Under the Sea to the North Pole

by Pierre Mael

  And consequently Isabelle took the greatest pleasure in these

  excursions. When she returned on one occasion, she remarked,— “In truth, I shall end by finding the Pole a terrestrial paradise.” But unfortunately, there remained the keen, boisterous north

  wind to contradict these laudatory observations. De Keralio was untiring in his cautions to his daughter as to the need of extreme care.

  “We are now in a most dangerous period of the year, and not a day passes without innumerable fissures in the ice being noticed. The differences of temperature would be sufficient to explain their appearance if we did not know that the eastern coast of Greenland is washed by a branch of the Gulf Stream, and subject to elevations of temperature unknown on the western side, in Robeson Channel and Smith Sound. We must keep a constant watch on the state of the ground, for fear of being dragged away by some fall of icebergs or movement of glaciers.”

  This sensible advice was generally received with a shake of the head.

  Cautious as she was in other things, Isabelle allowed herself to be carried away by the seductions of the landscape. Her nature was rather adventurous and enthusiastic, and she paid little heed to the warnings of her father and his companions.

  A terrible affair soon showed the truth of this.

  It was not only from the state of the ice that danger was to be feared; there were other dangers almost as serious to be guarded against.

  In the early part of March Riez, Carré, MacWright and Lieutenant Hardy, who were the recognized hunters of the expedition, discovered, not without surprise, that there were tracks of wolves and foxes at a short distance from the camp. One morning these tracks were found to be mingled with the deeper footsteps of heavier animals, and there were recognized, not without satisfaction, the forked marks of several large ruminants.

  The news was welcomed at the fort.

  It showed that there was game again in the neighbourhood, and that there would be a good deal of fresh venison. It also showed that the summer would be unusually early.

  In fact, on the 10th of March, during a temperature of fifteen degrees below zero, which was the mean of the month, the hunters had the extraordinary good fortune to fall in with a herd of five musk oxen. Four of these were killed, and their flesh was at once transferred to the larder.

  But on the twelfth Lieutenant Pol, going out about two o’clock in the morning, without weapons, found himself unexpectedly in front of a white bear of gigantic dimensions. The animal, like the rest of his kind, immediately turned and fled, and this enabled the officer to beat a judicious retreat.

  He had not gone a kilometre towards the fort, when he saw the bear returning towards him at a trot, which would have soon brought him to close quarters if luckily some of the sailors had not noticed the animal and recognized the lieutenant’s danger.

  To run up with loud shouts and open fire on the bear was the work of a moment. The brute, finding he was foiled, again turned on his heels and disappeared, not without leaving a trail of blood behind him showing he had been hit. To their great disappointment the hunters could not come up with him.

  The flesh of the bear enjoys a well-merited reputation for flavour among the people of the North, and polar explorers esteem it above all others.

  In the evening there was .a good deal of talk about the adventure, and next day nothing else was spoken of between the acts of the stage play that was being performed. And so great was the excitement that the sailors improvised on the spot, and performed amid general applause, a spirited pantomime, reproducing with considerable fidelity the morning episode of the day before.

  It was hoped that the plantigrade would reappear during the following days. He did not show himself. It was supposed, too readily apparently, that he had changed his haunt, having found the neighbourhood of Cape Ritter somewhat unpleasant.

  The minds of all had to be made up to the loss. There were to be no bear paws and no bear steaks, such being the most esteemed parts of the animal. The two Eskimos, Hans and Petricksen, attached to the party, made up for these by plenty of fishing, in which seals and walruses figured for two-thirds, and the rest consisted of fish of the conger and salmon families.

  By the twentieth of the month the incident had been forgotten, and Isabelle, who had been careful enough during these few days, lost all her fear and resumed her adventurous explorations on the shoal ice and glaciers of the fiord.

  Faithful as a dog, and always accompanied by the brave Salvator, Guerbraz was in attendance during these excursions, On this particular morning, which is famous in Paris for the flowering of the celebrated chestnut tree of the Hundred Days, Isabelle had ventured out on the glacier which looked down on the bed of the Polar Star. The steamer was gradually becoming liberated, and already rested on the surface of the year’s ice, which her keel was beginning to furrow. The walls, or to speak more accurately, the icy plating which had served her as impenetrable armour, was melting off her under the action of the abnormal temperature of the spring. Through the rifts in what had fallen, the steep grey rock appeared, which formed the rampart under which the ship lay in shelter from the storms that blew in from the sea. It was in this direction that Isabelle went. She had been thinking for some days of scaling the enormous blocks which surrounded the steamer. The steamer had listed over considerably, and her yard-arm sloping to starboard formed a convenient ladder up which Isabelle was helped by the herculean strength of Guerbraz. The blocks were piled up in a kind of giant staircase, up which Isabelle went with the suppleness and activity of a deer. But instead of getting to the top as soon as possible, she stopped to jump from shelf to shelf, heedless of the advice of Guerbraz, who was literally terrified at this reckless audacity. Suddenly, as she turned to go straight up, she stopped and gave a scream of terror. She was a hundred yards at least from her faithful companion. At her scream he hastened towards her, knowing that she must be in imminent danger. As he reached the highest of the blocks of this titanic staircase, he found the explanation. Less than ten yards away on the other side of a fissure less than a yard across, was a gigantic bear, doubtless the one which had chased the lieutenant and escaped. It was balancing itself in a regular movement, swinging its large body on one side as it swung its little head on the other. It was evidently hungry; it shook its paws one after the other, and opened and shut its mouth from which it now and then hung its red tongue, like a dog wanting water.

  “Come back, mademoiselle, come back!” shouted Guerbraz in despair.

  Isabelle heard him and turned. She tried to retreat. The bear, seeing, doubtless, that his prey was escaping him, made a step forward, and venturing all his body across the fissure, placed his paws on the opposite side with a smack of the jaws and a low growl.

  Guerbraz had snatched his revolver from his belt, and at the same time the good axe he was never without. Anticipating the bear’s attack, he was already about to leap on the block of ice which supported Isabelle and her terrible enemy, when there occurred a phenomenon unexpected, but which might have been foreseen.

  At the pressure of the plantigrade’s enormous paws, the fissure opened deep down. Probably it had existed for some time, as it opened so easily. Borne down by its own weight, the bear fell into the crevasse, while the heap of blocks shook as they broke away from the rest. Under the pressure, the icefloe around broke off, and a column of water rose in a wave and dashed up obliquely to the iceberg which, breaking away from everything, began to drift off, probably in a warm current, which swept along the ledge of the fiord.

  It was now the turn of Guerbraz to be afraid. He also raised a shout.

  What had happened was not without precedent, not only in the records of the past, but in the journal of this very expedition. Floebergs and entire fields of ice had been observed to break off from the glaciers of the coast and drift out to the warmer depths of the ocean, where they melted with extraordinary rapidity.

  Isabelle was thus in a critical position, all alone on her moving island; although
at this time of the year the block could not drift very far, the way not being open through the pack.

  It did not drift more than a hundred yards. It had left the bare rock behind it, and in the place it had occupied was a gap of water which soon became covered with ice.

  Guerbraz was in despair.

  As the huge floe grounded on the ice-field and made if groan beneath its weight, he saw Isabelle standing on a sort of shelf which overhung the level of the field by about a hundred feet. Matters were becoming more and more critical. To rescue her, Guerbraz slipped as quickly as he could down the slope he had climbed. He had to get round the ship and then the creek before he could reach her. He did not hesitate an instant, and notwithstanding the crevasses, he leapt from ridge to ridge over hummocks and mounds and finally reached the frozen surface of the fiord. But there a new sight petrified him with horror. The wind blew, although feebly, in shore. The bear, notwithstanding its bad fall, which had been considerably broken by the water, had got on the ice again, and was hurrying towards the peak or ledge on which was Isabelle. Guerbraz shouted loudly to distract its attention. The plantigrade hesitated a moment. Then with the same swinging of the body, it continued its advance towards the iceberg.

  The sailor, mad with grief, shouted to Isabelle,— “Try and get away down and come to me.” Placed as she was, she could not see the animal approaching her. But she knew that the Breton’s shout meant imminent danger.

  Running to the edge of the shelf, she tried to get down. Alas! the edge broke away vertically under her. The wall of ice had no breaks in it.. It was as smooth as marble.

  She waved her arms. The wind bore her voice towards him, and Guerbraz heard but the one word,—

  “Cannot.”

  On the other side of the block the bear, now hidden from the sailor’s view, began to scale the berg. Its laborious ascent can be imagined.

  Never had poor Guerbraz suffered so cruelly. A desperate resolve came to him. He rushed to the foot of the floeberg, and opening his arms, prepared to catch Isabelle as she slipped down.

  It was a mad resolve, but justified in a great measure by the confidence he placed in his almost superhuman strength.

  Isabelle shared in that confidence, for, approaching the edge, she measured with a glance the height of the fall. The sight frightened her evidently, for she stepped back to the ledge.

  But at the same instant there appeared the head of the bear, with its bloodshot eyes and red throat. The girl, overcome by her feelings, tottered and fell in a faint. Guerbraz took the best aim at the brute that he could, and the bullet entered the bear’s left eye. The monster, made more furious by the wound, gave a hoarse growl, and hurried towards his inanimate prey. Isabelle was lost. But then for the second time occurred the phenomenon which had just detached the floeberg from the coast. The peak shook, cracked, and, splitting all along its length, divided into two huge masses. The bear was thrown back, while Isabelle slipped gently down and disappeared over the crevasse which had just opened. This was not the same kind of death for her, but death it was, none the less. Without another thought for the bear, which had fled, seized with terror at this second misadventure, Guerbraz leaped towards the crack, at the risk of being swallowed up himself. He could see Isabelle had fainted, suspended between heaven and earth, hooked up by the thick cloak she was wearing. If the ice moved again, she would be hurled into the horrible fissure, and one of the blocks around would be her tombstone. All seemed lost, and without some providential intervention Isabelle De Keralio was doomed. But just then, on the rugged bergs, some of the hunters appeared. Attracted by the two shots fired by Guerbraz, they had come up to see the bear’s flight and Isabelle’s fall. Ten men leapt on the floe and set about saving her. Alas! All their efforts would have been in vain had it not been for Salvator. The good dog did not hesitate. In a few prodigious leaps he had reached the crevasse, and with wonderful dexterity had gripped the cloak in his teeth and carefully drawn it over the outer slope of the chasm, where Guerbraz and his companions could catch Isabelle in their arms. In a minute or two a sort of stretcher was formed with guns and hunting spears, on which to carry the inanimate girl. At the fort the consternation was great, but Dr. Servan and his colleague promptly reassured the colony.

  Isabelle was condemned to a week’s rest. Had she not to recover all her strength before her departure for the North?

  The return of the sun not only marked the end of the cold, but the end of the imprisonment. From the depth of every heart rose a hymn of gratitude and blessing towards the Creator.

  The moment had come to enter resolutely on the campaign, and advance without a pause towards its last stage. Once the 85th parallel was reached, they could hope for final triumph, if the land continued beyond the horizons that were seen by their heroic predecessors.

  Many there were, all perhaps, who regretted leaving Fort Esperance. They had been so happy there. What would they find in this unknown towards which they were about to start? Could all the wonders realized here be reproduced further to the north, if the camp were established on the same bases and with the same foresight as it had been at Cape Ritter? But the very hypothesis of a journey direct to the Pole rendered this eventuality quite problematic. It was to be a life under tents added to a life on board ship, if the rigours of the Pole allowed.

  But the time taken in preparations was spent by the explorers in further preliminary excursions. D’Ermont and Pol were the first to try the Polar route. Their observations confirmed those already made by De Keralio and Doctor Servan. The coast of Greenland trended off at Cape Bismarck, and unless there was a long peninsula, of which there was no evidence, it no longer deserved its name of east coast, inasmuch as it ran towards the north-east.

  After the 20th of March the ship was prepared for the reception of the explorers, who began to take up their Quarters on board. In order that they might not be inconvenienced by the change, Hubert, with Schnecker’s assistance, set up the hydrogen apparatus, and such was the effect of the radiation of the heat on the ice, that the cradle, gradually relieved of the lateral pressure, let the ship down. Jets of steam were then turned on, with a view of assisting in breaking the ice up, and on the 1st of April the steamer’s keel sank through the thin coating and resumed contact with the water.

  Then the wooden house was taken down and its materials brought on board. This was not the lightest task nor the easiest. The cold was still very great, and in the course of the work several of the men who had hitherto escaped were seriously afflicted, owing to their neglect of the precautions that were daily advised. One or two amputations of frost-bitten fingers had to be undertaken, and the infirmary of the Polar Star received six patients, more or less gravely injured, before the time came for the vessel to leave the sheltering fiord for the open sea. Nevertheless the enthusiasm of the crew continued unabated. The sun had called to new life the gaiety which had not seriously suffered during the long darkness of the winter months. But what contributed more than all to revive the enthusiasm was the appearance of the crop about the loth of April.

  The greenhouse had been left untouched. Who knew if they would not again have to seek the shelter of Cape Ritter? It had consequently been converted into a store and in it had been deposited all the reserves of fresh meat that had not been used up, and which were due to the guns of the most skilful hunters of the colony.

  The greenhouse had yielded astonishing results. Under the four electric suns of the lamps, and owing to the constant heat, the nitrogenized sand of the borders had produced as much as the rich mould of the temperate zones. There had been yielded from eighty to a hundred carrots, thirty boxes of radishes, which the sailors declared were of excellent flavour, a dozen boxes of landcress, and more than a hundred and forty heads of lettuces.

  The fruit was not so abundant. There were not quite two salad bowls of strawberries, but their want of colour was the cause of some disappointment, although with the addition of sugar they were declared to be miraculous. Isabelle wa
s able to gather a nosegay for herself besides enough flowers to give as buttonholes for all the crew, and it was with this new-fashioned decoration that the whole party, in health and out of it, took part in the farewell banquet given on board the steamer. Long and uproarious cheers greeted the heroine who was at one and the same time the beneficent fairy and the sister of charity of the expedition. And after that the party broke up, not without profound emotion.

  Captain Lacrosse was again in charge of the crew he deemed necessary for the working of the ship. He also took on board the sick and wounded, and their presence decided Isabelle to remain with them in company with her faithful nurse. Doctor Servan with some regret gave up his place in the land column to Le Sieur.

  It was agreed, however, that this column should keep to the coast, parallel to the course of the ship, so as to remain in communication with her as much as possible.

  On the 20th of April, after a strong breeze from the south the sky seemed clear of cloud, and the sun, already high on the horizon, raised the temperature to two degrees. This difference in the height of the thermometer was announced by long crackings from the open sea; and on the 21st De Keralio and Lacrosse, ascending one of the neighbouring hills, saw a wide channel of open water extending to within 600 yards of the shore.

  On the 26th the floe on which lay the Polar Star split along its entire length, and all that remained of the scaffolding had to be hurriedly taken on board. Gradually the floe broke away, block after block, and drifted out to sea. So rapid was this drifting that the men of the land expedition had no time to disembark, and had to stay on board until the steamer could get quite clear and put them ashore at Cape Bismarck. This was effected on the 30th, the Polar Star not being able to extricate herself until she had drifted half a degree towards the south.

  On the 1st of May the final landing took place, the exploring column consisting of De Keralio, D’Ermont, Hardy, Doctor Le Sieur, and the sailors Carré, Leclerc, Julliat, Binel and MacWright. In charge of the men, as first boatswain, was Guerbraz.