The English at the North Pole

The English at the North Pole, by Jules Verne

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Title: The English at the North Pole Part I of the Adventures of Captain Hatteras
Author: Jules Verne
Release Date: September 24, 2007 [EBook #22759]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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Produced by Ron Swanson

THE ENGLISH AT THE NORTH POLE
PART I OF THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HATTERAS
BY
JULES VERNE

CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE I.--THE "FORWARD" . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 II.--AN UNEXPECTED LETTER . . . . . . . . . 14 III.--DR. CLAWBONNY . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 IV.--DOG-CAPTAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 V.--OUT AT SEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 VI.--THE GREAT POLAR CURRENT . . . . . . . 44 VII.--DAVIS'S STRAITS . . . . . . . . . . . 52 VIII.--GOSSIP OF THE CREW . . . . . . . . . . 61 IX.--NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 X.--DANGEROUS NAVIGATION . . . . . . . . . 78 XI.--THE DEVIL'S THUMB . . . . . . . . . . 88 XII.--CAPTAIN HATTERAS . . . . . . . . . . . 98 XIII.--THE PROJECTS OF HATTERAS . . . . . . . 109 XIV.--EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF FRANKLIN . . . 118 XV.--THE "FORWARD" DRIVEN BACK SOUTH . . . 127 XVI.--THE MAGNETIC POLE . . . . . . . . . . 135 XVII.--THE FATE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN . . . . 144 XVIII.--THE NORTHERN ROUTE . . . . . . . . . . 150 XIX.--A WHALE IN SIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . 155 XX.--BEECHEY ISLAND . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 XXI.--THE DEATH OF BELLOT . . . . . . . . . 170 XXII.--BEGINNING OF REVOLT . . . . . . . . . 178 XXIII.--ATTACKED BY ICEBERGS . . . . . . . . . 184 XXIV.--PREPARATIONS FOR WINTERING . . . . . . 193 XXV.--AN OLD FOX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 XXVI.--THE LAST LUMP OF COAL . . . . . . . . 209 XXVII.--CHRISTMAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 XXVIII.--PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE . . . . . . 222 XXIX.--ACROSS THE ICE . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 XXX.--THE CAIRN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 XXXI.--THE DEATH OF SIMPSON . . . . . . . . . 243 XXXII.--THE RETURN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
CHAPTER I
THE "FORWARD"
"To-morrow, at low tide, the brig Forward, Captain K. Z----, Richard Shandon mate, will start from New Prince's Docks for an unknown destination."
The foregoing might have been read in the Liverpool Herald of April 5th, 1860. The departure of a brig is an event of little importance for the most commercial port in England. Who would notice it in the midst of vessels of all sorts of tonnage and nationality that six miles of docks can hardly contain? However, from daybreak on the 6th of April a considerable crowd covered the wharfs of New Prince's Docks--the innumerable companies of sailors of the town seemed to have met there. Workmen from the neighbouring wharfs had left their work, merchants their dark counting-houses, tradesmen their shops. The different-coloured omnibuses that ran along the exterior wall of the docks brought cargoes of spectators at every moment; the town seemed to have but one pre-occupation, and that was to see the Forward go out.
The Forward was a vessel of a hundred and seventy tons, charged with a screw and steam-engine of a hundred and twenty horse-power. It might easily have been confounded with the other brigs in the port. But though it offered nothing curious to the eyes of the public, connoisseurs remarked certain peculiarities in it that a sailor cannot mistake. On board the Nautilus, anchored at a little distance, a group