it embraces may be eight or ten miles in circumference, possibly more, and it is estimated that it lies very near the pole, exactly where the central axis of the earth passes. As soon as they approached the island, the voyagers found a small fjord large enough to accommodate their boats, and they sailed at once, fearing to find on the shore the body of the captain, carried away by the stormy waves.

But it seems difficult to keep a corpse here.There were no beaches, and the sea beat hard against the steep cliffs; a thick ash and uninhabited desolation hung over the volcano's face and stretched far into the sea. Then, the boat passed through a narrow channel and entered a small fjord between the cliffs on both sides.Here it finds a good haven and settles there.Duck's wail was even more mournful. The poor animal called to the captain in its unique language. It complained to the ruthless sea and rocks, but got no response.It barked in vain, and the doctor's touch could not calm it down.Daring forward, as if to take his master's place, the faithful dog leaped bravely forward and was the first to step up the cliff before disappearing into the thick, ash-like substance around him.

Dark!Dark!return!The doctor called, but Dak disappeared in front of him without any response, and everyone rushed up.Croubney and their three companions landed, and the boat anchored firmly. Just as Alta was climbing towards the huge rock with his hands covered, Dark barked with an unusual voice not far away, and what it expressed was not anger, but pain. Listen!The doctor said. Are there traces of other animals?the crew asked. No!No!The doctor said in a trembling voice, this is the sound of mourning, crying!Hatteras' body must be there. Hearing these words, the four of them rushed forward along Dak's footsteps, weaving through the dense fog that made it difficult to open their eyes, they came to the bottom of a fjord, an open space only ten steps wide, where the waves Can't break into this place.

Here, Duck barks around a corpse wrapped in a Union Jack. Hatteras!Hatteras!The doctor screamed and threw himself on his friend's body. But soon, he let out another scream of ecstasy. The bloodied body appeared unconscious on the surface, but its pulse was still beating. After a while, the five men shouted in unison, Ulla!U.K! Ulla!U.S.The doctor held Hatteras tightly in one hand and the American in the other. In the first moments, these warriors were immersed in the joy of seeing the captain again, and their eyes were full of tears. Doctors were reassured about Hatteras' health.He was not seriously injured and the wind carried him to the shore.Here, landing is fraught with danger.But after several attempts, the intrepid sailor finally grabbed a rock with all his might and succeeded in leaving the waves behind.

Here, after being wounded, he wrapped himself in the national flag and then fell into a coma. With Duck licking and calling, he gradually recovered.After initial care, Hatteras was able to stand up with the support of the doctor, and walked towards the position of the boat. Arctic!Arctic!He repeated as he walked. You look so happy!the doctor said to him. Yes, I am very happy!And you, my friend, are you not happy to be here?The ground beneath our feet is the North Pole!The sea we cross is the sea of ​​the Arctic!The air we breathe is arctic air!ah!Arctic!Arctic! During the speech, Hatteras went into a state of intense excitement, a state of frenzy.Doctors tried to calm him down, but to no avail.His eyes were shining with a blinding light, and his thoughts were racing in his head.Croubney saw his ecstasy as a dire danger.

Clearly, Hatteras needs rest, and everyone looks for a camping place. Altamon soon found a cave-like cavern made of rock.Johnson and Bell brought in the food and unleashed the dogs.At about eleven o'clock lunch was ready.The topcloth of the tent became their tablecloth.The Chinese food consisting of meatloaf, bacon, vegetables, and coffee is placed on the ground, waiting for everyone to enjoy. Hatteras, however, strongly demanded the bearing of the isle, and he wanted to know exactly where they were. The doctor and Altamont brought the tester, and after observation, they got the precise location of the cave, which is eighty-nine degrees fifty-nine minutes and fifteen seconds north latitude. Intertwined hundreds of feet away.So, in fact, they were already at the North Pole, because they were within forty-five seconds of the North Pole at latitude ninety degrees, that is to say, the summit of the volcano. When Hatteras saw this result, he at once ordered the transcripts to be made, in duplicate, one of which was placed among the rocks on the shore.At last the ceremony began, and the doctor took out the quill and wrote the record.One of the originals is on display in the archives of the Royal Geographical Society in London. On July 11, 1861, at latitude 89 degrees 59 minutes 15 seconds, Queen's Island was discovered at the North Pole by Captain Hatteras, Commander Hatteras of Liverpool, and His companions testified. Whoever finds this transcript please try to send it to the British Naval Court. Witness: John.Hatteras, Admiral, Doctor, Crowburne. Altamon, captain of the Pearl Boise; John, boatswain; Bell, carpenter. Now, my friends, take your seats!The doctor happily invited.