An Antarctic Mystery (31 page)

After they had been shut up in the labyrinth for twentyone days, the
birds on which they lived began to fail them, and they recognized
that their only means of escaping hunger—(they had not to fear
thirst, for there was a spring of fresh water in the interior of the
hill)—was to go down again to the coast, lay hands upon a native
boat, and get out to sea. Where were the fugitives to go, and what
was to become of them without provisions?—these were questions
that had to be asked, and which nobody could answer. Nevertheless,
they would not have hesitated to attempt the adventure if they could
have a few hours of darkness; but, at that time of year, the sun did
not as yet go down behind the horizon of the eighty-fourth parallel.

Death would probably have put an end to their misery had not the
situation been changed by the following events.

On the 22nd of February, in the morning, William Guy and Patterson
were talking together, in terrible perplexity of mind, at the
orifice of the cavity that opened upon the country. They no longer
knew how to provide for the wants of seven persons, who were then
reduced to eating nuts only, and were suffering in consequence from
severe pain in the head and stomach. They could see big turtles
crawling on the beach, but how could they venture to go thither,
with hundreds of natives coming and going about their several
occupations, with their constant cry of
tékéli-li
?

Suddenly, this crowd of people became violently agitated. Men,
women, and children ran wildly about on every side. Some of the
savages even took to their boats as though a great danger were at
hand. What was happening?

William Guy and his companions were very soon informed. The cause of
the tumult was the appearance of an unknown animal, a terrible
quadruped, which dashed into the midst of the islanders, snapping at
and biting them indiscriminately, as it sprang at their throats with
a hoarse growling.

And yet the infuriated animal was alone, and might easily have been
killed by stones or arrows. Why then did a crowd of savages manifest
such abject terror? Why did they take to flight? Why did they appear
incapable of defending themselves against this one beast?

The animal was white, and the sight of it had produced the
phenomenon previously observed, that inexplicable terror of
whiteness common to all the natives of Tsalal.

To their extreme surprise, William Guy and hie companions recognized
the strange animal as the dog Tiger.

Yes! Tiger had escaped from the crumbling mass of the hill and
betaken himself to the interior of the island, whence he had
returned to Klock-Klock, to spread terror among the natives. But
Tiger was no mere phantom foe; he was the most dangerous and deadly
of enemies, for the poor animal was mad, and his fangs were fatal!

This was the reason why the greater part of the Tsalal islanders
took to flight, headed by their chief, Too-Wit, and the Wampos, who
are the leading personages of Klock-Klock. It was under these
extraordinary circumstances that they abandoned their island,
whither they were destined never to return.

Although the boats carried off the bulk of the population, a
considerable number still remained on Tsalal, having no means of
escape, and their fate accomplished itself quickly. Several natives
who were bitten by Tiger developed hydrophobia rapidly, and attacked
the others. Fearful scenes ensued, and are briefly to be summed up
in one dismal statement. The bones we had seen in or near Klock-Klock
were those of the poor savages, which had lain there bleaching for
eleven years!

The poor dog had died after he had done his fell work, in a corner
on the beach, where Dirk Peters found his skeleton and the collar
bearing the name of Arthur Pym.

Then, after those natives who could not escape from the island had
all perished in the manner described, William Guy, Patterson,
Trinkle, Covin, Forbes, and Sexton ventured to come out of the
labyrinth, where they were on the verge of death by starvation.

What sort of existence was that of the seven survivors of the
expedition during the eleven ensuing years?

On the whole, it was more endurable than might have been supposed.
The natural products of an extremely fertile soil and the presence
of a certain number of domestic animals secured them against want of
food; they had only to make out the best shelter for themselves they
could contrive, and wait for an opportunity of getting away from the
island with as much patience as might be granted to them. And from
whence could such an opportunity come? Only from one of the chances
within the resources of Providence.

Captain William Guy, Patterson, and their five companions descended
the ravine, which was half filled with the fallen masses of the
hill-face, amid heaps of scoria and blocks of black granite. Before
they left this gorge, it occurred to William Guy to explore the
fissure on the right into which Arthur Pym, Dirk Peters, and Allen
had turned, but he found it blocked up; it was impossible for him to
get into the pass. Thus he remained in ignorance of the existence of
the natural or artificial labyrinth which corresponded with the one
he had just left, and probably communicated with it under the dry
bed of the torrent. The little company, having passed the chaotic
barrier that intercepted the northern route, proceded rapidly
towards the north-west. There, on the coast, at about three miles
from Klock-Klock, they established themselves in a grotto very like
that in our own occupation on the coast of Halbrane Land.

And it was in this place that, during long, hopeless years, the
seven survivors of the fane lived, as we were about to do ourselves,
but under better conditions, for the fertility of the soil of Tsalal
furnished them with resources unknown in Halbrane Land. In reality,
we were condemned to perish when our provisions should be exhausted,
but they could have waited indefinitely—and they did wait.

They had never entertained any doubt that Arthur Pym, Dirk Peters,
and Allen had perished, and this was only too true in Allen's
case. How, indeed, could they ever have imagined that Pyro and the
half-breed had got hold of a boat and made their escape from Tsalal
Island?

So, then, as William Guy told us, not an incident occurred to break
the monotony of that existence of eleven years—not even the
reappearance of the islanders, who were kept away from Tsalal by
superstitious terror. No danger had threatened them during all that
time; but, of course, as it became more and more prolonged, they
lost the hope of ever being rescued. At first, with the return of
the fine season, when the sea was once more open, they had thought
it possible that a ship would be sent in search of the
Jane
. But
after four or five years they relinquished all hope.

There is no need for dwelling on this period, which extends from the
year 1828 to the year 1839. The winters were hard. The summer did
indeed extend its beneficent influence to the islands of the Tsalal
group, but the cold season, with its attendant snows, rains, and
tempests, spared them none of its severity.

During seven months Captain William Guy had not lost one of those
who had come with him safe and sound out of the trap set for them at
Klock-Klock, and this was due, no doubt, to their robust
constitutions, remarkable power of endurance, and great strength of
character. Alas! misfortune was making ready to fall on them.

The month of May had come—it corresponds in those regions to the
month of November in northern lands-and the ice-packs which the
current carried towards the north were beginning to drift past
Tsalal. One day, one of the seven men failed to return to the
cavern. They called, they waited, they searched for him. All was in
vain. He did not reappear; no doubt he had been drowned. He was
never more seen by his fellow-exiles.

This man was Patterson, the faithful companion of William Guy.

Now, what William Guy did not know, but we told him, was that
Patterson—under what circumstances none would ever learn—had
been carried away on the surface of an iceblock, where he died of
hunger. And on that ice-block, which had travelled so far as Prince
Edward Island, the boatswain had discovered the corpse of the
unfortunate man almost decomposed by the action of the warmer waters.

When Captain Len Guy told his brother of the finding of the body of
Patterson, and how it was owing to the notes in his pocket-book that
the
Halbrane
had been enabled to proceed towards the antarctic seas,
William Guy hid his face in his hands and wept.

Other misfortunes followed upon this one.

Five months after the disappearance of Patterson, in the middle of
October, Tsalal Island was laid waste from coast to coast by an
earthquake, which destroyed the southwestern group almost entirely.
William Guy and his companions must soon have perished on the barren
land, which no longer could give them food, had not the means of
leaving its coast, now merely an expanse of tumbled rocks, been
afforded them in an almost miraculous manner. Two days after the
earthquake, the current carried ashore within a few hundred yards of
their cavern a boat which had drifted from the island group on the
south-west.

Without the delay of even one day, the boat was laden with as much
of the remaining provisions as it could contain, and the six men
embarked in it, bidding adieu for ever to the now uninhabitable
island.

Unfortunately a very strong breeze was blowing; it was impossible to
resist it, and the boat was driven southwards by that very same
current which had caused our iceberg to drift to the coast of
Halbrane Land.

For two months and a half these poor fellows were borne across the
open sea, with no control over their course. It was not until the
2nd of January in the present year (1840) that they sighted
land—east of the
Jane
Sound.

Now, we already knew this land was not more than fifty miles from
Halbrane Land. Yes! so small, relatively, was the distance that
separated us from those whom we had sought for in the antarctic
regions far and wide, and concerning whom we had lost hope.

Their boat had gone ashore far to the south-east of us. But on how
different a coast from that of Tsalal Island, or, rather, on one how
like that of Halbrane Land! Nothing was to be seen but sand and
stones; neither trees, shrubs, nor plants of any kind. Their
provisions were almost exhausted; William Guy and his companions
were soon reduced to extreme want, and two of the little company,
Forbes and Sexton, died.

The remaining four resolved not to remain a single day longer in the
place where they were doomed to die of hunger. They embarked in the
boat with the small supply of food still remaining, and once more
abandoned themselves to the current, without having been able to
verify their position, for want of instruments.

Thus had they been borne upon the unknown deep for twenty-five days,
their resources were completely exhausted, and they had not eaten
for forty-eight hours, when the boat, with its occupants lying
inanimate at the bottom of it, was sighted from Halbrane Land. The
rest is already known to the reader of this strange eventful history.

And now the two brothers were at length reunited in that remote
corner of the big world which we had dubbed Halbrane Land.

Two days later not one of the survivors from the two schooners, the
Jane
and the
Halbrane
, remained upon any coast of the Antarctic
region.

On the 21st of February, at six o'clock in the morning, the boat,
with us all (we numbered thirteen) in it, left the little creek and
doubled the point of Halbrane Land. On the previous day we had fully
and finally debated the question of our departure, with the
understanding that if it were settled in the affirmative, we should
start without delay.

The captain of the fane was for an immediate departure, and Captain
Len Guy was not opposed to it. I willingly sided with them, and West
was of a similar opinion. The boatswain was inclined to oppose us.
He considered it imprudent to give up a certainty for the uncertain,
and he was backed by Endicott, who would in any case say "ditto"
to his "Mr. Burke." However, when the time came, Hurliguerly
Conformed to the view of the majority with a good grace, and
declared himself quite ready to set out, since we were all of that
way of thinking.

Our boat was one of those in use in the Tsalal Archipelago for
plying between the islands. We knew, from the narrative of Arthur
Pym, that these boats are of two kinds, one resembling rafts or flat
boats, the other strongly-built pirogues. Our boat was of the former
kind, forty feet long, six feet in width, and worked by several
paddles.

We called our little craft the
Paracura
, after a fish which abounds
in these waters. A rough image of that denizen of the southern deep
was cut upon the gunwale.

Needless to say that the greater part of the cargo of the
Halbrane
was left in our cavern, fully protected from the weather, at the
disposal of any shipwrecked people who might chance to be thrown on
the coast of Halbrane Land. The boatswain had planted a spar on the
top of this slope to attract attention. But, our two schooners
notwithstanding, what vessel would ever venture into such latitudes?

Nota Bene
.—We were just thirteen—the fatal number. Perfectly
good relations subsisted among us. We had no longer to dread the
rebellion of a Hearne. (How often we speculated upon the fate of
those whom he had beguiled!)

At seven o'clock, the extreme point of Halbrahe Land lay five
miles behind us, and in the evening we gradually lost sight of the
heights that variated that part of the coast.