PART I.

THE ENGLISH AT THE NORTH POLE.

CHAPTER
[I.]THE FORWARD
[II.]AN UNEXPECTED LETTER
[III.]DR. CLAWBONNY
[IV.]THE DOG-CAPTAIN
[V.]AT SEA
[VI.]THE GREAT POLAR CURRENT
[VII.]THE ENTRANCE OF DAVIS STRAIT
[VIII.]THE TALK OF THE CREW
[IX.]ANOTHER LETTER
[X.]DANGEROUS SAILING
[XI.]THE DEVIL'S THUMB
[XII.]CAPTAIN HATTERAS
[XIII.]THE CAPTAIN'S PLANS
[XIV.]THE EXPEDITIONS IN SEARCH OF FRANKLIN
[XV.]THE FORWARD DRIVEN SOUTHWARD
[XVI.]THE MAGNETIC POLE
[XVII.]THE FATE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN
[XVIII.]THE WAY NORTHWARD
[XIX.]A WHALE IN SIGHT
[XX.]BEECHEY ISLAND
[XXI.]THE DEATH OF BELLOT
[XXII.]THE FIRST SIGNS OF MUTINY
[XXIII.]ATTACKED BY THE ICE
[XXIV.]PREPARATIONS FOR WINTERING
[XXV.]ONE OF JAMES ROSS'S FOXES
[XXVI.]THE LAST PIECE OF COAL
[XXVII.]THE GREAT COLD AT CHRISTMAS
[XXVIII.]PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE
[XXIX.]ACROSS THE ICE-FIELDS
[XXX.]THE CAIRN
[XXXI.]THE DEATH OF SIMPSON
[XXXII.]THE RETURN TO THE FORWARD

PART II.

THE DESERT OF ICE.

[I.]THE DOCTOR'S INVENTORY
[II.]ALTAMONT'S FIRST WORDS
[III.]SEVENTEEN DAYS OF LAND JOURNEY
[IV.]THE LAST CHARGE OF POWDER
[V.]THE SEAL AND THE BEAR
[VI.]THE PORPOISE
[VII.]A DISCUSSION ABOUT CHARTS
[VIII.]EXCURSION TO THE NORTH OF VICTORIA BAY
[IX.]COLD AND HEAT
[X.]THE PLEASURES OF WINTER-QUARTERS
[XI.]DISQUIETING TRACES
[XII.]THE ICE PRISON
[XIII.]THE MINE
[XIV.]THE POLAR SPRING
[XV.]THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE
[XVI.]NORTHERN ARCADIA
[XVII.]ALTAMONT'S REVENGE
[XVIII.]THE LAST PREPARATIONS
[XIX.]THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD
[XX.]FOOTPRINTS ON THE SNOW
[XXI.]THE OPEN SEA
[XXII.]THE APPROACH TO THE POLE
[XXIII.]THE ENGLISH FLAG
[XXIV.]POLAR COSMOGRAPHY
[XXV.]MOUNT HATTERAS
[XXVI.]RETURN TO THE SOUTH
[XXVII.]CONCLUSION

LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.

[*]"JOHNSON KNEW ALL THE SAILORS IN LIVERPOOL, AND IMMEDIATELY SET ABOUT ENGAGING A CREW"
[*]"EVERYTHING WAS ENVELOPED IN ONE OF THE ORDINARY FOGS OF THAT REGION"
[*]"THIS SPACE OF SIX FEET SQUARE CONTAINED INCALCULABLE WEALTH"
[*]"THE NEWS SPEAD IMMEDIATELY THROUGHOUT THE CITY, AND A GREAT CONCOURSE OF SPECTATORS THRONGED THE PIERS"
[*]"TOWARDS EVENING THE BRIG DOUBLED THE CALF OF MAN"
[*]"WOULD ONE NOT SAY IT WAS A FOREIGN CITY, AN EASTERN CITY, WITH MINARETS AND MOSQUES IN THE MOONLIGHT"
[*]"FORTUNATELY THE OPENING OF THESE HUTS WAS TOO SMALL, AND THE ENTHUSIASTIC DOCTOR COULD NOT GET THROUGH"
[*]"A STRANGE ANIMAL WAS BOUNDING ALONG WITHIN A CABLE'S LENGTH FROM THE SHIP"
[*]"JOHN HATTERAS"
[*]"HE CAUGHT A LARGE NUMBER OF WHITE FOXES; HE HAD PUT ON THEIR NECKS COPPER COLLARS"
[*]"ALL THESE POOR FELLOWS HAD DIED OF MISERY, SUFFERING, AND STARVATION"
[*]"THE BRIG WAS TOSSED ABOUT LIKE A CHILD'S TOY" (Frontispiece)
[*]"THE WHALE SWAM AWAY FROM THE BRIG AND HASTENED TOWARDS THE MOVING ICEBERGS"
[*]"THE FORWARD IN WELLINGTON CHANNEL"
[*]HATTERAS MADE USE OF A DEVICE WHICH WHALERS EMPLOY
[*]"A CRASH WAS HEARD, AND AS IT CAME AGAINST THE STARBOARD-QUARTER, PART OF THE RAIL HAD GIVEN WAY"
[*]"THE MOON SHONE WITH INCOMPARABLE PURITY, GLISTENING ON THE LEAST ROUGHNESS IN THE ICE"
[*]"ALMOST EVERY NIGHT THE DOCTOR COULD OBSERVE THE MAGNIFICENT AURORAS"
[*]"HE WAS ARMED, AND HE KEPT CONSTANT GUARD, WITHOUT MINDING THE COLD, THE SNOW, OR THE ICE"
[*]"THE LITTLE BAND MADE THEIR WAY TOWARDS THE SOUTHEAST"
[*]"THE DOCTOR HAD ENERGY ENOUGH TO ASCEND AN ICE-MOUNTAIN WHILE THE SNOW-HUT WAS BUILDING"
[*]"'FIRE!' SHOUTED THE CAPTAIN, DISCHARGING HIS PIECE"
[*]"THEY COULD ONLY THINK OF THEIR PERILOUS POSITION"
[*]"SUDDENLY, WITH A LAST EFFORT, HE HALF ROSE"
[*]"THEN A TERRIBLE EXPLOSION WAS HEARD"
[*]"THE LARGE PIECES OF THE ENGINE LAY HERE AND THERE, TWISTED OUT OF SHAPE"
[*]"THEY HARNESSED THE TIRED DOGS"
[*]JOHNSON'S STORY
[*]"'YES!' SAID THE AMERICAN"
[*]"THE DOCTOR WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO FIND A SEAL"
[*]"AT THE END OF TWO HOURS THEY FELL, EXHAUSTED"
[*]"HE PLUNGED HIS KNIFE INTO THE BEAST'S THROAT"
[*]"THESE CASTAWAYS LOOKED AT THEMSELVES AS COLONISTS WHO HAD REACHED THEIR DESTINATION"
[*]THE FORT WAS COMPLETED
[*]"I AM NOT AWARE THAT IT BEARS ANY NAME ON THE MOST RECENT MAPS"
[*]"THE DOCTOR REACHED THE SUMMIT WITH SOME LITTLE DIFFICULTY"
[*]"THEY ADVANCED IN FULL ILLUMINATION, AND THEIR SHARPLY CUT SHADOWS RAN OUT BEHIND THEM OVER THE SNOW"
[*]"HE DID HIS BEST TO INSTRUCT AND INTEREST HIS COMPANIONS"
[*]"HATTERAS COULD ONLY KEEP HIS DISTANCE FROM THE ANIMALS BY THROWING AWAY HIS CAP, HATCHET, AND EVEN HIS GUN"
[*]"THE BEARS HEAPED THE ICE IN SUCH A WAY AS TO RENDER FLIGHT IMPOSSIBLE"
[*]"AN ENORMOUS BLACK BODY APPEARED IN THE GLOOM OF THE ROOM. ALTAMONT RAISED HIS HAND TO STRIKE IT"
[*]"A LOUD EXPLOSION FOLLOWED"
[*]"THE CARPENTER SET TO WORK AT ONCE"
[*]"A HARD STRUGGLE WITH THE ICEBERGS"
[*]"MACCLURE SAW A MAN RUNNING AND GESTICULATING"
[*]"THE DOCTOR, JOHNSON, AND BELL INTERVENED. IT WAS TIME; THE TWO ENEMIES WERE GAZING AT ONE ANOTHER"
[*]"THEY WERE A CURIOUS AND TOUCHING SIGHT, FLYING ABOUT WITHOUT FEAR, RESTING ON CLAWBONNY'S SHOULDERS," ETC.
[*]"GAVE HIM A TERRIBLE BLOW WITH A HATCHET ON THE HEAD"
[*]"WELL, I'VE BROUGHT BACK TWO BROTHERS"
[*]"THE SEAL STRUGGLED FOR A FEW SECONDS, AND WAS THEN SUFFOCATED ON THE BREAST OF HIS ADVERSARY"
[*]"THEY LEFT AT SIX O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING"
[*]"ON THE 29TH BELL SHOT A FOX, AND ALTAMONT A MEDIUM-SIZED MUSK-OX"
[*]"THE MASSES OF ICE TOOK THE FORMS OF HUMMOCKS AND ICEBERGS"
[*]"ON ALL SIDES RESOUNDED THE CRACKING OF THE ICE AMID THE ROAR OF THE AVALANCHES"
[*]"'WE OUGHT,' ANSWERED BELL, 'TO LIGHT TORCHES, AS IS DONE AT LONDON AND LIVERPOOL'"
[*]THE HUT WAS PITCHED IN A RAVINE FOR SHELTER
[*]"THEY CLIMBED A HILL WHICH COMMANDED A WIDE VIEW"
[*]"THREE HOURS LATER THEY REACHED THE COAST. 'THE SEA! THE SEA!' THEY ALL SHOUTED"
[*]"THE LAUNCH WAS ROCKING GENTLY IN HER LITTLE HARBOR"
[*]"AQUATIC BIRDS OF ALL SORTS WERE THERE"
[*]"THEN THE EYE GLANCING DOWN INTO THE TRANSPARENT WATER, THE SIGHT WAS EQUALLY STRANGE"
[*]"'IT'S A VOLCANO!' HE CRIED"
[*]"THE LAUNCH TOSSED HELPLESSLY ABOUT"
[*]"THE FOG, WITHOUT LIFTING, WAS VERY BRIGHT"
[*]"THIS DRIFTING FLOE WAS COVERED WITH WHITE BEARS, CROWDED TOGETHER"
[*]"HER SAIL FLEW AWAY LIKE A HUGE WHITE BIRD; A WHIRLPOOL, A NEW MAELSTROM, FORMED AMONG THE WAVES"
[*]"THE MOUNTAIN WAS IN FULL ERUPTION"
[*]"THEY NOTICED A LITTLE FIORD"
[*]"ALTAMONT SOON FOUND A GROTTO IN THE ROCKS"
[*]"THEY WERE ALL READY TO LISTEN TO THE DOCTOR"
[*]"THEY SAW THE CAPTAIN STANDING ON A ROCK"
[*]"HATTERAS APPEARED TO WAKE FROM HIS REVERY"
[*]"BUT HATTERAS DID NOT LOOK BACK. HE HAD MADE USE OF HIS STAFF AS A POLE ON WHICH TO FASTEN THE ENGLISH FLAG"
[*]"THE DOCTOR PUT UP A CAIRN"
[*]"DEAD—FROZEN"
[*]"TWO HOURS LATER, AFTER UNHEARD-OF EFFORTS, THE LAST MEN OF THE FORWARD WERE TAKEN ABOARD THE DANISH WHALER HANS CHRISTIAN"
[*]"A STEAMBOAT CARRIED THEM TO KIEL"

PART I.