THE MIDNIGHT SUN.

Sergeant Long's assertion must appear to have been founded on insufficient

evidence. That there had been dancing no one could deny, but that the dancer was

a Frenchman, however probable, could not be considered proved.

However, the Lieutenant shared the opinion of his subordinate, which did not

appear too positive to any of the party, who all agreed in feeling sure that

some travellers, with at least one compatriot of Vestris amongst them, had

recently encamped on this spot.

Of course Lieutenant Hobson was by no means pleased at this he was afraid of

having been preceded by rivals in the north-western districts of English

America; and secret as the Company had kept its scheme, it had doubtless been

divulged in the commercial centres of Canada and the United States.

The Lieutenant resumed his interrupted march; but he was full of care and

anxiety, although he would not now have dreamed of retracing his steps.

"Frenchmen are then sometimes met with in these high latitudes?" was Mrs

Barnett's natural question after this incident.

"Yes, madam," replied the Lieutenant; "or if not exactly Frenchmen, the

descendants of the masters of Canada when it belonged to France, which comes to

much the same thing. These men are in fact our most formidable rivals."

"But I thought," resumed Mrs Barnett, "that after the absorption by the

Hudson's Bay Company of the old North-West Company, that it had no longer any

rivals on the American continent."

"Although there is no longer any important association for trading in furs

except our own, there are a good many perfectly independent private companies,

mostly American, which have retained French agents or their descendants in their

employ."

"Are these agents then held in such high esteem?" asked Mrs Barnett.

"Yes, madam, and with good reason. During the ninety-four years of French

supremacy in Canada, French agents always proved themselves superior to ours. We

must be just even to our rivals."

"Especially to our rivals," added Mrs Barnett.

"Yes, especially. . . At that time French hunters, starting from Montreal,

their headquarters, pressed on to the north with greater hardihood than any

others. They lived for years with the Indian tribes, sometimes intermarrying

with them. The natives called them the 'Canadian travellers,' and were on the

most intimate terms with them. They were bold, clever fellows, expert at

navigating streams, light-hearted and merry, adapting themselves to

circumstances with the easy flexibility of their race, and always ready to sing

or dance."

"And do you suppose that hunting is the only object of the party whose traces

we have just discovered?"

"I don't think any other hypotheses at all likely," replied Hobson. "They are

sure to be seeking new hunting grounds. But as we cannot possibly stop them, we

must make haste to begin our own operations, and compete boldly with all

rivals."

Lieutenant Hobson was now prepared for the competition he could not prevent,

and he urged on the march of his party as much as possible, hoping that his

rivals might not follow him beyond the seventieth parallel.

The expedition now descended towards the south for some twenty miles, in

order the more easily to pass round Franklin Bay. The country was still covered

with verdure, and the quadrupeds and birds already enumerated were as plentiful

as ever; so that they could reasonably hope that the whole of the north-western

coasts of the American continent were populated in the same manner.

The ocean which bathed these shores stretched away as far as the eye could

reach Recent atlases give no land beyond the north American coast-line, and it

is only the icebergs which impede the free navigation of the open sea from

Behring Strait to the Pole itself.

On the 4th July the travellers skirted round another deep bay called Washburn

Bay, and reached the furthest point of a little lake, until then imperfectly

known, covering but a small extent of territory, scarcely two square miles-in

fact it was rather a lagoon, or large pond of sweet water, than a lake.

The sledges went on easily and rapidly, and the appearance of the country was

most encouraging to the explorers. It seemed that the extremity of Cape Bathurst

would be a most favourable site for the new fort, as with this lagoon behind

them, and the sea open for four or five months in the warm season, and giving

access to the great highway of Behring Strait, before them, it would be easy for

the exiles to lay in fresh provisions and to export their commodities.

On the 5th June, about three o'clock in the afternoon, the party at last

halted at the extremity of Cape Bathurst. It remained to ascertain the exact

position of this cape, which the maps place above the seventieth parallel. It

was, however, impossible to rely upon the marine surveys of the coast, as they

had never yet been made with exactitude. Jaspar Hobson decided to wait and

ascertain the latitude and longitude.

"What prevents us from settling here?" asked Corporal Joliffe. "You will own,

Lieutenant, that it is a very inviting spot."

"It will seem more inviting still if you get double pay here, my worthy

Corporal," replied Hobson.

"No doubt," said Joliffe; "and the orders of the Company must be obeyed."

"Then wait patiently till to-morrow," added Hobson; "and if we find that Cape

Bathurst is really beyond 70? north latitude, we will pitch our tent here."

The site was indeed admirably suited for the foundation of a new settlement.

The wooded heights surrounding the lagoon would supply plenty of pine, birch,

and other woods for the construction of the fort, and for stocking, it with'

fuel. The Lieutenant and some of his companions went to the very edge of the

cape, and found that towards the west the coast-line formed a lengthened curve,

beyond which icebergs of a considerable height shut out the view. The water of

the lagoon, instead of being brackish as they expected from its close vicinity

to the sea, was perfectly sweet; but had it not been so, drinkable water would

not have failed the little colony, as a fresh and limpid stream ran a few yards

to the south-east of Cape Bathurst, and emptied itself into the Arctic Ocean

through a narrow inlet, which, protected by a singular accumulation of sand and

earth instead of by rocks, would have afforded a refuge to several vessels from

the winds of the offing, and might be turned to account for the anchorage of the

ships which it was hoped would come to the new settlement from Behring Strait.

Out of compliment to the lady of the party, and much to her delight, Lieutenant

Hobson named the stream Paulina river, and the little harbour Port Barnett.

By building the fort a little behind the actual cape, the principal house and

the magazines would be quite sheltered from the coldest winds. The elevation of

the cape would help to protect them from the snow-drifts, which sometimes

completely bury large buildings beneath their heavy avalanches in a few hours.

There was plenty of room between the foot of the promontory and the bank of the

lagoon for all the constructions necessary to a fort. It could even be

surrounded by palisades, which would break the shock of the icebergs; and the

cape itself might be surrounded with a fortified redoubt, if the vicinity of

rivals should render such a purely defensive erection necessary; and the

Lieutenant, although with no idea of commencing anything of the kind as yet,

naturally rejoiced at having met with an easily defensible position.

The weather remained fine, and it was quite warm enough. There was not a

cloud upon the sky; but, of course, the clear blue air of temperate and torrid

zones could not be expected here, and the atmosphere was generally charged with

a light mist. What would Cape Bathurst be like in the long winter night of four

months when the ice-mountains became fixed and rigid, and the hoarse north wind

swept down upon the icebergs in all its fury? None of the party gave a thought

to that time now; for the weather was beautiful, the verdant landscape smiled,

and the waves sparkled in the sunbeams, whilst the temperature remained warm and

pleasant.

A provisional camp, the sledges forming its only material, was arranged for

the night on the banks of the lagoon; and towards evening Mrs Barnett, the

Lieutenant, Sergeant Long, and even Thomas Black, explored the surrounding

district in order to ascertain its resources. It appeared to be in every respect

suitable; and Hobson was eager for the next day, that he might determine the

exact situations, and find out if it fulfilled the conditions imposed by the

Company.

"Well, Lieutenant," said the astronomer when the examination was over, "this

is really a charming spot, such as I should not have imagined could have existed

beyond the Arctic Circle."

"Ah, Mr Black!" cried Hobson, "the finest countries in the world are to be

found here, and I am impatient to ascertain our latitude and longitude."

"Especially the latitude," said the astronomer, whose eclipse was never out

of his thoughts; "and I expect your brave companions are as eager as yourself.

Double pay beyond the seventieth parallel!"

"But, Mr Black," said Mrs Barnett, "do you not yourself take an interest a

purely scientific interest, in getting beyond that parallel?"

"Of course, madam, of course I am anxious to get beyond it, but not so

terribly eager. According to our calculations, however, made with absolute

accuracy, the solar eclipse which I am ordered to watch will only be total to an

observer placed beyond the seventieth degree, and on this account I share the

Lieutenant's impatience to determine the position of Cape Bathurst."

"But I understand, Mr Black," said Mrs Barnett, "that this solar eclipse will

not take place until the 18th July 1860?"

"Yes, madam, on the 18th July 1860."

"And it is now only the 15th June 1859! So that the phenomenon will not be

visible for more than a year!"

"I am quite aware of it, Mrs Barnett," replied the astronomer; "but if I had

not started till next year I should have run a risk of being too late."

"You would, Mr Black," said Hobson, "and you did well to start a year

beforehand. You are now quite sure not to miss your eclipse. I own that our

journey from Fort Reliance has been accomplished under exceptionally favourable

circumstances. We have had little fatigue and few delays. To tell you the

truth, I did not expect to get to this part of the coast until the middle of

August; and if the eclipse had been expected this year, instead of next; you

really might have been too late. Moreover, we do not yet know if we are beyond

the seventieth parallel."

"I do not in the least regret the journey I have taken in your company,

Lieutenant, and I shall patiently wait until next year for my eclipse. The fair

Phobe, I fancy, is a sufficiently grand lady to be waited for."

The next day, July 6th, a little after noon, Hobson and the astronomer made

their preparations for taking the exact bearings of Cape Bathurst. The sun shone

clearly enough for them to take the outlines exactly. At this season of the

year, too, it had reached its maximum height above the horizon; and consequently

its culmination, on its transit across the meridian, would facilitate the work

of the two observers.

Already the night before, and the same morning, by raking different

altitudes, and by means of a calculation of right ascensions, the Lieutenant and

the astronomer had ascertained the longitude with great accuracy. But it was

about the latitude that Hobson was most anxious; for what would the meridian of

Cape Bathurst matter to him should it not be situated beyond the seventieth

parallel?

Noon approached. The men of the expedition gathered round the observers with

their sextants ready in their hands. The brave fellows awaited the result of the

observation with an impatience which will be readily understood. It was now to

be decided whether they had come to the end of their journey, or whether they

must search still further for a spot fulfilling the conditions imposed by the

Company.

Probably no good result would have followed upon further explorations,

According to the maps of North America-imperfect, it is true-the western coast

beyond Cape Bathurst sloped down below the seventieth parallel, not again rising

above it until it entered Russian America, where the English had as yet no right

to settle; so that Hobson had shown considerable judgment in directing his

course to Cape Bathurst after a thorough examination of the maps of these

northern regions. This promontory is, in fact, the only one which juts out

beyond the seventieth parallel along the whole of the North American continent,

properly so called-that is to say, in English America. It remained to be proved

that it really occupied the position assigned to it in maps.

At this moment the sun was approaching the culminating-point of its course,

and the two observers pointed the telescopes of their sextants upon it. By means

of inclined mirrors attached to the instruments, the sun ought apparently to go

back to the horizon itself; and the moment when it seemed to touch it with the

lower side of its disc would be precisely that at which it would occupy the

highest point of the diurnal arc, and consequently the exact moment when it

would pass the meridian-in other words, it would be noon at the place where the

observation was taken.

All watched in anxious silence.

"Noon!" cried Jaspar Hobson and the astronomer at once.

The telescopes were immediately lowered. The Lieutenant and Thomas Black read

on the graduated limbs the value of the angles they had just obtained, and at

once proceeded to note down their observations.

A few minutes afterwards, Lieutenant Hobson rose and said, addressing his

companions

"My friends, from this date, July 6th, I promise you double pay in the name

of the Hudson's Bay Company!"

"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah for the Company!" shouted the worthy companions of

the Lieutenant with one voice.

Cape Bathurst and its immediate neighbourhood were in very truth above the

seventieth degree of north latitude.

We give the result of these simultaneous observations, which agreed to a

second.

Longitude, 127? 36' 12" west of the meridian of Greenwich.

Latitude, 70? 44' 37" north.

And that very evening these hardy pioneers, encamped so far from the

inhabited world, watched the mighty luminary of day touch the edges of the

western horizon without dipping beneath it.

For the first time they saw the shining of the midnight sun.