An Antarctic Mystery (11 page)

In reality it was necessary to treble the crew of the schooner.
Counting the captain, the mate, the boatswain, the cook and myself,
we were thirteen on board. Now, thirty-two or thirty-four men would
not be too many for us, and it must be remembered that there were
thirty-eight on board the
Jane
.

In this emergency the Governor exerted himself to the utmost, and
thanks to the largely-extra pay that was offered, Captain Len Guy
procured his full tale of seamen. Nine recruits signed articles for
the duration of the campaign, which could not be fixed beforehand,
but was not to extend beyond Tsalal Island.

The crew, counting every man on board except myself, numbered
thirty-one, and a thirty-second for whom I bespeak especial
attention. On the eve of our departure, Captain Len Guy was accosted
at the angle of the port by an individual whom he recognized as a
sailor by his clothes, his walk, and his speech.

This individual said, in a rough and hardly intelligible voice,—

"Captain, I have to make a proposal to you."

"What is it?"

"Have you still a place?"

"For a sailor?"

"For a sailor."

"Yes and no."

"Is it yes?"

"It is yes, if the man suits me."

"Will you take me?"

"You are a seaman?"

"I have served the sea for twenty-five years?

"Where?"

"In the Southern Seas,"

"Far?"

"Yes, far, far."

"Your age?"

"Forty-four years."

"And you are at Port Egmont?"

"I shall have been there three years, come Christmas."

"Did you expect to get on a passing whale-ship?"

"No."

"Then what were you doing here?"

"Nothing, and I did not think of going to sea again."

"Then why seek a berth?"

"Just an idea. The news of the expedition your schooner is going
on was spread. I desire, yes, I desire to take part in it—with
your leave, of course."

"You are known at Port Egmont?"

"Well known, and I have incurred no reproach since I came here."

"Very well," said the captain. "I will make inquiry respecting
you."

"Inquire, captain, and if you say yes, my bag shall he on board
this evening."

"What is your name?"

"Hunt."

"And you are—?"

"An American."

This Hunt was a man of short stature, his weather beaten face was
brick red, his skin of a yellowish-brown like an Indian's, his
body clumsy, his head very large, his legs were bowed, his whole
frame denoted exceptional strength, especially the arms, which
terminated in huge hands. His grizzled hair resembled a kind of fur.

A particular and anything but prepossessing character was imparted
to the physiognomy of this individual by the extraordinary keenness
of his small eyes, his almost lipless mouth, which stretched from
ear to ear, and his long teeth, which were dazzlingly white; their
enamel being intact, for he had never been attacked by scurvy, the
common scourge of seamen in high latitudes.

Hunt had been living in the Falklands for three years; he lived
alone on a pension, no one knew from whence this was derived. He was
singularly uncommunicative, and passed his time in fishing, by which
he might have lived, not only as a matter of sustenance, but as an
article of commerce.

The information gained by Captain Len Guy was necessarily
incomplete, as it was confined to Hunt's conduct during his
residence at Port Egmont. The man did not fight, he did not drink,
and he had given many proofs of his Herculean strength. Concerning
his past nothing was known, but undoubtedly he had been a sailor. He
had said more to Len Guy than he had ever said to anybody; but he
kept silence respecting the family to which he belonged, and the
place of his birth. This was of no importance; that he should prove
to be a good sailor was all we had to think about. Hunt obtained a
favourable reply, and came on board that same evening.

On the 27th, in the morning, in the presence of the authorities of
the Archipelago, the
Halbrane's
anchor was lifted, the last good
wishes and the final adieus were exchanged, and the schooner took
the sea. The same evening Capes Dolphin and Pembroke disappeared in
the mists of the horizon.

Thus began the astonishing adventure undertaken by these brave men,
who were driven by a sentiment of humanity towards the most terrible
regions of the Antarctic realm.

Here was I, then, launched into an adventure which seemed likely to
surpass all my former experiences. Who would have believed such a
thing of me. But I was under a spell which drew me towards the
unknown, that unknown of the polar world whose secrets so many
daring pioneers had in vain essayed to penetrate. And this time, who
could tell but that the sphinx of the Antarctic regions would speak
for the first time to human ears!

The new crew had firstly to apply themselves to learning their
several duties, and the old—all fine fellows—aided them in the
task. Although Captain Len Guy had not had much choice, he seemed to
have been in luck. These sailors, of various nationalities,
displayed zeal and good will. They were aware, also, that the mate
was a man whom it would not do to vex, for Hurliguerly had given
them to understand that West would break any man's head who did
not go straight. His chief allowed him full latitude in this respect.

"A latitude," he added, "which is obtained by taking the
altitude of the eye with a shut fist."

I recognized my friend the boatswain in the manner of this warning
to all whom it might concern.

The new hands took the admonition seriously, and there was no
occasion to punish any of them. As for Hunt, while he observed the
docility of a true sailor in all his duties, he always kept himself
apart, speaking to none, and even slept on the deck, in a corner,
rather than occupy a bunk in the forecastle with the others.

Captain Len Guy's intention was to take the Sandwich Isles for his
point of departure towards the south, after having made acquaintance
with New Georgia, distant eight hundred miles from the Falklands.
Thus the schooner would be in longitude on the route of the
Jane
.

On the 2nd of November this course brought us to the bearings which
certain navigators have assigned to the Aurora Islands, 30° 15'
of latitude and 47° 33' of east longitude.

Well, then, notwithstanding the affirmations—which I regarded with
suspicion—of the captains of the
Aurora
in 1762, of the Saint
Miguel, in 1769, of the Pearl, in 1779, of the Prinicus and the
Dolores, in 1790, of the Atrevida, in 1794, which gave the bearings
of the three islands of the group, we did not perceive a single
indication of land in the whole of the space traversed by us. It was
the same with regard to the alleged islands of the conceited Glass.
Not a single little islet was to be seen in the position he had
indicated, although the look-out was most carefully kept. It is to
be feared that his Excellency the Governor of Tristan d'Acunha
will never see his name figuring in geographical nomenclature.

It was now the 6th of November. Our passage promised to be shorter
than that of the
Jane
. We had no need to hurry, however. Our
schooner would arrive before the gates of the iceberg wall would
be open. For three days the weather caused the working of the ship
to be unusually laborious, and the new crew behaved very well;
thereupon the boatswain congratulated them. Hurliguerly bore witness
that Hunt, for all his awkward and clumsy build, was in himself worth
three men.

"A famous recruit," said he.

"Yes, indeed," I replied, "and gained just at the last
moment."

"Very true, Mr. Jeorling! But what a face and head he has, that
Hunt!"

"I have often met Americans like him in the regions of the Far
West," I answered, "and I should not be surprised if this man
had Indian blood in his veins. Do you ever talk with Hunt?"

"Very seldom, Mr. Jeorling. He keeps himself to himself, and away
from everybody. And yet, it is not for want of mouth. I never saw
anything like his! And his hands! Have you seen his hands? Be on
your guard, Mr. Jeorling, if ever he wants to shake hands with
you."

"Fortunately, boatswain, Hunt does not seem to be quarrelsome. He
appears to be a quiet man who does not abuse his strength."

"No—except when he is setting a halyard. Then I am always afraid
the pulley will come down and the yard with it."

Hunt certainly was a strange being, and I could not resist observing
him with curiosity, especially as it struck me that he regarded me
at times with a curious intentness.

On the 10th of November, at about two in the afternoon, the look-out
shouted,—

"Land ahead, starboard!"

An observation had just given 55° 7' latitude and 41° 13'
longitude. This land could only be the Isle de Saint Pierre—its
British names are South Georgia, New Georgia, and King George's
Island—and it belongs to the circumpolar regions.

It was discovered by the Frenchman, Barbe, in 1675, before Cook;
but, although he came in second, the celebrated navigator gave it
the series of names which it still bears.

The schooner took the direction of this island, whose snow-clad
heights—formidable masses of ancient rock-rise to an immense
altitude through the yellow fogs of the surrounding space.

New Georgia, situated within five hundred leagues of Magellan
Straits, belongs to the administrative domain of the Falklands. The
British administration is not represented there by anyone, the
island is not inhabited, although it is habitable, at least in the
summer season.

On the following day, while the men were gone in search of water, I
walked about in the vicinity of the bay. The place was an utter
desert, for the period at which sealing is pursued there had not
arrived. New Georgia, being exposed to the direct action of the
Antarctic polar current, is freely frequented by marine mammals. I
saw several droves of these creatures on the rocks, the strand, and
within the rock grottoes of the coast. Whole "smalas" of
penguins, standing motionless in interminable rows, brayed their
protest against the invasion of an intruder—I allude to myself.

Innumerable larks flew over the surface of the waters and the sands;
their song awoke my memory of lands more favoured by nature. It is
fortunate that these birds do not want branches to perch on; for
there does not exist a tree in New Georgia. Here and there I found a
few phanerogams, some pale-coloured mosses, and especially tussock
grass in such abundance that numerous herds of cattle might be fed
upon the island.

On the 12th November the
Halbrane
sailed once more, and having
doubled Charlotte Point at the extremity of Royal Bay, she headed in
the direction of the Sandwich Islands, four hundred miles from
thence.

So far we had not encountered floating ice. The reason was that the
summer sun had not detached any, either from the icebergs or the
southern lands. Later on, the current would draw them to the height
of the fiftieth parallel, which, in the southern hemisphere, is that
of Paris or Quebec. But we were much impeded by huge banks of fog
which frequently shut out the horizon. Nevertheless, as these waters
presented no danger, and there was nothing to fear from ice packs or
drifting icebergs, the
Halbrane
was able to pursue her route towards
the Sandwich Islands comfortably enough. Great flocks of clangorous
birds, breasting the wind and hardly moving their wings, passed us
in the midst of the fogs, petrels, divers, halcyons, and albatross,
bound landwards, as though to show us the way.

Owing, no doubt, to these mists, we were unable to discern Traversey
Island. Captain Len Guy, however, thought some vague streaks of
intermittent light which were perceived in the night, between the
14th and 15th, probably proceeded from a volcano which might be that
of Traversey, as the crater frequently emits flames.

On the 17th November the schooner reached the Archipelago to which
Cook gave the name of Southern Thule in the first instance, as it
was the most southern land that had been discovered at that period.
He afterwards baptized it Sandwich Isles.

James West repaired to Thule in the large boat, in order to explore
the approachable points, while Captain Len Guy and I descended on
the Bristol strand.

We found absolutely desolate country; the only inhabitants were
melancholy birds of Antarctic species. Mosses and lichens cover the
nakedness of an unproductive soil. Behind the beach a few firs rise
to a considerable height on the bare hill-sides, from whence great
masses occasionally come crashing down with a thundering sound.
Awful solitude reigns everywhere. There was nothing to attest the
passage of any human being, or the presence of any shipwrecked
persons on Bristol Island.

West's exploration at Thule produced a precisely similar result. A
few shots fired from our schooner had no effect but to drive away
the crowd of petrels and divers, and to startle the rows of stupid
penguins on the beach.

While Captain Len Guy and I were walking, I said to him,—

"You know, of course, what Cook's opinion on the subject of the
Sandwich group was when he discovered it. At first he believed he
had set foot upon a continent. According to him, the mountains of
ice carried out of the Antarctic Sea by the drift were detached from
that continent. He recognized afterwards that the Sandwiches only
formed an Archipelago, but, nevertheless, his belief that a polar
continent farther south exists, remained firm and unchanged."

"I know that is so, Mr. Jeorling," replied the captain, "but
if such a continent exists, we must conclude that there is a great
gap in its coast, and that Weddell and my brother each got in by
that gap at six years' interval. That our great navigator had not
the luck to discover this passage is easy to explain; he stopped at
the seventy-first parallel! But others found it after Captain Cook,
and others will find it again."