A TOUR OF THE ISLAND.

From that day, July 18th, it was decided that the bearings should be taken as

on board a vessel whenever the state of the atmosphere rendered the operation

possible. Was not the island, in fact, a disabled ship, tossed about without

sails or helm.

The next day after taking the bearings, Hobson announced that without change

of latitude the island had advanced several miles farther west. Mac-Nab was

ordered to commence the construction of a huge boat, Hobson telling him, in

explanation, that he proposed making a reconnaissance of the coast as far as

Russian America next summer. The carpenter asked no further questions, but

proceeded to choose his wood, and fixed upon the beach at the foot of Cape

Bathurst as his dockyard, so that he might easily be able to launch his

vessel.

Hobson intended to set out the same day on his excursion round the island in

which he and his comrades were imprisoned. Many changes might take place in the

configuration of this sheet of ice, subject as it was to the influence of the

variable temperature of the waves, and it was important to determine its actual

form at the present time, its area, and its thickness in different parts. The

point of rupture, which was most likely at the isthmus itself, ought to be

examined with special care; the fracture being still fresh, it might be possible

to ascertain the exact arrangement of the stratified layers of ice and earth of

which the soil of the island was composed.

But in the afternoon the sky clouded over suddenly, and a violent squall,

accompanied with thick mists, swept down upon the fort. Presently torrents of

rain fell, and large hailstones rattled on the roof, whilst a few distant claps

of thunder were heard, a phenomenon of exceedingly rare occurrence in such

elevated latitudes.

Hobson was obliged to put off his trip, and wait until the fury of the

elements abated, but during the 20th, 2lst, and 22d July, no change occurred.

The storm raged, the floods of heaven were let loose, and the waves broke upon

the beach with a deafening roar. Liquid avalanches were flung with such force

upon Cape Bathurst, that there was reason to dread that it might give way; its

stability was, in fact, somewhat problematical, as it consisted merely of an

aggregation of sand and earth, without any firm foundation. Vessels at sea might

well be pitied in this fearful gale, but the floating island was of too vast a

bulk to be affected by the agitation of the waves, and remained indifferent to

their fury.

During the night of the 22d July the tempest suddenly ceased. A strong breeze

from the north-east dispelled the last mists upon the horizon. The barometer

rose a few degrees, and the weather appeared likely to favour Hobson's

expedition.

He was to be accompanied by Mrs Barnett and Sergeant Long, and expected to be

absent a day or two. The little party took some salt meat, biscuits, and a few

flasks of rum with them, and there was nothing in their excursion to surprise

the rest of the colonists. The days were just then very long, the sun only

disappearing below the horizon for a few hours.

There were no wild animals to be feared now. The bears seemed to have fled by

instinct from the peninsula whilst it was still connected with the mainland, but

to neglect no precaution each of the three explorers was provided with a gun.

The Lieutenant and his subordinate also carried hatchets and ice-chisels, which

a traveller in the Polar regions should never be without.

During the absence of the Lieutenant and the Sergeant, the command of the

fort fell to Corporal Joliffe, or rather to his little wife, and Hobson knew

that he could trust her. Thomas Black could not be depended on; he would not

even join the exploring party; he promised, however, to watch the northern

latitudes very carefully, and to note any change which should take place in the

sea or the position of the cape during the absence of the Lieutenant.

Mrs Barnett had endeavoured to reason with the unfortunate astronomer, but he

would listen to nothing. He felt that Nature had deceived him, and that he could

never forgive her.

After many a hearty farewell, the Lieutenant and his two companions left the

fort by the postern gate, and, turning to the west, followed the lengthened

curve of the coast between Capes Bathurst and Esquimaux.

It was eight o'clock in the morning; the oblique rays of the sun struck upon

the beach, and touched it with many a brilliant tint, the angry billows of the

sea were sinking to rest, and the birds, ptarmigans, guillemots, puffins, and

petrels, driven away by the storm, were returning by thousands. Troops of ducks

were hastening back to Lake Barnett, flying close, although they knew it not, to

Mrs Joliffe's saucepan. Polar hares, martens, musk rats, and ermines rose before

the travellers and fled at their approach, but not with any great appearance of

haste or terror. The animals evidently felt drawn towards their old enemies by a

common danger.

"They know well enough that they are hemmed in by the sea and cannot quit the

island," observed Hobson.

"They are all in the habit of seeking warmer climates in the south in the

winter, are they not?" inquired Mrs Barnett.

"Yes, madam, but unless they are presently able to cross the ice-field, they

will have to remain prisoners like ourselves, and I am afraid the greater number

will die of cold or hunger.

"I hope they will be good enough to supply us with food for a long time,"

observed the Sergeant," and I think it is very fortunate that they had not the

sense to run away before the rupture of the isthmus."

"The birds will, however, leave us?" added Mrs Barnett.

"Oh yes, madam, everything with wings will go, they can traverse long

distances without fatigue, and, more fortunate than ourselves, they will regain

terra firma."

"Could we not use them as messengers?" asked Mrs Barnett.

"A good idea, madam, a capital idea," said Hobson. "We might easily catch

some hundreds of these birds, and tie a paper round their necks with our exact

situation written upon it. John Ross in 1848 tried similar means to acquaint the

survivors of the Franklin expedition with the presence of his ships, the

Enterprise and the Investigator in the Polar seas. He caught some

hundreds of white foxes in traps, rivetted a copper collar round the neck of

each with all the necessary information engraved upon it, and then set them free

in every direction."

"Perhaps some of the messengers may have fallen into the hands of the

shipwrecked wanderers."

"Perhaps so," replied Hobson; "I know that an old fox was taken by Captain

Hatteras during his voyage of discovery, wearing a collar half worn away and

hidden beneath his thick white fur. What we cannot do with the quadrupeds, we

will do with the birds."

Chatting thus and laying plans for the future, the three explorers continued

to follow the coast. They noticed no change; the abrupt cliffs covered with

earth and sand showed no signs of a recent alteration in the extent of the

island. It was, however, to be feared that the vast sheet of ice would be worn

away at the base by the action of the warm currents, and on this point Hobson

was naturally anxious.

By eleven o'clock in the morning the eight miles between Capes Bathurst and

Esquimaux had been traversed. A few traces of the encampment of Kalumah's party

still remained; of course the snow huts had entirely disappeared, but some

cinders and walrus bones marked the spot.

The three explorers halted here for a short time, they intended to pass the

few short hours of the night at Walruses' Bay, which they hoped to reach In a

few hours. They breakfasted seated on a slightly rising ground covered with a

scanty and stunted herbage. Before their eyes lay the ocean bounded by a

clearly-defined sea-horizon, without a sail or an iceberg to break the monotony

of the vast expanse of water.

"Should you be very much surprised if some vessel came In sight now,

Lieutenant?" inquired Mrs Barnett.

"I should be very agreeably surprised, madam," replied Hobson. "It is not at

all uncommon for whalers to come as far north as this, especially now that the

Arctic Ocean is frequented by whales and chacholots, but you must remember that

it is the 23rd July, and the summer is far advanced. The whole fleet of whaling

vessels is probably now in Gulf Kotzebue, at the entrance to the strait. Whalers

shun the sudden changes in the Arctic Ocean, and with good reason. They dread

being shut in the ice; and the icebergs, avalanches, and, ice-fields they avoid,

are the very things for which we earnestly pray."

"They will come, Lieutenant," said Long; "have patience, in another two

months the waves will no longer break upon the shores of Cape Esquimaux."

"Cape Esquimaux!" observed Mrs Barnett with a smile. "That name, like those

we gave to the other parts of the peninsula, may turn out unfortunate too. We

have lost Port Barnett and Paulina River; who can tell whether Cape Esquimaux

and Walruses' Bay may not also disappear in time?"

"They too will disappear, madam," replied Hobson, "and after them the whole

of Victoria Island, for nothing now connects it with a continent, and it is

doomed to destruction. This result is inevitable, and our choice of geographical

names will be thrown away; but fortunately the Royal Society has not yet adopted

them, and Sir Roderick Murchison will have nothing to efface on his maps."

"One name he will," exclaimed the Sergeant.

"Which?" inquired Hobson.

"Cape Bathurst," replied Long.

"Ah, yes, you are right. Cape Bathurst must now be removed from maps of the

Polar regions."

Two hours' rest were all the explorers cared for, and at one o'clock they

prepared to resume their journey.

Before starting Hobson once more looked round him from the summit of Cape

Esquimaux; but seeing nothing worthy of notice, he rejoined Mrs Barnett and

Sergeant Long.

"Madam," he said, addressing the lady, "you have not forgotten the family of

natives we met here last winter?"

"Oh no, I have always held dear little Kalumah in friendly remembrance. She

promised to come and see us again at Fort Hope, but she will not be able to do

so. But why do you ask me about the natives now?"

"Because I remember something to which, much to my regret, I did not at the

time attach sufficient importance."

"What was that?"

"You remember the uneasy surprise the men manifested at finding a big a

factory at the foot of Cape Bathurst."

"Oh yes, perfectly."

"You remember that I tried to make out what the natives meant, and that I

could not do so?"

"Yes, I remember."

"Well," added Hobsou, "I know now why they shook their heads. From tradition,

experience, or something, the Esquimaux knew what the peninsula really was, they

knew we had not built on firm ground. But as things had probably remained as

they were for centuries, they thought there was no immediate danger, and that it

was not worth while to explain themselves."

"Very likely you are right," replied Mrs Barnett; "but I feel sure that

Kalumah had no suspicion of her companion's fears, or she would have warned

us."

Hobson quite agreed with Mrs Barnett, and Sergeant Long observed-

"It really seems to have been by a kind of fatality that we settled ourselves

upon this peninsula just before it was torn away from the mainland. I suppose,

Lieutenant, that it had been connected for a very long time, perhaps for

centuries."

"You might say for thousands and thousands of years, Sergeant," replied

Hobson. "Remember that the soil on which we are treading has been brought here

by the wind, little by little, that the sand has accumulated grain by grain!

Think of the time it must have taken for the seeds of firs, willows, and arbutus

to become shrubs and trees! Perhaps the sheet of ice on which we float was

welded to the continent before the creation of man!"

"Well," cried Long, "it really might have waited a few centuries longer

before it drifted. How much anxiety and how many dangers we might then have been

spared!"

Sergeant Long's most sensible remark closed the conversation, and the journey

was resumed.

From Cape Esquimaux to Walruses' Bay the coast ran almost due south,

following the one hundred and twenty-seventh meridian. Looking behind them they

could see one corner of the lagoon, its waters sparkling in the sunbeams, and a

little beyond the wooded heights in which it was framed. Large eagles soared

above their heads, their cries and the loud flapping of their wings breaking the

stillness, and furred animals of many kinds, martens, polecats, ermines,

&c., crouching behind some rising ground, or hiding amongst the stunted

bushes and willows, gazed inquiringly at the intruders. They seemed to

understand that they had nothing to fear. Hobson caught a glimpse of a few

beavers wandering about, evidently ill at ease, and puzzled at the disappearance

of the little river. With no ledges to shelter them, and no stream by which to

build a new home, they were doomed to die of cold when the severe frost set in.

Sergeant Long also saw a troop of wolves crossing the plain.

It was evident that specimens of the whole Arctic Fauna were imprisoned on

the island, and there was every reason to fear that, when famished with hunger,

all the carnivorous beasts would be formidable enemies to the occupants of Fort

Hope.

Fortunately, however, one race of animals appeared to be quite unrepresented.

Not a single white bear was seen! Once the Sergeant thought he saw an enormous

white mass moving about on the other side of a clump of willows, but on close

examination decided that he was mistaken.

The coast near Walruses' Bay was, on the whole, only slightly elevated above

the sea-level, and in the distance the waves broke into running foam as they do

upon a sloping beach. It was to be feared that the soil had little stability,

but there was no means of judging of the modifications which had taken place

since their last visit, and Hobson much regretted that he had not made bench

marks about Cape Bathurst before he left, that he might judge of the amount of

sinking or depression which took place. He determined, however, to take this

precaution on his return.

It will be understood that, under the circumstances, the party did not

advance very rapidly. A pause was often made to examine the soil, or to see if

there were any sign of an approaching fracture on the coast, and sometimes the

explorers wandered inland for half a mile. Here and there the Sergeant planted

branches of willow or birch to serve as landmarks for the future, especially

wherever undermining seemed to be going on rapidly and the solidity of the

ground was doubtful. By this means it would be easy to ascertain the changes

which might take place.

They did advance, however, and at three o'clock in the afternoon they were

only three miles from Walruses' Bay, and Hobson called Mrs Barnett's attention

to the important changes which had been effected by the rupture of the

isthmus.

Formerly the south-western horizon was shut in by a long slightly curved

coast-line, formed by the shores of Liverpool Bay. Now a sea-line bounded the

view, the continent having disappeared. Victoria Island ended in an abrupt angle

where it had broken off, and all felt sure that on turning round that angle the

ocean would be spread out before them, and that its waves would bathe the whole

of the southern side of the island, which was once the connecting-link between

Walruses' Bay and Washburn Bay.

Mrs Barnett could not look at the changed aspect of the scene without

emotion. She had expected it, and yet her heart beat almost audibly. She gazed

across the sea for the missing continent, which was now left several hundred

miles behind, and it rushed upon her mind with a fresh shock that she would

never set foot on America again. Her agitation was indeed excusable, and it was

shared by the Lieutenant and the Sergeant.

All quickened their steps, eager to reach the abrupt angle in the south. The

ground rose slightly as they advanced, and the layers of earth and sand became

thicker; this of course was explained by the former proximity of this part of

the coast to the true continent. The thickness of the crust of ice and of the

layer of earth at the point of junction increasing, as it probably did, every

century, explained the long resistance of the isthmus, which nothing but some

extraordinary convulsion could have overcome. Such a convulsion was the

earthquake of the 8th January, which, although it had only affected the

continent of North America, had sufficed to break the connecting-link, and to

launch Victoria Island upon the wide ocean.

At four o'clock P.M., the angle was reached. Walruses' Bay, formed by an

indentation of the firm ground, had disappeared! It had remained behind with the

continent

"By my faith, madam!" exclaimed the Sergeant, "it's lucky for you we didn't

call it Paulina Barnett Bay!"

"Yes," replied the lady, "I begin to think I am an unlucky godmother for

newly-discovered places."