Sailors, who are familiar with northern seas, consider this phenomenon a forerunner of heavy snow. If this should be the case, the position of the Forward was very critical. Hence Hatteras resolved to push on; during the rest of that day and the next night he took no rest, but examined the horizon through his glass, entering every inlet, and losing no opportunity to get out of the strait.
But in the morning he was compelled to stop before the impenetrable ice. The doctor joined him on the quarterdeck. Hatteras led him clear aft where they could talk without fear of being overheard.
“We are caught,” said Hatteras. “It’s impossible to go on.”
“Impossible?” said the doctor.
“Impossible! All the powder on board the Forward would not open a quarter of a mile to us.”
“What are we to do?” asked the doctor.
“I don’t know. Curse this unlucky year!”
“Well, Captain, if we must go into winter-quarters, we’ll do it. As well here as anywhere else!”
“Of course,” said Hatteras in a low voice, “but we ought not to be going into winter-quarters, especially in the month of June. It is demoralizing, and bad for the health. The spirits of the crew are soon cast down during this long rest among real sufferings. So I had made up my mind to winter at a latitude nearer the Pole.”
“Yes, but, unluckily, Baffin’s Bay was closed.”
“Anyone else would have found it open,” cried Hatteras; “that American, that—”
“Come, Hatteras,” said the doctor, purposely interrupting him, “it’s now only the 5th of June; we should not despair; a path may open before us suddenly; you know the ice often breaks into separate pieces, even when the weather is calm, as if it were driven apart by some force of repulsion; at any moment we may find the sea free.”
“Well, if that happens, we shall take advantage of it. It is not impossible that beyond Bellot Strait we might get northward through Peel Sound or MacClintock Channel, and then—”
“Captain,” said James Wall, approaching, “the ice threatens to tear away the rudder.”
“Well,” answered Hatteras, “never mind; I shan’t unship it; I want to be ready at any hour, day or night. Take every precaution, Mr. Wall, and keep the ice off; but don’t unship it, you understand.”
“But—” began Wall.
“I don’t care to hear any remarks, sir,” said Hatteras, severely. “Go!”
Wall returned to his post.
“Ah!” said Hatteras, angrily, “I would give five years of my life to be farther north! I don’t know any more dangerous place; and besides, we are so near the magnetic pole that the compass is of no use; the needle is inactive, or always shifting its direction.”
“I confess,” said the doctor, “that it is not plain sailing; but still, those who undertook it were prepared for such dangers, and there is no need to be surprised.”
“Ah, Doctor! the crew has changed very much, and you have seen that the officers have begun to make remarks. The high pay offered the sailors induced them to ship; but they have their bad side, for as soon as they are off they are anxious to get back. Doctor, I have no encouragement in my undertaking, and if I fail, it won’t be the fault of such or such a sailor, but of the ill-will of certain officers. Ah, they’ll pay dearly for it!”
“You are exaggerating, Hatteras.”
“Not at all! Do you fancy the crew are sorry for the obstacles we are meeting? On the contrary, they hope I shall be compelled to abandon my plans. So they do not murmur, and when the Forward is headed for the south, it will be the same thing. Fools! They imagine they are returning to England! But when I’m turned towards the north, you will see a difference! I swear solemnly that no living being shall make me swerve from my course! Give me a passage, an opening through which my brig can go, and I shall take it, if I have to leave half her sheathing behind!”
The desires of the captain were destined to be satisfied in a measure. As the doctor had foretold, there was a sudden change in the evening; under some influence of the wind, the ice-fields separated; the Forward pushed on boldly, breaking the ice with her steel prow; all the night they advanced, and towards six o’clock they were clear of Bellot Strait.
But great was Hatteras’s anger at finding the way to the north closed! He was able to hide his despair; and as if the only open path were the one of his choice, he turned the Forward towards Franklin Sound. Being unable to go up Peel Sound, he determined to go around Prince of Wales Land, to reach MacClintock Channel. But he knew that Shandon and Wall could not be deceived, and were conscious of the failure of his hopes.
Nothing especial happened on the 6th of June; snow fell, and the prophecy of the halo came true.
For thirty-six hours the Forward followed the sinuosities of the coast of Boothia, without reaching Prince of Wales Land. Hatteras put on all steam, burning his coal extravagantly; he still intended to get further supplies on Beechey Island; on Thursday he arrived at Franklin Sound, and he still found the way northward impassable.
His position was a desperate one; he could not return; the ice pushed him onward, and he saw his path forever closing behind him, as if there were no open sea where he had passed but an hour before.
Hence, not only was the Forward unable to go toward the north, but she could not stop for a moment lest she should be imprisoned, and she fled before the ice like a ship before a storm.
Friday, June 8th, she arrived near the coast of Boothia, at the entrance of James Ross Sound, which had to be avoided because its only exit is to the west, close to the shore of America.
The observations taken at noon showed them
