“I don’t doubt your skill, Doctor,” answered Johnson; “we’ll make ourselves as comfortable as possible here, and we’ll make an inventory of all that the ship contains; unfortunately, I don’t see any launch, or boat, and these ruins are in too bad a state to permit of our making a small boat.”
“Who can say?” answered the doctor. “With time and thought a great deal can be done; now we have not to trouble ourselves about navigation, but about a house to live in; I propose not to form any other plans, and to let everything have its turn.”
“That is wise,” answered Hatteras; “let us begin with the beginning.”
The three companions left the ship, returned to the sledge, and announced their determination to Bell and the American; Bell said he was ready to work; the American shook his head, on learning that nothing could be done with his ship; but since all discussion would have been idle, they determined at first to take refuge in the Porpoise, and to build a large building on the shore.
At four o’clock in the afternoon the five travellers were installed as comfortably as possible between decks; by means of spars and fragments of masts, Bell had made a nearly level floor; there they placed coverings stiffened by the frost, which the heat of the stove soon brought back to their natural state; Altamont, leaning on the doctor, was able to make his way to the corner which had been set aside for him; on setting foot on his ship, he had sighed with a feeling of relief, which did not encourage the boatswain.
“He feels at home,” the old sailor thought, “and one would say that he had invited us here.”
The rest of the day was devoted to repose; the weather threatened to change under the influence of the westerly winds; the thermometer outside stood at −26°. In fact, the Porpoise lay beyond the pole of cold, at a latitude relatively less severe, though farther to the north. On that day they finished the bear, with some biscuits they found on the ship, and a few cups of tea; then fatigue overcame them, and each one sank into a sound sleep.
The next morning they all awoke rather late; they soon recalled the difference in their situation; they were no longer perplexed with uncertainty about the morrow; they only thought of establishing themselves comfortably. These castaways looked at themselves as colonists who had reached their destination, and, forgetting the sufferings of their long march, they had no other thought than that of securing a comfortable future.
“Well,” said the doctor, stretching his arms, “it’s something not to have to wonder where one will sleep tonight and what one will have to eat tomorrow.”
“Let us first make an inventory of the ship,” answered Johnson.
The Porpoise had been carefully equipped for a long voyage.
The inventory, when complete, indicated the following supplies:—
| 6,150 | lbs. of | flour, fat and raisins for puddings; |
| 2,000 | ” ” | beef and salt pork; |
| 1,500 | ” ” | pemmican; |
| 700 | ” ” | sugar; |
| 700 | ” ” | chocolate; |
| 500 | ” ” | rice; |
| 1½ | chests of tea, weighing 87 lbs.; | |
many barrels of canned fruits and vegetables, lime-juice in abundance, cochlearia, sorrel and water-cresses, and three hundred gallons of rum and brandy; in the hold there was a large supply of ammunition; there was plenty of coal and wood. The doctor collected carefully the nautical instruments, and he also found a Bunsen’s Pile, which had been carried for electrical tests and experiments. In short, they had supplies enough to keep five men on whole rations for two years; all fear of starving or freezing to death was hence wholly removed.
“Our means of living are certain,” said the doctor to the captain, “and there is nothing to prevent our reaching the Pole.”
“The Pole!” answered Hatteras, trembling with excitement.
“Certainly,” continued the doctor; “what’s to prevent our pushing on during the summer across the land?”
“Across the land! true! But how about the sea?”
“Can’t we build a small boat out of the timber of the Porpoise?”
“An American boat, you mean,” answered Hatteras, scornfully, “and commanded by this American!”
The doctor understood the captain’s repugnance, and judged it best to change the conversation.
“Now that we know what our supplies are,” he went on, “we must build some safe place for them, and a house for ourselves. We have plenty of material, and we can settle ourselves very comfortably. I hope, Bell,” he added, turning to the carpenter, “that you are going to distinguish yourself; I may be able to help you too, I trust.”
“I’m ready, Doctor,” answered Bell; “if it were necessary I could easily build a whole city with houses and streets out of these blocks of ice—”
“We shan’t need as much as that; let us follow the example of the agents of the Hudson’s Bay Company; they build forts which protect them from the wild beasts and the Indians; that is all we need; let us make it no larger than necessary; on one side the dwelling, on the other the stores, with a sort of curtain, and two bastions. I’ll try to rub up what I know about fortification.”
“Upon my word, Doctor,” said Johnson, “I don’t doubt that we shall make something very fine under your direction.”
“Well, my friends, we must first choose a site; a good engineer should first study the lay of the land. Will you come with me, Hatteras?”
“I shall trust to you, Doctor,” answered the captain. “You see about that, while I explore the coast.”
Altamont, who was still too feeble to get to work, was left on board of his ship, and the two Englishmen set foot on the mainland. The weather was thick and stormy; at noon the thermometer stood at −11°, but, there being no wind, that temperature was comfortable. Judging from the outline of the shore, a large sea, at that time wholly frozen, stretched out farther than eye could reach in the west; on the east it was limited by a rounded coast,
