MERCURY FREEZES.

A few days of dry calm weather favoured the operations of the hunters, but

they did not venture far from the fort; the abundance of game rendered it

unnecessary to do so, and Lieutenant Hobson could justly congratulate himself on

having chosen so favourable a situation for the new settlement. A great number

of furred animals of all kinds were taken in the traps, and Sabine and Marbre

killed a good many Polar hares. Some twenty starving wolves were shot. Hunger

rendered the latter animals aggressive, and bands of them gathered about the

fort, filling the air with hoarse howls, and amongst the " hummocks " on the

ice-fields sometimes prowled huge bears, whose movements were watched with great

interest.

On the 25th December all excursions had again to be given up. The wind veered

suddenly to the north, and the cold became exceedingly severe. It was impossible

to remain out of doors without being frost-bitten. The Fahrenheit thermometer

fell to 18? below zero, and the gale roared like a volley of musketry. Hobson

took care to provide the animals with food enough to last several weeks.

Christmas Day, the day of home-gatherings so dear to the heart of all

Englishmen, was kept with due solemnity. The colonists returned thanks to God

for preserving them through so many perils; and the workmen, who had a holiday

in honour of the day, afterwards assembled with their masters and the ladies

round a well-filled board, on which figured two huge Christmas puddings.

In the evening a huge bowl of punch flamed in the centre of the table; the

lamps were put out, and for a time the room was lighted only by the livid flames

of the spirit, the familiar objects assuming strange fantastic forms. The

spirits of the soldiers rose as they watched the flickering illumination, and

their excitement was not lessened after imbibing some of the burning liquid.

But now the flames began to pale; bluish tongues still fitfully licked the

plump sides of the national pudding for a few minutes, and then died away.

Strange to say, although the lamps had not been relit, the room did not

become dark on the extinction of the flames. A bright red light was streaming

through the window, which had passed unnoticed in the previous illumination.

The revellers started to their feet, and looked at each other in

astonishment.

"A fire !" cried several.

But unless the house itself were burning, there could not be a fire anywhere

near Cape Bathurst.

The Lieutenant rushed to the window, and at once understood the cause of the

phenomenon. It was an eruption.

Indeed, above the western cliffs beyond Walruses' Bay the horizon was on

fire. The summits of the igneous hills, some miles from Cape Bathurst, could not

be seen; but the sheaf of flame shot up to a considerable height, lighting up

the whole country in a weird, unearthly manner.

"It is more beautiful than the Aurora Borealis!" exclaimed Mrs Barnett.

Thomas Black indignantly protested against this assertion. A terrestrial

phenomenon more beautiful than a meteor! But no one was disposed to argue with

him about it, for all hurried out, in spite of the bitter gale and biting cold,

to watch the glorious spectacle of the flashing sheaf of flames standing out

against the black background of the night sky.

Had not the mouths and ears of the party been cased in furs, they would have

been able to hear the rumbling noise of the eruption, and to tell each other of

the impressions made upon them by this magnificent sight; but, as it was, they

could neither speak nor hear. They might well be content, however, with gazing

upon such a glorious scene-a scene which once looked upon could never be

forgotten. The glowing sheets of flames contrasted alike with the gloomy

darkness of the heavens and the dazzling whiteness of the far-stretching carpet

of snow, and produced effects of light and shade which no pen or pencil could

adequately portray. The throbbing reverberations spread beyond the zenith,

gradually quenching the light of all the stars. The white ground became dashed

with golden tints, the hummocks on the ice-field and the huge icebergs in the

background reflecting the glimmering colours like so many glowing mirrors. The

rays of light, striking on the edges or surfaces of the ice, became bent and

diffracted; the angles and varying inclinations on which they fell fretting them

into fringes of colour, and reflecting them back with changed and heightened

beauty. It was like a fairy scene in which ice and snow combined to add

eclat to a melee of rays in which luminous waves rushed upon

each other, breaking into coloured ripples.

But the excessive cold soon drove the admiring spectators back to their warm

dwelling, and many a nose paid dearly for the feast enjoyed by the eyes.

During the following days the cold became doubly severe. The mercurial

thermometer was of course no longer of any use for marking degrees, and an

alcohol thermometer had to be used. On the night of the 28th to the 29th

December the column fell to 32? below zero.

The stoves were piled up with fuel, but the temperature in the house could

not be maintained above 20? degrees. The bedrooms were exceedingly cold, and ten

feet from the stove, in the large room, its heat could not be felt at all. The

little baby had the warmest corner, and its cradle was rocked in turn by those

who came to the fire. Opening doors or windows was strictly forbidden, as the

vapour in the rooms would immediately have been converted into snow, and in the

passage the breathing of the inmates already produced that result. Every now and

then dull reports were heard, which startled those unaccustomed to living in

such high latitudes. They were caused by the cracking of the trunks of trees, of

which the walls were composed under the influence of the intense cold. The stock

of rum and gin stowed away in the garret had to be brought down into the

sitting-room, as the alcohol was freezing and sinking to the bottom of the

bottles. The spruce-beer made from a decoction of young fir-branchlets burst the

barrels in which it was kept as it froze, whilst all solid bodies resisted the

introduction of heat as if they were petrified. Wood burnt very slowly, and

Hobson was obliged to sacrifice some of the walrus-oil to quicken its

combustion. Fortunately the chimneys drew well, so that there was no

disagreeable smell inside, although for a long distance outside the air was

impregnated with the fetid odour of the smoke from Fort Hope, which a casual

observer might therefore have pronounced an unhealthy building.

One symptom we must notice was the great thirst from which every one

suffered. To relieve it, different liquids had to be melted at the fire, for it-

would have been dangerous to eat ice. Another effect of the cold was intense

drowsiness, which Hobson earnestly entreated his companions to resist. Some

appeared unable to do so; but Mrs Barnett was invaluable in setting an example

of constant activity: always brave, she kept herself awake, and encouraged

others by her kindness, brightness, and sympathy. Sometimes she read aloud

accounts of travels, or sang some old familiar English song, in the chorus of

which all joined. These joyous strains roused up the sleepers whether they would

or no, and their voices soon swelled the chorus. The long days of imprisonment

passed wearily by, and the Lieutenant, consulting the outside thermometer

through the windows, announced that the cold was still on the increase. On the

31st December, the mercury was all frozen hard in the cistern of the

instrument, so that the temperature was 44? below freezing point.

The next day, 1st January 1860, Lieutenant Hobson wished Mrs Barnett a happy

new year, and complimented her on the courage and good temper with which she

endured the miseries of this northern winter. The astronomer was not forgotten

in the universal interchange of good wishes amongst the members of the little

colony; but his only thought on entering another year was, that it was the

beginning of that in which the great eclipse was to take place. Fortunately the

general health still remained good, and any symptoms of scurvy were promptly

checked by the use of lime-juice and lime-lozenges.

It would not do, however, to rejoice too soon. The winter had still to last

three months. The sun would doubtless reappear above the horizon in due time;

but there was no reason to think that the cold had reached its maximum

intensity, especially as in most northern countries February is the month during

which the temperature falls lowest. However that might be, there was no decrease

in the severity of the weather during the first days of the new year, and on the

8th January the alcohol thermometer placed outside the window of the passage

marked 66? below zero. A few degrees more and the minimum temperature at Fort

Reliance in 1835 would be reached!

Jaspar Hobson grew more and more uneasy at the continued severity of the

cold. He began to fear that the furred animals would have to seek a less

rigorous climate further south, which would of course thwart all his plans for

hunting in the early spring. Moreover, he sometimes heard subterranean

rumblings, which were evidently connected with the volcanic eruption. The

western horizon still glowed with the reflection of the burning lava, and it was

evident that some great convulsion was going on in the bowels of the earth.

Might not the close vicinity of an active volcano be dangerous to the new fort ?

Such was the question which the subterranean rumblings forced upon the mind of

the Lieutenant, but he kept his vague apprehensions to himself.

Of course under these circumstances no one dreamt of leaving the house. The

animals were well provided for, and being accustomed to long fasts in the

winter, required no attention from their masters, so that there really was no

necessity for any exposure out of doors. It was difficult enough to endure the

inside temperature, even with the help of a plentiful combustion of wood and

oil; for, in spite of every precaution, damp crept into the ill-ventilated

rooms, and layers of ice, increasing in thickness every day, were formed upon

the beams. The condensers were choked up, and one of them burst from the

pressure of the ice.

Lieutenant Hobson did not spare his fuel; he was, in fact, rather lavish of

it in his anxiety to raise the temperature, which, when the fires got low-as of

course sometimes happened-fell to 15? Fahrenheit. The men on guard, who relieved

each other every hour, had strict orders to keep up the fires, and great was the

dismay of the Lieutenant when Sergeant Long said to him one day-

"We shall be out of wood soon !"

"Out of wood !" exclaimed Hobson.

"I mean our stock is getting low, and we must lay in fresh stores soon. Of

course I know, though, that it will be at the risk of his life that any one goes

out in this cold !"

"Yes," replied Hobson. "It was a mistake not to build the wooden shed close

to the house, and to make no direct communication with it. I see that now it is

too late. I ought not to have forgotten that we were going to winter beyond the

seventieth parallel. But what's done can't be undone. How long will the wood

last?"

"There is enough to feed the furnace and stove for another two or three

days," replied the Sergeant.

"Let us hope by that time that the severity of the cold may have decreased,

and that we may venture across the court of the fort without danger."

"I doubt it, sir," replied Long, shaking his head. "The atmosphere is very

clear, the wind is still in the north, and I shall not be surprised if this

temperature is maintained. for another fifteen days-until the new moon, in

fact."

"Well, my brave fellow," said the Lieutenant, "we won't die of cold if we can

help it, and the day we have to brave the outside air "

"We will brave it, sir," said Long.

Hobson pressed his subordinate's hand, well knowing the poor fellow's

devotion.

We might fancy that Hobson and the Sergeant were exaggerating when they

alluded to fatal results from sudden exposure to the open air, but they spoke

from experience, gained from long residence in the rigorous Polar regions. They

had seen strong men fall fainting on the ice under similar circumstances; their

breath failed them, and they were taken up in a state of suffocation. Incredible

as such facts may appear, they have been of frequent occurrence amongst those

who have wintered in the extreme north. In their journey along the shores of

Hudson's Bay in 1746, Moor and Smith saw many incidents of this kind,-some of

their companions were killed, struck down by the cold, and there can be no doubt

that sudden death may result from braving a temperature in which mercury

freezes.

Such was the distressing state of things at Fort Hope, when a new danger

arose to aggravate the sufferings of the colonists.