An Antarctic Mystery (28 page)

Between the south pole and antarctic circle lay twenty degrees, and
those would have to be cleared in a month or six weeks at the most;
if not, the iceberg barrier would be re-formed and closed-up. As for
wintering in that part of the antarctic circle, not a man of us
could have survived it.

Besides, we had lost all hope of rescuing the survivors of the
Jane
,
and the sole desire of the crew was to escape as quickly as possible
from the awful solitudes of the south. Our drift, which had been
south, down to the pole, was now north, and, if that direction
should continue, perhaps vle might be favoured with such good
fortune as would make up for all the evil that had befallen us! In
any case there was nothing for it but, in familiar phrase, "to let
ourselves go."

The mist did not lift during the end, 3rd, and 4th of February, and
it would have been difficult to make out the rate of progress of our
iceberg since it had passed the pole. Captain Len Guy, however, and
West, considered themselves safe in reckoning it at two hundred and
fifty miles.

The current did not seem to have diminished in speed or changed its
course. It was now beyond a doubt that we were moving between the
two halves of a continent, one on the east, the other on the west,
which formed the vast antarctic region. And I thought it was matter
of great regret that we could not get aground on one or the other
side of this vast strait, whose surface would presently be
solidified by the coming of winter.

When I expressed this sentiment to Captain Len Guy, he made me the
only logical answer:

"What would you have, Mr. Jeorling? We are powerless. There is
nothing to be done, and the persistent fog is the worst part of our
ill luck. I no longer know where we are. It is impossible to take an
observation, and this befalls us just as the sun is about to
disappear for long months."

"Let me come back to the question of the boat," said I, "for
the last time. Could we not, with the boat—"

"Go on a discovery cruise? Can you think of such a thing? That
would be an imprudence I would not commit, even though the crew
would allow me."

I was on the point of exclaiming: "And what if your brother and
your countrymen have found refuge on some spot of the land that
undoubtedly lies about us?"

But I restrained myself. Of what avail was it to reawaken our
captain's grief? He, too, must have contemplated this eventuality,
and he had not renounced his purpose of further search without being
fully convinced of the folly of a last attempt.

During those three days of fog I had not caught sight of Dirk
Peters, or rather he had made no attempt to approach, but had
remained inflexibly at his post by the boat. Martin Holt's
questions respecting his brother Ned seemed to indicate that his
secret was known—at least in part, and the half-breed held himself
more than ever aloof, sleeping while the others watched, and
watching in their time of sleep. I even wondered whether he
regretted having confided in me, and fancied that he had aroused my
repugnance by his sad story. If so, he was mistaken; I deeply pitied
the poor half-breed.

Nothing could exceed the melancholy monotony of the hours which we
passed in the midst of a fog so thick that the wind could not lift
its curtain. The position of the iceberg could not be ascertained.
It went with the current at a like speed, and had it been motionless
there would have been no appreciable difference for us, for the wind
had fallen—at least, so we supposed—and not a breath was
stirring. The flame of a torch held up in the air did not flicker.
The silence of space was broken only by the clangour of the
sea-birds, which came in muffled croaking tones through the stifling
atmosphere of vapour. Petrels and albatross swept the top of the
iceberg, where they kept a useless watch in their flight. In what
direction were those swift-winged creatures—perhaps already driven
towards the confines of the arctic region but the approach of
winter—bound? We could not tell. One day, the boatswain, who was
determined to solve this question if possible, having mounted to the
extreme top, not without risk of breaking his neck, came into such
violent contact with a
quebranta huesos
—a sort of gigantic petrel
measuring twelve feet with spread wings—that he was flung on his
back.

"Curse the bird!" he said on his return to the camp, addressing
the observation to me. "I have had a narrow escape! A thump, and
down I went, sprawling. I saved myself I don't know how, for I was
all but over the side. Those ice ledges, you know, slip through
one's fingers like water. I called out to the bird, 'Can't you
even look before you, you fool?' But what was the good of that?
The big blunderer did not even beg my pardon!"

In the afternoon of the same day our ears were assailed by a hideous
braying from below. Hurliguerly remarked that as there were no asses
to treat us to the concert, it must be given by penguins. Hitherto
these countless dwellers in the polar regions had not thought proper
to accompany us on our moving island; we had not seen even one,
either at the foot of the iceberg or on the drifting packs.
There could be no doubt that they were there in thousands, for the
music was unmistakably that of a multitude of performers. Now those
birds frequent by choice the edges of the coasts of islands and
continents in high latitudes, or the ice-fields in their
neighbourhood. Was not their presence an indication that land was
near?

I asked Captain Len Guy what he thought of the presence of these
birds.

"I think what you think, Mr. Jeorling," he replied. "Since we
have been drifting, none of them have taken refuge on the iceberg,
and here they are now in crowds, if we may judge by their deafening
cries. From whence do they come? No doubt from land, which is
probably near."

"Is this West's opinion?"

"Yes, Mr. Jeorling, and you know he is not given to vain
imaginations."

"Certainly not."

"And then another thing has struck both him and me, which has
apparently escaped your attention. It is that the braying of the
penguins is mingled with a sound like the lowing of cattle. Listen
and you will readily distinguish it."

I listened, and, sure enough, the orchestra was more full than I had
supposed.

"I hear the lowing plainly," I said; "there are, then, seals
and walrus also in the sea at the base."

"That is certain, Mr. Jeorling, and I conclude from the fact that
those animals—both birds and mammals—very rare since we left
Tsalal Island, frequent the waters into which the currents have
carried us."

"Of course, captain, of course. Oh! what a misfortune it is that
we should be surrounded by this impenetrable fog!"

"Which prevents us from even getting down to the base of the
iceberg! There, no doubt, we should discover whether there are
seaweed drifts around us; if that be so, it would be another sign."

"Why not try, captain?"

"No, no, Mr. Jeorling, that might lead to falls, and I will not
permit anybody to leave the camp. If land be there, I imagine our
iceberg will strike it before long."

"And if it does not?"

"If it does not, how are we to make it?"

I thought to myself that the boat might very well be used in the
latter case. But Captain Len Guy preferred to wait, and perhaps this
was the wiser course under our circumstances.

At eight o'clock that evening the half-condensed mist was so
compact that it was difficult to walk through it. The composition of
the air seemed to be changed, as though it were passing into a solid
state. It was not possible to discern whether the fog had any effect
upon the compass. I knew the matter had been studied by
meteorologists, and that they believe they may safely affirm that
the needle is not affected by this condition of the atmosphere. I
will add here that since we had left the South Pole behind no
confidence could be placed in the indications of the compass; it had
gone wild at the approach to the magnetic pole, to which we were no
doubt on the way. Nothing could be known, therefore, concerning the
course of the iceberg.

The sun did not set quite below the horizon at this period, yet the
waters were wrapped in tolerably deep darkness at nine o'clock in
the evening, when the muster of the crew took place.

On this occasion each man as usual answered to his name except Dirk
Peters.

The call was repeated in the loudest of Hurliguerly's stentorian
tones. No reply.

"Has nobody seen Dirk Peters during the day?" inquired the
captain.

"Nobody," answered the boatswain.

"Can anything have happened to him?"

"Don't be afraid," cried the boatswain. "Dirk Peters is in
his element, and as much at his ease in the fog as a polar bear. He
has got out of one bad scrape; he will get out of a second!"

I let Hurliguerly have his say, knowing well why the half-breed kept
out of the way.

That night none of us, I am sure, could sleep. We were smothered in
the tents, for lack of oxygen. And we were all more or less under
the influence of a strange sort of presentiment, as though our fate
were about to change, for better or worse, if indeed it could be
worse.

The night wore on without any alarm, and at six o'clock in the
morning each of us came out to breathe a more wholesome air.

The state of things was unchanged, the density of the fog was
extraordinary. It was, however, found that the barometer had risen,
too quickly, it is true, for the rise to be serious. Presently other
signs of change became evident. The wind, which was growing
colder—a south wind since we had passed beyond the south
pole—began to blow a full gale, and the noises from below were
heard more distinctly through the space swept by the atmospheric
currents.

At nine o'clock the iceberg doffed its cap of vapour quite
suddenly, producing an indescribable transformation scene which no
fairy's wand could have accomplished in less time or with greater
success.

In a few moments, the sky was clear to the extreme verge of the
horizon, and the sea reappeared, illumined by the oblique rays of
the sun, which now rose only a few degrees above it. A rolling swell
of the waves bathed the base of our iceberg in white foam, as it
drifted, together with a great multitude of floating mountains under
the double action of wind and current, on a course inclining to the
nor-'nor'-east.

"Land!"

This cry came from the summit of the moving mountain, and Dirk
Peters was revealed to our sight, standing on the outermost block,
his hand stretched towards the north.

The half-breed was not mistaken. The land this time—yes!—it was
land! Its distant heights, of a blackish hue, rose within three or
four miles of us.

86° 12' south latitude.
114° 17' east longitude.

The iceberg was nearly four degrees beyond the antarctic pole, and
from the western longitudes that our schooner had followed tracing
the course of the
Jane
, we had passed into the eastern longitudes.

A little after noon, the iceberg was within a mile of the land.

After their dinner, the crew climbed up to the topmost block, on
which Dirk Peters was stationed. On our approach the half-breed
descended the opposite slope and when I reached the top he was no
longer to be seen.

The land on the north evidently formed a continent or island of
considerable extent. On the west there was a sharply projecting
cape, surmounted by a sloping height which resembled an enormous
seal's head on the side view; then beyond that was a wide stretch
of sea. On the east the land was prolonged out of sight.

Each one of us took in the position. It depended on the
current-whether it would carry the iceberg into an eddy which might
drive it on the coast, or continue to drift it towards the north.
Which was the more admissible hypothesis?

Captain Len Guy, West, Hurliguerly, and I talked over the matter,
while the crew discussed it among themselves. Finally, it was agreed
that the current tended rather to carry the iceberg towards the
northern point of land.

"After all," said Captain Len Guy, "if it is habitable during
the months of the summer season, it does not look like being
inhabited, since we cannot descry a human being on the shore."

"Let us bear in mind, captain," said I, "that the iceberg is
not calculated to attract attention as the
Halbrane
would have
done."

"Evidently, Mr. Jeorling; and the natives, if there were any,
would have been collected on the beach to see the
Halbrane
already."

"We must not conclude, captain, because we do not see any
natives—"

"Certainly not, Mr. Jeorling; but you will agree with me that the
aspect of this land is very unlike that of Tsalal Island when the
fane reached it; there is nothing here but desolation and
barrenness."

"I acknowledge that—barrenness and desolation, that is all.
Nevertheless, I want to ask you whether it is your intention to go
ashore, captain?"

"With the boat?"

"With the boat, should the current carry cur iceberg away from the
land."

"We have not an hour to lose, Mr. Jeorling, and the delay of a few
hours might condemn us to a cruel winter stay, if we arrived too
late at the iceberg barrier."

"And, considering the distance, we are not too soon," observed
West.

"I grant it," I replied, still persisting. "But, to leave this
land behind us without ever having set foot on it, without having
made sure that it does not preserve the traces of an encampment, if
your brother, captain—his companions—"

Captain Len Guy shook his head. How could the castaways have
supported life in this desolate region for several months?

Besides, the British flag was hoisted on the summit of the iceberg,
and William Guy would have recognized it and come down to the shore
had he been living.