Fast in the Ice: Adventures in the Polar Regions

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER SIX.

  PREPARATIONS FOR WINTERING--REMARKABLE ADVENTURES WITH A BEAR.

  The first care of Captain Harvey, after getting his brig securely laidup in her icy cradle for the winter was to remove some of the stores tothe island, where he had them carefully secured in a little hut whichthe crew built of loose stones. This relieved the strain on the vessel,and permitted the free circulation of air. The fitting up of theinterior of the brig was then begun.

  The wooden partition between the cabin and the hold was taken down, andthe whole space thrown into one apartment. The stove was put up in thecentre of it, and moss was piled round the walls inside about a footthick. Moss was also spread on the deck, and above it the snow wasallowed to gather, for snow, although so cold itself, keeps things thatit covers warm, by not permitting the heat to escape. The brig wasbanked up all round with snow, and a regular snowy staircase was builtfrom the ice to her bulwarks.

  They changed their time, now, from what is called sea-time to that whichwe follow on land. That is to say, they reckoned the day to commencejust after twelve, midnight, instead of dividing it into watches, asthey were wont to do at sea. Journals were begun, and careful notesmade of everything that occurred, or that might in any way further theobject for which they had gone there. Every man in the ship had hisappointed duty and his post. If the native Eskimos should arrive in awarlike temper, each man had his cutlass and pistols in readiness. If abear should pay them a visit, each could lay hands on his musket in aninstant; and if a fire should break out on board, every man had hisbucket ready and his particular post fixed. Some were to run to thewater-hole, which it was the duty of one man to keep open. Others wereto station themselves from the hole to the ship to pass the buckets,while the rest were to remain on board to convey them to the point ofdanger. Captain Harvey fixed all the arrangements, and superintendedthe carrying out of his orders in a general way, making his two officersand the young doctor responsible for the overseeing of details. Each ofthese foremen furnished him with a report every night of what had beendone during the day, and the result was noted down by himself in ajournal. Thus everything went smoothly and pleasantly along during thefirst weeks of their sojourn in their frozen home.

  In regard to fresh provisions they were fortunate at first, for theyobtained sufficient supplies of deer and other game. This was in theearly part of winter, while there was still plenty of daylight. In TomGregory's journal I find it thus written:

  "_September 10th_.--The days are beginning to shorten now, and we areall busily occupied in preparing for the long, dark winter that isbefore us. Sam Baker, who is the best shot among us, brought in a deerto-day. This is fortunate, for we stand in need of fresh meat. Ourgreatest enemy this winter, I fear, will be scurvy. Unless we obtain alarge supply of fresh provisions we cannot hope to escape it. Croftsbrought in two Arctic hares. They are beautiful creatures--pure white--and each weighs about seven pounds. These, with the four deer shot bymyself last week and the ten hares got by Baker, will keep us going forsome time.

  "_September 12th_.--I had an adventure with a polar bear last night,which has amused the men very much, and given them food for jocularityfor a few days. Some days back Davy Butts set a trap on the island, inwhich he has caught a few foxes. Last night his long legs were so tiredthat he did not care to visit his trap, so I offered to go instead ofhim. It was while I was out on this errand that I happened to meet withbruin. Our meeting was sudden and unexpected on both sides, I believe.It was midnight when I set off to the trap, which was not more than halfa mile from the ship, and it was quite dark when I reached it.

  "Davy is an ingenious fellow. His trap is made of four blocks of hardsnow, with a sort of wooden trigger that goes off the moment the bait istouched, and allows a heavy log to fall down on the poor fox's back.There was no fox there, however, when I reached it. I went down on myknees and was examining the bait, when I heard a low growl. I leapedup, and felt for the knife which I usually carried in my belt. It wasnot there! In the haste of my departure from the ship I had forgottento buckle it on. I had no gun, of course. It was too dark to shoot,and I had not counted on meeting with any dangerous enemy. I could onlycrouch down behind a lump of ice and hope that the bear would go away,but another growl, much louder than the first, and close at hand, showedthat I had been seen. It was so dark that I could hardly see fiftyyards ahead. There was a great chasm or hole just in front of me. Thiswas the place where the main body of the sea-ice had been separated fromthe shore-ice that was aground. Here every rise and fall of the tidehad broken it afresh, so that the rent was twenty yards wide, and fullof large blocks that had been tossed about in confusion. Across this Igazed into the gloom, and thought I saw an object that looked like alarge block of rounded ice. Before I could make up my mind how to act,the block of ice rose up with a furious roar and charged me. The chasmchecked him for a moment. But for this I should have been caughtimmediately. While he was scrambling over it I took to my heels, andran along the edge of the ice at the top of my speed.

  "There was a narrow part of the chasm which I had looked at in daylight,and wondered whether I might venture to leap across it. I had made upmy mind that it was too wide and dangerous to be attempted. But it iswonderful how quickly a man changes his mind on such a point when apolar bear is roaring at his heels. I came to the gap in the ice. Itwas ten feet deep and thirteen or fourteen feet across. The jaggedlumps of ice at the bottom lay there in horrible confusion. There wasbarely light enough to see where the hole was when I came within tenyards of it, but I did not hesitate. A rush! a bound! and I went overlike a cat. Not so the bear. He had not measured the place with hiseye in daylight, as I had done. He made a gallant leap, it is true, butfell short, as I knew from the bursting sound and the growl of rage withwhich he came against the edge of the ice, and fell back among thebroken blocks. I did not wait to see how he got out, you may be sure,but ran as I never ran before in all my life! I reached the brig quiteout of breath. The bear had not followed me up, for I did not see himthat night again. Long Davy laughed at me a good deal, and said he wassure I had been frightened at a shadow. It gave a wonderfully loud roarfor a shadow! I hope that Davy himself may get a chase before thewinter is over, just to convince him of his error in not believing me!"

  The kind wish thus expressed in the young doctor's journal was gratifiedsooner than might have been expected.

  Only two days after the incident above described, poor Davy Butts metwith the same bear, face to face, and had a run for his life, thatturned the laugh from Tom Gregory to himself.

  It was on the afternoon of a clear, cold day, just about sunset. Themen had finished dinner and were smoking their pipes on deck, stampingtheir feet and slapping their hands and arms, to keep them warm.

  "Hallo, Davy! where are you bound for?" inquired the captain, onobserving that Butts was wrapping himself carefully in his fur-coat,tightening his belt, and putting on his mittens as if bent on a longjourney.

  "I'm only goin' to take a look at my fox-trap, sir, if you'll allow me."

  "Certainly, my lad. If you get a fox it's well worth the trouble. Andhark'ee, Davy, take your axe and make one or two more of thesesnow-traps of yours. It will be a well-spent hour."

  "Why, Butts," exclaimed Gregory, "what do you mean to do with that bighorse-pistol? Surely you are not afraid of bears after laughing so muchat the one that chased me?"

  "Oh, no, not _afraid_, you know," replied Davy. "But there's no harm inbeing armed."

  "Mind you shoot him straight in the eye, or send a bullet up his nose.Them's the vulnerable parts of him," cried Joe Davis, with a laugh, asButts went down the snow-steps and got upon the ice.

  "I say," cried Pepper, as he was moving away.

  "Well?"

  "Bring his tongue aboard with you, and I'll cook it for supper."

  "Ah, and a bit of fat to fry it in," added the steward. "There'snothin' like tongue fried in bear's grease."
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  "No, no, Dawkins," said Mr Dicey. "Hallo! Davy; bring the 'ams.Bear's 'ams are considered fustrate heatin'."

  "No, _don't_ bring the hams," shouted Jim Croft, "fetch the tongue;that's the thing for supper of a cold night--fetch the tongue, lad."

  "Hold your own tongue," shouted Davy, in reply, as he went off amid thelaughter of his comrades.

  The sun sank soon after, and before the ingenious seaman had finishedtwo new traps the short twilight had gradually deepened into night.Still there was plenty of light, for the sky was clear, and studded witha host of stars. In addition to this the Aurora Borealis was sendingits beautiful flashes of pale-green light all across the western sky.

  The Aurora--which also goes by the names of "Northern Lights," and"Streamers," and "Merry-dancers," is seen in great splendour in thesenorthern skies. When the seaman had finished his traps, and looked upfor a minute or two at the sky, before starting on his return to theship, he beheld the Aurora extending over the heavens in the form of anirregular arch. It was extremely bright, but the brightness was not thesame in all parts. It moved and waved gently about like a band of thingreen fire. Every now and then long tongues or streamers darted up fromit, and these were brighter than the rest. They were yellowish white,and sometimes became pale pink in colour. The light from this beautifulobject was equal to that of the moon in her quarter, and the stars thatwere behind it shone dimly through, as if they were covered with a thingauze veil.

  While Davy was gazing in wonder at the splendid lights above him, a deepgrowl fell upon his ear. If the man had been a Jack-in-the-box he couldnot have leaped more quickly round. His pistol was out and cocked in amoment!

  The growl was followed by a roar, which drove all the blood back intoDavy's heart, and seemed to freeze it there--solid.

  The man was no coward, as was quite clear, for at first he boldly stoodhis ground. But he would have been more than mortal if he had not feltsome strange qualms about his heart when he saw a large white bearrushing furiously toward him. The animal came this time from theinterior of the small island. The seaman knew well the place over whichyoung Gregory had jumped when he had been chased. After wavering for amoment or two he turned and fled. Another tremendous roar helped himover the ice like a deer, and he took the chasm with a bound like anIndia-rubber ball.

  It must certainly have been the same animal that chased Gregory, for,instead of trying to leap the chasm, it went to another part of the rentand scrambled across. This gave Butts time to increase the distancebetween them, but a man is no match for a polar bear in a race. Themonster was soon close up with him, and the ship still far off. The manknew his danger; he turned, took a quick aim, and fired. He missed, ofcourse; flung the pistol in desperation in the bear's face, and ran on.The pistol happened to stick in the snow, with the butt in the air, andwhen the bear came up to it he stopped to smell it!

  It it well known, nowadays, that polar bears are full of curiosity, andwill stop for a few minutes to examine anything that comes in their way,even when they are in full chase of a man. Davy Butts knew nothing ofthis at the time; but he was a quick-witted fellow. He observed thisstopping of the bear, and determined to give him something more to stopat.

  When bruin was close at his heels he threw down his cap. The bear atonce pulled up, smelt it all round, tossed it into the air with hissnout, pawed it once or twice, then tore it to pieces with one wrench,and continued the chase. Very little time was lost in this operation.He was soon up with the man again; then a mitten was thrown down for hisinspection. After that the other mitten went, the cravat followed, andthe axe went next. All that I have just related happened in a very fewminutes. Davy was still a good quarter of a mile from the brig;everything that he could tear off his person in haste and throw down wasgone, and the bear was once more coming up behind. As a last hope hepulled off his heavy fur-coat and dropped it. This seemed to be asubject of great interest to the bear, for it was longer in inspectingit than the other things. And now poor Butts went tearing along like amaniac, in his flannel shirt and trousers. He was a miserable andcurious object, for his body, besides being very long, was uncommonlylanky, and his legs and arms seemed to go like the wings of a windmill.Never, since the day of his birth, had Davy Butts run at such a pace, insuch light clothing, and in such severe frost!

  A long line of low hummocks hid him from the brig. The moment he passedthese he came in sight of her and began to yell.

  "Wot on airth is yon?" exclaimed Joe Davis, who chanced to be lookingover the gangway when this remarkable object appeared.

  "The wild man o' the North himself, or my name aint Jim," said Crofts,turning pale.

  "Why, it's Davy Butts, I do believe," cried Sam Baker, who came on deckat that moment.

  Just then the bear came tearing round the end of the hummocks in fullchase.

  "Hurrah! hallo! ho!" roared the men, who had crowded on deck at thefirst note of alarm.

  Sam Baker seized a heavy ash handspike about five feet long, and was onhis way to meet his comrade before the others had gained the ice. Theywere not slow, however. Some with muskets, some with pistols andcutlasses, and some with nothing but their fists--all followed Sam, whowas now far ahead.

  Baker passed Davy without a remark, and ran straight at the bear, whichstopped on seeing such a big, powerful man running so furiously at him,and flourishing a bludgeon that would almost have suited the hand of agiant. But polar bears are not timid. He rose on his hind legs atonce, and paid no attention whatever to the tremendous crack that Samdealt him over the skull. The blow broke the handspike in two, and thefool-hardy seaman would soon have paid for his rashness with his lifehad not friendly and steady hands been near. Nothing daunted, he wasabout to repeat the blow with the piece of the handspike that was stillin his grasp, and the bear was about to seize him with its claws, eachof which were full two inches long, when the first mate and Gregory camerunning toward him, side by side, the first armed with a rifle, thedoctor with pistols.

  "Too late," gasped Gregory.

  "We must fire," said Mansell, "and risk hitting Sam. Here, doctor, youare a good shot; take the rifle."

  The young man obeyed, dropped on one knee, and took aim, but did notfire. Sam was between him and the bear. A sudden movement changedtheir positions. The side of the monster came into view, and in anotherinstant it was stretched on the ice with a bullet in his brain.