“That is a claim I can’t admit,” answered Hatteras, gravely, forcibly restraining himself. “To give a name, one should be the discoverer, and that I fancy you were not. Without us, besides, where would you be, sir, you who presume to impose conditions upon us? Twenty feet under the snow!”
“And without me, sir,” replied the American, “without my ship, where would you be at this moment? Dead of cold and hunger?”
“My friends,” said the doctor, intervening for the best, “come, a little calm, it can all settle itself. Listen to me!”
“That gentleman,” continued Altamont, pointing to the captain, “can give a name to all the lands he discovers, if he discovers any; but this continent belongs to me! I cannot admit of its bearing two names, like Grinnell Land and Prince Albert’s Land, because an Englishman and American happened to find it at the same time. Here it’s different. My rights of precedence are beyond dispute! No ship has ever touched this shore before mine. No human being before me has ever set foot upon it; now, I have given it its name, and it shall keep it.”
“And what is its name?” asked the doctor.
“New America,” answered Altamont.
Hatteras clinched his fists on the table. But with a violent effort he controlled himself.
“Can you prove to me,” Altamont went on, “that any Englishman has ever set foot on this soil before me?”
Johnson and Bell were silent, although they were no less angry than the captain at the haughty coolness of their opponent. But there was nothing to be said. The doctor began again after a few moments of painful silence.
“My friends,” he said, “the first law of humanity is justice; it embraces all the rest. Let us then be just, and not give way to evil feelings. Altamont’s priority appears to me incontestable. There is no question about it; we shall have our revenge later, and England will have a good share in future discoveries. Let us leave to this land, then, the name of New America. But Altamont, in giving it this name, has not, I imagine, disposed of the bays, capes, points, and promontories which it encloses, and I don’t see anything to prevent our calling it Victoria Bay.”
“None at all,” answered Altamont, “provided that the cape jutting into the sea over there is named Cape Washington.”
“You might have chosen, sir,” cried Hatteras, beside himself, “a name less offensive to an English ear.”
“But none dearer to an American ear,” answered Altamont, with much pride.
“Come, come,” continued the doctor, who found it hard to keep the peace in this little world, “no discussion about that! Let an American be proud of his great men! Let us honor genius wherever it is found, and since Altamont has made his choice, let us now speak for ourselves and our friends. Let our captain—”
“Doctor,” answered Hatteras, “since this is an American land, I don’t care to have my name figure here.”
“Is that opinion unchangeable?” asked the doctor.
“It is,” answered Hatteras.
The doctor did not insist any further.
“Well, then, it’s our turn,” he said, addressing the old sailor and the carpenter; “let us leave a trace of our passage here. I propose that we call that island about three miles from here Johnson Island, in honor of our boatswain.”
“Oh,” said the latter, a little embarrassed, “Oh doctor!”
“As to the mountain which we have seen in the west, we shall call it Bell Mountain, if our carpenter is willing.”
“It’s too much honor for me,” answered Bell.
“It’s only fair,” said the doctor.
“Nothing better,” said Altamont.
“Then we have only to name our fort,” resumed the doctor; “there need be no discussion about that; it’s neither to Her Royal Highness Queen Victoria nor to Washington that we owe our protection in it at this moment, but to God, who brought us together and saved us all. Let it be called Fort Providence!”
“A capital plan!” answered Altamont.
“Fort Providence,” added Johnson, “that sounds well! So, then, in returning from our excursions in the north, we shall start from Cape Washington to reach Victoria Bay, and from there to Fort Providence, where we shall find rest and plenty in Doctor’s House.”
“Then that’s settled,” answered the doctor; “later, as we make discoveries, we shall have other names to give, which I hope will not give rise to discussion; for, my friends, we ought to stand by one another and love one another; we represent humanity on this distant shore; let us not give ourselves up to the detestable passions which infest society; let us rather remain unattackable by adversity. Who can say what dangers Heaven has in store for us, what sufferings we may not have to support before we return to our own country? Let us five be like one man, and leave on one side the rivalry which is wrong anywhere, and especially here. You understand me, Altamont? And you, Hatteras?”
The two men made no reply, but the doctor did not seem to notice their silence. Then they talked about other things; about hunting, so as to get a supply of fresh meat; with the spring, hares, partridges, even foxes, would return, as well as bears; they resolved accordingly not to let a favorable day pass without exploring the land of New America.
VIII
Excursion to the North of Victoria Bay
The next morning, as soon as the sun appeared, Clawbonny ascended the wall of rock which rose above Doctor’s House; it terminated suddenly in a sort of truncated cone; the doctor reached the summit with some little difficulty, and from there his eye beheld a vast expanse of territory which looked as if it were the result of some volcanic convulsion; a huge white canopy covered land and sea, rendering them undistinguishable the one from the other. The doctor, when he saw that this rock overlooked all the surrounding plain, had an idea—a fact which will not astonish those who are acquainted with him. This idea he turned over,
